Last year I read only 41 books. Their average rating was 7.6, which is pretty great. Now, some awards:
I Don't Know Why I Stuck It Out As Long As I Did:
I started and did not finish 6 books - The Fortress of Solitude, The Waves, To Say Nothing of the Dog, The Plot Against America, The Fifth Book of Peace, and Hamlet. I'd say The Fortress of Solitude was the most disappointing. My expectations were, naturally, high, and I kept reading long after I knew I just didn't like it.
Why Does Margaret Atwood Hate Me:
The two lowest grades all year went to Writing Down the Bones, and Oryx and Crake. Atwood and I have an on-again-off-again relationship. Every other book I read by her is great. It's strangely consistent. But Oryx and Crake had such a promising premise, and I hated it.
I Love Books:
I gave 10s to six books - The Polysyllabic Spree, Sunset Express, H.M.S. Surprise, The Language Instinct, Timequake, and Wake Up, Sir! That is a motley crew. I tend to give a 10 for books I really liked reading, not necessarily the books I thought were the best. I would be more likely to recommend something I gave a 9 than one of these books. I like these books so much because of something about me - the 10 is more subjective, I think, than the 9. I know, that's weird.
You Should Love Books, Too:
So here are the 9s, all of which were excellent: Dance Dance Dance, When We Were Orphans, Stranger in a Strange Land, After the Plague and Other Stories, The Winter Queen, Harry Potter 6, and How We Are Hungry. That's much more normal.
New To Me:
Every year I find a few authors that I hadn't read before, but who everyone else already loved. Hands down the best one was T.C. Boyle. For some reason I've always confused him with Thomas Pynchon, and therefore thought he was a purposely obscure writer who people read so they can say they read him. But I was so wrong! Boyle's short stories are amazing. I've already picked up one of his novels, and Ta has more of his short stories, which I will borrow in due time. I love finding a great writer who has already written a ton of books - it's so much better than waiting years and years for new books - Myla Goldberg, I'm looking at YOU.
Non-Fiction = Not the Anti-Christ:
This year I also read an unprecedented number of non-fiction books - nearly 25%. I have a bias against non-fiction for some reason. Mainly it's that I don't understand why we need a whole book - can't you write about goddamned salt in a magazine article? But I read some things this year that I really enjoyed - particularly The Language Instinct. I still maintain that no one needs a whole book about one event, or one food, or one person. But I get bored, that's just me.
New Series:
There is nothing I like better than finding a new series. Right now I am reading series by Sue Grafton, Robert Crais, Lemony Snicket, Jonathan Kellerman, Terry Pratchett, J.K. Rowling (hee!), and Patrick O'Brian. This year I added Boris Akunin's series of detective novels to the list. His detective, Erast Fandorin, lives in 1880s Russia, and the two books I've read so far have been amazing. Apparently they are best sellers in Russia, but are just now being translated. So the first one was written in 1998, but came out last year. Still, I like knowing they are already written, and I won't have to wait.
Book of the Year!
Looking back over 2005, it wasn't a great year. I had one amazing year (I think it was 2002), where I read Bee Season, Peace Like A River, Bel Canto, and Kavalier and Clay. It was insane. And I like all of those books more than my favorite this year, which is Wake Up, Sir! Don't get me wrong, Wake Up, Sir! was funny, and well-written. Still, it's a comic novel, and I'm a little sad that I didn't get to read anything I can add to my all-time favorite books.
