<p>Yes, I know there have been a lot of book threads. But I have a bit of Christmas money to spend AND a 50% off of any one item at Borders coupon. So tell me, what is the best book you read in 2010? Current, classic or whatever.</p>
<p>Underworld by Don DeLillo. It’s long, it’s haunting, and it’s brilliant.</p>
<p>The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. It’s funny & light while being deep, meaningful and poignant at the same time. </p>
<p>Also, the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. But you have to start with the first book (there are 7 so far) or you’ll be lost.</p>
<p>If you are a dog lover, I downloaded “A Dog’s Purpose” to my phone and loved it. Not meaningful or poignant…but still, I really enjoyed it.</p>
<p>I really liked Fall of Giants by Ken Follet. I am not a big history buff but reading about 4 different families in the period from WWI through WWII was fascinating. It is a commitment at over a 1000 pages but worth it.</p>
<p>Cutting for Stone was my favorite book all year. Lots of great characters and wonderfully written.</p>
<p>The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon. Actually got the rec for the series from the “Beach Reads” thread on CC.</p>
<p>Cutting for Stone was the best book I read all year, also enjoyed Wench (hard to read for many) and Hold Love Strong.</p>
<p>These were my favorites: the Hotel at Bitter and Sweet, Major Pettigrew Last Stand, the 19th Wife and the Shanghai Sisters. Zeitoun by David Eggers was probably the book that haunted me the most. It was very disturbing that this happened in our country. </p>
<p>By the way, an easy way to keep track of your books is a site called shelfari. I love it because I can list what I read and what I thought about the book. If anyone is interested, pm me or just go to the site.</p>
<p>Another vote for Cutting for Stone. It’s the best book I’ve read in many years. I plan to read it again.</p>
<p>If you haven’t read The Help yet, that is also excellent (but not new this year). That has been on the bestseller list for three years and hasn’t gone to paperback yet because of such strong sales. That’s very unusual in the book world.</p>
<p>“The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet” by David Mitchell. Kind of hair-raising, but terrific! </p>
<p>I liked his amazing “Cloud Atlas” (2004) even better.</p>
<p>I liked:</p>
<p>The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit by Sloan Wilson and</p>
<p>The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho.</p>
<p>I can’t say that they are the best of the year because my memory is so far gone I can only remember what I’ve read in the past week or so! However, both are excellent.</p>
<p>Yet another vote for Cutting For Stone. The Steig Larsson books were terrific, too.</p>
<p>Another vote for Cutting for Stone (Verghese).</p>
<p>I also love My Reading Life by Pat Conroy - if you’re a fan of his work it’s a fascinating look into his development as a writer.</p>
<p>The book that has changed my life this year has been Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard (Chip Heath, Dan Heath). Not fiction, not a “great book” or a “good read”. However, it gave me a wonderful set of tools that have helped me to change habits that I have been trying to change for years.</p>
<p>The other book that I keep re-reading is Don’t Shoot the Dog (Karen Pryor), which is about how to change the behavior of the animals around you, whether those animals are humans or dogs, using your own behavior and without nagging.</p>
<p>Little Bee by Chris Cleave…
And the Stieg Larson books…</p>
<p>Three Cups of Tea and its follow up
Stones Into Schools</p>
<p>So many good books mentioned in earlier posts. I would add “Half Broke Horses”… more from Jeanette Walls who wrote “The Glass Castle.” “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell is absolutely facinating. I have heard “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” is good too.</p>
<p>I like memoirs, biographies, and essay collections. I read all of Atul Gawande’s books (Complications, Better, Checklist Manifesto) in 2010 (still finishing Complications though!). He’s a surgeon at Harvard and these books are collections of essays he’s written about various aspects of practicing medicine today–especially reflecting about the “art of medicine” and what it takes to be a good doctor nowadays.</p>
<p>I’m headed to medical school next year, and I wish these books were required reading!</p>
<p>Re; Post #15
“The other book that I keep re-reading is Don’t Shoot the Dog (Karen Pryor), which is about how to change the behavior of the animals around you, whether those animals are humans or dogs, using your own behavior and without nagging.”</p>
<p>If you enjoyed Karen Pryor’s book, you also might enjoy two books by Amy Sutherland:</p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love, and Marriage: Lessons for People from Animals and Their Trainers (9780812978087): Amy Sutherland: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/What-Shamu-Taught-About-Marriage/dp/0812978080/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/What-Shamu-Taught-About-Marriage/dp/0812978080/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1)</p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Kicked, Bitten, and Scratched: Life and Lessons at the World’s Premier School for Exotic Animal Trainers (9780143111948): Amy Sutherland: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Kicked-Bitten-Scratched-Lessons-Trainers/dp/0143111949/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Kicked-Bitten-Scratched-Lessons-Trainers/dp/0143111949/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2)</p>