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I've been working on these in bits and pieces and just might post it BEFORE 2009 ends (in some time zone)! I have a books of the decade list too-- I'll get to that one soon too. Be patient.
It would be nice if I could do songs of the year/decade as well, but I can't think of any that really stand out (and that I know the actual titles of). I'm not sure I even know the names of the songs I HATE, though that list is probably more interesting. No, much as I do have that "rockin'" in my username, the "librarian" part is the only one I've really kept up with, which is why you're stuck reading about my taste in books YET AGAIN. Because I'm typing this paragraph last, I can say that, it's funny, I tend to actually INFORM you about what the book is ABOUT more consistently at the TOP of this list, but dwindle away to just going on about my OPINIONS on the books the farther down this list (and back in time) you get. I think I'm interesting the whole way through, but that's me. Let's begin:
Okay, I thought I read a lot more new books this year than I did. What actually HAPPENED, I think, was I read a lot of 2008 books very early in 2009, at which point they were still "new books," but now I really don't know where I can properly draw the line. When I pulled out all the book titles I read that I figured might make a Top Books I Read List, then pulled out all the 2009 titles, I had less than 10! And I only (going back to the original list) read like 12 or 13 2009 books, total! So, I'm not doing a top ten. I'm doing several separate Favorites of The Year lists instead.
So, Favorite 2009 Books Read in 2009! In author order, because not only can't I get ten of them, I can't decide how I want to rank them, either.
Brennan, Sarah Rees. The Demon's Lexicon --YA urban fantasy, story of two brothers on the run from demon-slinging magicians, and the brother and sister who seek their help, told from the viewpoint of a unique and almost unsympathetic character. A year or two ago I stumbled upon![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sarahtales' livejournal and discovered a) she is an endlessly entertaining writer, and b) she has the EXACT SAME TASTE in books as me (except for that weird crush on Draco Malfoy). So when her debut novel came out this summer, I grabbed it. Not disappointing! Very clever, very well-worked out, and quite possibly one of those books that's even better on a re-read, so you can SEE how cleverly it all unfolds. And the characters are wonderful, and their relationships are great. And this was one of the few books to make me teary this year, too. (And laugh. It wasn't one of the FEW that made me laugh though, because I seek out books that make me laugh. I like books that make me teary only WHEN they also make me laugh!)
Clare, Cassandra. City of Glass --also YA urban fantasy, this about demon SLAYERS, and the conclusion of the Mortal Instruments trilogy. Last year, City of Ashes made this list, although I did not like it as much as City of Bones (primarily because of a particular plot twist I personally didn't care for, though it makes perfect sense from an objective standpoint, so I should shut up about it since it's Just Me). But this year City of Glass makes the list without reservations as my favorite of the trilogy. It's a fun ride from beginning to end, and even when you see a lot of the major plot points coming, they unfold in such a way that you don't CARE what you guessed, watching it actually happen is so well-done. I finished it feeling Absolutely Satisfied... except that maybe Simon's story seemed incomplete... but then I found out she's writing a companion book all about Simon now! Hooray!
Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire -- YA distopian suspense: second in the Hunger Games trilogy-to-be, in which Rebellion is a-brewin' in the districts of Panem, and what the heck, if you read Hunger Games like I told you to, you don't need my telling you anything to pick this one up. Oh geez, I don't know WHAT she does to make these books so OBSESSIVE, but she's done it again. I was even getting annoyed with the writing at times-- something about the tense and Katniss's voice wasn't working for me early on-- and it STILL swallowed my brain and wouldn't let it out. Oh, and the other night I had a dream where the crew of Serenity was on Panem, and on waking I'm like, that makes sense, it's a very similar setting, just one is across a galaxy and one is on one continent, but I do love that social commentary in those two settings, where all the sci-fi futuristic gadgetry is totally in the hands of the Haves and the Have-Nots have almost regressed technologically instead and are struggling just to eat! That is so TRUE and something the well-to-do ought to think twice about! I could go on and on!
