In the Valley of the Kings by Terrence Holt. An absolutely wonderful short story collection; especially the title story.
Eifelheim by Michael Flynn. Aliens in the 14th century. Details are important and Flynn gets them right.
Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay. Kay doing Kay. Best since Lions and easily top 3 of his works.
The Passage by Justin Cronin. Excellent, fast paced 'thriller'. With vampires. Very enjoyable.
The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart by Jesse Bullington. The most heinous protagonists you'll ever come across. They deserve everything coming to them.
The Enchantments of Flesh and Spirit by Storm Constantine. Not sure how to describe this one. It felt very odd in the beginning but soon everything odd became normal.
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. Incredible read. Slow to get into, but once you do it just keeps rolling.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Absolutely beautiful and perhaps the most depressing book I have ever read. Resignation is contagious.
Kalpa Imperial: the greatest empire that never was by Angélica Gorodischer. A short story collection, but not. Read it.
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. Not sure if I should call it a 'Top' read, but it was certainly surprising. Apparently Sanderson is capable of writing something beyond a imaginative 'magic' system. Way, way, way too long though. 1000 pages? Ye gods.
Eifelheim by Michael Flynn. Aliens in the 14th century. Details are important and Flynn gets them right.
Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay. Kay doing Kay. Best since Lions and easily top 3 of his works.
The Passage by Justin Cronin. Excellent, fast paced 'thriller'. With vampires. Very enjoyable.
The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart by Jesse Bullington. The most heinous protagonists you'll ever come across. They deserve everything coming to them.
The Enchantments of Flesh and Spirit by Storm Constantine. Not sure how to describe this one. It felt very odd in the beginning but soon everything odd became normal.
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. Incredible read. Slow to get into, but once you do it just keeps rolling.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Absolutely beautiful and perhaps the most depressing book I have ever read. Resignation is contagious.
Kalpa Imperial: the greatest empire that never was by Angélica Gorodischer. A short story collection, but not. Read it.
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. Not sure if I should call it a 'Top' read, but it was certainly surprising. Apparently Sanderson is capable of writing something beyond a imaginative 'magic' system. Way, way, way too long though. 1000 pages? Ye gods.
This message last edited by Chas on 26/12/2010 at 09:42:00 PM
What are your top ten reads of 2010?
- 20/12/2010 12:07:54 PM
1256 Views
I'll give you a top five. I only read about 25 books so the top 10 isn't necessarily "good".
- 20/12/2010 07:26:41 PM
786 Views
Let's see, this is an interesting exercise...
- 20/12/2010 08:48:20 PM
1056 Views
I enjoyed Mahfouz, but I agree the translation wasn't stellar
- 20/12/2010 11:27:39 PM
665 Views
I read a Dutch translation, so presumably not the same one as yours. 
- 21/12/2010 06:38:29 PM
663 Views
- 21/12/2010 06:38:29 PM
663 Views
Okay, have to add Yourcenar's Memoirs of Hadrian in there somewhere, see my review. *NM*
- 29/12/2010 09:41:22 PM
317 Views
Hmm.(New)
- 21/12/2010 02:21:40 AM
960 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
695 Views
Well.
- 21/12/2010 09:19:42 PM
838 Views
Re: I'm with you on Felisin. Boring.
- 25/12/2010 12:45:03 AM
687 Views
Yeah. Whenever I think of DH- it's always the Chain of Dogs.
- 26/12/2010 09:47:49 PM
779 Views
Re: Yeah. Whenever I think of DH- it's always the Chain of Dogs.
- 26/12/2010 11:49:49 PM
646 Views
850? So you have the best 200 pages left? *NM*
- 27/12/2010 11:55:21 AM
329 Views
Hey hey hey no.
- 27/12/2010 02:07:38 PM
675 Views
My top eight in no particular order, as well as my two most disappointing books for the year.
- 21/12/2010 06:19:00 AM
999 Views
Looking at my list and in order read:
- 26/12/2010 09:40:53 PM
856 Views