Top Ten Reads of 2011

Though my number of completed books for 2011 is pathetically low, I have to say that the majority of what I read could have ended up on my "Best Of" list for the year, which is something in itself an accomplishment. I read some outstanding books (as well as some chunksters--hello Dance With Dragons!) but overall most of them rated a good 9/10. And though I focus on the amount read, I really did enjoy most of what I read.

In looking over the list, however, it was fairly easy to see which rose to the top for my own favorites, so below, in no particular order, is a listing of the Taminator's 2011 Best Books:

• Lady of the English by Elizabeth Chadwick (superior historical fiction always...I cannot recommend her highly enough!)
• To Defy a King by Elizabeth Chadwick (see above)
• The Watch That Ends the Night by Alan Fox (truly superior verse novel about 24 passengers aboard the ill-fated Titanic...I slowed down my reading purposely in order to savor this one!)
• Last Breath by Rachel Caine (I'm an unabashed Young Adult reader and this series {The Morganville Vampires} is one of the rare ones that only gets better and better.  As an aside, Rachel Vincent's Soul Screamers series hit an absolute high with me as well with its latest entry, If I Die, which only barely barely barely missed this list).
• Wherever You Go by Heather Davis (so pleasantly surprised at this novel--a dead boyfriend refuses to move on as he follows his girlfriend as she tries to make a life without him)
• Lionheart by Sharon Kay Penman (Penman is the master of historical fiction and this one is a doozy! After you get used to the author's nightmare of names and the set up, it truly becomes one of the best HF books out there today).
• Unearthly by Cynthia Hand (Again, a very surprising YA novel that gives us angels trying to figure out their purposes in life...quite well written and engaging!)
• The Wild Rose by Jennifer Donnelly (A fitting ending to a wonderful trilogy)
• The Soldier's Wife by Margaret Leroy (Another great novel set on the British island of Guernsey--very different in tone but so intriguing)
• Matched by Ally Condie (A terrific beginning to a series, though I'm less than enthralled with its sequel, Crossed; fingers crossed that the next in the series recaptures much of the subterfuge and mystery of the first)

All of these books were either ones I personally bought or were ARCs supplied by HNS or Amazon Vine.  Not all of the reviews for these have been posted on this blog as I was waiting for them to be published in the HNS quarterly review mag, but I can safely post them now and will do so in a day or so. 

So there you have my Top Ten for 2011. I'm already looking forward to what's ahead in 2012 and am promising to read more of my own books this year (and want you guys to keep me to my word).  I vow to make reading more of a priority than playing on my iPad this year. And who knows? Maybe this is the year I finally get busy on those ideas that have percolated in my own head for years. So watch out, 2012...here I come!

~taminator40