Kelly, Jacqueline. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate --MG historical fiction, the story of a girl growing up in turn-of-the-last-century Texas who wants to be a naturalist instead of a proper young lady. This book is incredible because it has practically no plot whatsoever-- I kept thinking, "This must be the part where something bad and dramatic happens" and it never did-- and yet it still pulls you in and keeps you there as well as any louder, faster suspense novel might. It's funny, and sweet-but-not-saccarine, and Callie Vee is just swell. And she ALREADY reminds me of Maddie (or Maddie already of her, whatever way)-- I have a feeling I'm going to need to buy a copy of this in hardback JUST to have on hand to give to her when she nears Callie's age....
Stead, Rebecca. When You Reach Me --MG, uh, mildly historical friendship story slightly-SF mystery? I wrote about this one already, right after I read it.
Stork, Francisco X. Marcelo In The Real World --YA contemporary realism, if you can believe it, yes it happens sometimes; Marcelo's dad makes him work at his law firm for the summer to see if he can get by in the Real World instead of his sheltered special needs school, and like anyone needs to tell anyone here, the Real World is one complicated place. Normally I don't touch non-comedic contemporary-realistic fiction (unless written by Madeleine L'Engle), unless it has a character on the autistic spectrum-- like this one. But this is not a book about autistic disorders, this is a pure and perfect Coming Of Age novel. Coming of age is just more PRONOUNCED for Marcelo than for your typical person. He is both a great character AND a great PERSON, so I LOVE him and you will too!
Yee, Lisa. Absolutely Maybe --YA humorous realism, girl runs away with her two best friends, from her clueless beauty-queen mother in search of the father she doesn't know anything about-- speaking of contemporary realism needing to be funny for me to pick it up, I was a little nervous about this-- I loved Yee's MGs about Millicent Min et al, so when this was described as "definitely Lisa Yee, but definitely NOT middle grade" I thought "what does that MEAN? Does that mean, like DARKER or SCARY or SERIOUS or something?" I needn't have worried-- it's definitely YA because it's definitely a teenager dealing with teenager things, but it's definitely Lisa Yee in that same way: humor so spot-on and real that it HURTS sometimes. Loveable, wonderful characters and lots of tacos. What more do you need?
So, to fix the whole "I read a lot of new books but they were really from last year" problem, here is my Top Ten(ish) 2008 Books Read In 2009:
0.5 Pratchett, Terry. Nation. I'm cheating here because I'm not sure if I read this in 08-but-after-I-made-last-year's-best-of-list or in 09-but-before-updating-my-List-of-All-The-Books-I've-Read. So I'm including it at the top of this list as a bonus title because, if I DID read it this year, it was absolutely the best book I read from 08 (or possibly ever) this year. It is moving and deep yet funny and surprising (not Discworld-funny-- it's absolutely nothing like his Discworld books, aside from the Awesomeness) and just, in general, well well done, bravo. It got a Printz honor, but I read the Printz medalist and it doesn't hold a CANDLE-- I would have given it here, no question.
1. Collins, Suzanne, The Hunger Games. I'm just saying. It's obsessive.
2. Aiken, Joan. The Serial Garden: The Complete Armitage Family Stories. Somewhat of a cheat here because most of the stories in the book were originally published years, no, decades before, and Joan Aiken in fact died several years ago, but still, rocking the wackiness, must put it on the list.
3. Ibbotson, Eva. The Dragonfly Pool. I actually listened to this on audio while I was doing physical therapy. It was a really well-read telling-- felt like someone telling a story-- and there were just all these wry bits that made me laugh, and then I'd be like "I totally just LOLed at a joke about the bombing of London, is that evil of me?" But never mind.
4. Reeve, Philip. Here Lies Arthur.vovat, did I recommend this one to you? Because you'd totally be into the premise. The Arthur legends reimagined as merely the fabrications of a bardic spin doctor we now know as Merlin, told by his young assistant, and pretty riveting, although if you're very much attached to the Arthur legends as you know them, they are RIPPED TO SHREDS here, so don't let it break your heart!
