Best Books of 2010!

The Best Books of 2010!

This year was a great year for new releases and, in particular, debut authors. I read a total of 18 2010 novels this year, and from those, I've narrowed them down to my favorites.
It was actually pretty easy to pick my top three favorites releases of 2010, and of those books, three books tied for FAVORITE READ of 2010. I'm calling them the Triple-K Alliance: Kelley, Kiersten, and Kersten -
and their masterpieces:

Nevermore, Kelly Creagh

Cheerleader Isobel Lanley is horrified when she is paired with Varen Nethers for an English project, which is due—so unfair—on the day of the rival game. Cold and aloof, sardonic and sharp-tongued, Varen makes it clear he’d rather not have anything to do with her either. But when Isobel discovers strange writing in his journal, she can’t help but give this enigmatic boy with the piercing eyes another look.

Soon, Isobel finds herself making excuses to be with Varen. Steadily pulled away from her friends and her possessive boyfriend, Isobel ventures deeper and deeper into the dream world Varen has created through the pages of his notebook, a realm where the terrifying stories of Edgar Allan Poe come to life. As her world begins to unravel around her, Isobel discovers that dreams, like words, hold more power than she ever imagined, and that the most frightening realities are those of the mind. Now she must find a way to reach Varen before he is consumed by the shadows of his own nightmares. His life depends on it.

In A Nutshell: Brilliant - absolutely brilliant! There are no words. I loved this book and it is absolutely beyond me what I'm going to do until 2012 when the next book comes out!

Paranormalcy, Kiersten White

Evie’s always thought of herself as a normal teenager, even though she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she’s falling for a shape-shifter, and she’s the only person who can see through paranormals’ glamours. But Evie’s about to realize that she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures. So much for normal.

In A Nutshell: Nobody does cute - and PINK - like Kiersten White. You'll love Evie (and Lend) and lose yourself in this delightfully fun, heartwarming story about one girl's quest to be find 'normalcy.'

Tyger Tyger, Kersten Hamilton

Teagan Wylltson's best friend, Abby, dreams that horrifying creatures--goblins, shape-shifters, and beings of unearthly beauty but terrible cruelty--are hunting Teagan. Abby is always coming up with crazy stuff, though, so Teagan isn't worried. Her life isn't in danger. In fact, it's perfect. She's on track for a college scholarship. She has a great job. She's focused on school, work, and her future. No boys, no heartaches, no problems. Until Finn Mac Cumhaill arrives. Finn's a bit on the unearthly beautiful side himself. He has a killer accent and a knee-weakening smile. And either he's crazy or he's been haunting Abby's dreams, because he's talking about goblins, too . . . and about being The Mac Cumhaill, born to fight all goblin-kind. Finn knows a thing or two about fighting. Which is a very good thing, because this time, Abby's right. The goblins are coming.

In A Nutshell: Kersten is a master storyteller, crafting a vivid and unique storyworld based on all that is amazing about Celtic mythology. I just devoured this book and can't wait to see what's in store for Abby, Finn, and all the goblins!

My Top 5 other favorites are:

The Shadow Hunt, Katherine Langrish
Tempestuous, Lesley Livingston
Perchance to Dream, Lisa Mantchev
The Replacement, Brenna Yovanoff
I Am Number Four, Pittacus Lore

Full List of 2010 books read:

Anxious Hearts
Brightly Woven
Forgive My Fins
I Am Number Four
The Iron King
Lies
Low Red Moon
Mockingjay
Nevermore
Paranormalcy
Perchance to Dream
The Replacement
Sapphique
The Shadow Hunt
Tempestuous
Thirteen Days to Midnight
Tyger Tyger
The Witches Kitchen

In My Mailbox [1]

Yay for the first IMM post of 2011!
Over the last week I accumulated quite a nice-size stack of good books.
Received for Review
Time Riders - Alex Scarrow
Deception - Lee Nichols
Secondhand Charm - Julie Berry

Special thanks to BloomsburyUSA Children's

Bought
The Lost Saint - Bree Despain
(I love you, Amazon - I got this *exactly* on the 28th!)
Matched - Ally Condie

Upcoming Reviews
Redwall - Brian Jacques
Deception - Lee Nichols
The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness

Just Finished
The Knife of Never Letting Go

Currently Reading
Secondhand Charm - Julie Berry
Jellicoe Road - Melina Marchetta

Coming Up Next
Darkness Becomes Her - Kelly Keaton

What did you guys get? And HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2011 Blog Resolutions

1. Do more interviews/guest posts. A whole side of blogging that I haven't really tapped into. That might be fun to try...

2. Post at least 5 reviews a month. For me, five books a month is all I can manage right now, but I've been kind of lackadaisical about posting reviews. I'd like to churn out a book review no later than a few days after it's been read.

3. Figure out reviews. First they were long (and yeah, kind of rambling) but they were genuine and from the heart and conveyed what I wanted to say. Then I kind of got insecure about my style - maybe it was too wordy? maybe people don't like it? - and then I made my reviews too short. I don't do short very well...I am short, but... So I'd like to figure out a style that works for me and have the confidence to stick with it, no matter what.

4. Make regular posts. I was really good about this last spring, but as transitions in The Life started happening, my schedule got out of whack. I hope to be more of a faithful post-writer.

5. Comment more. No need to elaborate. I need to work on this.

6. Manage time better. A lot of times, I'm on blogger, but I'm not posting. I just kind of stalk around the different sites, and it takes away from reading. And writing. And (oh yeah) studying. Not quite through with school yet :S I'd like to write my posts, make my comments, and move on to something else. Time gets away from me real fast, like Rip van Winkle.

