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First, my apologies for not posting here in so long. I’m going to try to post weekly in 2011, at the very least. We’ll see how that goes. It occurs to me only now just how horrible I’ve been. For instance, I never posted the pictures from my Europe trip that I promised. I got back on the last day of June. Yeah. I’m a horrible person.

But this post is not about apologies. It’s my 2010 year in review post, and it’s largely centered around the books I read. So sit back and enjoy, or skip. Because it’s going to be a long one.

First, the goals. For 2010 I set a goal of reading 52 books and 20,000 pages.

And now, the books (with a few life notes for reference).

January

My wonderful parents payed the change fee on my return ticket back to Washington and allowed me to stay in Michigan over the new year. Back in Washington it took a bit of getting used to to be in the apartment alone, but I settled in as well as can be expected. I worked on my thesis and on Willow Springs. I also finished two thesis books this month, since despite all my assertions to read like mad over the summer and through the fall, I was a bit behind.

Dragonspell, by Donita K. Paul
I picked this up before flying back to Michigan because I wanted something completely mindless. Plus, it had a cute picture on the cover. But silly me thinking that something shelved in the fantasy and science fiction section would be primarily fantasy. This author couldn’t have been more blatantly preachy if she’d chucked a Bible at me. I finished the book (obviously, or it wouldn’t be on my list) because there was this one tiny humming dragon that was super cute, but it was propaganda to the point where I was actually moved, for the second time in my life, to go online and post a book review on the seller’s website. Now, I can stomach religious mythology (I’ve read the Narnia books, for instance, and will probably read [most of] them again at some point) but this was overboard. And what’s the author’s response to reviews that politely pointed this out? Well, apparently I’m a God-hating cretin (not her words, but very much the sentiment).

Ava, by Carole Maso
This was a reread for me, for maybe the third time. And I loved this book. Was completely captivated by it. However, when I picked it up in January, it didn’t sparkle like it had before. It’s a lyric novel that asks for a lot from the reader (for instance, there are no chapters, no paragraphs, even, and much of it reads more like poetry; the narrative structure is unlike anything I’ve ever seen) and perhaps I just was at a point where I couldn’t give it, because when I reread this book again a few months later (it was a thesis book), it had that old loveliness back.

The Gathering Storm, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
Also a reread (it was only published in late October of 2009, but as it was the 12th book in what is perhaps my favorite series of all time—and super long—it merited a quick reread). I tend to blaze through books the first time I read them, so it was nice to go back through this monster of a book at a slower pace. And it was just as good the second time. Sanderson, the author selected to finish Jordan’s masterpiece after he died, doesn’t quite have the hang of some characters in this book (and who can blame him—there are hundreds of characters!) but the world itself felt the same, and I was able to let go and let him take me along for what was an awesome ride.

Housekeeping, by Marilynne Robinson
Marilynne Robinson is one of those authors I kept meaning to get around to, and I was so glad I did. Glad enough that I added this book to my thesis list. Looking back, though, I can’t really say what drew me to her other than the fact she was one of those authors I was supposed to have read. Because if someone would have described her style to me, I think I might have run the other way. Long sweeping narrative (though that isn’t a great way to describe it either), lots of description—those are things I tend to avoid. In some ways, then, this book taught me to expand, that there are ways to make really anything work. That’s it’s not so much what you do, it’s how you do it.

February

Something must have happened in February. In fact, I’m sure of it. If I think of anything, I’ll let you know. I was taking a nonfiction class. Overcoming some old nonfiction baggage. But really, that’s all I can think of. Unless you count being so tight with my money that I was, at one point, eating for $5 per day. Oh, and I got rear ended on the highway.

The Lover, by Marguerite Duras
This was another book I’d been meaning to get to that I finally did, and put on my thesis list. Something this and Robinson’s book had in common that really intrigued me was how the authors used memory, how they made it an almost tangible thing in the pages of the novel. Maso’s book, too, but that wasn’t a surprise to me upon reading it. I wasn’t sure (am still not sure) how I will apply this to my book, but I know it will find a way into my writing, because this is something that fascinates me. Not to mention how, in this book, Duras takes issues that might make her readers uncomfortable and turns them into…I’m not sure beauty is the right word, but something complex. Not black and white. (And considering she’s talking about a relationship between a teenager and an older man, that takes some serious skill. I really had no idea going in how I’d end up feeling. In some ways I still don’t.)

Tales of a Female Nomad, by Rita Golden Gelman
My first nonfiction for the year! I actually went on to read quite a bit of nonfiction (and I think my reading habit has changed, as I’m putting more nonfiction on my to-read list). Considering that in the last 5 years I picked out 10 nonfiction books (that weren’t for class), this year was a big step forward for me. But first, this book. I admit that I’ve got something against the travel memoir. Like the addiction memoir, I feel it’s overdone, though because of this prejudice, I don’t actually read them (or, at least, I haven’t in many years). I did see some of the things that I say bother me showing up in these pages, but I could also see the reason that these type of books continue to sell. I enjoyed this book, and I think I’d be willing to give the genre another try—if a book came with a recommendation from someone I trust, as this one did.

