Saturday, December 31, 2011

Books Read in 2011

Here is a list of what I read during 2011. I was terrible at writing up my thoughts this year, but I've linked to the books I did review. There are some comments on my favorites and disappointments of the year at the end of the list. Enjoy!

January
1. The House on Durrow Street by Galen Beckett
2. Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, Book 1) by Patricia Briggs
3. Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson, Book 2) by Patricia Briggs
4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

February
5. The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower I) by Stephen King
6. The Cereal Murders (Goldy Culinary Mysteries) by Diane Mott Davidson
7. The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower II) by Stephen King
8. The Last Suppers (Goldy Culinary Mysteries) by Diane Mott Davidson
9. The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson

March
10. The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower III) by Stephen King
11. Sequins, Secrets, and Silver Linings by Sophia Bennett
12. The Gospel-Driven Life by Michael Horton
13. Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

April
14. Queen of the Night by J.A. Jance
15. 13 Treasures by Michelle Harrison
16. The Luxe by Anna Godbersen
17. A Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones
18. The Lives of Christopher Chant by Diana Wynne Jones
19. Discord's Apple by Carrie Vaughn
20. Falling for Hamlet by Michelle Ray
21. Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson, Book 3) by Patricia Briggs
22. Rumors by Anna Godbersen
23. 13 Curses by Michelle Harrison

May
24. Envy by Anna Godbersen
25. The Concubine's Tattoo by Laura Joh Rowland
26. Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, Book 4) by Patricia Briggs
27. Silver Borne (Mercy Thompson, Book 5) by Patricia Briggs
28. Sisterchicks in Gondolas by Robin Gunn
29. Splendor by Anna Godbersen
30. Kitty and the Midnight Hour (Book 1) by Carrie Vaughn
31. Kitty Goes to Washington (Book 2) by Carrie Vaughn

June
32. Kitty Takes a Holiday (Book 3) by Carrie Vaughn
33. Kitty and the Silver Bullet (Book 4) by Carrie Vaughn
34. From Barcelona, With Love by Elizabeth Adler
35. City of Bones (Mortal Instruments, Book 1) by Cassandra Clare
36. City of Ashes (Mortal Instruments, Book 2) by Cassandra Clare
37. City of Glass (Mortal Instruments, Book 3) by Cassandra Clare
38. Beach Music by Pat Conroy

July
39. The City of Ember (Ember, Book 1) by Jeanne DuPrau
40. The People of Sparks (Ember, Book 2) by Jeanne DuPrau
41. Darkfever (Fever Series #1) by Karen Marie Moning
42. The Prophet of Yonwood (Ember, Book 3) by Jeanne DuPrau
43. The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
44. The Beach House by Jane Green
45. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
46. The Diamond of Darkhold (Ember, Book 4) by Jeanne DuPrau
47. Blameless by Gail Carriger
48. The Gospel-Driven Life by Michael Horton

August
49. The Dying Earth by Jack Vance
50. Witch by Barbara Michaels
51. Graceling by Kristin Cashore
52. Bloodfever (Fever Series #2) by Karen Marie Moning
53. Faefever (Fever Series #3) by Karen Marie Moning
54. Dreamfever (Fever Series #4) by Karen Marie Moning
55. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
56. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
57. City of Fallen Angels (Mortal Instruments, Book 4) by Cassandra Clare
58. Killer Pancake (Goldy Culinary Mysteries) by Diane Mott Davidson

September
59. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
60. Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower IV) by Stephen King
61. The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury

October
62. Evolving in Monkey Town by Rachel Held Evans
63. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
64. The Dark City (Relic Master #1) by Catherine Fisher
65. The Lost Heiress (Relic Master #2) by Catherine Fisher
66. The Hidden Coronet (Relic Master #3) by Catherine Fisher
67. "The Captain of the Pole-Star" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in The Body Snatchers and Other Classic Ghost Stories
68. "Alone Among Others" in The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop by Lewis Buzbee
69. The Victorian Chaise Longue by Marghanita Laski
70. Endless Night by Agatha Christie

