It's time once again for that year-end summary. It's been another great reading year with many excellent reads and fewer DNFs than even last year. I finished off quite a few "dead" series and caught up to the current release on many others. I also have discovered some interesting new-to-me authors.
Here's the vital statistics:
Total books read: 198. (Down from last year's 234.)
DNFs (Did Not Finish): Only 5 this year, down from 11 last year. I like to think this means I'm getting better at knowing my reading tastes. It might just be pure luck, though. :)
TOPS and BOTTOMS of the year. I have a separate category for mysteries since that's the genre I read most. This was very difficult!! Lots of excellent books didn't make it into the top ten.
There aren't many bottoms, because if I'm not enjoying a book, I simply stop reading it, and I don't review books I don't finish. So it's not necessarily that the bottoms are horrible--just my least favorite of those I did finish. And these are not necessarily books *released* during this year, just books I've read during this year; I'm often several years behind on 'what's hot' currently.
TOP TEN MYSTERIES: (in no particular order)
1. Moonlight Downs by Adrian Hyland
2. Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris
3. Raven Black by Ann Cleeves
4. The Unquiet Bones by Melvin R. Starr
5. A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny
6. A Nail Through the Heart by Timothy Hallinan
7. Junkyard Dogs by Craig Johnson
8. Let the Dead Lie by Malla Nunn
9. The Calling by Inger Ash Wolfe
10.Medicus by Ruth Downie
11.Blacklands by Belinda Bauer
12.An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear
13.Missing Mark by Julie Kramer
14.Dog On It by Spencer Quinn
15.Christmas Mourning by Margaret Maron
Yes...I know. Math was never my strong suit. :)
TOP TEN "OTHER" (anything not a mystery):
1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
2. Hood by Stephen R. Lawhead
3. Kushiel's Avatar by Jacqueline Carey
4. The Map of True Places by Brunonia Barry
5. Changes by Jim Butcher
6. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
7. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
8. Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie
9. Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin
10.Sleepless by Charlie Huston
Bottoms:
Our Lady of Immaculate Deception by Nancy Martin
The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
Mercy Falls by William Kent Krueger
The Stolen Blue by Judith Van Gieson
A Fountain Filled With Blood by Julia Spencer-Fleming
Death of an Englishman by Magdalen Nabb
Stalked by Brian Freeman
And for once, I do have an actual New Year's Resolution, and it's one that involves books: I pledge not to purchase any books this year. (I am still going to trade books at Paperbackswap.com, but will not spend actual money for books in 2011.) I'm not sure what kind of odds the bookmakers are giving, but I am DETERMINED.
Roll on 2011! Happy Reading in the New Year, everyone!
Cheryl
