Last year I wanted to read 100 books. I ended up reading about 75 books. Out of those 75 books I picked 6 favourites, 4 books that surprised me, and 5 books I didn't finish reading.
My Favourite Books Read in 2011:
6.
The Hunchback Assignments by award winning Arthur Slade. Not only is Arthur one talented Canadian, but he also introduced me to the world of Steampunk. I can’t wait to read the rest of the Hunchback series.
5.
Young Sherlock Holmes:
Death Cloud and
Red Leech by Andrew Lane. I love Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's books, but it's fascinating to see Sherlock as a young boy.
4.
The Healing Wars: Bluefire, book two, by Janice Hardy. Her novel explores the darker side of healing and is told in first person. The concept of this book is unique. Her series gets better and better. I can't wait to read book three.
3.
Reckless by Cornelia Funke. She has a peculiar way of writing (I can’t quite explain it). Her novel is a wonderful dark tale with a bit of fairy tale in it. The pencil drawings are fantastic.
2. Peter and Max by
Bill Willingham. I have been following Fables (a comic book) written by Bill for quite some time. I was ecstatic when he finally wrote a novel that fits into his comic book series. This novel is a dark tale of two rival pied pipers (Peter from the German folk tales and his brother Max). His novel is even better than the comic book and full of imagination!
1.
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. If I had known this book was about killer water horses I would have pre-ordered it. I thought it was about a stupid horse race (sorry Maggie), but I eventually bought it as I loved her Shiver series. Her book was a bit dark, a bit fairy taleish, and a whole lot of fun! She did a beautiful job of showing how majestic the horse really is and the different relationships (good and bad) that humans have with animals.
Four Books that Surprised Me in 2011:
4.
The Host by Stephenie Myers. I had heard this book sucked nevertheless I gave it a whirl. Stephenie has a real talent for showing emotion. I loved this book as much I loved Twlight.
3.
Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood by
Elieen Cook. I won this book at SCBWI conference. I am glad I did because it’s not the type of book I would typically pick up. The cover intrigued me (a barbie doll looking girl with a knife sticking out of her back) and before I knew it I was lost in the book. She did a wonderful job of creating believable characters that I cared about.
2.
Vampire Plagues by Sebastian Rook.
Not another vampire book I thought when my husband brought this series home for me. I loved this series! His books were fresh and entertaining. Now all he needs to do is hurry up and write another book!
1.
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. As I said earlier I thought this book was going to be about a stupid horse race, but it was much, much more. I probably would not have bought this book if I hadn’t already read the Shiver series.
Five Books I Didn’t Finish Reading in 2011:
5. Theodore Boone by John Grisham. I love John Grisham, but his first book for children just isn’t on par with his adult books. Perhaps I will give it another try at a later date. I’m just glad he finally came out with another novel for adults!
4. The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan. This novel was a little too weird for me. It felt like I was reading the Percy Jackson series all over again except this time it was about Egyptians. The Percy Jackson books are among my favourite books, but sometimes he over explains things in his books.
3.The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. The concept of this book was fascinating; however, I hated Clare (too selfish) and Henry (seemed like a jerk). It’s hard to read a book when you don’t like the main characters!
2. Michael Scott’s Nicholas Flammel series. I read the first three books in this series then I got to book four, The Necromancer. I love the concept of these books, but there is too much detail and I had enough by book four. I'm still curious to see how the series ends so I might skim the next few books, but I just can't bring myself to wade through another one of his books (thankfully my husband loves the series).
1. The Time Thief by Linda Buckley-Archer. I bought this book because of the beautiful cover. I didn’t get very far into this book. I found the constant back and forth between the two worlds to be disorienting. I might give this book another try.
Books I Can’t Wait to Read in 2012:
- The Hunchback Assignments book 2 and 3 by Arthur Slade
- The Healing Wars: Darkfall by Janice Hardy
- How to Steal a Dragon Sword (waiting for it to arrive!) by Cressida Cowell
- The Eyeball Collector and The Lunatic's Curse by F.E. Higgins
- Young Sherlock Holmes: Black Ice and Firestorm by Andrew Lane
- The Time Camera by Simon Rose
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