I read 19 books in 2010 which is a far cry from those early days in the mid-late-90s when I was reading 40 books a year. I know there are people out there who read a lot more and all I can say is: I’m jealous.
The year started out with the fascinating biography of C. M. Kornbluth by Mark Rich and ended (just 20 minutes ago) with the absolutely stunning All Clear by Connie Willis.
Here are my picks for the year’s best reads:
- Blackout by Connie Wilis
- Other Spaces, Other Times by Robert Silverberg
- Caesar and Christ by Will Durant
- Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
- All Clear by Connie Willis
Blackout/All Clear is the finest time travel novel I’ve ever read, and I’ve read plenty of them. I’ll have more to say about the novel (and it is one novel, despite being split into two books) in a subsequent post. Suffice it to say for now that I was absolutely blown away by the scope of the novel, the historical details, and the wonderfully brilliant writing.
Robert Silverberg said he would never write an autobiography but Other Spaces, Other Times is awfully autobiographical–and brilliant. I enjoyed every minute of that read.
Caesar and Christ is the third volume of Will Durant’s “Story of Civilization” and it’s richly detailed picture of life in ancient Rome made for a wonderful summer read for me.
Doomsday Book blew me away and I could barely put it down. The ending was unforgettable and proved to me just how remarkable a writer Connie Willis is.
A few honorable mentions:
- C. M. Korbluth by Mark Rich
- Galileo’s Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson
- Booklife by Jeff VanderMeer
- The Devil’s Eye by Jack McDevitt
There was some pretty good short fiction this year, too, but I’ll write about that in a subsequent post.
RSS - Posts