This was not easy. It was so hard that I'm sitting at my computer at 8pm on New Year's Eve unsure of my picks. I'll probably change my mind, but I'm pulling the trigger anyway.
Of the books I read in 2009, not necessarily those that were released in 2009, these are my favorites.
Yeah, so my list has 11 books on it. It's my blog. Honestly, the last four books have changed position on the list so many times, I had to include #11.
The past few weeks have been extremely hectic, yet incredibly lovely. The time normally put aside for reading has been temporarily replaced by wrapping, cooking, baking, traveling, and celebrating. I had no idea how little time I was going to have to read and write. My apologies. Lesson learned for this novice blogger.
Before I allow another hour to pass, I want to count the blessings that 2009 has bestowed upon me:
My blog - what an experience the last six months has been, more fun than I could have imagined; Publishers, Authors, Literary Publicists, and the like - how incredibly patient and generous they have been to a little book blogger like me; The Clinton Book Store - Harvey and Rob, my book whisperers; My Friends - old friends, new friends, and true friends, especially the friends that pushed me to start my blog (TPP) and the friends who push me to make it better; My Family - the patient, the kind, the loving, and the supportive bunch of crazy people they are; My Niece - I haven't been this in love with a baby since my own were in feetsie pajamas, her presence is a constant reminder to always look ahead My Boys - I am the proudest mom in the world, everything I do is for them; The Man - his confidence in me is unwavering, his support unending, and his love unmatched. I am too lucky to have found him, and I am too smart to ever let him go.
Thank you to everyone who has blessed me with their gifts this past year.
I could bore you all now with my list of New Year's Resolutions, but I won't. Instead, I leave you with a resolution that I made back in the year 2000. It was the one and only New Year's Resolutions that I EVER stuck to. In the year 2000, I pledged to read one book a month for 12 months. I kept a list, and I still have it. I also still have every book I read that year. Each one means so much to me, as this was one the year in my life that my whole world turned upside down. My books allowed me to escape. My books allowed my brain to shut off for a little while. My books actually gave me the gift of sleep. My books were my therapy. My books were my gift to myself, and something that stuck with me and grew. Who knew it would grow into THIS?
I have discovered an amazing website called 2010: A Book Odyssey, a celebration of authors who are publishing their debut novels in 2010. Since authors are my rock stars, these are my rock-stars of tomorrow (literally).
This is not an exclusively Young Adult book blog, but I have read more Young Adult fiction in the past two years than I did when I WAS a Young Adult. Well, if you are a fan like me, regardless of your age, here are the debut YA/MR books for 2010 listed by release date. Mark your calendars! (For reminders on the hot new Tenners' books, I have a widget in my left-hand column)
2009 Releases
13-Oct Becca Fitzpatrick Hush, Hush 22-Dec Lindsay Eland Scones and Sensibility 22-Dec Bree Despain The Dark Divine 22-Dec Jaclyn Dolamore Magic Under Glass
2010 Releases
1-Jan Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich Eighth Grade Superzero 5-Jan Dia Reeves Bleeding Violet 7-Jan Jennifer R. Hubbard The Secret Year 7-Jan Irene Latham Leaving Gee's Bend 7-Jan Yxta Maya Murray The Good Girl's Guide to Getting Kidnapped 12-Jan Anna Jarzab All Unquiet Things 19-Jan Jen NadolThe Mark
1-Feb Julie Kagawa The Iron King 2-Feb Cynthia Jaynes Omololu Dirty Little Secrets 4-Feb Kristin Walker A Match Made in High School 4-Feb Suzanne Young The Naughty List 9-Feb Josh Berk The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin
1-Mar Mara Purnhagen Tagged 2-Mar Rachel Hawkins Hex Hall 2-Mar Amy Brecount White Forget Her Nots 4-Mar Teri Hall The Line 9-Mar Laura Manivong Escaping the Tiger 15-Mar Jacqueline Houtman The Reinvention of Edison Thomas 16-Mar Kimberly Derting The Body Finder 16-Mar Lindsey Leavitt Princess for Hire 23-Mar Holly Nicole Hoxter The Snowball Effect 23-Mar Alexandra Bracken Brightly Woven 30-Mar Caragh O'Brien Birthmarked
1-Apr Karen Healey Guardian of the Dead 13-Apr Kay Cassidy The Cinderella Society 13-Apr Jame Richards Three Rivers Rising 15-Apr Sarah DeFord Williams Palace Beautiful 20-Apr Stephanie Burgis A Most Improper Magick (Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson) 27-Apr Phoebe Kitanidis Whisper 27-Apr Scott William Carter The Last Great Getaway of the Water Balloon Boys 27-Apr Leah Cypess Mistwood April Shari Maurer Change of Heart
1-May Christy Raedeke Prophecy of Days, Book One: The Daykeeper's Grimoire 5-May Jennifer Cervantes Tortilla Sun 11-May Chelsea Campbell The Rise of Renegade X 11-May Christina Diaz Gonzalez The Red Umbrella 11-May Greg van Eekhout Kid vs. Squid 25-May Kristina McBride The Tension of Opposites 25-May Tara Kelly Harmonic Feedback
1-Jun Angie Frazier Everlasting 8-Jun Jessica Leader Nice and Mean 10-Jun Emily Horner A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend 10-Jun Heidi R. Kling Sea 10-Jun Suzanne Young So Many Boys 15-Jun Shaun Hutchinson The Deathday Letter 22-Jun NH Senzai Shooting Kabul
