10. Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow, by Peter Hoeg

And so in search of something more challenging I picked up one of my old favourites, "Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow" by Peter Hoeg, and reread the first half or so. It was like catching up with an old friend you haven't seen in years- that sudden sense of familiarity, but you also realise what it is about yourself that drew you to them in the first place. I loved how this book kept me guessing. I never knew where the story was leading but it was great fun speculating. The tantalising glimpses into Smilla's character revealed a combination of strength, determination and vulnerability that made her seem real, and made me care enough to keep reading. Plus I loved the philosophical questioning and the sharp social and political comments which I happened to agree with and feel strongly about. So all of these combined make this one of my all-time favourite books.

9.The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

I opened this up on the recommendations of friends who said this was the best book they've read all year. I tried, and it wasn't bad, but I couldn't get into it. Partly because the idea of creating "Death" as a character in a book has been done before (with funnier jokes) by Terry Pratchett. Also because using Death as a third person narrator means that the author doesn't have to delve too deeply into what the characters are going through. And you get the feeling they should be going through some pretty significant things, as it's set in the middle of WWII and it's about a girl, Liesel, who witnesses her brother's death and doesn't even know if her mother is alive. Not to mention her foster family are hiding a Jew in her basement. But apart from her nightmares, it is her stealing of books that seems to bother her more.
There are some interesting turns of phrase and clever metaphors but that wasn't quite enough to keep me reading. And I found that the teasing little hints about what was in store killed the fun of finding it out for yourself. So it wasn't for me, and I have to admit I didn't finish it - maybe it gets better, and I gave up too early.