I read many books this year, nearly all of them processed from dead trees. Will they ever figure out a way to make a decent reading surface that doesn’t involve raping the environment? Probably not in my lifetime.

Here are five books I read in 2010, arbitrarily chosen over breakfast for this list.

1. The Qur’an by Muhammad | This is the story of one man’s struggle with dyspepsia. Not much of a plot, but I did learn that I am pretty much unrivalled as the scum of the earth. In fact, the phrase comes from here.

2. The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson | I don’t usually read Man Booker Prize winners, assuming they are the UK equivalent of Oprah’s Book Club, but this was a romantic comedy about anti-Semitism, so how could I go wrong? (PG-13)

3. Voodoo Histories by David Aaronovitch | Did you ever wonder whether the Holocaust really happened? If Jews actually rule the world from a central office in an octopus’s brain bigger than planet Earth? Whether the “moon landing” was staged in a Hollywood bungalow? Then this is the book for you.

4. Hitler’s Pope by John Cornwell | Another love story woven around a twisted plot. Pope Pius XII goes ga-ga for Germany; gets hitched; they squabble over minor doctrinal points; the Jews are murdered wholesale in Europe. Nonetheless, their relationship is solid as a rock. Hey, isn’t that phrase from the Old Testament? Cool!

5. Why Truth Matters by Ophelia Benson and Jeremy Stangroom | Yes. No. Maybe? Truth is a pain in the ass, y’all. My review is here.