(Image found here)

“For those of us who take pleasure in the art of reading, a new year opens up endless possibilities. Where will our reading journeys take us? I, for one, positively quiver with excitement thinking about it. As I start a new year, I have all sorts of ideas and plans about what I am going to try to read, which new authors I may finally sample, which books I have planned to read year after year that I might just get to this year. I make all manner of secret reading promises to myself, some that I keep, others that get usurped by wild whims and literary desires. In the end it is just one more reason that reading is one of the best things about being alive.”

The new year began with those words…then I blinked, and 2010 was over. Well, in many ways it certainly feels like that, in other ways it was a long year. Economic woes, employment challenges, health issues and an uncertain political climate, among other things, either touched us directly in our personal lives or indirectly in the lives of family and friends. In the midst of both chaos and contentment I took comfort and pleasure in the written word.

And with that thought in mind I will join the others who like to look back on a literary year with my 2010 Year In Review.

Before we get to the books that stand out to me in a year of truly excellent reading, lets review a few stats:

I managed to read 90 books this year, the most ever since I began keeping track over a decade ago, and most likely the most I have ever read in a 365 day period in my life. For the sake of disclosure, I count art books, graphic novels, short story magazines like Asimov (if and only if I read them cover to cover) and audio books as ‘books read’. That hasn’t changed and so my counting remains consistent every year. Additionally, I don’t care how many books I read each year other than for purely record keeping purposes. I do not endeavor to out-read anyone, not even myself. I don’t care if I read significantly more or significantly less books in 2011 than I got to this year. All I care about is the quality of the experience of sitting down and losing myself in a good book. This year I happened to cut down significantly on the amount of “junk” television viewing (by that I mean just sitting down with no aim in mind and turning on the telly) and I believe that fact alone accounted for the amount of extra time I was able to devote to reading.

Of those 90 books, exactly one-third, 30 books, were either written by female authors or were collections that featured both male and female works. I never purposely set out to read more books written by men OR women–I just read whatever strikes my fancy. But I do find it interesting that this is the biggest percentage of female to male authored books I have ever completed in a year’s time in the past decade.

Of those 90 books, 16 were books I would classify as Science Fiction. The next highest category of books were anthologies/short story collections with 15. I have never read this many short stories in a year’s time. I have long been a fan of the genre, but the bug bit me especially hard this year and I gave myself over to the pleasure of short form fiction. Mostly these were Science Fiction and Fantasy collections, but there were a few general fiction and mystery collections in there as well.

I participated in 11 different challenges this year, completing most of them. One of the biggest was the 2010 Support Your Local Library Challenge. Out of my 90 completed reads, 34 came from the library. If I am proud of anything with my reading this year, it is that fact. I saved a great deal of money and rediscovered a love for the library that hadn’t died, but had been on life support.

When I began thinking over this past year of reading I knew it was a strong year, but at the same time didn’t see it as the best year of reading ever. I still believe that is the case. It is hard to top 2008 (check out my Best Of list here to see why), but when I got down to the moment of having to pick my Top X Favorite Reads of the year, I had a really hard time because there were so many books raising their hands and shouting, “Pick me! Pick me!”. What I eventually did was pick those books that not only got high ratings from me (though some did) but those that stayed with me. Those I have referenced or talked about or thought about throughout the year. The ones I could not get off my mind.

So here is my baker’s dozen Top Reads of 2010, in the order in which I completed them during the year. Where a review exists, you can click on the title to open that review in a new window.

1. The Green Hills of Earth ~Robert A. Heinlein

I wrote:

“In the excellent introduction by Mark Reinsberg, he makes mention of the fact that Heinlein’s tales have a “homely realism”. They feel like slices of life rather than far-out adventures, despite their science fiction underpinnings. His men, women and children, even when viewed through the lens of the societal structure of the time period, remind us of people we know, people we have met. Reinsberg also mentions Heinlein’s familiarity with the moon, Earth’s celestial partner, which features in some fashion in many of these stories. While Heinlein’s future sees man dwelling on the moon, it is presented in a way that is reasoned out and perhaps jibes with the knowledge of the time. The moon is an inhospitable place, made livable by hard work and feats of engineering, not by some magical vision of a moon that does not exist.”

