1. Best Book Read
I'm cheating and putting my favorite per category...
Paranormal - Unearthly by Cynthia Hand
Contemporary - Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
Dystopian - Wither by Lauren DeStefano
Romance - Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Honorable mentions: Divergent by Veronica Roth, Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare, A Long Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan, Love Story by Jennifer Echols, and Amen L.A. by Cherie Bennett and Jef Gottesfeld
2. Most Disappointing Book(s)/Book(s) You Wish You Loved More Than You Did
I actually read a few books this year that disappointed me. I'm not sure why that is... I think maybe the more I read the less forgiving I am of the books that bore me. Wildefire by Karsten Knight, Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles, and Delirium by Lauren Oliver were all books that I had really been looking forward to and had a really terrible time with. Lauren Oliver is a brilliant story teller and writer, but Delirium really didn't work for me. I think what all three books had in common was that I did not connect with or care about the main characters.
3. Most Surprising (in a good way!) Book
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. I know it got a lot of hype, but I was not into the cover at all (WHAT. I don't judge a book by a cover... noooo..) but WOW. It's so fresh and unique, and I'm very excited to see something different enter the market.
4. Book You Recommended to People Most
Unearthly by Cynthia Hand and Divergent by Veronica Roth (read them!!)
5. Best Series Discovered
Paranormalcy Trilogy by Kiersten White. Evie is so bubbly and fun; I feel like we would be great friends.
6. Favorite New Authors You Discovered
Jennifer Echols, Laini Taylor, Tahereh Mafi, Anna Sheehan, Stephanie Perkins, Lauren DeStefano, aahhhh, so many!! Basically, I'm a major fan girl.
7. Best Book Out of Your Comfort Zone or In a New Genre
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver... I can't believe I ever used to say I didn't like Contemporary YA. Reading that book opened me up to an entirely new genre. If it weren't for her I never would have picked up Anna and the French Kiss or Love Story, and I adored them.
8. Most Thrilling, Unputdownable Book
Oh... gosh. I don't know... there were a lot of books like that for me this year. If I had to pick one, Divergent by Veronica Roth had my pulse going at a million miles an hour the entire time I read it, which was in one great big gulp.
9. Most Anticipated Book
Wither by Lauren DeStefano... tried to get an ARC and failed miserably, but retrospectively am happy about that because I meant that I didn't have to wait as long until Fever (which I am extremely excited for!)
10. Favorite Cover of a Book You Read
Not only is the cover stunning, but the entire design--inside and out--is beautiful.
11. Most Memorable Character
Ooooh that's a tough one. I completely related to Clara from Unearthly and wanted to be best friends with Evie from Paranormalcy.
12. Most Beautifully Written Book
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver and Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, and ahhhh Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi is a close third runner up. I was a green monster the entire time I read all three of them; the craftsmanship is so beautiful.
13. Book That Had the Greatest Impact on You
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver resonated really deeply with me. I lied and stared at the ceiling for probably an hour after I finished it.
14. Book You Can't Believe You Waited until 2011 to Read
I can't believe I waited until 2011 to read my first Sarah Dessen Book. I really enjoyed The Truth About Forever, and look forward to reading her other works.
15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read
Oh, I don't know what my absolute favorites were. Certain passages quite literally took my breath away, but I am really bad about stopping to write them down because if I like them so much I definitely don't want to stop reading. Here are some ones I really like though:
From Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
Killing time isn't as difficult as it sounds.
I can shoot a hundred numbers through the chest and watch them bleed decimal points in the palm of my hand. I can rip the numbers off a clock and watch the hour hands tick tick tick their final tock just before I fall asleep. I can suffocate seconds just by holding my breath. I've been murdering minutes for hours and no one seems to mind.
From Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
She moved like a poem and smiled like a sphinx.
From Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
Here's one of the things I learned that morning: if you cross a line and nothing happens, the line loses meaning. It's like that old riddle about a tree falling in a forest, and whether it makes a sound if there's no one around to hear it.
You keep drawing a line farther and farther away, crossing it every time. That's how people end up stepping off the edge of the earth. You'd be surprised at how easy it is to bust out of orbit, to spin out to a place where no one can touch you. To lose yourself--to get lost.
Or maybe you wouldn't be surprised. Maybe some of you already know.
To those people, I can only say: I'm sorry.
16. Book That You Read That You Would Be Most Likely To Reread In 2012
It was a good year for dystopians. I will definitely read Wither by Lauren DeStefano and Divergent by Veronica Roth again. And I could read Unearthly by Cynthia Hand a million times.
17. Book That Had a Scene in it That Had You Reeling and Dying to Talk to Somebody About It (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.)
A Long Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan (like a million moments throughout the story!), Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi (wooaahh sexy shower scene), Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (OMG the end!), and Unearthly by Cynthia Hand (OMG the end again!!), and Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (OMG the end againnnn!!!!!!)
Thanks for being so great to me 2011! I hope 2012 can live up to it. xx
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