


2010 in Books Annotated

Transition by Iain M. Banks, photo by Paul Campbell

Here are the books that I read in 2010. During the first few months of 2010, I didn’t read much. I picked up some speed during the summer. I read a total of 44 books. Standout new novels of this year include Transition by Iain M. Banks, which surprised me a lot. That book was actually better than his Culture novel Surface Detail.

Other really good books include Zero History by William Gibson, which I truly enjoyed. It made me want to buy all of his old novels and read them again. I last read them when I was a teenager and I didn’t like them all that much.

In this list, you’ll find novels that I’ve read countless time, like House of Suns and Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds. His last book Terminal World was disappointing, as I pointed out earlier.

Compared to last year, I read a bit less (61 vs 44) but that’s understandable as I spent a few months reading nothing. This year, I want to read 100 books. That is not going to be easy, but it’s feasible.


(House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds)¹
Diary by Chuck Palahniuk
(Babylon Babies by Maurice Dantec)¹
(Century Rain by Alastair Reynolds)¹
(The Prefect by Alastair Reynolds)¹
The Education of JJ Pass by TF Rigelhof
(Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks)¹
(Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks)¹
(Excession by Iain M. Banks)¹
(Matter by Iain M. Banks)¹
(The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks)¹
(Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds)¹
(Redemption Ark by Alastair Reynolds)¹
(Anathem by Neal Stephenson)¹
The World According to Garp by John Irving
(Next by Michael Crichton)¹
(Olympos by Dan Simmons)¹

The Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris

I did enjoy reading these books, and I read them very quickly. These books are different from the books that I usually read. I hate to call them simple, but that is what they are when I compare them to some of the other novels that I read. The author doesn’t play with time and doesn’t have a complex narrative. The books are somewhat short and easy to read, which is why it took me a short while to read them all.

Dead Until Dark
Living Dead in Dallas
Club Dead
Dead As A Doornail
Definitely Dead
All Together Dead
From Dead to Worse
Dead and Gone
Dead in the Family

Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton
Drood by Dan Simmons²
(Absolution Gap by Alastair Reynolds)¹
Reckless by Cornelia Funke
Galileo’s Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson
Terminal World by Alastair Reynolds
Transition by Iain M. Banks
Zero History by William Gibson
Surface Detail by Iain M. Banks
The Evolutionary Void by Peter F. Hamilton
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen⁶
Makers by Cory Doctorow
Black Hills by Dan Simmons³
Fall of Giants by Ken Follett⁴
Long Lost by Harlan Corben
Choke by Chuck Palahniuk⁵

These books were read for the classes that I teach:

Lunch Money by Andrew Clements
Otherwise Known As Sheila the Great by Judy Blume

book count: 44

[¹]: I read these books again.
[²]: This was probably my favorite Dan Simmons book of the year. It was all about how Charles Dickens was obsessed with a character named Drood after an accident that he survived.
[³]: Another Dan Simmons book. This one was harder to read than others. It skipped around in time, making the narrative quite complex.
[⁴]: I picked this book up on a whim because it was very thick and looked interesting. I wasn’t disappointed, but the most important thing about this book is that it made me read up on the First and Second World War, including quite a bit about the Nazis.
[⁵]: Like most Palahniuk novels, it’s disturbing.
[⁶]: I had to order this book in and I have to say that I liked it. It was compelling and since I usually don’t read that much general fiction, enjoyable.

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ranjitwithkinginbehand.jpgI'm Range, your host. On the menu, photos, art, stories, entertainment and reviews. Links, maths, education and social issues. I'm in Quebec (Canada) or Taiwan (R.O.C.). Follow me on Twitter.

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