Books of the Year 2010

Before doing my retrospective of the year, I think I'll get the master list of books from last year sorted out. So, here they are:

1. "Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary", by Paizo Publishing
   
2. "Pathfinder: What Lies in Dust", by Michael Kortes
   
3. "Pathfinder: The Infernal Syndrome", by Clinton Boomer and James Jacobs
   
4. "Star Wars: The Clone Wars Campaign Guide", by Rodney Thompson, Patrick Stutzman, and JD Wiker
   
5. "USB Complete", by Jan Axelson
   
6. "Nation", by Terry Pratchett
   
7. "Star Wars: Scavenger's Guide to Droids", by Rodney Thompson, Sterling Hershey, Patrick Stutzman and Robert Wieland
   
8. "Northern Lights", by Philip Pullman *
   
9. "Pathfinder: Mother of Flies", by Greg A. Vaughan
   
10. "Star Wars: Scum and Villainy", by Gary Astleford, Robert J. Schwalb, Owen K.C. Stephens, Rodney Thompson and JD Wiker
    
11. "Children of Hurin", by JRR Tolkien
    
12. "Fragile Things", by Neil Gaiman
    
13. "Animal Farm", by George Orwell *
    
14. "Star Wars: Galaxy of Intrigue", by Rodney Thompson, Gary Astleford and Eric Cagle
    
15. "The Subtle Knife", by Philip Pullman *
    
16. "Hot Pursuit", by Corey Reid
    
17. "Shadows of the Last War", by Keith Baker
    
18. "The Kite Runner", by Khaled Hosseini *
    
19. "Eberron: Grasp of the Emerald Claw", by Bruce R. Cordell
    
20. "Elric", by Michael Moorcock *
    
21. "Pathfinder: The Twice-Damned Prince", by Brian Cortijo and James Jacobs
    
22. "Eberron: Voyage of the Golden Dragon", by Nicolas Logue
    
23. "Wolf of the Plains", by Conn Iggulden
    
24. "Pathfinder: Classic Horrors Revisited", by James Jacobs, Rob McCreary and F. Wesley Schneider
    
25. "Yes Man", by Danny Wallace
    
26. "Pathfinder: Stolen Land", by Tim Hitchcock
    
27. "Star Wars: Threats of the Galaxy", by Rodney Thompson and Robert J. Schwalb
    
28. "Rebecca", by Daphne de Maurier *
    
29. "Hunter: the Vigil", from White Wolf Publishing
    
30. "Eberron Campaign Setting", by Keith Baker, Bill Slavicsek, and James Wyatt
    
31. "Pathfinder: Rivers Run Red", by Rob McCreary
    
32. "The Amber Spyglass", by Philip Pullman *
    
33. "Eberron: Whispers of the Vampire's Blade", by David Noonan
    
34. "Eberron: Eyes of the Lich Queen", by Stephen Schubert, Tim Hitchcock and Nicolas Logue
    
35. "Krondor: Tear of the Gods", by Raymond E. Feist
    
36. "Lords of the Bow", by Conn Iggulden
    
37. "The Catcher in the Rye", by J.D. Salinger *
    
38. "Star Wars: The Unknown Regions", by Gary Astleford, Owen K.C. Stephens and Rodney Thompson
    
39. "Pathfinder: The Varnhold Vanishing", by Greg A. Vaughan
    
40. "Life of Pi", by Yann Martell *
    
41. "Bones of the Hills", by Conn Iggulden
    
42. "And Another Thing...", by Eoin Colfer
    
43. "Eberron: Sharn: City of Towers", by Keith Baker and James Wyatt
    
44. "The Burning Land", by Bernard Cornwell
    
45. "Races of Eberron", by Jesse Decker, Matthew Sernett, Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel, and Keith Baker
    
46. "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide", by Sterling Hershey, Peter Schweighofer, Owen K.C. Stephens, and Rodney Thompson
    
47. "Forest Mage", by Robin Hobb
    
48. "Pathfinder: Blood for Blood", by Neil Spicer
    
49. "Dragons of the Hourglass Mage", by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
    
50. "Sharpe's Waterloo", by Bernard Cornwell
    
51. "To Kill a Mockingbird", by Harper Lee *
    
52. "The Ghost King", by R. A. Salvatore
    
53. "Star Wars: Rebellion Era Campaign Guide", by Rodney Thompson, Sterling Hershey, Owen K.C. Stephens and J.D. Wiker
    
54. "Pathfinder: War of the River Kings", by Jason Nelson
    
55. "Honoured Enemy", by Raymond E. Feist and William Forstchen
    
56. "Star Wars: Legacy Era Campaign Guide", by Rodney Thompson, Sterling Hershey and Gary Astleford
    
57. "Oliver Twist", by Charles Dickens *
    
58. "Star Wars: Jedi Academy Training Manual", by Rodney Thompson, Eric Cagle, Patrick Stutzman and Robert Wieland
    
59. "Unseen Academicals", by Terry Pratchett
    
60. "Star Wars: Galaxy at War", by Rodney Thompson, Gary Astleford, Eric Cagle and Daniel Wallace
    
