Books of 2011

Books read: 61

(see another post for picture books)

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman ✦ The Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter ✦ The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan ✦ Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer ✦ Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb ✦ Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson ✦ Go Ask Alice ✦ The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky ✦ Graceling by Kristin Cashore ✦ Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block ✦ American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang ✦ 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher ✦ Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney ✦ How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff ✦ The Night Fairy by Laura Amy Schlitz ✦ A Step From Heaven by An Na ✦ The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie ✦ When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead ✦ Dragon Haven by Robin Hobb ✦ Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegestar ✦ A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer ✦ The Lost Boy by Dave Pelzer ✦ Antsy Does Time by Neal Shusterman ✦ Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin ✦ Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine ✦ Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi ✦ The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins ✦ White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean ✦ Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding ✦ Uglies by Scott Westerfeld ✦ A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray ✦ Pretties by Scott Westerfeld ✦ Vampire Knights vol. 1 ✦ House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer ✦ Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead ✦ Looking for Alaska by John Green ✦ Scott Pilgrim 123456 ✦ Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor ✦ Withering Tights by Louise Rennison* ✦ Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater ✦ Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison ✦ Divergent by Veronica Roth* ✦ Born to Rock by Gordon Korman ✦ Ghostopolis by Doug TenNapel ✦ Peak by Roland Smith ✦ Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol* ✦ The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger ✦ A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness* ✦ Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys* ✦ Zita the Spacegirl by Ryan Hatke* ✦ Beauty Queens by Libba Bray* ✦ A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness* ✦ Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu* ✦ Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma* ✦ Chime by Franny Billingsley* ✦ Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (and other concerns) by Mindy Kaling

* indicates published this year

Now I'm gonna talk about my favorite books of the year. Not best, favorite. There are plenty of these I'd recommend (and some I would not), but I did manage to narrow favorite things down to 10 (with some honorable mentions, because it's so hard to pick just 10).

1. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
I think this was the book of the year for me. I listened to this on CD in the car going to and from internships and school. It grabbed me, drew me in, and didn’t let go until the last word. Krakauer, an experienced climber, shares his journey up Everest, which started as a report on the commercialized climbing operations coming into vogue, and ended as survival of the deadliest season on Everest in history. I found the story intensely fascinating. Krakauer's vivid descriptions made me feel like I was on the mountain with him. It sparked an obsession with climbing and really tall mountains which will probably stay with me for the rest of my life. Even though I read it 8 months ago, I could start reading it again tomorrow.

2. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys*

In the middle of World War II, Stalin took over the Baltic States of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, and in 1941 he deported 300,000 Lithuanians he considered a threat to his regime, transporting them to work camps and prisons in Siberia. This is the story of 15-year-old Lina, who is separated from her father and deported along with her mother and 10-year-old brother. It’s a story of terrible tragedy and cruelty, and yet a story of hope, love, and the strength of the human spirit. Beautifully written, Sepetys develops strong characters that I cared about, and creates striking images that stuck with me. I really loved this book. Even though the events of the book are tragic and heart-breaking, I came away with a feeling of hope and awe at not only the strength of the human spirit, but at the love and kindness humanity is capable of even in the worst of circumstances.

3. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness*

Conor O’Malley is woken one night to the sound of someone calling his name. As he looks out the window, he sees a monster—a giant, walking yew tree—but Conor isn’t afraid because he has to deal with much worse in his waking life: his single mother’s cancer treatments. But was the monster real or a dream? The monster returns and tells Conor that he will tell him three stories, and then Conor must share a story of his own—Conor’s own truth. I didn’t know much going in, but I could tell from the beginning that this was going to be novel about grief and how a 13-year-old deals with his mother’s cancer, rather than a novel about a monster. It isn’t a long book, and Ness isn’t wordy, but in simplicity Ness conveys powerful, complex emotions. This book is beautiful, breathtaking and heart wrenching. The dark, textured illustrations spread and creep into the margins, adding to the story and its mood. There were so many moments that struck my very core—they were so true, so real, so authentic. It’s a sad story, and there’s a good chance it will make you cry, but I think it’s worth it. (If you’re looking for catharsis—this would do the trick.)

4. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I'm not even gonna bother saying anything.

5. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Arnie is born and raised on the Spokane Indian reservation. He’s smart, but he’s also beat up on a regular basis by teens and adults alike, and everyone around him is drunk most of the time, including his parents. At the suggestion of a teacher, Arnie decides his only hope is to transfer to a school off the reservation, where the only other Indian is the school mascot, a decision that may save his life but is also perceived as the ultimate betrayal by his community and best friend. It's a book that's funny and real and poignant, and I was fascinated by the reservation world which is so foreign to me. I also liked the messages of transcending your fate and the evils of alcohol (a real breath of fresh air in a genre that so regularly depicts it as fine, normal, fun). Plus it's based on the author's own life (he too, left the reservation to attend a mostly white school). (There’s quite a bit of language)

6. Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor

In the author's note, Taylor explains some of her inspiration, concluding, "Like a magpie, I am a scavenger of shiny things: fairy tales, dead languages, weird folk beliefs, fascinating religions, and more." Mix that with her love of Rosetti's "Goblin Market" and you get this young adult book of 3 stories of 3 kisses in different times and places and the results and meaning of those kisses. Fanciful, haunting, vivid imagery, passionate, romantic, with a fair amount of the sinister and creepy. I should include a caveat that this book is not graphic, but it’s suggestive. The last story in particular has potential to make readers uncomfortable because of the kind of invasive, violating magic that is used. And there’s an implied sex scene (or at least that’s what I wrote in my notes—I don’t actually remember anymore). I just don’t want anyone to be caught unawares.

7. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Unaware that his parents have just been murdered and their killer is coming for him, a baby climbs out of his crib, wanders out of the house, and into the safety of a nearby graveyard, where the ghostly inhabitants decide to adopt him and raise him as their own. What follows are the adventures Bod (short for Nobody) has growing up in the most unusual of circumstances. I love the graveyard world Gaiman creates; the ghosts are delightful and charming. Sometimes joyful, at other times sad, all of Bod's adventures have a certain child-like quality to them that makes the book rather sweet despite the harrowing beginning. I love the Washington Post’s comment: “Like a bite of dark Halloween chocolate, this novel proves rich, bittersweet and very satisfying.”

8. Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Scott Pilgrim is 23, lives in Toronto, is the lead singer of his band Sex Bo-bomb, is “in between” jobs, and just started dating a cute high schooler named Knives Chau. Life is sweet until magenta-haired, very cool Ramona Flowers rollerblades into his life. Then life gets sweeter, and a lot more complicated. He learns that in order to date Ramona, Scott has to defeat her seven evil exes. I smiled and laughed my way through all six volumes of this quirky series. Scott is slightly awkward, doing things like learning the guitar line from Final Fantasy, and saying stuff like, “I wish I could turn into a morphing ball and roll to the bathroom from here, instead of having to get up.” The characters are likeable alternative types. The illustrations are well-done—expressive and humorous. It’s part manga, part comic book, and part video game, but the story and writing are strong enough for me to love it even though I’m not a gamer or comic book nerd.

9. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
I almost forgot about this one because it was earlier in the year. Melinda starts high school rejected and ostracized because she called the cops at a party over the summer. All her closest friends ignore her, never bothering to find out why she made the call—something that happened that she's buried deep inside herself. Anderson's sarcasm and humor are perfectly suited to high school. But what I really connected to was how well she captured the feelings of solitude and isolation I know so well. Because of that, the humor, and the spot-on depiction of the atmosphere of high school, this is an excellent and authentic book.

9. Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma*

Ultimately, I think this is about two sisters and their all-powerful bond. The story is told from the perspective of the younger Chloe, who describes Ruby (the one who raised her while her mother was drunk and her father was absent) as a captivating girl who seems to have a way with all people—charming them into doing whatever she wants. While at a party with her sister, 14-year-old Chloe swims into the reservoir and discovers a dead body in a row boat. Then everything changes, and she is sent away to live with her father, a few states away. But after two years, Ruby comes to get her and bring her back home where everything is like it was before…or is it? I had my doubts about this book when I started it. Then I read chapter 4 and I was hooked. I had to know what was going on (I’d rather err on the side of giving you less plot info rather than more, but at the same time it might be good to know that if you're looking for a completely realistic story this is not quite it). Suma created such vivid characters and images, I sometimes felt like I could see them standing in front of me. There was a fluidity and eeriness and strangeness and moodiness to it that I really liked.

10. Looking for Alaska by John Green

Last-words-collecting Miles Halter leaves his home where he has no friends to discover what Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps" at Culver Creek Boarding School. There he makes a few friends, including the the wild, sexy, clever, and messed up Alaska Young. Surprisingly, I had a hard time putting this book down. I really appreciated how well-written it was. The language, composition of the story, characterization—they were all so well done (it’s one of those stories where little things are introduced that you barely notice, and then they come into play later on). There are moments of such poignancy and honesty without sentimentality. (Caveat: There is a rather graphic, but short sex scene, sensuality, TONS of smoking and drinking, and language)

Another set of titles I could have included on this list because of the impression they made is A Child Called It / The Lost Boy by David Pelzer. If you don't know already, the two books together are about the horrific child abuse of a little boy and his escape from it into foster care. Tragic, fascinating, difficult both to put down and to take but also hopeful. It's another one that had quite an effect on me.

Other books I loved/thoroughly enjoyed this year and would recommend (but don't quite fit the above category):

Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding (this might've belonged in the above list)
Withering Tights by Louise Rennison* Good company, quite funny.  Set in England, it's a about a girl named Talullah who goes to a performing arts summer camp/college thing in Yorkshire. A book with delightful quirky characters that I just enjoyed spending time with.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Dave Kinney Fast, funny read.
Uglies and Pretties by Scott Westerfeld Set in a future US where everyone has an operation at the age of 16 to turn them "pretty." Will Tally follow her friend who plans to run away to a place (that may or may not exist) where people stay ugly for life or will she get the operation, fulfilling her lifelong dream?
Antsy Does Time by Neil Shusterman When Antsy learns his friend has a terminal illness he signs over one month of his life to his friend.  (sounds sci-fi but it's not)
Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol* In this graphic novel, Anya struggles with regular teenage insecurities about her body, her family and boys, but when she meets a ghost at the bottom of a well, things start to change.