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

The Reading Wrapup Starts!

It's almost 2011, and so it's time to WRAP UP the books reviewed on this blog.

Since I'm planning on teaching, the ratings on this site are in grade format rather than number format.
The ratings go from the lowest (C) to the highest (A+).
Approximately 50 books have been reviewed on this site for 2010, and of that amount, 40 have been in the "A" category: A-, A, and A+. See? I am a nice reviewer after all!

Over the next few days I'll be posting each book category in order from Least to Most Recommended, and I'll have a separate posts for Best of 2010 Reads.

Happy continued holidays!

The Results Are In!

For my blogoversary contest, I asked you all to give me your favorite 2010 release.
This is definitely my biggest contest to date, with just over 550 entries!

Honorable Mention (with at least 3 votes):
AMY & ROGER'S EPIC DETOUR, ANGEL STAR, BIRTHMARKED, THE BODY FINDER, A CONSPIRACY OF KINGS, FORGIVE MY FINS, PERFECT CHEMISTRY, PERSONAL DEMONS

#10 (tie):
THE DEMON'S COVENANT
INSIDE OUT
THE IRON KING
LINGER
MONSTERS OF MEN
SPIRIT BOUND

#9 (tie):
BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS
CRESCENDO
HEIST SOCIETY
HEX HALL

#8:
NIGHTSHADE

#7 (tie:):
LAST SACRIFICE
REVOLUTION

#6 (tie):
FIRELIGHT
MATCHED
NEVERMORE

#5:
THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE

#4:
BEFORE I FALL

#3:
PARANORMALCY

#2:
THE CLOCKWORK ANGEL

#1 Book of 2010:
MOCKINGJAY (surprised?)

And now for the winners!

Winner #2 will receive their choice of any book that's been reviewed on this site:
KARE!

Winner #1 will receive their choice of any 2010 release AND any book that's been reviewed on this site:
CICELY!

Congratulations, winners! Because it's Christmas and all and everybody's probably busy and stuff, please contact me in the next WEEK (or I will contact you sometime within the week)

CONGRATULATIONS!
Didn't win? Be sure to check back in January for my New Year's Giveaway!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Question of the Midweek [2]

So I was aiming for Wednesday, and obviously I missed!
Here's the question for what's left of this week:

Do you ever make notes while you're reading? Maybe to help you remember stuff for when you're writing reviews?
I do, but then most of the time I lose my notes. That's why my reviews are so long & rambling!



Real quick word about the contest:
As soon as I get home from work, I'm going to finish tallying up the results, and the winners will be announced on Christmas Eve!
:)