Friday 1 January 2010

2009 – A summary

During 2009 I read at least 89 fiction and 21 non-fiction books. I probably forgot to record another one or two and I dipped into a few more.

My top ten titles for the year are:-

Boyd, A. W. The Country Diary of a Cheshire Man - which I had read before but which remains one of the best ever nature diaries of England.

Finlay, Victoria
Buried Treasure - a marvellous study of gems and their origins.

Seierstadt, Asne
The Bookseller of Kabul - a fascinating and controversial look at Afghanistan and Muslim life.

Drayson, Nicholas A Guide to the Birds of East Africa - brilliantly funny, romantic and entertaining fiction.

Haddon, Mark The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time –a marvellous, different piece of writing with a real insight into Asperger's

Pratchett, Terry
Unseen Academicals - not Pratchett’s best Discworld novel but still gets ten stars in my rating system.

Shreve, Anita Resistance – A well-written story of the Second World War.

Shaffer, Mary Ann The Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Society - War stories are not my normal reading and yet this is another Second World War book giving a fascinating insight into life in occupied Guernsey.

Farooki, Roopa The Corner Shop - A truly delightful story.

Faulks, Sebastian The Girl at the Lion d'Or - Excellently written. I just wanted more and more.

And since I cannot count well – here’s an eleventh.

Cornwell, Bernard
Azincourt - if only because historical novels are usually my favourites and this is as good as they come.

6 comments:

  1. l have read three of those and have another three on my to do list....

    a few years back l was running at 72 books for the year, (we read the orange short list in 2 weeks and then the booker in 2 weeks also) but with more hours at work, its on reception, although l can sometimes read at work...great eh? not on reception...

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  2. I've only read Guernsey, but I have Lion in a 'books to read' notebook based on your recommendation. I tried the Birds book and I don't know if it was too close to the time I read the latest Mma Ramotswe or not but for me it seemed much like Alex. McCall Smith's series. I will try again though since you like it so much. I love the title, The Corner Shop and will check it out.

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  3. 110 is a lot of books!! How do you think that relates to how many you've read in previous years?

    At least I've read one of your top 10 :-)

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  4. Also, what happened with the read your own books challenge? Did you make it to 20?

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  5. Not sure about previous years, Helen, except that in 2008 it was 128 fiction and 23 non-fiction – a total of 151. One of my biggest regrets is that I have not kept a list over my lifetime – that would be of great interest in my ‘old age’ (when I reach it!).

    In 2009 I read 50 of my own books and 47 from Pensby Library. The rest were GB’s, yours (Helen), or from Stornoway Library.

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  6. I enjoyed The Bookseller of Kabul, A Guide to the Birds of East Africa,and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Society very much myself. I reviewed the latter two if it interests you:

    http://freshinkbooks.blogspot.com/2008/11/guide-to-birds-of-east-africa-by.html

    http://freshinkbooks.blogspot.com/2008/08/guernsey-literary-and-potato-peel-pie.html

    Coventry by Helen Humphries is a book you might enjoy also:

    http://freshinkbooks.blogspot.com/2008/08/love-and-war.html

    So glad I found your blog. I've book marked it to return and read more.

    I hope today is one of your better days (I live with chronic pain myself). Take care.

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Hello folks - your comments are always welcome.