The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull and the Battle of the Little Big Horn
by Nathaniel Philbrick
Penguin audio book, 2010
I'm departing from tradition by including an audio book here. But that's fitting, since I also acquired a Kindle this year. Listening to this unabridged version wasn't so different from reading a hard copy. I'm not a Custer enthusiast, but this was fascinating, especially in its unsparing but balanced assessments of the competency of both the man and his subordinates.
The Other Boleyn Girl
by Philippa Gregory
Simon and Schuster, 672 pages, 2004
Don't make the mistake of regarding this as a romantic novel. Well researched and exceedingly well written, I couldn't put it down. It left me with a yearning to read everything she's published.
I made the same determination after reading the runner-up in the fiction category, John Master's Bhowani Junction. In particular, I want to re-read his Bugles and a Tiger memoir this year, to refresh my memory on his insights on Afghanistan.
And now, here's my complete list for 2010.
(Genre: F = fiction, N = non-fiction)
January
McCarthy, Cormac
The Road, F
Blond, Anthony
The Private Lives of the Roman Emperors, N
Strout, Elizabeth
Olive Kittredge, F
February
Maguire, Gregory
Son of a Witch, F
Hinton, S.E.
The Outsiders, F
March
Masters, John
Bhowani Junction, F
O'Brien, Tim
The Things They Carried, F
O'Connor, Joseph
Star of the Sea, F
June
McCammon, Robert
Boy's Life, F
Forsyth, Frederick
The Dogs of War, F
Manchester, William
Goodbye, Darkness, N
Turow, Scott
Presumed Innocent, F
Morris, James
Pax Brittanica, N
This is the only book I've read this year by a "gender-reassigned woman." Midway through his career, Morris underwent a sex change and henceforth became known, and published, as Jan Morris. Prior to that, as a male he served in the British army in World War II. He was also a newspaper correspondent with a British expedition that scaled Mount Everest.
July
Rankin, Ian
Watchman F
McDonald, John D.
Nightmare in Pink, F
Certain sections seemed oddly familiar. When I was fully halfway through it, I realized I had read it before. The first time around must have been on a long airplane flight when I was half-asleep. Or maybe McDonald's Travis McGee novels are so much alike it's hard to tell them apart, or indeed to remember much about them at all. Still, good entertainment.
Dobyns, Jay
No Angel, N
August
Masters, John
Coromandel!, F
September
Shakespeare, William
The Tempest, F
Spencer, Scott
A Ship Made of Paper, F
Coelho, Paolo
The Alchemist, F
October
Larsson, Steig
The Girl Who Played with Fire, F
I never would have guessed his politics from reading his novels.
Gregory, Phillippa
The Other Queen (audio), F
Philbrick, Nathaniel
The Last Stand, N
November
Grisham, John
Ford County, F
Household, Geoffrey
Rogue Male, F
Gregory, Phillippa
The Other Boleyn Girl, F
Russo, Richard
That Old Cape Magic, F
Not up to the standard of Bridge of Sighs, but worthwhile nevertheless.
Caputo, Philip
Crossers, F
A thoughtful fiction treatment of illegal immigration and border security issues.
I don't want to end this without mentioning Tanith Lee's stories The Roman and The Suicide from The Secret Books of Paradys .
I re-read both this week. To my mind, these are among the strangest, most disturbing and sexiest stories I've ever come across. The Roman's encounters with Lililla are simply impossible to forget. This lead me to her web site, where she reveals her battle with cancer, grimmer than anything she's ever written about because it's all too real. I want to send this talented author my best wishes for relief and full recovery in 2011.