5. Murdock, Catherine. Princess Ben. I also "read" this one on audio at physical therapy, but in this case I think I would have enjoyed it MORE if I'd had the paper version. It's exactly the sort of book I would relish-read, going back over passages I particularly liked or trying to make connections between bits that are foreshadowed and finally happen. My only gripe is that the ending felt too sudden to me, but that might have had to do with listening to it instead of holding a physical book, too.
6. Riordan, Rick. The Battle of the Labyrinth-- number 4 of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Possibly #5 would be on this year's list, but it's checked out now and I'm not likely to get it until after the new year. You know what I was thinking about as I read this one last week? How I never got into Neil Gaiman's American Gods even though the concept of old-world-no-longer-worshipped gods running around America was an awesome one. Percy Jackson, on the other hand, made that concept totally a whole lot more fun, so now I feel like I can make peace with not liking American Gods. Instead I have this series, five whole books even instead of just one, laugh-out-loud funny, non-stop action, loveable characters (except seriously, Percy, we know you've got a learning disability, but shouldn't you at least TRY to memorize the entirety of the Greek myths now that you know the knowledge might possibly save your neck at some point? --my husband has the SAME LDs and he has an entire bookcase of roleplaying manuals memorized, which is less survival-needed) , and yes, the awesomeness of seeing mythological figures come to life in our own modern-day world....
7. Cashore, Kristin. Graceling. I've been kind of drifting away from your straight-up High Fantasy lately (I'm still into your fairy tale kingdom stuff-- witness #5-- but maybe it's the more serious stuff I'm not so into anymore), but this one was exciting enough to drag me along, and has some great characters, too. Of course, characters can make or break any story for me-- these are particularly good ones.
8. Bunce, Elizabeth C. A Curse Dark as Gold. Another reimagining of folklore (you see I'm partial to those, don't you), this one taking Rumpelstiltskin and making it, you know, ACTUALLY MAKE SENSE. It's slower than you might expect, but it's also INTENSE, and, you know, cool just for being a sense-making reinterpretation of folklore, which as I already said, I can always go for. Also, the author wrote a really nice response to me once on the SCBWI forums so I like her.
9. Stewart, Trenton Lee. The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey. I really love the unpretentious intellectualism of these books. Also all the weird parallels I keep drawing between the MBS and the characters in Ian Schafer et al. Reading this one I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn't reading A Series of Unfortunate Events so I should stop expecting every last thing to be a trap or a fake-out (I don't know why the narrator seemed more Snickety to me in this one than in the first, but he did), but otherwise, hooray for puzzles and riddles and daring adventures...
10. Rex, Adam. The True Meaning of Smekday. This one beats out the rest of the possible contenders for the last slot on the top 10 (really, I read quite a LOT of 2008 books this year-- the smackdown for last place happened even AFTER I'd already disqualified a bunch of less-impressive books) purely on the fact that it is so dang WEIRD. It's the aftermath of an alien invasion and it's altogether off-the-wall in a ... well, it's hard to describe. If you're familiar with anything by Daniel Pinkwater, it's like that-- a very unique sort of humor. Includes a great new Disney World conspiracy theory. Also, I still maintain that if I should ever try to rewrite the first book I ever wrote at age seven, about the disgruntled Santa's Elf that goes postal on my church on Christmas Eve, I totally want Adam Rex to illustrate it.
Finally, I will do the Best Stuff From Years BEFORE 2008 that I Read in 2009, except that if I truly did that, about 2/3s of the list would be by Diana Wynne Jones. So I'll try my best to do a no-particular order overview of a variety of titles instead. Many of which are by Diana Wynne Jones.
Brande, Robin. Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature. Writing-wise it's okay, but I mostly just appreciate ANY books that say it's okay to believe in both God AND Science! Yes! Read it for that reason.
Carter, Ally. I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You. Marginally silly, but what I loved most was how much this book reminded me of hanging out with Tracie and Liz in college. If they had had spy training, this book is exactly what would have happened....
