What I Read in 2010

Maybe you’ve noticed the “What I’m Reading” list on the right-hand column of the Andy Unedited homepage. Of those books I finished this year, by the numbers they represent fourteen novels, seventeen nonfiction books, eleven audio books, six books purchased, one given to me as a gift, seventeen from the library, one borrowed, five read for our neighborhood book club, four I blogged about and five published by InterVarsity Press (books I read off the clock after publication).

Here’s the full list for the year:

A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini
God’s Battalions, Rodney Stark
Great Souls, David Aikman
A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway
The End of Eternity, Isaac Asimov
The Cross from a Distance, Peter G. Bolt
The Road, Cormac McCarthy
Deep Church, Jim Belcher
My Life and Hard Times, James Thurber
The Leadership Ellipse, Robert A. Fryling
Home, Marilynne Robinson
The Resurrection of Ministry, Andrew Purves
Life of Pi, Yann Martel
The Quiet American, Graham Greene
Murder on the Orient Express, Agatha Christie
Words upon the Word, James Bielo
How Football Explains America, Sal Paolantonio
Blade Runner, Philip K. Dick
Lies My Teacher Told Me, James W. Loewen
Playing with the Enemy, Gary W. Moore
The Shallows, Nicholas Carr
R is for Ricochet, Susan Grafton
Switch, Chip Heath and Dan Heath
The Notebook, Nicholas Sparks
The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, M. T. Anderson
The Memory of Old Jack, Wendell Berry
To Change the World, James Davison Hunter
Getting the Reformation Wrong, James R. Payton Jr.
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
The Gospel of Mark, John R. Donahue and Daniel J. Harrington

Next time: the 2011 Andys, in which I give awards to these books on a wholly subjective basis in various unconventional categories according to my own inimitable whim.

Author: Andy Le Peau

I've been an editor and writer for over forty years. I am passionate about ideas and how we can express them clearly, beautifully, and persuasively. I love reading good books, talking about them, and recommending them. I thoroughly enjoy my family who help me continue on the path of a lifelong learner.

2 thoughts on “What I Read in 2010”

  1. Andy: Did you read them in this order? And if so, what was the most fortuitous coupling? I.e., was “Deep Church” a replenishing read after “The Road”?

  2. Adam: Great question. Yes, this was the order in which I finished them. Most fortuitous coupling? The Road is a very interesting book–yes, certainly dark in many ways–but it also has beams of light shining out, like the firm, tender, sacrificial love of the father for the son–a great portrait of what a true man can be, full of courage and compassion. And the ending shows that the sacrifice was not in vain. Family can endure the harshest circumstances.

    And yes, I enjoyed Deep Church a lot. As a sneak preview, it gets one of the 2011 Andys.

    I don’t know if it was fortuitous, but Words upon the Word (another 2011 Andy award winner–see next week) and How Football Explains America both gave very different but nonetheless insightful windows into the American character and landscape. They make an interesting exercise in comparison and contrast.

    Andy

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