Reposted from my site: (http://ben.kudria.net/post/2548785108/my-favorite-books-of-2010 http://ben.kudria.net/post/2548785108/my-favorite-books-of-2...). Affili

Reposted from my site: (http://ben.kudria.net/post/2548785108/my-favorite-books-of-2010 http://ben.kudria.net/post/2548785108/my-favorite-books-of-2...). Affiliate links there, for those inclined. === In 2010, every single book I read, I read on my Kindle. Buying a Kindle has been the best thing I have ever done for my reading addiction. I recently upgraded to a Kindle 3, and I wholeheartedly recommended you get one as well, even if you currently have a Kindle 2. Here are the top books I enjoyed in 2010, and you will enjoy also. - The His Dark Materials Trilogy. Start with The Golden Compass. - The City & The City by China Miéville. Quite the post-modern detective story. (Read also his novel Perdido Street Station) - Surface Detail, the new novel by Iain M. Banks, who has quickly catapulted to the very top of my “Favorite Sci-Fi Authors” list. Surface Detail may not be the best novel for a Banks-unfamiliar reader, however — you may wish to start with something like Consider Phlebas or Look To Windward. - I re-read Robert M. Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Read this book carefully and it will change your life. (N.B. It’s not really about Zen, although it kinda is.) - The true story Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers, about Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a Syrian-born painting contractor in New Orleans. What Zeitoun does for the people of New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina is heartwarming and truly American, and what the US Government does to him and his family is terrifying and utterly infuriating. - The Wind-up Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi is a fun Thai cyber/gene-punk yarn. Bacigalupi is a new author, and I look forward to reading more of his stuff. - Dan Simmons’ Song Of Kali has an invasive and palpable stench of suspense. This horror novel set in Calcutta is an excruciating, brutal, and brilliant read. - Kafka On the Shore by Haruki Murakami. I’ve always been a fan of Murakami’s works, but this novel from 2002 is, in my opinion, one of his greatest. It’s beautiful, haunting, and superbly thought-provoking.