Fiction Mondays: What to Read in 2010?

Well, now that the holidays are over, it's time to get back on schedule on this blog. Which makes today the first "Fiction Monday" of 2010! Instead of reviewing favorite books or stories of the past year, or even decade, I'm going to cover some books I'm really looking forward to this year. I'm right in the middle of "Gilead," but I think my next project after this is going to be either "Let the Great World Spin" or maybe "Catching Fire," the sequel to "The Hunger Games." Which brings me to the first book I'm excited about in 2010: the final book in the "Hunger Games" trilogy, due out this August.

I will be the first to admit I'm a geek (I got a lot of Star Wars, comic book, and Venture Brothers related gifts for Christmas.), and this series is like a combination of "Battle Royale" and about a half-dozen great dystopian novels. Despite its clear influences, though, it seems fresh and new and entirely its own world.

The second book I'm really looking forward to this year is the new book by Joshua Ferris, the author of "Then We Came to the End." It's called "The Unnamed," and it's about a lawyer who has an affliction where he just can't stop walking. It sounds a lot more serious than Ferris' first book (not that "Then We Came to the End" did not have its serious points--it's just that the novel as a whole is kind of a black comedy), and I'm hoping he doesn't have a sophomore slump.

The third book I'm looking forward to picking up this year is actually the paperback version of one that came out in 2009: Jonathan Lethem's "Chronic City." I'd really love to read it, but I couldn't see spending hardcover money on it. It was just a bit out of my price range. But I've read a lot of reviews naming it as one of the best of the year, so I intend to check it out.

What else should I read this year? I am always looking for suggestions. Is there anything you can't wait to get your hands on? How about books that you received or gave for holiday gifts?