Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Best of 2011: Books

Dude, so this post could be miles and miles long. I promise I'll do my best just to highlight a few, okay? Okay.


Best Dystopian Read of 2011: PRIZED by Caragh M. O'Brien. It's the second book in the BIRTHMARKED trilogy--and I loved Birthmarked (also read this year). This novel was absolutely amazing. I aspire to write like this.

Runners-Up: DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth, ASHFALL by Mike Mullin, THE ELEVENTH PLAGUE by Jeff Hirsch.


Best Contemporary YA: VIRTUOSITY by Jessica Martinez. I've blogged about this book before, so I won't go on and on again. But it's a fabulous read. Buy it for yourself for Christmas.

Runners-Up: MOONGLASS by Jessi Kirby, THE LIAR SOCIETY by Lisa & Laura Roecker, THE DAY BEFORE by Lisa Schroeder, SEAN GRISWOLD'S HEAD by Lindsey Leavitt.

Best Fantasy: THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS by Rae Carson. Once again, I've blogged about this book, and I just can't stop thinking about it. I want to write a book in this genre. At the same time, I'm scared I'll do it badly. So yeah. A book that tells a great story and inspires authors to write better. You can't go wrong.

Runners-Up: THE NEAR WITCH by Victoria Schwab, CLARITY by Kim Harrington, CHIME by Franny Billingsley, RUBY RED by Kersten Gier

What are you best reads of 2011?

22 comments:

  1. Such a hard question! Hmmm, for YA I'd have to say Possession, Untraceable, Body Finder, Shade, Liar Society, Clockwise, The Compound...

    For MG I'd say Dogsled Dreams, The White Assassin, Earthling Hero, Nerd Camp, The Graveyard Book,...

    So many great books out there!!! I need more time to read!

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  2. Wow. I feel really out of it. I haven't heard of any of these. Where have I been?

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  3. I LOVED Divergent...so that means I need to go get Prized...now.

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  4. Definitely a difficult question to answer since there are so many good books out there. A few of my favorites this year are Beth Revis' ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, Ali Cross' BECOME, Stephen King's 11/22/63, and Jennifer Hillier's CREEP.

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  5. I loved The Girl of Fire and Thorns. Thanks for the dystopian recommendations. My daughter loves that genre and I'm always looking for new ones.

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  6. Have you read Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children? I have a feeling you would LOVE it!

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  7. You have read a LOT of the books I really wanted to read! I just still haven't found the time:(

    Shelley

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  8. Love those choices. And yea, no way can I decide the best. Hmmmm.....so many I LOVED. The Near Witch, Cassie Clare's releases, ahhhhhhh

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  9. Wow, doesn't it boil down to TITLES? They all sound fabulous. As for me, I loved LEGEND. Merry Christmas, Elana! PS Be sure to check out my New Year's Eve Shabby Apple dress giveaway.

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  10. I know Rae! I haven't read hers yet, but Kylie loved it.

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  11. Thanks for the awesomesauce list. I LOVED the Girl of Fire and Thorns! I want to write like that!
    I also loved FORGOTTEN. Have you read that one yet?

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  12. Ah, I haven't read any of your picks, though I've read a few runner-ups! The good thing is I have Girl of Fire and Thorns in my TBR pile at home. Woohoo!

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  13. I thought of a few more books while I wrote up my similar post:
    Fallen Grace
    Iron Knight
    Entwined

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  14. Love the cover of Prized. I don't read a ton of YA - shocking, I know :) - but I did like Ally Carter's Uncommon Criminals.

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  15. I hadn't heard of the first one at all. I like the cover though.

    I've been wanting to read Fire and Thorns for a while. Soon as I get my kindle.

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  16. My favorite was Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. I also loved Jessi Kirby's Moonglass and made that part of my top 10 that I'll post probably tomorrow.

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  17. I recently read The Girl of Fire and Thorns--I agree, it's a really good book!

    Chime would definitely be on my list; I'd come up with more but I've read so many books this year. :P

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  18. Man, I haven't read any of those. Yet. Will put them on the to-read list now! :)

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  19. The Scorpio Races. Hands down, one of the best books I've read all year. :-)

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  20. Can you believe I haven't read any of the ones you mentioned? I'm so behind. I have a stack of books I'm dying to read. I can't even think what the best one I've read this year was. So many great ones.

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  21. How'd I miss this? THANK YOU!!! I'm so glad you enjoyed VIRTUOSITY because I loved POSSESSION too! It blew my mind. So here's to 2012, and to writing and reading more mind-blowing books!

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  22. As of often of late, I'm behind. So this is for yesterday. Be the best writer you can be. The rest will follow.


    Fix msvcp100 dll Error

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