2. Starship Troopers ~Robert A. Heinlein

This book took my expectations and twisted them inside out and upside down before turning them on their head:

“A wise man once said, “Never judge a book by its movie”. For years I have done just that. I left the theater in 1997 after seeing Paul Verhoeven’s interpretation of Heinlein’s novel feeling that I had just pissed away the price of two movie tickets and precious hours of my life. To be fair to those who enjoyed Starship Troopers: the movie, I can only vaguely recall the events that frustrated me so. I was certainly expecting a different movie than I received, and I determined that there was no way that I was going to ever read the book.

Age and experience have taught me the the truth of those wise words, and my recently kindled desire to read Heinlein’s earlier and more famous works, coupled with the positive review of a good friend, made me cast aside my former prejudice. I have now read Starship Troopers, and I liked it. I liked it a lot!”

3. Diving Into The Wreck ~Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Rusch was one of many new authors for me this year. I quickly lost myself in this novel:

“Diving into the Wreck is an intense, introspective, character-driven adventure that has moved to the top of my list of books to recommend to those who either have never tried science fiction, or are of the belief that science fiction isn’t for them.

Boss is a fully realized character. The reader sees Rusch’s created future unfold through the multi-dimensional person that springs to life on the page. Boss is flawed, she makes mistakes, her errors exact a price and that price affects her decision-making and the course she chooses for her life. She has old wounds and unforgiveness that surface. But she is also a bright, adventurous, caring and dedicated individual. She has a deep and abiding love of history and a respect for the historical value of the ships she dives. She is not a scavenger, she is an historian first and foremost. You cannot help but get to know Boss in a deep and personal way which makes for a very satisfying reading experience.”

4. Cyberabad Days ~Ian McDonald

This is a prime example of a book that did not leave my consciousness for any long period of time throughout the year. It was so different from any short story collection I had previously read, and so engaging, that I found literary and visual cues recalling this book to mind all throughout the year. I wrote:

“Cyberabad Days is a return to the world of Ian McDonald’s BSFA-winning novel River of Gods. Like an exotic dish, this collection of seven stories (6 previously published, 1 new), is flavored with spices from the old world and the new. I savored hints of Isaac Asimov and Philip K. Dick amidst what I might have initially thought was an incongruous mixture: a Britain born son of Irish and Scottish parents writing stories set in a future India, steeped in that nation’s rich cultural heritage.

Cyberabad Days was a new and exciting literary experience, blending familiar science fiction ideas of future tech and artificial intelligence with a language and heritage that is far removed from my everyday experience.

Ian McDonald brings the history of the Indian people, albeit a “history” viewed from a time three plus decades in the future, in a way that sparks an interest in this diverse and storied nation.”

5. Enchanted Night: a novella ~Steven Millhauser

“‘Tis a dangerous thing to journey into the realm of a book blogger as ’tis easy to be ensnared by the lure of enticing books. Such was my peril when I recently came across [a] review by my friend Chris. When he wrote “Millhauser’s writing is something that is just a pure gift to readers”, I was hooked.

Enchanted Night is an all-too-brief glimpse into the magical and mysterious events that happen to a handful of residents in a small Connecticut town on a particular hot summer moonlit night. As darkness is pierced by the almost-full moon, strange forces begin to work on a group of people and inanimate objects in seemingly random, unconnected ways. Millhauser weaves these diverse elements into a cohesive though unconventional story, a story with its own set of dangers and mysteries yet filled with such beauty that it is nigh unto impossible to put this book down.”

And it was nearly impossible to put down. Within days of finishing it I re-read it, this time aloud to my wife. And in late November I checked it out from the library and started into it once more before deciding that I really needed to get my own copy to start a relationship with before reading it again.

