Books I Read in 2010

One of my resolutions for 2010 was to read 20 books for fun. I only read 18. It was really, really hard to not cram in the last two books on the last two or three days of the year.

So, here are my 18 books:

1. The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey
2. Baking Cakes in Kigali (click the link to read my review!)
3. Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant
4. Made from Scratch
5. The Omnivore's Dilemma
6. The Importance of Music to Girls
7. The Hand That First Held Mine
8. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
9. Unfinished Business
10. Lunch in Paris
11. Life of Pi
12. The Carrie Diaries
13. Committed
14. Commencement
15. The Summer We Read Gatsby
16. Barrel Fever
17. Slaughterhouse Five
18. Lady Chatterley's Lover

I liked elements of all of the above books. But just to be silly, I'm going to write my thoughts in tweet-form (yeah, I'm copying off of my husband's technique).

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey: Great series for the younger crowd. I enjoyed it but felt a bit juvenile while reading. Suspense! Twists!

Baking Cakes in Kigali: Eye-opening novella about a lady baker in Africa. Heartbreaking but so important. People should read this and be informed.

Alone in the Kitchen With an Eggplant: Made me feel good about the weird things I eat when I'm alone. Fascinating to learn what others eat on their own, too. Very entertaining.

Made from Scratch: This book has made me determine that I need a big backyard when Pete and I buy a house, for a huge garden and chickens.

The Omnivore's Dilemma: I learned a lot from this book. I highly recommend it and think you should read it if you care about what you put in your mouth.

The Importance of Music to Girls: Originally I was drawn to this book because of it's title. I feel like it could have been better, although I did enjoy certain parts.

The Hand That First Held Mine: This book blew me away. It was confusing until it all made sense. And I honestly didn't see it coming.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake: What a crazy concept for a book - a girl who can taste people's emotions through the food that they create. An interesting way to think.

Unfinished Business: Story of a man who loses his job in his 40s and spends the next year doing wonderful, nice things. I want to do what he did now, in my 20s!

Lunch in Paris: Like all things having to do with Paris, this book made me want to move there ASAP. Maybe someday. BONUS: all kinds of yummy recipes!

Life of Pi: Blew my mind. The story kept my attention, more than any young boy in a boat with a scary tiger ever has.

The Carrie Diaries: This is the high school story of Carrie Bradshaw, of Sex and the City fame. The last line is perfect. The rest of the book was not.

Committed: All about the history of marriage and marriage in other countries. It was a perfect book to read in the summer before MY marriage.

Commencement: Made me want to go to all-girls college, too. Riveting story that follows four ladies from freshman year - young adulthood.

The Summer We Read Gatsby: Witty, mysterious, hilarious. Two (half?) sisters meet up in the Hamptons to divide up their great aunt's estate. Entertaining.

Barrel Fever: Not my favorite David Sedaris book, but the last short story is priceless. Most of it was a bit oddball for me, though.

Slaughterhouse Five: Only the second Kurt Vonnegut book I've read. Absolutely fantastic. Sad it took me 22 years to read it.

Lady Chatterley's Lover: Weird. So, so weird. So hard to get into and to keep reading. But I couldn't give up. I'm glad it's over.


Phew! Anyone have any suggestions for books to read in 2011?