Edinburgh has proven to be the perfect city to read in. Long, dark winter nights leave lots of time for cuddling up under a blanket with a good book and a cup of tea, while the long summer nights are perfect for grabbing a book and blanket and heading to a park to make the most of the gloriously long summer days you get this far north. Add to that a fabulous book club and a wonderful group of friends that are as enamored with reading as I am, and this past year has proved to hold some of the best stories I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying in a long time.

So, in chronolgical order, I give my book list for 2010:
The Elephanta Suite: Three Novellas, Paul Theroux
When We Were Romans, Matthew Kneale
English Passengers, Matthew Kneale
Gourmet Rhapsody, Muriel Barbery
Broken, Daniel Clay
Masterpiece, Elise Broach
A Time of Gifts: On Foot to Constantinople: From the Hook of Holland to the Middle Danube, Patrick Fermor
In the Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer
The Careful Use of Compliments, Alexander McCall Smith
The River Why, David James Duncan
The Help, Kathryn Stockett
Home, Marilynne Robinson
Girl With a Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier
Gilead, Marilynne Robinson
The Island, Victoria Hislop
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Muriel Spark
The Lacuna, Barbara Kingsolver
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
Wise Blood, Flannery O’Connor
Housekeeping, Marilynne Robinson
Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides
I love the way a good story can completely transport me to another time and place, and yet continue to reverberate in my own life long after I’ve finished reading it. Out of the 22 books I read this past year, the following are at the top of my list and books that I would hardily recommend to all.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer
This book is a quick read, but a very sweet story that is written through a series of letters. It is set just after WWII and tells the story of the island of Guernsey (one of the islands off the coast of England). It is a very tender book, and a great vacation book or one to curl up with over a cup of tea.
The River Why, David James Duncan
David James Duncan has long been a favorite author and The River Why only reinforced my love of his writing. This story is based in the Pacific Northwest and reading it transported me back home and helped to ease some of the homesickness I was feeling shortly after we moved here. He also wrote The Brothers K which is another excellent book and either one would make a great addition to your book lists for 2011.
Home, Marilynne Robinson
Gilead, Marilynne Robinson
Housekeeping, Marilynne Robinson
Marilynne Robinson is an author I’ve heard about, but had never read anything by until this year when I read Home. This book holds some of the most beautiful prose I’ve ever read and a story that has stayed with me and continued to touch me months after my first reading. Because this book had such a profound impact on me I had to read Marilynne Robinson’s other two novels, Gilead and Housekeeping. These books are equally good and all three have already become dear favorites that I return to regularly simply to soak in more of the beauty of both the writing and the stories. Read them, you won’t be disappointed.
I’m now busy pulling together a list of must reads for 2011. So far my list includes: To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee Harper), Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë), Sister of my Heart (Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni), The Sweet Life in Paris (David Lebovitz), Persuasion (Jane Austen), The Country Diaries: A Year in the British Countryside (Alan Taylor), and At Home: A Short History of Private Life (Bill Bryson).
My reading goal for 2011 is to read thirty books, so I’m happily accepting book suggestions. Any ideas would be most welcome!