6. Going Solo ~Roald Dahl

“…every page is a fascinating, almost unbelievable account into this chapter of young Roald Dahl’s life. From recounting harrowing snake and lion stories in East Africa to his first encounter with Germans on the day England declared war to his heroic efforts in the skies during WWII, Going Solo is a quick, page-turner of a book that I highly recommend. I cannot tell you anything about it, because it would really spoil everything for you, but trust me, this is one you should read.”

While reading this one I read enough selections to my wife that she had to read it for herself. And I read parts aloud to my daughter, discussed with with my parents and my sister and her husband, and generally told everyone I could about it. It is a great book.

7. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close ~Jonathan Safran Foer

“Oskar Schell, the primary narrator of Jonathan Safron Foer’s award-winning novel, is not a normal nine-year-old boy. He is intelligent to the point of being precocious, he is constantly using his imagination to concoct wild inventions, and he idolizes Stephen Hawkings. Oskar Schell is also a boy in great pain–his father died in the World Trade Center two years before the events of this story. His adventures begin when he discovers an envelope with the word ‘Black’ written on it, hidden in a vase in his father’s closet. Within that envelope is a key that does not fit any of the locks in the Schell home. Realizing that this is possibly a clue left by his father, Oskar sets out to find the lock that fits this mysterious key.

A lock and a key…

It was the intriguing mystery of that combination that prompted me to leave the bookstore with Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close after the shiny red foil of the hand on the cover (not observable in the image above) caught my attention as my eye casually drifted over one of the display tables in my local Barnes and Noble. It turned out to be a display treasure. I went straight home and found myself laughing aloud while reading the first page. By the time I was finished with the second page I found myself upstairs reading page one and two over again, aloud, to my wife.”

8. A Game of Thrones ~George R.R. Martin

“It doesn’t take much to get me to read your favorite book. Really, it is pretty simple. First you simply buy me the book and tell me several times how much you enjoy it. Then you wait…for years. When a goodly amount of time has passed, you take me to a convention to hear the author speak and read a chapter from his forthcoming book in the same series…a mere week before your latest birthday celebration. Like I said, simple.

While this may sound facetious, this is a fairly accurate portrayal of the events that had to come together before I began reading the first book in George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Game of Thrones. Once I started in earnest, Mr. Martin’s storytelling took over and in a mere three days I finished this enormous volume. It wasn’t just the fact that I couldn’t put it down, it was that I did not want to put it down. For anything.

I am an avowed chunkster hater. I have also been quite vocal in the past about my dislike of long, drawn out book series, particularly ones that have yet to be finished. And now, The Others take me, I’m hooked!”

9. Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World ~Haruki Murakami

Sadly this is one of the books I did not get around to reviewing this year. I finished it while on a business trip in July and I returned to a very busy time at work and never got around to doing a review that would do the book justice. Hard-boiled Wonderland is a story that goes back and forth between two characters, one who lives in a large city in the near future and another who exists in a realm that feels timeless but very much of fantasy origin. That juxtaposition of science fiction and fantasy made for a very interesting read. I could never decide which world I liked better and that was one of many reasons why this is one of my top reads for the year. Murakami has a magic all his own and I was so taken with the story by the time I finished the first chapter that I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. If you are a Murakami fan and have not read this book: Read it! If you have not read Murakami, it is time!

10. The Vanishing of Katharina Linden ~Helen Grant

This novel was a real treasure, picked solely because of the eye-catching cover design. This was one incident when judging a book by its cover turned out to be the right thing to do:

“I am always impressed when I see the words “debut novel” and find myself reading something that is crafted with great skill and affection. Such is the case with The Vanishing of Katharina Linden. The story is set in relatively modern times yet its setting in a small, provincial German town gives the story an old world quality that added a layer of suspense to the story. Throughout the novel I found it easy to forget the time period, feeling as if I was reading something set in an earlier age, and that timeless quality enhanced the sinister mood of the novel. Being a mystery, the reader is meant to be kept off balance, meant to be kept guessing as to whodunit and why. Grant’s ability to lull the reader into a feeling of timelessness only to reorient them with a small detail of modernity serves to heighten that sense of imbalance. On several occasions during my reading of the novel I was struck by how much I enjoyed that.”

