#1: The best book you read last year

This is hard. I read a lot of good books last year, including a whole bunch entered into the Hugo Awards and books presented at various writers' festivals.

But the one that sprang to mind first was Elliot Perlman's Seven Types of Ambiguity. My friend Dan gave the book to me for my birthday, more to read as a writer than a reader. I couldn't put it down. I admired the way all the characters came through so distinctly and the utter manipulation of emotions as the point of view changed and forced me to empathise with characters I despised.

I'll give a shout-out to Alain de Botton's How Proust can change your life as the best non-fiction book I read. That man has pretty much the best job in the world: wonder about something, research it, gather some thoughts and write them down, sell lots of books and travel to writers' festivals.

As for a book that actually came out in 2010, I'd pick the Machine of Death anthology. An interesting premise, well selected stories and high quality writing meant it was all win.

I wrote a piece from the starter as a writing exercise, but it doesn't come close to what was published. I thank my friend Dina for tipping me off about the availability of the collection.

Day 02 – A book that you’ve read more than 3 times
Day 03 – Your favourite series
Day 04 – Favourite book of your favourite series
Day 05 – A book that makes you happy
Day 06 – A book that makes you sad
Day 07 – Most underrated book
Day 08 – Most overrated book
Day 09 – A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
Day 10 – Favourite classic book
Day 11 – A book you hated
Day 12 – A book you used to love but don’t anymore
Day 13 – Your favourite writer
Day 14 – Favourite book of your favourite writer
Day 15 – Favourite male character
Day 16 – Favourite female character
Day 17 – Favourite quote from your favourite book
Day 18 – A book that disappointed you
Day 19 – Favourite book turned into a movie
Day 20 – Favourite romance book
Day 21 – Favourite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time

I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.