Clement-Moore, Rosemary . Prom Dates from Hell.iamdamanda, you asked me in passing if I'd heard of this (in a list of other books) awhile ago before I'd read it, and right after I read it I wanted to tell you "Yes! I liked it! And you'll also like it because..." except now I forget what my reasoning was, exactly. Well, it was an amusing book for sure, and something about it struck me as very original, but I can't remember what that was now. Still, I liked it!
Collins, Suzanne. Gregor the Overlander. Obviously after I read The Hunger Games I knew she's a good storyteller, so I had to read this one too. It feels a bit too much like the debut book it is, but it's got a unique and well-realized world and I have a feeling the sequels will only get better. I'll be looking to grab those eventually!
Coville, Bruce. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher: A Magic Shop Book --this is the book I bought myself at the SCBWI conference just so I could actually get his autograph to remember his Not Hating My Writing by. I can't figure out if I read any of the Magic Shop books as a kid-- because they're exactly the sort of thing I would have read-- or if I was scared off by the whole Magic Shop concept since I had an overwhelming phobia of magicians, and therefore didn't actually go through with reading them, although I looked at them. But reading as an ADULT at least, I was impressed by the DEPTH in such a short, humorous book. Effortlessly heartwrenching even as it's delightful! I was also impressed by how well-rounded the adult characters are, without their intruding on the story-- I tend to write bland invisible adult characters, so it's neat to see the opposite done well.
Duane, Diane. The Wizard's Dilemma As I've said, I adore the Young Wizards series, and I'm so glad I remembered to pick them up again this year. Certainly they all belong on my list of favorite books I read this year, but if I just pick one of the series (that I read this year at least), I will go with this one. It is probably the deepest and most gut-wrenching and L'Engle-like. Seriously, if the series TYPICALLY involves deep moral issues and the like, imagine what the book with the word "dilemma" in the title is like! I know, in most cases, I'm all about humor, but I go for serious if there's Cosmic Battle of Good and Evil stuff involved.
Jones, Diana Wynne. The Chrestomanci Books. I'm sure I've laughed before here at "If you like Harry Potter..." lists that seem to be made by people who have either never read Harry Potter or the books on their list, either or. But never mind the lists of books that DON'T match, the bigger question is, why are the Chrestomanci books not FIRMLY AT THE VERY TOP of EVERY SINGLE Harry Potter read-alike list? I have never read any other books that capture the same sort of voice so well (though Eva Ibbotson's fantasies are up there, too): the humor and whimsy countered by the adventure and convoluted plots. Really the only thing these are missing in comparison is the whole school-story aspect, though Witch Week even has that. Also, these books can be read in any order-- I should know, I read the most recent one first!
So I don't let the whole list be monopolized by DWJ, I'm restricting myself to just one of her stand-alone books then, also: Jones, Diana Wynne. Archer's Goon, is probably my favorite of the stand-alone books I've read so far. One of the things that makes her so awesome is the way she brings characters to life, and she is at the top of her game in THAT respect in this book for sure. I loved the characters, and I loved their relationships together even more-- it's some wonderful commentary on family relationships, both off-the-wall-disfunctional and absolutely wonderfully imperfectly-and-realistically-FUNCTIONAL. I was delighted with this book the whole way through, which is something because it was the first book I read after Catching Fire, which as I already explained was obsessive-making. A lesser book would not have survived.
LaFevers, R. L. Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos. Hmm. I can't think what to say about this book without talking too much about the germ of a book idea I have that I've been excited about lately. Because what's unique about this book is that, while it's a certain type of book, Theodosia is a VERY unique character, NOT the type you'd normally see in such a book. My book does not have Theodosia in it. There's no way Theodosia could ever be duplicated.
Turner, Megan Whalen. The Thief. First in a series of related books, all I've read so far. People are fanatical about these books on the interwebs, so it was funny, I was reading thinking, "well, I'm not finding this all THAT compelling, wonder what the big deal is?" But then when I wasn't reading it, I'd find it stuck in my head. And then after I FINISHED it, it was even worse: absolutely could not stop thinking about it. I guess it's one of those books that really occupies your whole brain, uses more than just the top layer, makes you want to puzzle it all out. I'm definitely going to read the rest of the books.
