Great books I read in 2010

I realize this blog was originally about food, but no one reads it so I might as well begin to add book reviews, too! I am a prolific reader and try to read at least one book a week. Often that becomes too laborious when tackling a particularly weighty tome - right now I'm reading a biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer - and I find myself reading two or three books at a time. Below is a list and a small notation about the best books I read last year. I'll update on the Bonhoeffer in a couple of weeks.

"The Girl Who ..."books by Stieg Larsson - undoubtedly the best page-turning mysteries I've read in years. I gave up mysteries several years ago finding them to be too formulaic. Larsson cured me of that little problem. I read all three books in two weeks, often to the dismay (and hunger pangs) of my family. Too bad Larsson died so young and can't fulfill our need for more Lisbeth Salander.

"Let the Great World Spin" by Colum McCann - a post 9/11 novel which won the 2009 National Book Award for fiction. I may have read this in '09 but it's in my '10 book list. Essentially, it's two stories; one about Philippe Petit, who tight-rope walked between the two World Trade Center towers and, the second about two Irish immigrant brothers who live in New York. A beautiful love story of brotherhood and sacrifice.

"Lit" by Mary Karr - autobiographical portrayal of the author's road to sobriety. This book is not for the faint of heart (or those who might possibly have their own drinking problem). At times, the author's behavior is reminiscent of Nicholas Cage's character in "Leaving Las Vegas" but not with the same outcome. An amazing memoir of someone who's been to the edge and not fallen over the cliff.

"The Elegance of the Hedgehog" by Muriel Barberry - as an English major, I love to learn new words and delight in a book where I have to consult a dictionary and this is just that type of novel. The interaction between Renee, the superintendent of the apartment building and Paloma, the young girl who lives in the flat upstairs is lovely. Barberry constructs a world where nothing is as it seems on the surface. Renee pretends to be the stereotypical coarse, rough person who might be a superintendent while underneath it all, she is a sophisticated, well educated and well-read woman, hence the title.

"Freedom" by Jonathan Franzen - this book seems to be on everyone's best liked book of the year. Franzen's follow-up to "The Corrections" involves the reader intimately in the marriage of the Berglands and their individual lives. Another great fiction read.

"The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot - Most of the time I read exclusively fiction but every once in a while, a non-fiction book will strike my fancy. Rebecca Skloot tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, a black woman who died in the 1950's from cervical cancer. After her death, and without her family's permission, her cells were harvested and began to reproduce prolifically. This is a poignant tale of the survivors of Mrs. Lacks and their inability to grasp the concept of her immortality and also of the doctors and nurses involved in the cell growth. Fascintating scientifc book that reads like fiction - science fiction at times.

"Cutting for Stone" by Abraham Verghese - the story of Siamese twins, separated at birth. That alone is enough to hook the eager reader but Verhese's ability to spin a tale takes you into the world of each boy, chronicling the choices they make along the way. Verghese also wrote an earlier non-fiction book about his time as an AIDS doctor in rural Appalachia - "My Own Country - A Doctor's Story"

"One Day" by David Nicholls - the author checks in with the two major characters on the same day (St. Swithin's Day) for 20 years. A moving story of the star-crossed love lives of Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley, many readers will recognize each character as someone they have known. A suprise ending and the author's ability to have his characters age (though one might not always say mature) over a period of years made this one of my top books of the year.

There were forty-three other books I read during the year but no others received a five-star rating. Stay tuned for 2011 which is starting out on a high note with the Bonhoeffer biography. My old book club is reading "Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter" by Mario Vargas Llosa (I once belonged to a very erudite book club when I lived in another city) and my current book club is reading "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" by Mark Haddon. The latter I have read but shall have to re-read (or Spark notes) but the former I am looking forward to tackling.