I love reading. I always have. There's something about curling up with a good book on the couch or in bed that cannot be replaced. I loved books so much that I got myself a degree in literature, and since then, haven't read many great books. Still, I read the newspaper everyday, and huge amounts of magazines and blogs, so reading is something that I'll hopefully never give up.
This page will contain a listing of all the books that I read in 2010. I read a lot, but I may not list all of the books that I read as some of them are reading for work.
In Japan, English books are very expensive, and in some smaller cities like mine, very hard to come by. However, there is a great bookswapping site that I sometimes use called Bookmooch. I love finding new homes for books that I won't re-read.
On with the list!
My favourite female PI is back in Sue Grafton's Alphabet series. Kinsey Milhone, the detective with only one all-purpose dress is hired to find out if a young man's long repressed memory is true. What she finds is a mystery involving dead dogs, kidnapping and murder. Along the way there's a bit of family interaction as well. Will Kinsey become closer to her estranged family?
As always, a great read. It was hard to put this one down, and if you are a fan of Sue Grafton, absolutely worth reading!
A fun fast read about a private investigator who is hired to protect a female soap opera star in Manchester. There are parallels to Coronation Street of course, and the characters are interesting. It's not as good as her Wire in the Blood series, but it is enjoyable. Not a deep novel by any means.
I have been reading this book for more than a month. Not because it is particularily good, but because I've only been able to read it in small doses. I liked it while I was reading it, but to be honest, the ending left me cold. I thought it was a complete letdown. I saw the movie before I read the book and I liked the movie much more. Well written, but just not quite for me.
A cracking great read from Sweden. The story features a disgraced journalist, a computer hacker and an old old mystery. The characters don't seem to have a connection and then all of a sudden, they do. To say much more would be to spoil your fun when you read this. A great novel and a very nice translation too. A must read.
A very funny first novel about a family of Private Investigaters. The lead character, Isabel Spellman, has been through her wild side, and is now trying to live it down. However, she's given a cold case to investigate and it leads her on a merry chase. She is nearing the solution when a family member disappears.
Isabel has an obsession with Get Smart and a way with boyfriends that means she'll be alone for a while. Her family is funny and interesting. A great debut, I'm looking forward to more from this character and the author.
Young Flora Poste, orphan, goes to live at Cold Comfort Farm. She immediately begins to change the lives of her distant cousins in many ways. She insinuates herself into the family and changes the members with her modern ways. A classic gem, and a really funny story. So glad I've finally read this. I loved it.
The story of Eragon picks up where the last novel left off. It's an exciting story and quite a good example of fantasy writing. I had problems with the use of "dove" as the past tense of dive, but apart from that it was enjoyable. It's the third novel in a series of four. Probably not worth picking up by itself, but if you've read the other novels it's an entertaining way to spend a few days.
Malcolm Pembroke had 5 marriages and 9 children. His latest wife was recently murdered and someone made an attempt on his life. It was up to one of his children to find the murderer and protect his father. Ian takes on the difficult job and gets to know his father in a new way. A cracking great read!
Kinsey Millhone is hired to discover the murderer of a beautiful young woman with a shady life. She searches for information and and looks at the seedy side of life. Vintage Grafton. Good stuff.
A book of short stories from a good writer. I think I read them before, but a re-read was fine. Some stories are better than others.
This novel is a sequel to Weiner's first novel, Good in Bed. It takes up when Joy is 13 years old and preparing for her bat mitzvah. Weiner uses two voices in this novel, Cannie, the mother and lead character from her earlier novel, and Joy, her hearing impaired daughter. They switch telling their stories every chapter. It makes it a very interesting way to follow the story as events that are low in importance to one character take on great meaning to the other.
Jennifer Weiner is generally considered a writer of "Chick Lit" but she is such a good writer, that it is unfair to label her as such. This is a very good book and the suspense builds and the novel is difficult to put down. I stayed up an hour later than I wanted to so I could finish the novel, and it was worth it!
The wonderful Mrs. Pollifax takes on Bulgaria in her quest to aid the Underground, rescue a imprisoned American and deliver a package. Armed with her ability to read people, her sympathy and an uncanny knack of being in the right place at the right time, this unusual spy tale is a lot of fun. Very enjoyable, a fast read.
The supposed backstory to The Wizard of Oz is boring, meandering and a complete waste of time. It takes characters from the novel and takes out all of the fun from the original series and replaces it with yawn inducing tedium. There wasn't one likable character in this novel. There's a sequel to this book, but I won't be bothering. I'm not sure why I finished this book in fact.
P.D. James latest installment of the Adam Dalgliesh series is compelling reading. A reporter books into a private clinic to have plastic surgery but is murdered. Dalgliesh's Special Force is called in to find the murderer. This is quite a straightforward mystery. There isn't much intrigue between Adam and his superiors nor his subordinates and there isn't as much darkness in the novel. It was an enjoyable and fairly fast read. Fans will like it, and it may make a few new fans along the way. Good stuff.
A young American woman goes from being a carny to being a wife of a rich man in Africa. Along the way, she is widowed and then held captive by two different tribes. Her life is amazing and wonderful too. It's very easy to read and even though it seems a little too much after reading the book, is wholly engrossing at the time. A great book to have for holidays or fun times.
The last Elizabeth George that I read had a shocking occurrence take place halfway through. This novel shows us what happened to cause those events to occur. Although the event bordered on the tragic, the life of the perpetrator was difficult and the road to that fateful meeting seemed to be preordained.
A very good novel, although there were patches where the writing seemed a little clunky. Engrossing.