7. Not stress so much. I've stressed way too often about whether or not my reviews are good enough, comment issues, followers...just general 'Is my blog good enough and why not? that's kind of made me lose focus. This year I want to get back to basics and get to where I enjoy blogging and writing reviews the way I did last January, when I didn't care so much about trying to please and be good enough. I want to get back to when I blogged for fun, and for me; not to please other bloggers, or **ssshh** publishers, or whoever.

----
So those are my blog resolutions. Not too grandiose or anything, but maybe since they're kind of small, I'll be able to reach them. Thank you all again, my faithful friends, who read my posts, who leave feedback (I read every line of them) and who have given their support and encouragement so that a novice, eccentric blogger could become...not quite so novice. Thank you Steph, Jess, Natalie (oh boyo, thank you!), Christie, ALY (I'll never forget what you did for me "That Day," how much you helped me. Now *that* is a real friend!) Christina, Enna, Juju, and Aussie Jess :D
Let's start 2011!

If asked "what would you recommend?," I would answer...

ALL

OF
THESE
BOOKS.

Over this past year, I've reviewed approximately 50 books on this blog (I hope to double that in 2011). Out of those 50 books, 16 received A+ grades, which is the highest rating I can give. Which is the best way I can say to you "READ THESE - PLEASE!"
So here they are - my favorite reads of the year:





The Dark Divine
Eyes Like Stars
The Great Tree of Avalon (Whole Trilogy)
The Hourglass Door
The Hunger Games
Nevermore
Once Upon a Marigold
Paranormalcy
River Secrets
(note: all the "Books of Bayern" would be A+ grades, but the first two books were read in 2009)
Sabriel
Troll Fell
Tyger Tyger
Uglies
Wildwood Dancing
Wondrous Strange

Okay, guys. This list is it! These are the best books I've read all year. Are any of these books on your "favorite" list?

Reading Wrap Up Post #2: "Great" Books!

Here's Part Two of my reading wrap-up. On here, there really isn't that big of a separation between the B+ and the A- books. All of these books were fun and enjoyable overall, and ones that I definitely think you all would enjoy, too!

B+:

A-



B+ Books
Anxious Hearts
Low Red Moon
Sapphique

A- Books
Incaceron
Perchance to Dream (Theatre Iluminata #2)
The Replacement
The Maze Runner (Maze Runner #1)
Lies (Gone #3)
The Truth About Forever
Just Listen
I Am Number Four (Lorien Legacies #1)
Princess of the Midnight Ball

Up next I'll post the A-TEAM books: the Really Awesome books, and then I'll post my Favorite Reads of the Year :D

Review - THIRTEEN DAYS TO MIDNIGHT

Thirteen Days to Midnight - Patrick Carman
Genre: YA Speculative/Sci-fi
# of pages: 304 (hb)
Publisher: Little Brown
Recommended for: Upper MS & Beyond

You are indestructible. Three whispered words transfer an astonishing power to Jacob Fielding that changes everything. At first, Jacob is hesitant to use the power, unsure of its implications. But there's something addictive about testing the limits of fear.

Then Ophelia James, the beautiful and daring new girl in town, suggests that they use the power to do good, to save others. But with every heroic act, the power grows into the specter of a curse. How to decide who lives and who dies?

RIVETING is how I would describe Patrick Carman's newest book. I literally read this in under 24 hours, and for a burned out, near-sighted college nerd like me, that's pretty good!
The idea behind Thirteen Days to Midnight is just downright fascinating, and it made me think of a mix between X Men and Final Destination. If you could have one superpower, what would it be? Never mind getting to decide what power you had - what if just happened to you, all of the sudden? How would you use it? How would you control it? And what if your superpower turned out to be a supercurse?
It's so great that the lit world has authors like Patrick Carman out there, who can really capture the voice of a young teenage boy and make him seem authentic and likable at the same time.
I had a very easy time relating to Jacob and feeling for the poor guy - he certainly showed a lot of courage and (as Dumbledore would say) 'moral fiber' even when faced with some incredibly challenging situations. His two friends, Milo and Oh, were right by his side the whole time, and I loved Milo in particular - everybody should a friend like Milo! Still don't have a warm, fuzzy feeling for Oh, though. She was so intense that she came off kinda crabby. Like, goodness girl! Eat some chocolate or something!
I do want to point out that the entire book is set (as the title seems to imply) over 13 days.
So the action starts right away. So characters fall in love right away (apparently). So a lot of revelations and secrets come out very quickly, and I wonder what the story would be like if it was just a tad longer...if there were more days on the timetable than just thirteen.
As to some of the more "thematic" parts of the story: it didn't really seem as polished as Carman's most famous series, The Land of Elyon. Here, I still don't know what point Carman was trying to make and what moral lessons he wanted his audience to learn (and the inclusion of a really ambiguous priest spouting off-the-wall weird stuff that I doubt any serious, legit priest would say, only made me more confused).
My thoughts are that this is an engaging, riveting story that will in no time have you hooked, so enjoy the action, because that's the book's main strength. It's a fun, quick read that I definitely recommend to you. In fact, I bought two copies of this book for my 14 year old boy cousins, with a post-it note saying "Ignore the priest, he's weird."

Final Grade:

Wrap Up Reading Post #1

All of the following books got a "B" grade on the blog, from a grading system of C - A+.

These books were all fun, entertaining reads and they are ones that I WOULD recommend to you. While I'm glad I read them, they're not quite "re-reads".

BRIGHTLY WOVENFORGIVE MY FINSTHE IRON KINGMOCKINGJAYTHIRTEEN DAYS TO MIDNIGHT - review pending
So two of these titles - The Iron King and Brightly Woven - were really popular 2010 releases, and while I am glad I read them, they weren't favorites. I'd definitely recommend checking into all these titles, but there will be some other ones that I would recommend you put at the TIP TOP of your TBR pile! :D