Best of 2010, Worst of 2010 & To-Read in 2011

Some day when I am feeling especially brave I will make coconut macaroons. Until then, I will attempt not to let the craving pull me down into madness.

I did not get on to write about yummy sweets. (However, my newest love: Chocolate with Praline. It sends my tastebuds into happy frenziedness. Thank you, Germany.) What I did log on to compose was a post which I have been planning on posting for awhile. A post of lists. Best of 2010 lists seem appropriate for the first day of 2011.

--The Five Worst Books of 2010
1. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Okay, so, I only read the first chapter but the first chapter was a pretty horrible first chapter. This book was about a young male who had the very esteemed occupation as an elephant waterer in a traveling circus and a nude dancer/stripper and somebody who was hit with a shovel during some stampede of escaped circus animals. The first chapter of this book was so graphic/explicit that I had no interest in reading farther. Life's too short to be wasted on bad books.
2. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
I will stick with the musical, thank you. The sad thing about Maguire's books is they are great ideas or have fun titles (Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, anyone?) but are executed in a dreadful manner. Maguire doesn't write very well at all and he tends to be weird and creepy and gross. I appreaciate the fact that he wrote this book because if he hadn't there would be no musical. However, now that the necessary people have read it and the musical has been made, all the copies of this books should be gathered together and burned publically. (So should his Mirror, Mirror and most of the copies of his book Lost but not all of them. I won't pronounce such judgement on any of his other books because I have not read them.) This book is seriously underdeveloped, it's boring, weird, gross, and confusing. I admit, I did not finish this book but I did get further into it than I did with my #1 worst book.
3. The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss
This book was painfully stupid. I mean, it is supposed to be an educational book for little boys of the past century but you should not try and make education interesting by putting it in a story if you cannot write a story. This book had basically no plot. The ending was very random. The dad character was a walking encyclopedia, these people were stuck on a deserted island but had no hardship because everything they did or made they did or made perfectly the first time. Another thing that rubbed me was their irresistable desire to kill everything. Every animal, bird, or insect that crossed their path they immeadiately slaughtered whether they needed the animal to survive or not. It was a very irritating book.
4. Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
Peter is a demon child! He's a perfect little heathen! Very selfcentered, unkind, and morbid. I cannot see how this book has managed to weedle its way into people's affection. Seriously! He's a demon child, I tell you.
5. The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
This one is merely here because I ran out of really bad books to put in this list and this book was less than wonderful. It's a classic that doesn't deserve the title of classic.

--The Best Five Books out of the Ninty-Two I Read in 2010
1. Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett
I like the Patrician, I like the Patrician a lot. (Even if he is kind of annoying sometimes.) The fact that he was being poisoned put a particular edge on this installment of the Samuel Vimes Discworld series. I like all of the members of the City Watch, except Angua. She's too...vain or proud or self-centered. She is one of those things but I'm not sure which one.
2. God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew
This is an autobiography of sorts, it's about a Dutch guy smuggling religious material (Bibles, pamphlits, etc.) behind the Iron Curtain during WWII. This was a very good book, it was well-written, informative, etc. I would certainly recommend it to anyone. (Okay, I do not pretend that any of the information in this "review" is completely correct. I read it a very long time ago and maybe remembering things incorrectly. Such as wether he was Dutch or not.)
3. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
I have finally read a book by Dickens! I am officially literate. I knew the story of this book very well from listening to audio dramatizations when I was younger and putting on the play a couple times when I was younger. The prose was no surprise because a lot of what I had experienced previously was word for word (more or less). Dickens has such an excellent style of writing. I shall have to pick up another of his books soon. (If I can find one that is not too depressing! :P )
4. The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde
I liked this book. This one was really very fun! Everything from the title on! Of course, I am horrible at guessing correctly when reading mysteries. I was pretty set on one character as the murderer of Humpty Dumpty for most of the book and the suddenly it turned out that-- :)
5. Going Postal by Terry Pratchett
So did what's-his-name character die or not? Most confusing. The part about the old post office and the new and the shapeshifting rooms was really neat.

(Am I loosing steam? Are bad "reviews" easier to write than good ones? Can I write reviews?)*

To-Read in 2011
1. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
Because it has been on my to-read much too long and I would like to read it before I see the play in May. As soon as I locate a copy of this massive book I shall begin reading. Do you think that five months is enough time to get through it? It only took my three months to read War and Peace.
2. The Club of Queer Trades by G.K. Chesterton
Because it'll be amazing! Sadly, this book is completely unexistent. Everywhere I turn it does not exist. It's horribly sad because I am sure it is very worth reading.
3. A Lord Peter Wimsey mystery by Dorothy Sayers
Because every literate person has to read a Lord Peter Wimsey mystery. Or so I hear. I will probably read which ever one has the most interesting title (Murder Must Advertise, Have His Carcase or Gaudy Night, I think). If I like it, I will read on.
4. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
I intend on reading this so that, when it is discussed, I will have an opinion and will be able to voice it.
5. One of Jane Austen's books
Going to give Jane Austen a second try! As long as all her characters are not like Elizabeth Bennet things should go pretty well. :)

The end. What are your best and worst books of 2010? What is on your 2011 to-read list?

*Answers: Yes, yes, and no.