61. "The White Rose", by Glen Cook
    
62. "Tomb of Horrors", by Ari Marmell and Scott Fitzgerald Gray
    
63. "Pathfinder: Sound of a Thousand Screams", by Richard Pett
    
64. "Pathfinder: Souls for Smuggler's Shiv", by James Jacobs
    
65. "Murder in LaMut", by Raymond E. Feist and Joel Rosenberg
    
66. "Brave New World", by Aldous Huxley *
    
67. "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", by C.S. Lewis *
    
68. "Eberron: Five Nations", by Bill Slavicsek, David Noonan and Christopher Perkins
    
69. "Confessions of a Shopaholic", by Sophie Kinsela *
    
70. "Eberron: Explorer's Handbook", by David Noonan, Frank Brunner and Rich Burlew
    
71. "Jimmy the Hand", by Raymond E. Feist and Steve Stirling
    
72. "The Colour of Magic", by Terry Pratchett
    
73. "Magic of Eberron", by Bruce R. Cordell, Stephen Schubert and Chris Thomasson
    
74. "Player's Guide to Eberron", by James Wyatt, Keith Baker, Luke Johnson and STAN!
    
75. "Talon of the Silver Hawk", by Raymond E. Feist
    
76. "Eberron: Secrets of Xen'drik", by Keith Baker, Jason Bulmahn and Amber Scott
    
77. "Faiths of Eberron", by Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Ari Marmell and C.A. Suleiman
    
78. "Birdsong", by Sebastian Faulks *
    
79. "Pathfinder: Racing to Ruin", by Tim Hitchcock
    
80. "Savage Worlds Explorer's Edition", from Pinnacle Entertainment Group
    
81. "King of Foxes", by Raymond E. Feist
    
82. "The Da Vinci Code", by Dan Brown *
    
83. "Exile's Return", by Raymond E. Feist
    
84. "The Handmaid's Tale", by Margaret Atwood *
    
85. "Flight of the Nighthawks", by Raymond E. Feist
    
86. "Angels and Demons", by Dan Brown *
    
87. "Eberron: Dragonmarked", by Keith Baker, Michelle Lyons, and C.A. Suleiman
    
88. "Pathfinder: City of Seven Spears", by James Jacobs, Kevin Kulp, and Rob McCreary
    
89. "Into a Dark Realm", by Raymond E. Feist
    
90. "Eberron: Secrets of Sarlona", by Keith Baker, Scott Fitzgerald Gray, Glenn McDonald, and Chris Sims
    
91. "Smoke and Mirrors", by Neil Gaiman
    
92. "Eberron: Forge of War", by James Wyatt, Wolfgang Baur and Ari Marmell
    
93. "Catch-22", by Joseph Heller *
    
94. "Dragons of Eberron", by Keith Baker, Scott Fitzgerald Gray, Nicolas Logue and Amber Scott
    
95. "Wrath of a Mad God", by Raymond E. Feist
    
96. "Rides a Dread Legion", by Raymond E. Feist
    
97. "Eberron: City of Stormreach", by Keith Baker, Nicolas Logue, James "Grim" Desborough, and C.A. Suleiman
    
98. "Pathfinder Companion: Adventurer's Armory", by Jonathan Keith, Jeff Quick, Christopher Self, J.D. Wiker and Keri Wiker
    
99. "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass", by Lewis Carroll *
    
100. "Stonehenge", by Bernard Cornwell
     

The twenty books marked with asterisks are from The List. A full 50 of the books are RPG books, mostly from the Pathfinder, Eberron and Star Wars Saga Edition lines. A single book was work-related. Two books were re-reads: "The Colour of Magic" and the "Eberron Campaign Setting".

The most read single author was Raymond E. Feist, who I had fallen behind on. I have now caught up. Unfortunately, the books have shown a marked decrease in quality; I think I probably quit at exactly the right time!

The best book of the year by quite a distance was "To Kill a Mockingbird". The worst was "Angels & Demons", narrowly beating "The Da Vinci Code". Other very good books included "Catch-22", "Brave New World", "Oliver Twist" (despite a shocking lack of singing), both the Neil Gaiman anthologies, and "Children of Hurin".

Two books particularly surprised me: "Alice in Wonderland" wasn't as enjoyable as I had expected, but "Confessions of the Shopaholic" was much more enjoyable than expected. (Of course, it must be understood that the one was nowhere near being the worst book of the year, while the other was nowhere near the top!)

I'm not going to set a reading goal as such for the next year. There are a number of authors that I want to stay current on, a couple of series I want to get caught up on, and a couple of specific titles I want to read ("Les Miserables" and "War and Peace" being the big two). I also want to read through the thirteen "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" 1st edition hardbacks this year, and want to stay current on Pathfinder. Oh, and I also want to read a bunch more books from The List.

However, that's not a goal as such: if I don't read some or all of these, I'll not be too upset. I will continue listing the books that I have read at the base of my posts, but for information only.