Choose the Year Book Tag: 2010

Thanks to a couple of Lauras (Reading in Bed and Dr Laura Tisdall) for making me aware of this tag that has also been going around on BookTube. If you haven’t already taken part and think this looks like fun, why not give it a try?

Goodreads lists the 200 most popular books of any given year. Skim through and see how many you’ve read from the list and discuss whichever ones you like. (I chose not to answer the last two questions of this prompt but have included them at the bottom of the post.)

 

1. Choose a year and say why.

I browsed a few of the years and found that 2010 contained 12 books that I’ve read, including some that stood out to me for various reasons. For instance, two of them marked the start of my interest in medical-themed reading. I also think of 2010 as when my reading went into ‘mega’ mode, i.e. approaching 200 books per year. (Now it’s more like 320 a year.)

 

2. Which books published in that year have you read [or if none, heard of]?

Because the list is based on the number of times a book has been added to users’ shelves (though not necessarily read and rated) on Goodreads, there is a LOT of YA and series fiction, e.g. Mockingjay at #1. Other notable inclusions: Heaven Is for Real by Todd Burpo and Orange Is the New Black before that really took off.

 

Read at the time:

Gimmicky child narrator, but thoroughly readable: Room by Emma Donoghue (#4)

 

Medical masterpieces: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (#6) and The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee (#45)

 

Postmodern, angsty pop culture-filled delights: A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (#31) and Freedom by Jonathan Franzen (#37). I wonder if they’ve stood the test of time?

 

Vintage Bryson in curiosity-indulging mode: At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson (#69)

 

Not his usual sort of thing, but my introduction to him and a damn fine work of historical fiction: The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell (#112)

 

Not my usual sort of thing (sappiness + magic realism), but I read it at a festival and it passed the time: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender (#116)

 

Part of my progressive Christian education, but not a great example; not memorable in the least: Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt (#138)

 

A joy of a linked short story collection set among expat journalists in Rome; this author hasn’t disappointed me since: The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman (#156)

 

Who knew typesetting could be so fascinating?! Just My Type: A Book About Fonts by Simon Garfield (#178)

 

Read later on:

A brilliant WWII novel, truly among the best of the best: The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer (#93)

 

A DNF: Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow (#73) was way too involved for my level of interest.

 

3. Are there any books published in that year that sound interesting, and would you read them now?

 

On the TBR:

#50 Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson

#75 The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson

#124 Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok

#152 Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart

 

None of these are priorities, but I’d still read them if a copy came my way.

 

[4. Most obscure-sounding book

5. Strangest book cover]

 

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Do you remember any of these 2010 releases with fondness? Which other ones from the list should I read?