Top 10 books of 2010

If anyone doubts that these are dark days, one need only look, for confirmation, at a cross-section of books published in 2010. Of the best-of-the-year selections we have made here - a top 10 list, 100 additional recommended books and a few dozen recommended reads by Bay Area authors - many of the themes that stand out are not especially light. There are books about war, immigration, the economic crisis and the perennial issue of race: A dozen titles focus primarily on this last subject.

But the sober stuff is mercifully offset by a bevy of books that celebrate, among other things, our creative spirit ("Apollo's Angels: A History of Ballet"), the natural world ("A State of Change: Forgotten Landscapes of California") and our capacity for compassion (Patti Smith's memoir "Just Kids"). Also, there are many authors who have a welcome and well-honed sense of irony. To name a few: Gary Shteyngart ("Super Sad True Love Story"), Tom Rachman ("The Imperfectionists"), Terry Castle ("The Professor and the Other Writings") and Keith Richards ("Life").

As always, lists like these leave out other people's favorites. Have other books you would recommend? Feel free to contribute them at sfgate.com/books.

- John McMurtrie

Fiction

Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen (Farrar, Straus and Giroux; $28). Franzen has given us a profound, urgent and often very funny exploration of the American family and of our troubled times, propelling his story with seemingly effortless but magnificent prose.

Room, by Emma Donoghue (Little, Brown; $24.99). Donoghue's heart-stopping novel, narrated by a 5-year-old boy, gives twisted new meaning to the notion of a sheltered childhood.

Selected Stories, by William Trevor (Viking; $35). These stories deal with the mysteries and darkness within human nature, yet Trevor, writing with sympathy and a gentle detachment, is never judgmental.

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, by David Mitchell (Random House; $26). With its combination of virtuosity and scope, Mitchell's delightful novel tells of a young Dutch clerk's adventures in 18th century Japan.

A Visit From the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan (Knopf; $25.95). In her highly entertaining and inspired novel, Egan casts a net around a group of people linked by their connections to each other and to the imperiled music business.

Nonfiction