Here is my list of fiction reads:

10. The Books of Ember by Jeanne Duprau
It seems that I have read enough Young Adult fiction this year to have a 5th list if I wanted. This series (with the exception of the needless prequel of the third book) is a riveting look at a city that lives in a darkened world.

9. Them by Nathan McCall
McCall does a masterful job of looking at the effects of gentrification on a predominately black neighborhood. The racial tensions crackle on every page and serves to illicit a profound meditation on prejudice and urban renewal.

8. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
The movie is getting a lot of Oscar buzz at the moment and seems to be a shoo-in for best pic and another acting nod for Kate Winslet. The source material is a gripping story of a young man and his affair with a mysterious woman who later turns out to be a war criminal. Deeply affecting and moving.

7. The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer
Okay, there is no readily explainable reason why I enjoyed these books so much. The best answer I can give to this tale of love between a mortal and a vampire is that it is just fun reading. You won’t get wrapped up in a labyrinthine plot but you will get to know the characters who Meyer develops with a great amount of affection.

6. Man in the Dark by Paul Aster
Which story is better: the one that is true or the one we tell ourselves. Auster paints a poignant picture of an elderly man who tells himself a story of a different world post 9/11. Shattered lives are the backdrop of this moving narrative.

5. Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O’Nan
This slight book is a quick read but has a lasting impact. It is set at the last night of a Red Lobster and the intersecting lives that will soon intersect no more. O’Nan is a tremendous storyteller.

4. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone/Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
OK, I am finally on the Harry Potter bandwagon. It took me a while but one of the greatest joys in my life right now is reading this for the first time with my kids. If I could bottle their laughs during the parts they find funny I would.

3. Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
One of the best suspense novels I have read in a long time.

2. Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley
This hilarious story of an inexperienced, photogenic and unprepared TV judge suddenly thrust into the limelight as a inexplicable nominee for the Supreme Court was written BEFORE Sarah Palin landed on the radar. Talk about life imitating art. If you have never read Buckley, this is a great place to start.

1. Blindness by Jose Saramago
This was not the most enjoyable book I read this year. Enjoyable is a bad word for this work. However, it was the most intellectually and visually gripping. The story, where people are suddenly stricken blind, is a fascinating indictment about the hidden barbarity of man. A must read.