Reflection is always a good thing. It helps you understand where you’ve been, what you’ve done, and where you’re going.
Looking back at a decade of reading, one thing was clear to me – if left to my own devices, I read very narrowly in just a few genres (children’s fiction, cookbooks, history, and mystery/suspense). When I assembled the list below of my “Best Books of the Decade,” I realized that many of these titles were sent my way by other people; they were *not* titles that I picked up on my own. This shows the power of being part of a reading community where you expose yourself to books you might otherwise never find.
There are many types of reading communities – book clubs where you gather with a group to discuss a particular book; online communities like Litsy, Goodreads, and LibraryThing; Book of the Month where you subscribe and receive a new set of books each month; and my favorite – your local library, where you can usually find someone who will happily discuss and recommend books.
Here are the books that resonated with me over the last 10 years. Perhaps you’ll find something interesting!
2010
Just Kids by Patti Smith
Haunted Ground by Erin Hart
Dead of Winter by Rennie Airth
2011
My Antonia by Willa Cather
Distant Hours by Kate Morton
Night Circus by Erin Morgernstern
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
The Hum and the Shiver by Alex Bledsoe (and here’s a music video inspired by the book by the Tuatha Dea)
2012
Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
The Orphanmaster by Jean Zimmerman
2013
Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
Something Red by Douglas Nicholas
Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
2014
Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen
Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman
Jackaby by William Ritter
2015
Call the Nurse by Mary MacLeod
Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler
2016
Little French Bistro by Nina George
Swiss Vendetta by Tracee deHahn
2017
Goblins of Bell Water by Molly Ringle
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivy
Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman
Ghosts of Greenglass House by Kate Milford
2018
The Darkling Bride by Laura Anderson
The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair by Amy Makechnie
Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan
Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware
Circe by Madeline Miller
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Florida by Lauren Groff
Whiskey When We’re Dry by John Larison
Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield
2019
Virgil Wander by Leif Enger
Cursed by Thomas Wheeler
The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman
Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White
Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
Inland by Tea Obrecht
My intent for the next few years is to read more widely – more non-fiction and more world authors.
It's All About the Book 