Monday, December 13, 2010

Monday=Book Review Time--My top 10 for 2010

This is for the NEW reads this year. It wouldn't be fair to include the rereads. Since this is my last week blogging for the year I thought I'd go ahead and do this even though the book I'm reading (Orson Scott Card's Pathfinder) is pretty good and could end up in the top 10, but seeing as how I'm not finished, the jury is still out. I'm going to cheat a little and put series books together.

Leviathan and Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld
Across the Universe by Beth Revis
Howl's Moving Castle, Castle in the Air, and House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
This Time Together (on CD) by Carol Burnett
Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride
Stealing Heaven by Elizabeth Scott
Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter

There are so many close runners up. I had several I initially put in that I ended up replacing. The list went back and forth for a while, but these are the ones that completely swept me away. 4 of them are even debut novels. Go newbies! The biggest surprise to me was Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride. It was not one I had been eagerly awaiting. It showed up on my doorstep one day from the publisher. (I think I may have won it in a contest.) I'm going to do a review of it early next year. So clever and funny.

There you have it. If you haven't read these, you should at least check them out and read a sample to see if they can entertain you as much as they did me.

16 comments:

Tess said...

That title, "Only the good spy young" cracks me up. so fresh and funny.

good ones here - I've read about half but am not a huge YA reader so that is actually pretty good.

Happy Monday :D

Stina said...

Wow, how come I haven't read Stealing Heaven yet? I loooove Elizabeth Scott.

Okay, Across the Universe isn't out yet. How come you've already read it? (Lucky girl!)

Patti said...

More books to add to my list. At least my husband will know what to get me for Christmas.

lotusgirl said...

Tess, All the titles in that series are fantastic. The books are clever and fun too.

Stina, You should read Stealing Heaven. Since you're an Elizabeth Scott fan, you'll love it. As for Across the Universe, I entered every contest I could find to win one and also begged the publisher. Persistence paid off.

Patti, Aren't books great presents? I love them.

Erinn said...

Yeah, for once there was a list of book that I've read most of the books. WOOT.

Very cool. Loved the new Scott Westerfield books.

Susan R. Mills said...

That's a great list. I've either read or have on my list most of those. Now, I will add the others.

Heidi Willis said...

Crud. I almost always have read at least one or two books in a person's list, but I haven't read any of these! I did love the rest of Ally Carter's series, but I haven't read any YA this year except Body Finder.

Nice list!

Sherrie Petersen said...

I LOVED Across the Universe. Such a brilliant debut. Paranormalcy is on my shelf and I really want to read Girl in Translation. I'm curious what the runners up were that almost made it onto the list? :)

lotusgirl said...

Erinn, We must have very similar tastes (that is if you like them). I love it when I come across a list that I've read most things on it.

Susan, I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. Like Erinn, you and I must have similar taste in books.

Heidi, that's because you're reading all those high brow books for school. Plus, a lot of these are new books out this year.

lotusgirl said...

Sherrie, Across the Universe was definitely one of my favorites this year. Such an amazing debut. Some of the close contenders were Graceling by Kristin Cashore, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, Paper Towns by John Green, Good grief--I could just keep going. There were so many good reads this year. I think I'm getting better at picking out books. I spend more time reading reviews. That probably helps.

Tana said...

Oh I read some of those! I'll admit I was disappointed in Mockingjay. Teaches me right for coming in with my great expectations.;)

Samantha Vérant said...

We need more contests! I need to win more books it seems, b/c my budget is shot. Also, I can't go to the library b/c I'm in France and they won't have these titles, well, in English. Def on my TBP (to be purchased) list: Across the Universe,

lotusgirl said...

T. Anne, It wasn't as good as I expected but it was still one of my faves. That tells how high my expectations were.

Samantha, That's tough. You may need an ereader. I may have to have a contest just for you. Maybe I should just send you a book. What's your pleasure?

Yat-Yee said...

It is hard to pick from all the books you're read, isn't it? I am looking at the list of books I've read and debating whether I could, in fact, come up with a list that makes sense.

Amie Kaufman said...

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer.

Most awesome title ever! How did I miss this?

We have similar taste -- the books from this list that I've read, I've loved. Which means I'd better get onto reading the others!

Jean Kwok said...

Thanks so much for including GIRL IN TRANSLATION on your Top 10 List -- I'm very honored! Although I don't have time to link to all blog posts about my book, I've posted this on my Facebook Fan Page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jean-Kwok/213583280524

Best,
Jean