11. The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag ~Alan Bradley

““From aesthetic beginnings, a relationship was born.”

That was one of many things I wrote last September, when a lovely apple-green book cover in the mystery section of Barnes and Noble whispered sweet seduction in my ear and convinced me to take it home. What followed was the kind of love affair one craves with a book, and a protagonist, that doesn’t happen often enough even when one’s reading consists of mostly good experiences.

You see, not-quite-eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce bowled me over. She was a precocious young lady with an abiding passion for making poisons, a slightly melodramatic relationship with her two older sisters, and the kind of analytical mind that made her the perfect detective when death literally came to her front door. I raved about The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie last year. Raved…I was so taken with the book (and still am) that there are probably those who picked up the book after my review and didn’t understand what the fuss was about. That is always the risk you take when you eschew being a critical reviewer and instead opt for being a passionate reader. But that is me. My reviews come from my experience with the book. And my experience with The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag was no less of a pleasure than it was with Sweetness.

What can I say? Flavia de Luce is a real charmer.”

12. At Home: A Short History of a Private Life ~Bill Bryson

“Books are crafty and clever things. Even when one is exercising economic self-restraint and has taken great pains to eschew dens of iniquity (the local book shops), books have a way of pulling the ol’ snake charmer routine on you, and before you know it you find yourself at home with one, or more, new friends. Such was the case with me on a recent trip north of Kansas City to attend a work-related training. I was innocently listening to NPR when suddenly, without warning (or at least without anything I recognized as a warning), author Bill Bryson was reading to me from, and being interviewed about, his just released book, At Home: A Short History of Private Life. Even had I not partaken of and enjoyed Bryson’s book, A Walk in the Woods, many years prior, I would not have been able to resist the siren song of this book…

…there is enough fascinating history…not dry history, but history come alive…in At Home that one could use it as a map for a lifetime of marvelous reading or simply devour it gluttonously as I did.”

13. Starman Jones ~Robert A. Heinlein

In my review I wrote:

“Starman Jones would be an excellent starting off point for those unfamiliar with Heinlein’s work. The protagonist is an agreeable everyman that most can easily identify with, the plot moves forward at just the right pace to keep you turning the pages, and it hits the right emotional notes to leave you feeling that you engaged in a worthwhile reading experience. I can happily report that I closed the final page with my sense of awe and wonder in good working order.

I am forever in awe when reading ‘the classics’ that authors like Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov could accomplish so much within a novel whose page count barely registers in compared to the tomes that grace bookstore shelves today. Starman Jones does come close to feeling rushed at the end. There is a great deal of very important stuff that goes on at the end of the book and you notice as you read that you are rapidly running out of pages and yet there is still story to be told, things you, as a reader, want to have resolved. The beauty of Heinlein’s juveniles is that even though there is enough structure present to build an even bigger (longer) story, it simply isn’t needed. The story is great as it is, and Starman Jones has an ending that satisfies.

I only wish now that I could go on more adventures with Max Jones.”

As I look at this list again it is not an easy thing to pick a favorite, and yet when push comes to shove my pick for my Best Reading Experience of 2010 the choice is obvious:

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin.

