Here's what I read in 2010

As usual, I am publishing the list of books which I have read during the past year - and here it is! I'm still getting through alarmingly less than in my past, but I'm still enjoying (nearly) every book I read. This year I have benefited from three holidays which saw me complete 1-3, 9-10 and 12-13, I find that aeroplanes are the best place for me to devour books, from the minute I strap myself in, to the moment I fight my way towards the fresh air with the masses. Perfect!

Books read 2010

1. The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zaffron (23 Feb)
2. Martyr by Rory Clements (26 feb)
3. The Curious Instance of the Dog in the Night by Mark Haddon (27 feb)
4. The Way Home by George Pelecanos (3 march) 
5. Adventures on the High Teas by Stuart Maconie (12 March)
6. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stig Larson
7. Espresso Tales by Alexander McCall Smith
8. Love Over Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith
9. When Will There be Good News? By Kate Atkinson
10. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
11. Meltdown by Ben Elton
12. New York by Edward Rutherford (17 Nov)
13. Heartstone by C J Sansom (21 Nov)
14. Barcelona Plates by Alexi Sayle (3rd Dec)
15. The Girl Who Played With Fire be Steig Larsson
16. The Unbearable Lightness of Scones by Alexander McCall Smith (Dec 28)
17. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (Dec 29)

I adored the Kate Atkinson, there's something about her character's which is just so real.  This is a story which lingered in my mind for some time.  Wolf Hall was fascinating, I've read a lot of novels set in Tudor times and it was great to see behind the scenes of the bad guy, sometimes it was hard work, but well worth the occasional dull bits.  The Millennium Trilogy (well the first two) were astonishing for their ability to make me not put them down, I've not had one of those for a while, and can't wait for the final instalment.  The Scotland Street books have been a nice little fluffy interlude now and again, it's always a pleasure to come back to familiar characters.  Middlesex was an amazing roller coaster through almost a century of life with some deep family secrets and plenty of history thrown in, I didn't love it all the way through but am very glad that if finally made it out of it's spot on the shelf.  The disappointment of the year for me was New York.  I've read a few of Edward Rutherford's books in the past and absolutely loved them - Sarum, London and The Forest were all unputdownable but New York seemed as if it had been written by a different man.  I appreciate that it's been a long time since I read the last one and my expectations will have changed, but still, I felt disappointed by it's brevity and feel that it needed to be much longer to fit in all of the things it covered. 

 I have been given a Kindle for Christmas this year (thanks dad!) and already have it well stocked with the last of the Millennium novels, The Century Trilogy part one by Ken Follett and Jump by Jilly Cooper along with a whole selection of free classics ranging from The Illiad to Mrs Beaton. I think I'll take to it pretty fast and have already started the Steig Larson.

My aim for 2011 is to read plenty of classics as there's a whole raft of them to be had for £0 on my new toy and to have a shot at Sherlock Holmes which I've never read. We'll see and I'll post again in a year!