2010 in reading

My favourite 2010 books

In no particular order...

The list this year is completely dominated by Meljean Brook. I react to her books like a complete fangirl, and almost feel like I should give one of her books a low grade at least once, just to restore my credibility. Can't do it, though, I love them too much.

Rosalia and Deacon's romance in Demon Blood was one of her best, and I just love, love, love the worldbuilding and the larger storyline that keeps developing in all the books.


Then I read the short story that starts her new steampunk series, The Iron Seas. Here There Be Monsters completely wowed me. Not only was I really intrigued by the unique world it was set in, the romance was so good I didn't want it to end.


And if HTBM was a promising start, The Iron Duke delivered, and how! This is probably the most amazing, fascinating world I've ever read about, and I can't wait to explore more, and the romance was just as good.


Lisa Marie Rice is an old favourite, and her latest, Into The Crossfire was among my favourites. I had started feeling a bit irritated by her heroes, but we get a truly lovely one here (and yes, it's just as over the top and unbelievable as her previous books, but I don't care in the least).


And oops, I wrote the bit below before this, and now I can't be bothered editing it. So I'll just say that The Red Queen, by Philippa Gregory and What The Librarian Did, by Karina Bliss, also belong up here!

Best discoveries

Julie James' Just The Sexiest Man Alive was fantastic fun, and I loved that the heroine could best the hero (who was being a bit of an arse and deserved it) without the author feeling the need to put her "in her place". I've now also read Something About You and I've been saving Practice Makes Perfect for my upcoming holiday.


What took me so long to read Philippa Gregory? The Red Queen was meaty but extremely readable, and when I finished it, I didn't want to leave the world she'd created. I feel a glom coming on! Fortunately, unlike Julie James, she's got a nice, long backlist.


Karina Bliss's What The Librarian Did made me laugh and cry. A snarky librarian heroine, a to-die-for hero and lots of lovely banter. Another glommable author!


I didn't expect to like Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games as much as I did... I don't really do YA. It was outstanding, though, a book that kept me up until 4 in the morning, practically biting my nails and racing through the pages. I've now read the rest of the trilogy and, although the 1st was best, enjoyed them all.


I really liked Kristin Harmel's romancey chick-lit. Italian For Beginners was my first and favourite, with its wonderful Roman setting, but I also liked The Blonde Theory.


Gail Carriger's steampunk paranormal, Soulless, was great fun, especially the homage to my beloved Amelia Peabody! It was also probably my first steampunk, although not my favourite this year (see above for that!)


Tess Gerritsen is another author I'm kicking myself for not having tried earlier. The Surgeon is the first in her Rizzoli / Isles police procedural series, and an excellent, if gory and graphic, read. I'm up to the 4th in the series now, and trying to keep myself from racing through the rest.


A book set in Germany during the 2nd World War and narrated by Death sounds pretty glum. Markus Zusak's The Book Thief is certainly not cheerful, but it's a beautiful, uplifting and tender read, which I really enjoyed.


Christos Tsiolkas' The Slap is a love-it-or-hate-it book, but I'm firmly on the love-it camp. Yes, it's full of unpleasant characters, but they're so damn interesting!


Finally, LM Turner's novella, The Subtle Build of Perfection, was probably one of the sweetest, most romantic reads of the year. Can't wait to read more!


And that wraps it up. 2010 was a really good year, let's hope for an even better 2011!