Given the hype heaped upon this book by its long history of devoted readers, by my dear friend’s acknowledgment of this being his favorite series, its length (nearly a thousand page books are not my favorite thing to pick up), the upcoming HBO miniseries, and the fact that I had waited so long to read it after Jeff had given me a copy as a gift, it would not have been a great surprise if there had been some let down once I finally cracked it open. Instead I was sucked in so strongly that I read this book in a mere three days, which for me is a nearly Herculean accomplishment, especially since those three days were work days. I took this book everywhere during those three days and snatched a page or two, or twenty, whenever I possibly could. I stayed up late, got up early, read during lunches, and was in awe during the whole experience. A Game of Thrones is an amazing book.
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Honorable Mentions

A number of other books I read could easily sit on this baker’s dozen list:

Eight Stories From the Rest of the Robots ~Isaac Asimov

I am a big fan of Asimov’s robot short stories and was pleased with all eight of these. It didn’t make the list simply because I feel that to really appreciate these stories you would have to read the I, Robot collection first. So do it already, its good!

You Will Never Be the Same ~Cordwainer Smith

I mentioned in a recent posts that Cordwainer Smith’s work sings to me. It really does. It has a lyricism that is beyond description. A few weak stories kept this out of the top 13, but the other stories in the collection are so strong that it, like Cyberabad Days, was never far from my mind.

Finch ~Jeff Vandermeer

Even as I type this I chide myself for this not being a part of the top 13, but I cannot justify taking anything else off either. Suffice it to say that Vandermeer created a dank, dark, seedy and entirely unique world that is a character in and of itself in this science fiction/fantasy/noir mystery novel. This book is unlike anything I have ever read and while it started off slightly challenging I soon found myself wandering Vandermeer’s world as if I were a long time resident. This guy can write!

Valor’s Choice ~Tanya Huff

This is the first adventure for Staff Sergeant Torin Kerr, a character who quickly became on of my favorites of the year. Huff builds this story slowly, giving the reader a chance to meet a variety of human and alien characters and acclimate to her created future history without being subjected to info-dumping. I really enjoyed both of the novels in this two-book omnibus edition and have the third queued up and ready to read.

Hull Zero Three ~Greg Bear

Given that I just finished the book and reviewed it yesterday, the adventure and suspense of this story is still very fresh in my mind. It is that freshness that kept me from moving it into one of the top spots. I feel very strongly that it deserves a place at the table, but I feel it is prudent to give it a bit more time before assigning it that honor.
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Given the large number of short stories I read this year, I wanted to take a moment to list a few that really stood out. You may click on the book/magazine title in parenthesis if you are interested in reviewing my thoughts on any of these stories.

To Avenge Man ~Lester Del Ray (Galaxy, December 1964)

Sanjeev and Robotwallah ~Ian McDonald (Cyberabad Days)

The Long Watch ~Robert A. Heinlein (Green Hills of Earth)

Sweet-Forget-Me-Not ~Charles de Lint (Muse and Reverie)

The Disappearance of Elaine Coleman ~Steven Millhauser (Dangerous Laughter)

Between the Thunder and the Sun ~Chad Oliver (The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction, Seventh Series)

Scanners Live in Vain ~Cordwainer Smith (You Will Never Be The Same)

Helping Them Take the Old Man Down by William Preston (Asimov’s, March 2010)

Ticket Inspector Gliden Becomes the First Martyr of the Glorious Human Uprising ~Derek Zumsteg (Asimov’s, March 2010)

Ashes on the Water by Gwendolyn Clare (Asimov’s, January 2011)

Killer Advice ~Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Asimov’s, January 2011)
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While this is primarily a post related to reading, I cannot help also mentioning films and games, two of my favorite things to spend time with when I am not reading.

Overall I feel this was a very weak year for films. Very weak. But in the midst of this weakness a couple really stood out.

Best films watched in the theater in 2010:

Shutter Island

“Shutter Island is a dark, suspenseful film with incredible visuals. It is a layered story that rouses suspicions and leaves you questioning your assumptions even after the film is over. While I feel pretty solid in my interpretation of events, I have read the opinions of others that also have validity and, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, make me want to go back and see the film again. Shutter Island is the perfect film for those who like cold, dark movies that creep up on you, films thick with atmosphere and foreboding, films that contain both real and imagined horror. ”

Though I only saw this gripping film once in the theater, compared to four times for Inception, it beats out that film as my favorite for the year. But it is a very close race.

