A list of the books I read in 2010. Not super impressive, but for a slow reader like myself I'm okay with it.
So glad I started the year with a classic. I loved Little Women and also loved that my own little women read it with me.
Favorite fun fiction was Tea House on Mulberry Street. I loved how it all wrapped up in the end. Bite-sized chapters always left me wanting more. Memorable.
Favorite Dramatic Fiction was These Is My Words. Good old romantic western. Made me want to be a pioneer. No, actually, it made we want to be romanced by a certain Capt. Jack. (swoon) I can do without the snakes and indian attacks and stuff. I should mention The Poisonwood Bible also as a good read, notwithstanding the political and religious propoganda.
Favorite non-fiction. Can't decide between In the Presence of My Enemies and Columbine. Both amazingly sad stories that provided a lot of insight as to what would make humans do unthinkable, horrific things to other humans. While Gracia Burnham's book was autobiographical, which left her able to write based on her own memories of conversations and experiences, Dave Cullen had to do a ton of research for his account of the Columbine tragedy. It was very well written and I was impressed with his ability to keep it so objective. Certainly worth the read.
Check out my Goodreads account for starred ratings on all.
Happy New Reading to you!
2010 Reading List
• Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
• Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
• Columbine - Dave Cullen
• Illustrated Children's Bible - Grosset and Dunlap
• The Christmas Box - Richard Paul Evans
• Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
• The Color Purple - Alice Walker
• A Girl Named Zippy - Haven Kimmel
• The Thirteenth Tale - Dianne Setterfield
• Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson
• These Is My Words - Nancy E. Turner
• The Walk - Richard Paul Evans
• More Than You Know - Beth Gutcheon
• Atonement - Ian McEwan
• The Continuous Atonement - Brad Wilcox
• The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
• Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
• In The Presence of My Enemies - Gracia Burnham
• Better - Atul Gawande
• Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh - Robert C. O'Brian
• Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet - Jamie Ford
• Girl With A Pearl Earring - Tracy Chevalier
• Cherry Cheesecake Murder - Joanne Fluke
• The Tea House on Mulberry Street - Sharon Owens
• A New Earth - Eckhart Tolle
• Masquerading As Angels - Lance Richardson & Bruce Miller
• The Christmas Sweater - Glenn Beck
• Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
Other Summer Activities
2 months ago
5 comments:
I think Columbine is an excellent book and should be required reading.
I love love love These is My Words. I rarely go back and read books over again because there are so many book to read...but I might have to go back and read that one again!
Thanks for such kind words about my book, Sandra. (And Christina, too.) It did take a long time to do, but this kind of response makes it worth it.
Early on, I found the objectivity kind of hard, but once I got rolling, it was kind of liberating to take myself completely out of it. I picked ten major characters, and my intent was to tell each of their stories, as much as possible from their point of view. So that became the challenge on each one: to try to get inside their head, and to take the reader in there with me.
BTW, we’ve had a lot of interest from teachers—and students—on using the book in school, so we’re trying to make that easier. I spent a good chunk of the fall creating the Columbine Instructor Guide and Columbine Student Guide. They are now online and free. Please consider spreading the word. Thanks.
Actually Sandra, Cullen's "Columbine" isn't as objective as you might believe. There are two other books on the subject of Columbine that provide, in my opinion, a much more objective and indeed more accurate look at the Columbine attack.
They are "Comprehending Columbine" by Ralph Larkin and "Columbine: A True Crime Story" by Jeff Kass. Kass was a staff writer for Denver's Rocky Mountain News and he has covered the Columbine story since the very beginning. I've been urging anyone who has read Cullen's book to please give these two books a try. Unfortunately they haven't received half the publicity as Cullen's book. Too bad since they're twice as good.
Ah, Lisa is back. She had given up her hobby of following me around on the web to disparage my book, but apparently a little time opened up in her life. The simple pleasures. Have fun with that, Lisa.
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