SOOO, there's 30-some books I've read this year that I've liked a lot, I'm sure you'll find something YOU like here, too....
It would be nice if I could do songs of the year/decade as well, but I can't think of any that really stand out (and that I know the actual titles of). I'm not sure I even know the names of the songs I HATE, though that list is probably more interesting. No, much as I do have that "rockin'" in my username, the "librarian" part is the only one I've really kept up with, which is why you're stuck reading about my taste in books YET AGAIN. Because I'm typing this paragraph last, I can say that, it's funny, I tend to actually INFORM you about what the book is ABOUT more consistently at the TOP of this list, but dwindle away to just going on about my OPINIONS on the books the farther down this list (and back in time) you get. I think I'm interesting the whole way through, but that's me. Let's begin:
Okay, I thought I read a lot more new books this year than I did. What actually HAPPENED, I think, was I read a lot of 2008 books very early in 2009, at which point they were still "new books," but now I really don't know where I can properly draw the line. When I pulled out all the book titles I read that I figured might make a Top Books I Read List, then pulled out all the 2009 titles, I had less than 10! And I only (going back to the original list) read like 12 or 13 2009 books, total! So, I'm not doing a top ten. I'm doing several separate Favorites of The Year lists instead.
So, Favorite 2009 Books Read in 2009! In author order, because not only can't I get ten of them, I can't decide how I want to rank them, either.
Brennan, Sarah Rees. The Demon's Lexicon --YA urban fantasy, story of two brothers on the run from demon-slinging magicians, and the brother and sister who seek their help, told from the viewpoint of a unique and almost unsympathetic character. A year or two ago I stumbled upon
sarahtales' livejournal and discovered a) she is an endlessly entertaining writer, and b) she has the EXACT SAME TASTE in books as me (except for that weird crush on Draco Malfoy). So when her debut novel came out this summer, I grabbed it. Not disappointing! Very clever, very well-worked out, and quite possibly one of those books that's even better on a re-read, so you can SEE how cleverly it all unfolds. And the characters are wonderful, and their relationships are great. And this was one of the few books to make me teary this year, too. (And laugh. It wasn't one of the FEW that made me laugh though, because I seek out books that make me laugh. I like books that make me teary only WHEN they also make me laugh!)Clare, Cassandra. City of Glass --also YA urban fantasy, this about demon SLAYERS, and the conclusion of the Mortal Instruments trilogy. Last year, City of Ashes made this list, although I did not like it as much as City of Bones (primarily because of a particular plot twist I personally didn't care for, though it makes perfect sense from an objective standpoint, so I should shut up about it since it's Just Me). But this year City of Glass makes the list without reservations as my favorite of the trilogy. It's a fun ride from beginning to end, and even when you see a lot of the major plot points coming, they unfold in such a way that you don't CARE what you guessed, watching it actually happen is so well-done. I finished it feeling Absolutely Satisfied... except that maybe Simon's story seemed incomplete... but then I found out she's writing a companion book all about Simon now! Hooray!
Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire -- YA distopian suspense: second in the Hunger Games trilogy-to-be, in which Rebellion is a-brewin' in the districts of Panem, and what the heck, if you read Hunger Games like I told you to, you don't need my telling you anything to pick this one up. Oh geez, I don't know WHAT she does to make these books so OBSESSIVE, but she's done it again. I was even getting annoyed with the writing at times-- something about the tense and Katniss's voice wasn't working for me early on-- and it STILL swallowed my brain and wouldn't let it out. Oh, and the other night I had a dream where the crew of Serenity was on Panem, and on waking I'm like, that makes sense, it's a very similar setting, just one is across a galaxy and one is on one continent, but I do love that social commentary in those two settings, where all the sci-fi futuristic gadgetry is totally in the hands of the Haves and the Have-Nots have almost regressed technologically instead and are struggling just to eat! That is so TRUE and something the well-to-do ought to think twice about! I could go on and on!