November
71. Shadowfever (The Fever Series #5) by Karen Marie Moning
72. The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery
73. Snake Dreams (Charlie Moon Mysteries) by James D. Doss
74. The Widow's Revenge (Charlie Moon Mysteries) by James D. Doss
75. A Dead Man's Tale (Charlie Moon Mysteries) by James D. Doss

December
76. hush, hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
77. Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
78. The Tales of Belkin by Alexander Pushkin
79. The Main Corpse (Goldy Culinary Mysteries) by Diane Mott Davidson
80. The Mischief of the Mistletoe by Lauren Willig
81. The Margrave (Relic Masters #4) by Catherine Fisher
82. Touch by Alexi Zentner

Favorite books of 2011:

The House on Durrow Street by Galen Beckett
This book follows The Magicians and Mrs. Quent. It's a delightful and mannered fantasy (Regency fantasy?) with a bit of gothic thrown in. Wonderful images continue to haunt me long after reading this. Mr. Beckett also managed to make my heart ache for one of his characters. A third installment comes out in March 2012 titled The Master at Heathcrest Hall.

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
I liked this book on so many levels. The writing is gorgeous. The story is epic and moving. GGK pulls from historical folklores and creates a world that is at once recognizable and other. This is a novel about memory and loss of identity. It just about tore me apart emotionally (in a good way) and I came away from it so stunned that I wasn't able to write a review! The swirling emotions after reading this book and my awe at GGK's writing pretty much left me speechless. I did take notes while I read this, so I may still be able to write up my thoughts at some time in the future. This book bears repeated readings and I will be reading it again.

A Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones
The Lives of Christopher Chant by Diana Wynne Jones
Fantasy by Diana Wynne Jones will always make my favorites list!

Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Extremely well written YA (young adult) novel with a fantastic and balanced blend of fantasy, adventure, and romance.

The Victorian Chaise Longue by Marghanita Laski
Psychological horror at its finest. Contrasts the lives of women in Victorian times to modern (1950s) in a rather startling and effective way. Those interested in Women's Studies will want to read this one.

Touch by Alexi Zentner
I'm actually not quite done with this book, but the majority will be completed by midnight tonight so I've included it. I already know that it is one of my favorites! This is a debut novel that is just beautifully written. It makes a wonderful winter read (lots of snow and coldness and memories). It is a story about family stories, and the way in which the author weaves magical elements - golden caribou, malevolent wood spirits - throughout the "real" is seamless. Also captures the rugged wilderness of northern British Columbia. A gorgeous read and one I will probably read again.

Most disappointed by:

The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare
City of Bones
City of Ashes
City of Glass
City of Fallen Angels
A YA series that many bloggers loved, but it didn't live up to the hype for me. I found it to be a bit too derivative. Combine this with way more teen angst than I'm looking for, this series just isn't for me. On the other hand, teens will love it for the most part.

5 comments:

  1. Wow!! A fantastic year for you Terri! I'm glad to see you posting more often and hope that 2012 treats you well. Still bummed about the Pamela/Clarissa mix up but 500 pages is much less scary than 1,500. Good luck to you guys, though. ;)

    Happy new year!

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  2. Trish: I shall try to post more often this year! Last year was a rather difficult one for me and I'm surprised I actually held on to the blogging at all.

    Lol! Yes, that is quite a page difference and Clarissa is definitely a very big commitment. You can be the official Clarissa cheerleader. I know I'll need one :)

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  3. You definitely got through a bunch of books this year. I bought The Victorian Chaise Longue a year or so ago and missed reading it for this year's RIP Challenge. That time went by way too quickly for me. At some point I need to give the first Mercy Thompson book a try. I love every Daniel Dos Santos cover and would love to collect them. I also need to give Diana Wynne Jones another shot. I know she has some really beloved books out there and the one I tried, The Game, was reportedly not well received and it did very little for me.

    Hope 2012 is full of great reads for you.

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  4. Thanks Carl! I hope you try the Mercy Thompson series. Based on the things you read, I think you will probably like it.

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  5. I love your Best Of list! I agree with you on at least the first of Cassandra Clare's books, too. CITY OF BONES didn't engage me, so I haven't picked up the rest of the series. I've enjoyed much of her short fiction, though, so I'm sure I'll give at least the second book a try somewhere down the line.

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