March

On March 1 I started my Day Zero project (which I have been horribly negligent about updating lately, though I am still working my way through the goals). I had my spring break, and suddenly, my thesis defense and graduation began to look a lot closer. Of course, I did make sure to spend some time relaxing first, and watching lots of basketball (which, interestingly, has the opposite effect of relaxing). I think it was this month that I hit something like the 80% done mark on my thesis. Yay me! Let’s just hold onto that awesome feeling for a little bit here, shall we?

The Edible Woman, by Margaret Atwood
I read one book this month. Yes. One. This one. And it disappointed me. The Handmaid’s Tale is one of my all-time favorite books (it was on my thesis list!), but this one fell flat for me. It seemed like it hung too much on gimmick, like it worked the gimmick too hard. Considering I just finished a book that hung on a food-related gimmick and loved it, I think this is just another example of “anything can work if done well.” Too me this one just didn’t work, though it came to me well recommended. Oh well, to each her own. I still have The Blind Assassin sitting on my shelf. Maybe I’ll get to that one this year.

April

This is where the year starts reforming in my mind. This was the month of AWP, GetLit!, and OH MY GOD THESIS! But first, AWP. It was awesome, and amazing, and I just can’t say enough wonderful things about it. And oh yeah. I can’t afford to go this year and it makes me cranky beyond reason. Especially since almost half my thesis list will be there! I’m still hoping some money will magically fall from the sky in the next four weeks, but I’ve got my sights set on next year. GetLit! was also great, but between those two events, I was swamped this month. Still, I thrive when I’m busy to the point of mind boggling stress. Especially since my weekly massages were keeping the headaches at bay. And finally, remember that thesis awesomeness? Yeah, all gone. I cut half of it this month. Rewrote it, then cut it again.

Wolf Parts, by Matt Bell
I read this tiny yet awesome book while on the plane back from AWP. It looks at the Little Red Riding Hood story in new and creepy ways. I really can’t say much more without getting too specific, but I can say that I met Matt Bell at AWP, and he is pretty sweet. I was familiar with his work from Willow Springs, and I can say that if you like quality fiction with some sci-fi and/or fantasy elements with just enough weird thrown in, you should check out his work.

Auto-Erotica, by Stacia Saint Owens
Another author I discovered through my work at Willow Springs. And when I say discovered, of course, I mean that’s how I found her, not that I’m the one that first noticed her talent. This was my first book of short stories of the year (the Bell book was short shorts). I’m still learning to sit down and read stories the same way I read novels, and this might be the first book of short stories I’ve ever picked up by choice. The stories were hit or miss for me, but none are forgettable. I was actually thinking about one the other night, randomly. But anyway, my favorite is the one we published in Willow Springs, and I swear I’m not just saying that because I worked there.

The Awakening, by Kate Chopin
This book was a risk for me. I first read it while a senior in high school. And I hated it. Except hate isn’t really strong enough. I couldn’t stand Edna’s character, the choices she made. In many ways, I took the side of the very society she so longed to escape. I didn’t understand. But now, eight years later, after coming to a sort of feminist awakening, after maturing as both a reader and a person, I did a complete 180. I loved it. I got it. I felt for Edna. I was finally able to look past one aspect (whether or not I agreed with the character’s decisions) and take in the book as a whole. It was a wonderful experience.

Wizard’s First Rule, by Terry Goodkind
Three months was a long time for me to go without reading any fantasy, so even though I was still a bit behind on thesis reading, I snuck this book in for pure pleasure. That said, however, I don’t love this book. I like it, but I don’t love it. I have some issues with what I see as extensive exposition (especially through dialogue) and believe that all the books in this series could do with some crazy trimming (and some darling-killing). But I accept that is probably a subjective stylistic difference and focus on the things that I do enjoy. I’d actually like to reread this entire series (I first read it a few years back), but I only have books one and two, so I’m working on it.

The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri
Another thesis book, this too had been sitting on my shelf for an exceedingly long time, just waiting for me to pick it up and love it. And I did. Now, some books that I love I pick up and can’t put down until I finish it. Others almost demand a slower pace. This was one of the latter. I can’t really explain why that is, or why, after loving it so very much, I feel so little desire to reread it any time soon. It’s slow moving but engaging, every page. It deals with so many high-drama situations but never crosses the line into daytime soap opera. It felt almost perfectly balanced. So maybe that’s why I feel like I do about it—I’m just ready to move onto another one of her books, to experience that joy as well.

That’s all I can get through tonight. I’ll do a part II in the next few days. And maybe a part III; I’m only through 12 of the 42 books I read this year.