Kelly, Jacqueline. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate --MG historical fiction, the story of a girl growing up in turn-of-the-last-century Texas who wants to be a naturalist instead of a proper young lady. This book is incredible because it has practically no plot whatsoever-- I kept thinking, "This must be the part where something bad and dramatic happens" and it never did-- and yet it still pulls you in and keeps you there as well as any louder, faster suspense novel might. It's funny, and sweet-but-not-saccarine, and Callie Vee is just swell. And she ALREADY reminds me of Maddie (or Maddie already of her, whatever way)-- I have a feeling I'm going to need to buy a copy of this in hardback JUST to have on hand to give to her when she nears Callie's age....
Stead, Rebecca. When You Reach Me --MG, uh, mildly historical friendship story slightly-SF mystery? I wrote about this one already, right after I read it.
Stork, Francisco X. Marcelo In The Real World --YA contemporary realism, if you can believe it, yes it happens sometimes; Marcelo's dad makes him work at his law firm for the summer to see if he can get by in the Real World instead of his sheltered special needs school, and like anyone needs to tell anyone here, the Real World is one complicated place. Normally I don't touch non-comedic contemporary-realistic fiction (unless written by Madeleine L'Engle), unless it has a character on the autistic spectrum-- like this one. But this is not a book about autistic disorders, this is a pure and perfect Coming Of Age novel. Coming of age is just more PRONOUNCED for Marcelo than for your typical person. He is both a great character AND a great PERSON, so I LOVE him and you will too!
Yee, Lisa. Absolutely Maybe --YA humorous realism, girl runs away with her two best friends, from her clueless beauty-queen mother in search of the father she doesn't know anything about-- speaking of contemporary realism needing to be funny for me to pick it up, I was a little nervous about this-- I loved Yee's MGs about Millicent Min et al, so when this was described as "definitely Lisa Yee, but definitely NOT middle grade" I thought "what does that MEAN? Does that mean, like DARKER or SCARY or SERIOUS or something?" I needn't have worried-- it's definitely YA because it's definitely a teenager dealing with teenager things, but it's definitely Lisa Yee in that same way: humor so spot-on and real that it HURTS sometimes. Loveable, wonderful characters and lots of tacos. What more do you need?
So, to fix the whole "I read a lot of new books but they were really from last year" problem, here is my Top Ten(ish) 2008 Books Read In 2009:
0.5 Pratchett, Terry. Nation. I'm cheating here because I'm not sure if I read this in 08-but-after-I-made-last-year's-best-of-list or in 09-but-before-updating-my-List-of-All-The-Books-I've-Read. So I'm including it at the top of this list as a bonus title because, if I DID read it this year, it was absolutely the best book I read from 08 (or possibly ever) this year. It is moving and deep yet funny and surprising (not Discworld-funny-- it's absolutely nothing like his Discworld books, aside from the Awesomeness) and just, in general, well well done, bravo. It got a Printz honor, but I read the Printz medalist and it doesn't hold a CANDLE-- I would have given it here, no question.
1. Collins, Suzanne, The Hunger Games. I'm just saying. It's obsessive.
2. Aiken, Joan. The Serial Garden: The Complete Armitage Family Stories. Somewhat of a cheat here because most of the stories in the book were originally published years, no, decades before, and Joan Aiken in fact died several years ago, but still, rocking the wackiness, must put it on the list.
3. Ibbotson, Eva. The Dragonfly Pool. I actually listened to this on audio while I was doing physical therapy. It was a really well-read telling-- felt like someone telling a story-- and there were just all these wry bits that made me laugh, and then I'd be like "I totally just LOLed at a joke about the bombing of London, is that evil of me?" But never mind.
4. Reeve, Philip. Here Lies Arthur.
vovat, did I recommend this one to you? Because you'd totally be into the premise. The Arthur legends reimagined as merely the fabrications of a bardic spin doctor we now know as Merlin, told by his young assistant, and pretty riveting, although if you're very much attached to the Arthur legends as you know them, they are RIPPED TO SHREDS here, so don't let it break your heart!5. Murdock, Catherine. Princess Ben. I also "read" this one on audio at physical therapy, but in this case I think I would have enjoyed it MORE if I'd had the paper version. It's exactly the sort of book I would relish-read, going back over passages I particularly liked or trying to make connections between bits that are foreshadowed and finally happen. My only gripe is that the ending felt too sudden to me, but that might have had to do with listening to it instead of holding a physical book, too.
