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

Young Adult Fiction--Which Ones Have You Read?

My fellow blogger at http://yalitgoodbadugly.wordpress.com/ posted the following, and I found it interesting, so I'm shamelessly borrowing it for here. I will color the books I've read blue and the ones I've never heard of in red, those I fully intend to get to before I die in purple...all others will be left in the dull boring black from which they were lifted. I'm interested to see what others have read from this YALSA list (http://www.yalsa.org/).
~taminator40

From http://yalitgoodbadugly.wordpress.com/:

YALSA has come out with their “Ultimate YA Bookshelf” which has 50 books, 5 magazines, and 5 audiobooks. The premise behind it and a link to the pdf can be found here.


Here are the 50 books- I am interested in how many of them I’ve read- and whether most of them are specifically YA lit or just books that Young Adults might enjoy…

Acceleration by Graham McNamee
Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce
All Things Great and Small by James Herriott
American Born Chinese
Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Beauty by Robin McKinley
Black and White by Paul Volponi
Blizzard! The Storm that Changed America by Jim Murphy
Bone series by Jeff Smith
The Book Thief by Mark Zusak
Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Chosen by Chaim Potok
The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition by Anne Frank
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going
Feed by M.T. Anderson
Fruits Basket series by Natsuki Takaya
The First Part Last by Angela Johnson
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Guinness Book of World Records
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson
The Killer’s Cousin by Nancy Werlin
Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff
My Heartbeat by Garret Freymann-Weyr
A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
The Pigman by Paul Zindel
The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer
Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta
Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar
Son of the Mob by Gordon Korman
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher
Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett
Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block