Nathan Bransford | Writing, Book Editing, Publishing

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What Was Your Favorite Book Published in 2010?

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It’s been a great year in books, whether you were reading pixels or ink, and it’s always fun to look back at the year that was.

Two books that were of great significance to me in my former life as an agent (and current life as major fan of my former clients) were released in 2010, Jennifer Hubbard’s The Secret Year and Lisa Brackmann’s Rock Paper Tiger, and both belong on every best-of year-end list ever anywhere as they’re quite thoroughly awesome.

If I had to choose a non-former-client book that was my favorite of 2010, well, I’d have to go with the overdog and cast my vote for Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom.

What about you?

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. laurasibson says

    I can't do favorites. I can never choose just one. So it has to be a three-way tie between Matthew Quick's SORTA LIKE A ROCK STAR, Jandy Nelson's THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE and Jennifer Donnelly's REVOLUTION.

  3. Terin Tashi Miller says

    Can't help weighing in on this one. You did leave it wide-open, and at least one commenter mentioned a self-published novella.

    So. My favorite book that came out in 2010?

    "Down The Low Road," by me.

    Watch out, Franzen…:)

  4. Beckony says

    2010 was a really good year, but my favorite was Finny by Justin Kramon. It was gorgeously written, a joy to read, and only the third book ever to make me cry.

  8. wendy says

    I've read nada books that were published this year. Too busy being a full-time carer for my mother. Some of those mentioned sounded my thing, though. Freedom, I'm curious about.

  9. Myrna Foster says

    I love getting recommendations from the comments. It looks like I need to read ROOM and FREEDOM. My favorite was ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS, by Stephanie Perkins, but there were a lot of great ones this year.

  17. Anonymous says

    My favorite was the Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell. The breadth of it was amazing. Plus, it had a monkey named William Pitt.

  18. Laurie Boris says

    The Help was stultifyingly good (although I think it came out last year?) I wanted to love Freedom. I enjoy Franzen's writing style but I hated all of the characters. Just wanted to slap them. And I felt he was making fun of a couple of characters…looking down on them. That really turned me off. On the bright side, I'm getting some great ideas for what to read next from all of these comments!

  19. Michelle says

    My favorite book of 2010 is the one that I've written, but you did say "published"….

    I'll have to go with "Scumble," by Ingrid Law. It's the second book in an MG series.

  20. M.E. Pickett says

    I guess I'll have to put in a plug for the book I'm reading right now:

    THE PASSAGE by Justin Cronin

    It's the first book that has ever made me miss by subway stop.

  25. chloe says

    THE LAST DAYS OF PTOLEMY GREY by Walter Mosley. FREEDOM was two hundred pages too long, full of unlikeable characters and a wee bit too much in love with itself. Sorry.

  26. cwsherwoodedits says

    For adult books, a tie between The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender and Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue.

    For YA, The Death Day Letter by Shaun David Hutchison.

    For MG, Palace Beautiful by Sarah DeFord

  27. Anonymous says

    Like you, Nathan, I loved "Freedom"–the story, the characterizations, and was blown away by the brilliance of the writing in handling the time frames. What a talent! Also loved "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" for the same reasons, which I also read in this year. But then I like BIG books. Unfortunately, publishers don't.

  28. Clare WB says

    I wrote the comment about
    "Freedom" and "Kavalier and Clay". Not sure why my comments published as anonymous. No doubt my lack of skills with anything technical. Have a Happy Holiday, Nathan. Thanks for keeping up your blog. We miss your agent tips, but still enjoy hearing from you.
    Clare WB

  29. Other Lisa says

    Thanks for the kind words for ROCK PAPER TIGER. As Jennifer said, that was a pretty meaningful one for me too! It wouldn't have happened without you (Nathan) and I am continually gratified by the responses the book has received.

    Loved THE SECRET YEAR, and Jenn, one of these days I'm going to come to your neck of the woods and get it autographed.

    I want to read FREEDOM and ROOM but haven't yet. I am terrible at remembering what I read and favorite anythings, but a book that made a big impression on me this year (though not published this year) was NEVER LET ME GO. Powerful like a depth charge…

  31. Francy says

    The Poet-John Serpent-available on Kindle-Amazon or https://stephenstoller.com
    I became hysterical crying at the end-I had no idea that a book can do this anymore/I traveled with the Poet M THROUGH TWO-HUNDRED PAGES-past/violence/ hope and futility/Aids/drugs/sex /it sings and I appreciate when an auther can ring the reader out.

  32. Steve Bradley says

    "Elegies for the Brokenhearted" by Christie Hodgen. I bought it on a whim after reading a short blurb about it on a blog. I was intrigued by the fact it is written in second person. It's not the sort of material I usually read, but I loved it so much I read all of Hodgen's back catalog and enjoyed it as well.

  33. Denise says

    I've read so many great books this year, but the one that still lingers is FINNY by Justin Kramon. An incredible debut novel by such a talented young writer. The book made me laugh and cry–all on one page. I'll be recommending this one for a long time.