By the Numbers:
Middle Grade Fiction: 68
YA Fiction: 60
Graphic Novels: 12
Non-Fiction: 15
Adult Fiction: 27
(Number of those that were fantasy books: 45)
Grand Total: 182
Abandoned: 7
Challenges Completed: 6
And yes, I have to do my awards (you’ve been waiting for this, haven’t you?):
Best Adult Fiction: Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
Best YA book: Marcelo in the Real World
Best Middle-grade book: Out of My Mind
Best Fantasy: Finnikin of the Rock
Best Sci-Fi/Distopian: Academy 7
Best Graphic Novel Amulet, Book 1: The Stonekeeper and Book 2: The Stonekeeper’s Curse
Best Non-Fiction: Open: An Autobiography
Best Romance: A Song for Summer
Best Mystery: The Beekeeper’s Apprentice
Best Jacket Flap: Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk
And in other categories…
Books I should have read AGES ago: Eat, Pray, Love; The Picture of Dorian Grey; The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
Favorite Reviews: It’s not terribly clever, but I really enjoyed being part of the NerdsHeartYA tournament this year.
Theme(s) that inadvertently manifested themselves: books about the immigrant experience, fantasies that have a historical fiction feel, crazy parents
The Wink-Wink, Nudge-Nudge book: Sugar
Best *swoon* factor: Heist Society, The Demon’s Lexicon/The Demon’s Covenant
Best Interviewee: Varian Johnson (though Wendy Mass has the squee factor)
Favorite Challenge (that wasn’t hosted by Carl): Flashback Challenge: It was fun rereading books this year!
Favorite reread: The Grey King
Woo-hoo, they’re back!: Ring of Solomon, The Lost Hero
Books that I wanted the sequel for as soon as I read them: Incarceron, Starcrossed
Best main characters: Augie, TC and Ale (My Most Excellent Year)
Book for in-person book group I liked best: Girl in Hyacinth Blue
Book for on-line book group I liked best: The Elegance of the Hedgehog
Books I finished but didn’t feel the love for: Hachiko Waits, I am Morgan le Fey, Countdown, The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance
Number of Shakespeare plays I read: 1 – Much Ado About Nothing (and watched two movie versions of it), and I only saw one (MacBeth, even though the interpretation — the witches were actually space aliens — didn’t really work for me).
Best Sequel (by an Author Who Didn’t Write the Original): Wishing for Tomorrow
Disappointing book by an author I love: The Candymakers (no review, as I chose not to put one up), by Wendy Mass
Books that made me laugh the most: Belly Up; Going Bovine; Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging
Best books with the worst parents: How I Nicky Flynn Get a Life (and a Dog); One Crazy Summer
Best quirky book: The Kneebone Boy
Authors everyone else loves that I discovered I liked: Diana Wynne Jones, Sarah Rees Brennan, Ally Carter
Best book from an author I previously didn’t care for: Penny Dreadful by Laurel Snyder; Going Bovine, by Libba Bray; Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris
First-time authors I’d love to see more from: Rob Buyea (Because of Mr. Terupt),
Yay, a local author: Clare Vanderpool (Moon Over Manifest)
Book I read the fastest: Mockingjay
Favorite book from a series: I Shall Wear Midnight, A Conspiracy of Kings
Newbery Books I read: I didn’t read a single one this year. Shame on me.
Books that made me want to go out and do something: Confections of a Closet Master Baker (bake, of course); French Milk, Under a Tuscan Sun, Eat, Pray Love (travel); The Cardturner (play bridge); Bamboo People (help the people in Burma)
What are some of your bests this past year?
I've not liked Sedaris either, but haven't read the Squirrel one. Maybe I'll give it a go. Also, recently red Marcelo … and enjoyed it a lot. Received a review copy of moon over manifest – Wonderful book – very enjoyable middle school read. I enjoyed perusing all your “favs.” Happy New Year!
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I admire your ability to pick one book per category.
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I love your bests! There are a bunch on my to-read list for 2011.
I'm finding that Elegance of the Hedgehog withstands the test of time for me. It's a book I still think about.
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Annette, thank you! Happy New Year to you, too!
Amanda: it isn't always easy. Hence all the other categories (yes, I invent categories so I can highlight books I liked). And sometimes I pick more than one…
Tricia: I agree. I still think about it, too.
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Hi Melissa, It's been awhile since I've been to your blog, and I've missed it! I loved seeing your 2010 wrap up. I'm writing down several of these books to read also.
I read Elegance of a Hedgehog also this year. I felt exactly as you did (I went back and read your review) but I was struck so often by individual quotes out of the book, that I found myself recommending this book often to people, and then qualifying that recommendation. Silly.
Here's to good reading in 2011!
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Wahoo!! Fabulous list. I am keeping it handy 🙂
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Love this! Makes me want to read them all!
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What a list! Many of these are going on my “to-read” list!
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