6. Riordan, Rick. The Battle of the Labyrinth-- number 4 of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Possibly #5 would be on this year's list, but it's checked out now and I'm not likely to get it until after the new year. You know what I was thinking about as I read this one last week? How I never got into Neil Gaiman's American Gods even though the concept of old-world-no-longer-worshipped gods running around America was an awesome one. Percy Jackson, on the other hand, made that concept totally a whole lot more fun, so now I feel like I can make peace with not liking American Gods. Instead I have this series, five whole books even instead of just one, laugh-out-loud funny, non-stop action, loveable characters (except seriously, Percy, we know you've got a learning disability, but shouldn't you at least TRY to memorize the entirety of the Greek myths now that you know the knowledge might possibly save your neck at some point? --my husband has the SAME LDs and he has an entire bookcase of roleplaying manuals memorized, which is less survival-needed) , and yes, the awesomeness of seeing mythological figures come to life in our own modern-day world....
7. Cashore, Kristin. Graceling. I've been kind of drifting away from your straight-up High Fantasy lately (I'm still into your fairy tale kingdom stuff-- witness #5-- but maybe it's the more serious stuff I'm not so into anymore), but this one was exciting enough to drag me along, and has some great characters, too. Of course, characters can make or break any story for me-- these are particularly good ones.
8. Bunce, Elizabeth C. A Curse Dark as Gold. Another reimagining of folklore (you see I'm partial to those, don't you), this one taking Rumpelstiltskin and making it, you know, ACTUALLY MAKE SENSE. It's slower than you might expect, but it's also INTENSE, and, you know, cool just for being a sense-making reinterpretation of folklore, which as I already said, I can always go for. Also, the author wrote a really nice response to me once on the SCBWI forums so I like her.
9. Stewart, Trenton Lee. The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey. I really love the unpretentious intellectualism of these books. Also all the weird parallels I keep drawing between the MBS and the characters in Ian Schafer et al. Reading this one I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn't reading A Series of Unfortunate Events so I should stop expecting every last thing to be a trap or a fake-out (I don't know why the narrator seemed more Snickety to me in this one than in the first, but he did), but otherwise, hooray for puzzles and riddles and daring adventures...
10. Rex, Adam. The True Meaning of Smekday. This one beats out the rest of the possible contenders for the last slot on the top 10 (really, I read quite a LOT of 2008 books this year-- the smackdown for last place happened even AFTER I'd already disqualified a bunch of less-impressive books) purely on the fact that it is so dang WEIRD. It's the aftermath of an alien invasion and it's altogether off-the-wall in a ... well, it's hard to describe. If you're familiar with anything by Daniel Pinkwater, it's like that-- a very unique sort of humor. Includes a great new Disney World conspiracy theory. Also, I still maintain that if I should ever try to rewrite the first book I ever wrote at age seven, about the disgruntled Santa's Elf that goes postal on my church on Christmas Eve, I totally want Adam Rex to illustrate it.
Finally, I will do the Best Stuff From Years BEFORE 2008 that I Read in 2009, except that if I truly did that, about 2/3s of the list would be by Diana Wynne Jones. So I'll try my best to do a no-particular order overview of a variety of titles instead. Many of which are by Diana Wynne Jones.
Brande, Robin. Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature. Writing-wise it's okay, but I mostly just appreciate ANY books that say it's okay to believe in both God AND Science! Yes! Read it for that reason.
Carter, Ally. I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You. Marginally silly, but what I loved most was how much this book reminded me of hanging out with Tracie and Liz in college. If they had had spy training, this book is exactly what would have happened....