Inception

Yet another instance where I was negligent in reviewing something that made a huge impression on me when it came out. As I mentioned, I saw it four times, each time with someone different. Twice in 3-D. Both films are everything I want out of a theater-going experience and I can only hope that 2011 brings more films of this caliber to the screen.

I watched many more movies on DVD than on the big screen this year. A couple of stand outs that I want to mention are:

Moon

This came out in 2009 but went completely under my radar. When it cropped up all over ‘best of’ lists at the end of the year, I knew I had to track it down. It is a great film. Perfect science fiction. If you haven’t seen it, you are missing a real treat.

Book of Eli

Post-apocalyptic films are always a crap-shoot. Their depressing settings, especially given some of the realities we find ourselves in, don’t always make for engaging viewing. There was just something about this film that engaged my wife and I and we really enjoyed watching it. Like the books that made my top reads, this story stuck with me and I found myself thinking about the film off and on throughout the year.

And finally I cannot get away from visual storytelling without mentioning that my favorite television series that I watched on DVD this year was:

Better Off Ted

I have no idea why this show was completely off my radar when it was on, but that was a real shame, as was its untimely demise. That being said, this two season series is well worth checking out. The characters are a hoot and it is a funny, funny (and bitingly satiric) show. If you haven’t watched it, I recommend finishing season two by watching episode 13 (the last episode) BEFORE you watch epidsode 12. Watching episode 12 last puts a nice emotional cap to a series that ended well before it should have.
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And finally, I did spend some quality time gaming this year.

Best gaming experiences of 2010:

Mass Effect 2

The Mass Effect trilogy (the third is set to be released late in 2011) is a series that proves that science fiction games can truly tell an epic story. Mass Effect was great. Mass Effect 2 made it look like a red-headed step child.

Red Dead Redemption

I blogged about the experience here. Who knew cleaning up the wild west could be so much fun? I was quite sad when this one ended and hope to see more storytelling in the Red Dead universe sometime soon.

Fallout: New Vegas

I have yet to complete the latest in the Fallout series, but I have put in MANY hours and plan to put in MANY, MANY more before completing the final mission. Fallout 3 and now Fallout: New Vegas put you smack dab into a fascinating post-apocalyptic world. The games are filled with adventure, laughs, and some of the most wonderful old music.
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So how about all of you? Did you accomplish your reading goals this year? Did you discover any new authors who are destined to be favorites? How about goals left undone or books left unfinished. I know that I have several books that I started, truly enjoyed, and got distracted for one reason or another and have yet to finish…but finish them I will! Among these are:

A Clash of Kings ~George R.R. Martin
The Simple Art of Murder ~Raymond Chandler
Robot Dreams ~Isaac Asimov
Someplace to Be Flying ~Charles de Lint
Unfinished Tales ~J.R.R. Tolkien

I love reading everyone’s “Best Of” lists, despite the effect it inevitably has on both my To Be Read list and my wallet!

Here are links to other ‘Best Of’ 2010 roundup posts. Let me know in the comments if you have one and I’ll add it to the list.

1. Little Red Reviewer

2. SF Signal: The 2010 Best Genre-related List Part 1

3. SF Signal: The 2010 Best Genre-related List Part 2

4. Adventures in Reading: The Top Nine Author Discoveries of 2010

5. Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist: Top 10 Speculative Fiction Titles of 2010

6. Ian Sales: The Year That Was

7. Daphne: 2010 Reading Summary

8. Logan K. Stewart: My Reading List–2010 Edition

9. The Erudite Ogre: Top 10 List

10. Deslily: Best and Worst

11. Bart’s Bookshelf: End of Year Wrap Up

12. The Sensawunda Awards for Short Fiction 2010

13. Geranium Cat: The Year’s Books