Top Ten Books + More

I recently did the challenge on Facebook where you list ten books that have impacted your life. OF COURSE I couldn't stop at ten...and have since thought of a few more that should certainly be added.  So here goes...

1. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
2. Coming Home by Rosamund Pilcher
3. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
4. A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin
5. When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Kay Penman
6. The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George
7. The Harry Potter novels by J.K. Rowling
8. The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick
9. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
10. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Honorable Mentions (Yeah, I'm doing it...I really couldn't stop at 10)
~The Georgia Nicolson books by Louise Rennison Official UK
~Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati
~The Usual Rules by Joyce Maynard
~Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
~The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly 

And also--

Unforgiven by Laura Hillenbrand
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

What's in your Top Ten?
~taminator40

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

Top Ten Reads of 2009

First, I have to say I'm psyched because I read 90 books this year, the most ever for me. Yeah! I hope I can duplicate that for 2010, but even if I don't, I'm pleased with my reading for this year.

Now, in no particular order, my Top Ten Reads for 2009 (all rated at least a 9 on my 10 point scale):

• The Endless Forest by Sara Donati
• An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon
• Fade Out by Rachel Caine
• Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? by Louise Rennison
• Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs
• The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett
• Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr
• Forever Princess by Meg Cabot
• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

There were plenty more which *almost* made the list but these were definitely in my Top Ten.

Big sadnesses: A few of my favorite series came to an end, including Meg Cabot's Princess Diaries, Louise Rennison's Georgia Nicolson, Sara Donati's Into the Forest, and Anna Godbersen's Luxe series.

My biggest book resolution for 2010 is to read more of my own books (which now threaten to take over the house and form a mutiny if left unread) rather than continuing to request so many ARCs and review books. I've got to remind myself that I purchased these books for a reason and I really do want to read them.

Happy New Year and Happy Reading!

~taminator40

Tammy's Top Ten Reads of 2008

When I looked over my list of books read in 2008, I found it interesting how my ratings would change if I were to give them out now. Some of the books I rated 9/10 would be lower; those stories just didn't stay with me, though I enjoyed them immensely while reading them. Then some of the books I rated 8/10 or 8.5/10 would definitely be elevated; those stories still haunt me and I find myself thinking of them regularly. Don't you just love it when a story sticks with you, so much so that months or even years later you think about the plot and the characters and wish you were reading it again for the first time? So when I looked over my list, I chose my Top Ten, not just based on the rating given at the time, but on my feelings for the book right now.


Without further ado, here is my Top Ten List of 2008, (with several teetering on the cusp of inclusion, so they were added as Honorable Mentions with capital letters):

Top Ten List of 2008

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
The Time of Singing by Elizabeth Chadwick
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell
The Host by Stephenie Meyer
Under An English Heaven by Robert Radcliffe
Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian
The Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly
The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

Honorable Mentions:
The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause
Beside the Burning Sea by John Shors
Molokai by Alan Brennert
Lady of Milkweed Manor by Julie Klaasen
Caves of Perigord by Martin Walker
Stop in the Name of Pants by Louise Rennison
Lost on Planet China by J. Maarten Troost
Rumors by Anna Godbersen

Wishing you all a blessed New Year filled with love, family, and books!

~taminator40

My Top Ten of 2007

The following qualify as my Top Ten Reads for 2007. Beyond the first listed, the others are in no particular order:

• A Place Beyond Courage by Elizabeth Chadwick (read this book...it's so rich in language, place, and character, a truly stellar experience)
• Lords of the North by Bernard Cornwell
• Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (A unique story that moves along thrillingly)
• Companions of the Night by Vivian Van Velde (raises YA lit to a new level)
• Helen of Troy by Margaret George
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
• Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
• The Ride of Our Lives by Mike Leonard
• The September Girls by Maureen Lee
• The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost

Overall, it wasn't an outstanding reading year for me. The 10/10s were few and far between, and many of my reads fell in the 7/10 category (good but not great). I am hoping that next year I'll choose my reads more wisely and read what I want when I want without worrying over reviews or what I *should* read. As my friend Maudeen said, guilt-free reading should be our goal!

~taminator40