My year in books

I've read a lot of books this past year, some better than others. As I look over my reading list, I see that I read more chick lit and light fluffy fiction than I usually do -- which correlated to some of the complicated real-life stuff we were coping with here. Nothing like good girly escapism to relieve a bit of life stress, I say. Here are some of the books I read in 2010 that I'd recommend (and most of these are not chick lit):

The Gift by Cecelia Ahearn
Roses by Leila Meacham
The Broken Teaglass by Emily Arsenault
The Last Time I was Me by Cathy Lamb
A Year on Ladybug Farm and At Home on Ladybug Farm by Donna Ball
One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus
A Field Guide to Burying Your Parents by Liza Palmer
Flying Changes by Sarah Gruen
Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby
Faithful Place by Tana French
The English American by Alison Larkin
The Blessings of the Animals by Katrina Kittle

I hope 2011 brings us all great reading discoveries!

(By the way, I am enjoying the discovery of pretty blog backgrounds for a fun and temporary change.  Here's the January New Year decoration, courtesy of Shabbyblogs.com.)