Booklist 2010.

Books Completed This Year
Recommendation Key:

!  Certified intellectual endorsement
*  Light and fun
x  Not worth it

~  Meh. Okay.
^  School book

• ! The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath (1/25) (266 pgs.)
• Poetic, semi-autobiographical account of a nineteen-year-old's descent into madness
• * Such a Pretty Fat, Jen Lancaster (1/28) (379 pgs)
• Hilarious weight-loss memoir of a writer who thinks she's a perfectly pretty fat chick
• x Wishful Drinking, Carrie Fisher (1/29) (169 pgs.)
• Comedic addiction-recovery/life memoir by the actress who played Princess Leia
• ! Look at the Birdie, Kurt Vonnegut (1/30) (251 pgs.)
• Previously unpublished (and brilliant!) short story compilation; review here
• ! Sum, David Eagleman (2/1) (110 pgs.)
• Forty eloquent, creative & provocative vignettes about the afterlife; review here
• ! If This is a Man, Primo Levi (2/9) (173 pgs.)
• A brilliant, truthful, and literary memoir of the iconic author's time in Auschwitz
• ^ What is a Jew?, Rabbi Kertzer (2/11) (321 pgs.)
• A concise, personable, and friendly introduction to Judaism and its tenets
• ! The Help, Kathryn Sockett (2/14) (459 pgs.)
• Southern women in the 1960s raise other ladies' babies and champion truth
• ! The Drowned and the Saved, Primo Levi (2/17) (203 pgs.)
• Levi's last; characterized by intellectual, philosophical musings about human nature
• ! Auschwitz, Miklos Nyiszli (3/7) (300 or so pgs.)
• This doctor's disturbing account of pseudomedical experimentation is out of print
• * The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins (3/10) (400ish)
• Read this in one sitting--futuristic society ruled by an iron fist with a sadistic bent
• ! All But My Life, Gerda Weissmann Klein (3/21) (261)
• Emotional and ultimately optimistic Shoah memoir--rare!
• ^ Evolutionary Psychology, David Buss (3/26) (477)
• Very contemporary textbook; technical but interesting; lots of revolutionary studies.
• * Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters, A. Miller & S. Kanazawa (3/26) (250)
• A colloquial look at evolutionary psychology. Well-referenced and thorough.
• ! The Virgin Suicides, Jeffrey Eugenides (4/5) (250)
• Weird. Five repressed teenage girls commit suicide as neighborhood boys look on.
• * The Witches, Roald Dahl (4/23) (250ish)
• A morbidly thrilling childhood favorite; I shivered the whole way through!
• ! Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card (4/26) (320?)
• Science fiction thriller with a refreshing amount of respect for children's intelligence
• ~ The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (5/2) (315)
• Interwoven tales of conflict between Chinese mothers and American-born daughters
• * Wayside School is Falling Down (5/7) (180)
• A childhood favorite; thirty interwoven stories of elementary school antics
• * Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins (5/14) (450?)
• This sequel to The Hunger Games is just as entertaining. Can't wait for the next one.
• ! One Second After, William Forstchen (5/20) (400ish)
• Horrifying post-apocalyptic novel too chillingly real to enjoy. I cried.
• ! The Road, Cormac McCarthy (5/22) (287)
• A father and son make their way through ash after the world ends. Disturbing.
• !!! The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (5/26) (400)
• Brave New World meets feminism gone overboard. Brilliant and provocative.
• ! The Best of Roald Dahl, Roald Dahl (6/18) (520)
• My favorite childhood author writes clever, catchy short stories for adults. Loved it.
• ! 1984, George Orwell (6/24) (312)
•  Classic, ominous tale of doublethink and Newspeak in a dystopic future.
• ! Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, Rhoda Janzen (6/24) (241)
• Giggle-out-loud memoir about Mennonites, heartbreak, and Bob from Gay.com.
• x The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, Stephenie Meyer (7/5) (178)
• At least the characters in "Twilight" distracted me from the quality of the writing.
• ! The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger (7/8) (546)
• Wow, this woman can write a relationship. Captivating theme, vulnerable characters.
• ! The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot (7/20) (370)
• Science meets sociology in the story of the woman behind HeLa and her bitter family.
• ! Both Ways Is The Only Way I Want It, Maile Meloy (7/31) (232)
• Concise and riveting collection of short stories set in the modern American West.
• ~ Out of My Mind, Sharon Draper (8/12) (295)
• An aphasic, physically handicapped narrator finds her voice, literally and figuratively.
• ! "Disquiet, Please!" More Humor Writing from The New Yorker (8/22) (525)
• Tongue-in-cheek to laugh-out-loud essay collection spanning eighty years.
• * Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins (8/26) (400)
• Grandiose, sad last installment of the only YA series worth reading this year.
• * The Nanny Diaries, Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus (9/6) (300ish)
• Engaging, light satire of Upper East Side parents and their trophy children. 
• !!! A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers (12/6) (437)
• Brilliant, self-conscious memoir; crown jewel of the narrative genre. Lives up to its title.
• ~ A Child Called "It," Dave Pelzer (12/15) (184)
• A terrible story presented poorly. His prose, though shocking, is anything but engaging.
• ! Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (12/31) (135)
• Graphic novel/memoir of a little rebel's childhood during the Iranian Islamic Revolution.