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2010 Stand-outs

Happy New Year! Now that 2010 is over, it's time for my TENTH annual list of the books I most enjoyed reading in the previous year. I began this tradition on January 1, 2002, when Sonderbooks was still an e-mail newsletter.

I'm not by any means trying to list the "most distinguished" books I read in 2010. My Newbery prediction list is quite different, in fact. Sonderbooks Stand-outs are, plain and simple, the books I enjoyed reading the most, for whatever reason. These are books I give as gifts and urge my friends to read, books that make me smile when I think about my year of reading.

Although I am putting them in order, this order has been changing all day long. All of the books I list here are outstanding, and are books I loved reading.

You may be puzzled that I already have 2010 Sonderbooks Stand-outs listed on my site. You see, when I started Sonderbooks Stand-outs, I named them after the year where I did the reading. For 2007-2010, though, I decided to imitate the Newbery awards and give them the name of the year they are awarded. However, I've changed my mind again. (The beauty of having my own website is I can change my mind as much as I want.) Since many of these books were published in 2010, and I read them in 2010, I'm going to copy the Cybils and call them 2010 Stand-outs. Of course, this means I will need to go back and adjust the stand-outs from the last four years.

I hope you'll enjoy reading these books as much as I did!



Left to Tell
  1. This Is Not the Story You Think It Is...
    by Laura Munson
  2. Strength in What Remains
    by Tracy Kidder
  3. Zeitoun
    by Dave Eggers
  4. Mountains Beyond Mountains
    by Tracy Kidder
  5. My Stroke of Insight
    by Jill Bolte Taylor
  6. Born on a Blue Day
    by Daniel Tammet

The Ten Things to Do When Your Life Falls Apart
  1. The Ten Things To Do When Your Life Falls Apart
    by Daphne Rose Kingma
  2. Women Who Run With the Wolves
    by Clarissa Pinkola Estes
  3. Feel
    by Matthew Elliott
  4. This Book Is Overdue!
    by Marilyn Johnson
  5. Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Children's Book
    edited by Anita Silvey
  6. The Story of Stuff
    by Annie Leonard
  7. NurtureShock
    by Po Bronson

Coronets and Steel
  1. Coronets and Steel
    by Sherwood Smith
  2. The Daughter of Time
    by Josephine Tey
  3. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
    by Alan Bradley
  4. Little Bee
    by Chris Cleave
  5. The Art of Racing in the Rain
    by Garth Stein
  6. Casting Spells
    by Barbara Bretton
  7. Shades of Grey
    by Jasper Fforde


Children's Fiction
The New Policeman
  1. The New Policeman
    by Kate Thompson
  2. Clementine
    by Sara Pennypacker
    pictures by Marla Frazee
  3. Plain Kate
    by Erin Bow
  4. One Crazy Summer
    by Rita Williams-Garcia
  5. The Dreamer
    by Pam Munoz Ryan
  6. Forge
    by Laurie Halse Anderson
  7. Penny Dreadful
    by Laurel Snyder
  8. The Strange Case of Origami Yoda
    by Tom Angleberger


Katie Loves the Kittens
  1. Katie Loves the Kittens
    by John Himmelman
  2. Ladybug Girl at the Beach
    by David Soman
    illustrated by Jacky Davis
  3. A Bedtime for Bear
    by Bonny Becker
    illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton
  4. City Dog, Country Frog
    by Mo Willems
    pictures by Jon J. Muth

A Conspiracy of Kings
  1. A Conspiracy of Kings
    by Megan Whalen Turner
  2. Ice
    by Sarah Beth Durst
  3. Twice a Prince
    by Sherwood Smith
  4. Pegasus
    by Robin McKinley
  5. Ascendant
    by Diana Peterfreund
  6. White Cat
    by Holly Black
  7. Enchanted Ivy
    by Sarah Beth Durst
  8. Star Crossed
    by Elizabeth C. Bunce
  9. Mockingjay
    by Suzanne Collins


Dairy Queen
  1. Dairy Queen
    by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
  2. The Cardturner
    by Louis Sachar
  3. A Brief History of Montmaray
    by Michelle Cooper
  4. The Body Finder
    by Kimberly Derting
  5. Suspect
    by Kristin Wolden Nitz