Clement-Moore, Rosemary . Prom Dates from Hell.
iamdamanda, you asked me in passing if I'd heard of this (in a list of other books) awhile ago before I'd read it, and right after I read it I wanted to tell you "Yes! I liked it! And you'll also like it because..." except now I forget what my reasoning was, exactly. Well, it was an amusing book for sure, and something about it struck me as very original, but I can't remember what that was now. Still, I liked it!Collins, Suzanne. Gregor the Overlander. Obviously after I read The Hunger Games I knew she's a good storyteller, so I had to read this one too. It feels a bit too much like the debut book it is, but it's got a unique and well-realized world and I have a feeling the sequels will only get better. I'll be looking to grab those eventually!
Coville, Bruce. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher: A Magic Shop Book --this is the book I bought myself at the SCBWI conference just so I could actually get his autograph to remember his Not Hating My Writing by. I can't figure out if I read any of the Magic Shop books as a kid-- because they're exactly the sort of thing I would have read-- or if I was scared off by the whole Magic Shop concept since I had an overwhelming phobia of magicians, and therefore didn't actually go through with reading them, although I looked at them. But reading as an ADULT at least, I was impressed by the DEPTH in such a short, humorous book. Effortlessly heartwrenching even as it's delightful! I was also impressed by how well-rounded the adult characters are, without their intruding on the story-- I tend to write bland invisible adult characters, so it's neat to see the opposite done well.
Duane, Diane. The Wizard's Dilemma As I've said, I adore the Young Wizards series, and I'm so glad I remembered to pick them up again this year. Certainly they all belong on my list of favorite books I read this year, but if I just pick one of the series (that I read this year at least), I will go with this one. It is probably the deepest and most gut-wrenching and L'Engle-like. Seriously, if the series TYPICALLY involves deep moral issues and the like, imagine what the book with the word "dilemma" in the title is like! I know, in most cases, I'm all about humor, but I go for serious if there's Cosmic Battle of Good and Evil stuff involved.
Jones, Diana Wynne. The Chrestomanci Books. I'm sure I've laughed before here at "If you like Harry Potter..." lists that seem to be made by people who have either never read Harry Potter or the books on their list, either or. But never mind the lists of books that DON'T match, the bigger question is, why are the Chrestomanci books not FIRMLY AT THE VERY TOP of EVERY SINGLE Harry Potter read-alike list? I have never read any other books that capture the same sort of voice so well (though Eva Ibbotson's fantasies are up there, too): the humor and whimsy countered by the adventure and convoluted plots. Really the only thing these are missing in comparison is the whole school-story aspect, though Witch Week even has that. Also, these books can be read in any order-- I should know, I read the most recent one first!
So I don't let the whole list be monopolized by DWJ, I'm restricting myself to just one of her stand-alone books then, also: Jones, Diana Wynne. Archer's Goon, is probably my favorite of the stand-alone books I've read so far. One of the things that makes her so awesome is the way she brings characters to life, and she is at the top of her game in THAT respect in this book for sure. I loved the characters, and I loved their relationships together even more-- it's some wonderful commentary on family relationships, both off-the-wall-disfunctional and absolutely wonderfully imperfectly-and-realistically-FUNCTIONAL. I was delighted with this book the whole way through, which is something because it was the first book I read after Catching Fire, which as I already explained was obsessive-making. A lesser book would not have survived.
LaFevers, R. L. Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos. Hmm. I can't think what to say about this book without talking too much about the germ of a book idea I have that I've been excited about lately. Because what's unique about this book is that, while it's a certain type of book, Theodosia is a VERY unique character, NOT the type you'd normally see in such a book. My book does not have Theodosia in it. There's no way Theodosia could ever be duplicated.
Turner, Megan Whalen. The Thief. First in a series of related books, all I've read so far. People are fanatical about these books on the interwebs, so it was funny, I was reading thinking, "well, I'm not finding this all THAT compelling, wonder what the big deal is?" But then when I wasn't reading it, I'd find it stuck in my head. And then after I FINISHED it, it was even worse: absolutely could not stop thinking about it. I guess it's one of those books that really occupies your whole brain, uses more than just the top layer, makes you want to puzzle it all out. I'm definitely going to read the rest of the books.
SOOO, there's 30-some books I've read this year that I've liked a lot, I'm sure you'll find something YOU like here, too....