1-Jul Karen Kincy Other 6-Jul Stacey Kade The Ghost and the Goth 13-Jul Anastasia Hopcus Shadow Hills
11-Aug Jackie Morse Kessler Hunger
Summer Chris Rylander The Fourth Stall
1-Sep Erin Bow Plain Kate 1-Sep Mara Purnhagen Past Midnight 1-Sep Steve Brezenoff The Absolute Value of -1 7-Sep Denise Jaden Losing Faith 21-Sep Kiersten White Paranormalcy ? -Sep Stephanie Perkins Anna and the Boy Masterpiece
14-Oct Andrea Cremer Nightshade ? -Oct Mindi Scott Freefall
November Margie GelbwasserInconvenient November Daisy Whitney The Mockingbirds
Fall Guadalupe Garcia McCall A Mesquite in the Rose Garden Fall Matthew Kirby Clockwork Three Fall Brenna Yovanoff The Replacement Fall Kody Keplinger The DUFF (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) Fall Michaela MacColl
Caitlin Kittredge The Witch's Alphabet Alexa Martin Pruit Laura Toffler-Corrie The Life and Opinions of Amy Finawitz, Eighth Grader Dee Garretson Danger's Edge: Wildfire at Camp David Blythe Woolston Freak Observer Cindy Callaghan Just Add Magic Rae Mariz The Unidentified Kelly Creagh Nevermore Barbara Stuber Crossing the Tracks
with more great books to come from the Elevensies in 2011!
Now, for those of you, like me, who love a good book trailer:
Our favorite bounty hunter once again takes on what is supposed to be an easy FTA (Failure To Appear), but nothing in Stephanie Plum's life is easy. The sleazy boyfriend of her FTA offers her an extra payment if she helps him. His name is Eddie Kuntz -- I kid you not with that name.
She also has new competition - Joyce Barnhardt - the same woman she found "bare-assed " on her dining room table playing "hide-the-salami" with her ex-husband. Fortunately, Joyce isn't her romantic competition. Instead, Joyce has also been hired to apprehend the same FTA as Stephanie. GIRL FIGHT!!!
Her car is blown up, her apartment is fire bombed, and she gets shot at. Still, things are looking up for Stephanie Plum. I won't give away any more than that.
I'm not sure if this is the best FTA mystery she gets wrapped up in, but we get to see a whole lot of Joe Morelli. Oh boy, do we ever! *sigh* Then again, no matter how good the twists and turns of the FTA mystery was, for me it was only a distraction from the Morelli action.
Evanovich doesn't disappoint as she gives us some great one-liners, from Stephanie, Grandma Mazur and Morelli. Also, Stephanie takes a few trips down the shore to Point Pleasant. As always, she makes me proud to be a Jersey girl:
"And the best part is the smell. I've been told there are places where the ocean smells wild and briny. In Jersey the ocean smells of coconut-scented suntan lotion and Italian sausage smothered in fried onions and peppers. It smells like deep-fried zeppoles and chili hot dogs. The scent is intoxicating and exotic as it expands in the heat rising from crowds of sun-baked bodies strolling on the boardwalk."
Welcome to Point Pleasant. She nailed it.
About the Book: Four To Score (Stephanie Plum, No. 4) by Janet Evanovich Mass Market Paperback: 338 pages Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks; 1998 edition (July 1, 1998) Language: English ISBN-10: 0312966970 ISBN-13: 978-0312966973
I am a week late in posting my results the Fall Into Reading Challenge, but before I post any reviews on books that I've read AFTER the 12/21/09 deadline, let me do a re-cap.
I took on this challenge, hosted by Callapidder Days, back in September. We were to post a list of all the books we wanted to read in the three months of fall. Below is my list, with links to my reviews.
I think I did okay!
I started out with an ambitious list of 31 books, and I read all but 8 books on my original list, but added 3 books that I had not originally intended to read. So, all in all, I read 26 books in a little less than three months. Not bad.
It took some effort, though, to stick to my original list as best I could. I got some GREAT review books in, which I will be reading and reviewing in the next few weeks.
I also could have cheated during those last few hours and snuck in a quick read of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, but I would have had to steal it out of the hands of my 7 year-old, and if I have learned anything as a mom, it's to pick your battles.
I really enjoyed this challenge. It kept me focused, as I tend to get very distracted from my review books as I'm walking around the shelves of the bookshop in town.
If any of you would like to see other blogger's wrap-up posts for this challenge, you can visit the official Fall Into Reading Wrap Up Post at Callapidder Days. (This is an excellent way of seeing a whole lot of book reviews with minimal clicks!)
Many thanks to Katrina at Callapidder Days for hosting this challenge...see you next time around!
I am one of those women who prefers Borders to Bloomingdales. I will read anything and everything I can get my hands on, and I will post my thoughts here.
If you would like me to read your novel, manuscript, ARC, story, or essay, you can contact me at: APSkap@comcast.net
I am currently revising my review policy. Please check back or e-mail me with any questions, comments, concerns, what have you.
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