Thursday, December 31, 2009

LIST: Favorite Reads of the Decade

Best Books of the Decade (aren't I glad I've kept a reading list of all the books I've read, and that I didn't use to read over 100 books in a year, making it easier to pick top books?) Some years, I read a lot of books from one particular series. I can never pick one book in particular book that I liked best, but the series as a whole deserved recognition, as I read several books in a year of that particular series.

2000
Evening Class - Maeve Binchy (not sure if this was the first time I read this)
The White Bone - Barbara Gowdy
Harry Potter - the first two books
series of the year - Thomas and Charlotte Pitt mysteries by Anne Perry

2001
The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
A Good House - Bonnie Bernard
Girl with Pearl Earring - Tracy Chevalier
Bridget Jones' Diary - Helen Fielding
series of the year - Clan of the Cave Bear series by Jean Auel

2002
Bridget Jones: Beyond Reason - Helen Fielding
series of the year - Kathy Reichs' Temperance Brennan


2003
Ella Minnow Pea - Mark Dunn
Confessions of a Shopaholic - Sophie Kinsella
series - William Monk mysteries by Anne Perry


2004
The Five People You Meet in Heaven - Mitch albon
DaVinci Code - Dan Brown
The Live of Pi - Yann Martel
A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follet

2005
America: Democracy In-action - Jon Stewart
The Poet - Michael Connolly
The Birth of Venus - Sarah Dunant
Middlesex - Jeffery Eugneides
A Girl Named Zippy - Haven Kimmel

2006
Pope Joan - Donna Woolfolk Cross
A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
The Lady and the Unicorn - Tracy Chevalier
The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

2007
I Am the Messenger - Markus Zusak
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chobsky
The Bone People - Keri Hulme
Never Let Me Go - Kazou Ishiguro
Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
series of the year - Shakespeare mystery series by Charlaine Harris

2008
The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde
Crow Lake - Mary Lawson
Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk
Life as We Knew It - Susan Beth Pfeffer
Black Swan Green - David Mitchell
series of the year - Inspector Montalbano by Andrea Camilleri

2009
The Lizard Cage - Karen Connolly
Twenties Girl - Sophie Kinsella
Fingersmith - Sarah Waters
The Outlander - Gil Adamson
The Housekeeper and the Professor - Yoko Ogawa
series of the year - Inspector Erlunder series (Icelandic mysteries)

12 comments:

  1. The decade! I can't even remember my favorite books for this current year. I am hugely impressed.

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  2. I could do my favourite s of the last 5 years, but I definitely couldn't do it for the last decade!

    Colour me impressed!

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  3. pam - I keep lists. List, lists, lists. I couldn't remember what I read last week if I didn't write it down.

    marg - in 2000 I started keeping track of the books I read, and they were all in one book journal. I just picked the books that still stood out for me. My quality of books, as well as quantity has certainly improved in the last few years.

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  4. Yes, I started my list in 2004 I think! I do love my lists. Helps in so many ways!

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  5. Fantastic list! So many of my favourite books are there. The only one I haven't heard of is A Girl Named Zippy. I need to look into that one - thankyou!

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  6. In about four more years than I will be able to do a decades post. :-)

    It's really interesting, isn't it, to look over your favorites through the years.

    I am hoping to read my first Sarah Waters book this year. And Outlander sure looks good.

    I wish you the best of luck in the New Year and may you read many new books.

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  7. I like so many of your top reads. It's funny how The Housekeeper and The Professor made a lot of top ten lists this year, including ours!

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  8. marg - gotta love the lists

    jackie - Zippy is a memoir, I'm hoping to read the sequel this year. Very cute book

    wendy - I've enjoyed your retrospectives of past years. I didn't keep more than a list of the books until I started blogging, so I can only go on gut reaction and remembrances.
    Ooh, first Sarah Waters, Fingersmith was fabulous.

    belleza - It was such a beautiful book, I lend it to everyone, especially my math friends.

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  9. What a great list! I wish I had been keeping track of the books I've read and the best books for each year much sooner!

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  10. I am very impressed! I am not this organized!

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  11. Great list!! I LOVED some of the books on your list! Esp. Twenties Girl!!

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  12. What a great list! I've only been keeping track of what I read for the last 4-5 years. You've included lots of my favorites, plus plenty I haven't read yet. So many good books!

    Sue

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