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My top 10. Rebekah Send a noteboard - 20/12/2010 12:43:04 PM
In no particular order.

- Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell: probably one of the best books I've ever read. The intertwined stories are interesting and clever, and Mitchell's way of playing with language is fabulous. It's a book that could be read over and over again, with new realisations on each reread.

- Little Hands Clapping by Dan Rhodes: a newly discovered author for me, and I've now read everything he's written so far (I think), apart from the one he wrote under the pen name Danuta De Rhodes. I want to read that, though. This book is kooky, fun, and infectious. Also a little creepy and gruesome. I love it.

- Escher's Loops by Zoran Živkovi?: a complete mind-twister of a story. Clever is too mild a word for this book. The name is perfect.

- Under the Skin by Michel Faber: such an atmospheric novel. Faber is another author who compells me to read everything he's written. This book is a delicately revealed mystery, and subtle challenge of our preconceptions, and a psychological thriller.

- Sum: Tales from the Afterlives by David Eagleman: A short collection of very short stories about the possibilities of the after life. Fuuny, sad, moving, distressing, and very, very clever. It's a tiny book that will make you think.

- Skin and Other Stories by Roald Dahl: I didn't know that Dahl had written stories for adults. These are just as gloroius as his children's books, and perhaps unsurprisingly dark.

- Replay by Ken Grimwood: I don't know how to explain this choice without using words I've already overused. It is incredibly clever, it's beautifully written, it's a little surprising, and it's probably the best imagination of a relived life I've read. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't enjoy this book. It's wonderful.

- Pereira Maintains by Antonio Tabucchi: a truly lyrical story of love, loss, change and courage. Another book that would welcome frequent rereading. It's gorgeous.

- The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery: I love the tenderness of this book, the gradual blossoming of the main character, and the philosophy. I love the elegance of the language, and I really, really want to learn French so I can read it in the original.

- Blameless by Gail Carriger: the best of the three that have been published so far, hence the choice of this one rather than the first. These books are like Michelin-starred desserts. They're so much fun, with a very quirky sense of humour, and a beautiful imagining of a Victorian England inhabited by supernaturals. They are comfort reading at its best, and I cannot rave about them enough.


Honourable mentions also to: Fathers and Sons by Turgenev, Blindsighted by Karrin Slaughter, and City of Fear by Alafair Burke.
*MySmiley*

Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. - Groucho Marx
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What are your top ten reads of 2010? - 20/12/2010 12:07:54 PM 1247 Views
My top 10. - 20/12/2010 12:43:04 PM 1128 Views
Taking a look at the list... - 20/12/2010 05:48:23 PM 837 Views
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Hmm.(New) - 21/12/2010 02:21:40 AM 954 Views
You have to be the only person I've ever met who prefers Erikson's first book over the second. - 21/12/2010 06:42:40 PM 688 Views
Well. - 21/12/2010 09:19:42 PM 831 Views
Re: I'm with you on Felisin. Boring. - 25/12/2010 12:45:03 AM 682 Views
Agreed. *NM* - 25/12/2010 12:49:14 AM 319 Views
Yeah. Whenever I think of DH- it's always the Chain of Dogs. - 26/12/2010 09:47:49 PM 772 Views
Re: Yeah. Whenever I think of DH- it's always the Chain of Dogs. - 26/12/2010 11:49:49 PM 638 Views
850? So you have the best 200 pages left? *NM* - 27/12/2010 11:55:21 AM 324 Views
Hey hey hey no. - 27/12/2010 02:07:38 PM 662 Views
Oh. Some american edition, then. *NM* - 27/12/2010 07:07:02 PM 320 Views
Apparently so. - 27/12/2010 07:22:41 PM 613 Views
LMAO! - 24/12/2010 05:05:07 AM 728 Views
Re: Hmm.(New) - 29/12/2010 08:55:03 PM 686 Views
2010 Top 5 - 21/12/2010 10:51:10 AM 688 Views
I don't think I have time to even read ten books this year - 21/12/2010 02:17:01 PM 635 Views
So far... (because the year is not yet over) - 21/12/2010 03:12:06 PM 955 Views
You should do a review of Room with a View - 24/12/2010 03:27:38 PM 659 Views
Hmm. Lions of Al-Rassan may take the space of one of those - 28/12/2010 01:20:47 PM 636 Views
No particular order, also incomplete - 21/12/2010 10:57:36 PM 752 Views
Top ten-ish, no particular order - 24/12/2010 05:00:20 AM 693 Views
In no particular order - 24/12/2010 04:27:27 PM 688 Views
Sorry but... - 25/12/2010 12:52:49 AM 649 Views
Looking at my list and in order read: - 26/12/2010 09:40:53 PM 849 Views
Yay! - 28/12/2010 04:37:50 AM 684 Views
In a particular order - 29/12/2010 08:53:43 PM 853 Views

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