Though it feels like yesterday, 2010 was in fact 11 years ago. In case you need a refresher: Barack Obama was one year into his presidency, X-Factor launched One Direction, Tik-Tok by Kesha was the biggest song of the year, Haiti had a massive and devastating earthquake, Apple released it's first iPad, and we experienced the BP Oil Spill. Yes, that was all 11 years ago. We have been following the New York Times Best Seller List each month to stay up to date but we also love some of the books that came out years ago. Lets travel back and see what books spent time on the New York Times Bestseller list in 2010 and give them a re-read!
Do you have any recommendations for me? Email mkotelchuck@whatsupmag.com with your most recent read and a quick review about it to be featured!
Freedom by Jonathon Franzen - 3 Weeks as Number 1
Patty and Walter Berglund were the new pioneers of old St. Paul - the gentrifiers, the hands-on parents, the avant-garde of the Whole Foods generation. Patty was the ideal sort of neighbor, who could tell you where to recycle your batteries and how to get the local cops to actually do their job. She was an enviably perfect mother and the wife of Walter's dreams. Together with Walter - environmental lawyer, commuter cyclist, total family man - she was doing her small part to build a better world.
But now, in the new millennium, the Berglunds have become a mystery. Why has their teenage son moved in with the aggressively Republican family next door? Why has Walter taken a job working with Big Coal? What exactly is Richard Katz - outré rocker and Walter’s college best friend and rival - still doing in the picture? Most of all, what has happened to Patty? Why has the bright star of Barrier Street become "a very different kind of neighbor," an implacable Fury coming unhinged before the street's attentive eyes?
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown - 3 Weeks as Number 1
As the story opens, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned unexpectedly to deliver an evening lecture in the U.S. Capitol Building. Within minutes of his arrival, however, the night takes a bizarre turn. A disturbing object–artfully encoded with five symbols–is discovered in the Capitol Building. Langdon recognizes the object as an ancient invitation… one meant to usher its recipient into a long-lost world of esoteric wisdom.
When Langdon’s beloved mentor, Peter Solomon–a prominent Mason and philanthropist–is brutally kidnapped, Langdon realizes his only hope of saving Peter is to accept this mystical invitation and follow wherever it leads him. Langdon is instantly plunged into a clandestine world of Masonic secrets, hidden history, and never-before-seen locations–all of which seem to be dragging him toward a single, inconceivable truth.
House Rules by Jodi Picoult - 2 Weeks as Number 1
Jacob’s behaviors are hallmark Asperger’s, – not looking someone in the eye, stimulatory tics and twitches, inappropriate affect – can look a heck of a lot like guilt to law enforcement personnel — and suddenly, Jacob finds himself accused of murder.
Suddenly the Hunt family, who only want to fit in, are directly in the spotlight. For Jacob’s mother, Emma, it’s a brutal reminder of the intolerance and misunderstanding that always threaten her family. For his brother, Theo, it’s another indication why nothing is normal because of Jacob.
And over this small family, the soul-searing question looms: Did Jacob commit murder?
Honorable Mentions:
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson - 8 Weeks as Number 1
Book: Received 690,833 ratings on Goodreads
Movie: Released October 29th, 2010 (Sweden) scoring $43.5 million in the box office. Starred Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre, Annika Hallin, Michael Nyqvist
The Help by Kathryn Stockett - 6 Weeks as Number 1
Book: Received 2,361,140 ratings on Goodreads
Movie: Released August 10th, 2011 scoring $216.6 million in the box office. Starred Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Emma Stone, and Bryce Dallas Howard
Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks - 1 Week as Number 1
Book: Received 356,340 ratings on Goodreads
Movie: Released February 14th, 2013 scoring $97.6 million in the box office. Starred Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel
