Books of 2010
1. Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters
2. Jane Bites Back by Michael Thomas Ford
3. Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
4. 39 Clues #7: The Viper's Nest by Peter Lerangis
5. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
6. The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
7. The Oracles of Delphi Keep by Victoria Laurie
8. Graceling by Kristin Cashore
9. The Shadow Thieves (Cronus Chronicles 1) by Anne Ursu
10. Peeps by Scott Westerfeld
11. Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark by Ridley Pearson
12. O, Juliet by Robin Maxwell
13. Siren Song (Cronus Chronicles 2) by Anne Ursu
14. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahme-Smith
15. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
16. Catching Fire by Suzanna Collins
17. Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
18. Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
19. Lion's Heat by Lora Leigh
20. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith
21. Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris
22. Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean
23. 39 Clues #8: The Emperor's Code by Gordon Korman
24. Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
25. The Luxe by Anna Godbersen
26. The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
27. Rumors by Anna Godbersen
28. Envy by Anna Godbersen
29. The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
30. Vampyres of Hollywood by Adrienne Barbeau and Michael Scott
31. Bengal's Heart by Lora Leigh
32. A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn
33. Beastly by Alex Flinn
34. The Princess and the Hound by Mette Ivie Harrison
35. 39 Clues #9: Storm Warning by Linda Sue Park
36. The Second Short Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer
37. The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart
38. Insatiable by Meg Cabot
39. Incarceron by Catherine Fischer
40. Immortal Fire (Cronus Chronicles #3) by Anne Ursu
41. Girl Stays in the Picture by Melissa de la Cruz
42. Android Karenina by Leo Tolstoy and Ben H. Winters
43. Splendor by Anna Godbersen
44. Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson
45. Glass Houses (Morganville Vampires #1) by Rachel Caine
46. Sea Change by Aimee Friedman
47. Front Row at the White House: My Life and Times by Helen Thomas
48. Dead Girls Dance (Morganville Vampires #2) by Rachel Caine
49. Midnight Alley (Morganville Vampires #3) by Rachel Caine
50. Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer
51. Sunshine by Robin McKinley
52. Feast of Fools (Morganville Vampires #4) by Rachel Caine
53. Lord of Misrule (Morganville Vampires #5) by Rachel Caine
54. Carpe Corpus (Morganville Vampires #6) by Rachel Caine
55. Fade Out (Morganville Vampires #7) by Rachel Caine
56. Kiss of Death (Morganville Vampires #8) by Rachel Caine
57. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
58. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Read five books on the drive back from DC. Probably could've read more if Shiver hadn't annoyed me so that I didn't want to finish it.
- I can sense you all judging me for the amount of Morganville Vampires books on this list, but I'm telling you, they're like crack. Once I started, I couldn't stop. Rachel Caine's good about ending each book on a cliffhanging so I'm like, "OH SHIT GOTTA GET THE NEXT BOOK NOOOOOW." I finished all the books in the series, and I really like them. Yeah, they're formulaic as hell - you can expect Claire to get kidnapped stupidly, Shane to be a dumbass and get himself arrested, Eve to cry and then be a badass, and Michael to save the day at least once every book, but they're fun and fast reads.
Plus, there's character growth from book-to-book and the vampires are awesome, especially Myrnin. Myrnin's the best part of the series, seriously. He wears fanged bunny slippers for crying out loud and builds computers out of people's brains and other dismembered body parts! C'mon, what's not to like about him? ;)
- Sunshine was just painful. It got interesting about 50 pages from the end again, but at that point I couldn't enjoy it because I just wanted it to be over. It could've been 100 pages shorter if some brave editor had stood up to McKinley and cut out a good chunk of all of Sunshine's fucking exposition. Ugh. Speaking of painful...
- Shiver made me want to hurt things. It was just so... so boring. I spent most of my time tweeting about how much I hated the book instead of actually reading it. Grace and Sam's romance was ridiculously unbelievable ("Hey, I'm in love with a wolf and less than 24 hours after finding out he's a boy, we're going to make out in my kitchen!") and I didn't buy into it in the slightest. There were no interesting characters besides Isabel, the plot didn't show up until 80 pages toward the end, and I got pissed because of course the female werewolves would be unstable and vicious. Whatever.
Plus we had the extra creepy of Sam WATCHING GRACE OUTSIDE HER HOUSE EVERY WINTER FOR SIX YEARS. I can understand his initial worry of her transforming into a werewolf, but COME ON, MAGGIE STIEFVATER. SIX YEARS? How did that not ring the, "Hmm, this might be slightly creepy?" bells in your head while writing this? NOT TO MENTION Sam admits that he perved on her while she was changing and saw her naked, AND GRACE WAS TOTALLY OKAY WITH IT. In fact, she was so okay with it that her reaction was LOL MY BAD, PROBABLY SHOULD'VE CLOSED THE BLINDS. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK.
Can we please stop romanticizing creepy guys already, YA authors? Thank you!
- Howl's Moving Castle was a beautiful thing to read after Shiver. For some reason, I feel like I would've liked it more had I read it when I was a younger teenager. I might have been more enchanted by it then. I still really liked it, but... I don't know. I was a little disappointed by it too. Does that make any sense?
Currently reading: Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City by Kirsten Miller. You've got renegade Girl Scouts exploring an underground city under New York, blowing shit up, breaking into buildings, and led by a 12-year-old assassin-in-training. You bet this book is badass. I'm about halfway finished with it, so it'll probably be finished tonight.
Up next: Worldshaker by Richard Harland. I also snagged a bunch of books from my little sister that I need to read for my thesis, so I'll be going through the first books in Pretty Little Liars and Private, as well as a Sarah Dessen book. (I'm shuddering at the thought).
Books I need to acquire: The last 39 Clues book. That came out recently, right? And, let's not forget, MOCKINGJAY next Tuesday. *shrill scream of excitement*
2. Jane Bites Back by Michael Thomas Ford
3. Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
4. 39 Clues #7: The Viper's Nest by Peter Lerangis
5. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
6. The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
7. The Oracles of Delphi Keep by Victoria Laurie
8. Graceling by Kristin Cashore
9. The Shadow Thieves (Cronus Chronicles 1) by Anne Ursu
10. Peeps by Scott Westerfeld
11. Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark by Ridley Pearson
12. O, Juliet by Robin Maxwell
13. Siren Song (Cronus Chronicles 2) by Anne Ursu
14. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahme-Smith
15. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
16. Catching Fire by Suzanna Collins
17. Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
18. Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
19. Lion's Heat by Lora Leigh
20. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith
21. Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris
22. Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean
23. 39 Clues #8: The Emperor's Code by Gordon Korman
24. Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
25. The Luxe by Anna Godbersen
26. The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
27. Rumors by Anna Godbersen
28. Envy by Anna Godbersen
29. The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
30. Vampyres of Hollywood by Adrienne Barbeau and Michael Scott
31. Bengal's Heart by Lora Leigh
32. A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn
33. Beastly by Alex Flinn
34. The Princess and the Hound by Mette Ivie Harrison
35. 39 Clues #9: Storm Warning by Linda Sue Park
36. The Second Short Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer
37. The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart
38. Insatiable by Meg Cabot
39. Incarceron by Catherine Fischer
40. Immortal Fire (Cronus Chronicles #3) by Anne Ursu
41. Girl Stays in the Picture by Melissa de la Cruz
42. Android Karenina by Leo Tolstoy and Ben H. Winters
43. Splendor by Anna Godbersen
44. Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson
45. Glass Houses (Morganville Vampires #1) by Rachel Caine
46. Sea Change by Aimee Friedman
47. Front Row at the White House: My Life and Times by Helen Thomas
48. Dead Girls Dance (Morganville Vampires #2) by Rachel Caine
49. Midnight Alley (Morganville Vampires #3) by Rachel Caine
50. Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer
51. Sunshine by Robin McKinley
52. Feast of Fools (Morganville Vampires #4) by Rachel Caine
53. Lord of Misrule (Morganville Vampires #5) by Rachel Caine
54. Carpe Corpus (Morganville Vampires #6) by Rachel Caine
55. Fade Out (Morganville Vampires #7) by Rachel Caine
56. Kiss of Death (Morganville Vampires #8) by Rachel Caine
57. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
58. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Read five books on the drive back from DC. Probably could've read more if Shiver hadn't annoyed me so that I didn't want to finish it.
- I can sense you all judging me for the amount of Morganville Vampires books on this list, but I'm telling you, they're like crack. Once I started, I couldn't stop. Rachel Caine's good about ending each book on a cliffhanging so I'm like, "OH SHIT GOTTA GET THE NEXT BOOK NOOOOOW." I finished all the books in the series, and I really like them. Yeah, they're formulaic as hell - you can expect Claire to get kidnapped stupidly, Shane to be a dumbass and get himself arrested, Eve to cry and then be a badass, and Michael to save the day at least once every book, but they're fun and fast reads.
Plus, there's character growth from book-to-book and the vampires are awesome, especially Myrnin. Myrnin's the best part of the series, seriously. He wears fanged bunny slippers for crying out loud and builds computers out of people's brains and other dismembered body parts! C'mon, what's not to like about him? ;)
- Sunshine was just painful. It got interesting about 50 pages from the end again, but at that point I couldn't enjoy it because I just wanted it to be over. It could've been 100 pages shorter if some brave editor had stood up to McKinley and cut out a good chunk of all of Sunshine's fucking exposition. Ugh. Speaking of painful...
- Shiver made me want to hurt things. It was just so... so boring. I spent most of my time tweeting about how much I hated the book instead of actually reading it. Grace and Sam's romance was ridiculously unbelievable ("Hey, I'm in love with a wolf and less than 24 hours after finding out he's a boy, we're going to make out in my kitchen!") and I didn't buy into it in the slightest. There were no interesting characters besides Isabel, the plot didn't show up until 80 pages toward the end, and I got pissed because of course the female werewolves would be unstable and vicious. Whatever.
Plus we had the extra creepy of Sam WATCHING GRACE OUTSIDE HER HOUSE EVERY WINTER FOR SIX YEARS. I can understand his initial worry of her transforming into a werewolf, but COME ON, MAGGIE STIEFVATER. SIX YEARS? How did that not ring the, "Hmm, this might be slightly creepy?" bells in your head while writing this? NOT TO MENTION Sam admits that he perved on her while she was changing and saw her naked, AND GRACE WAS TOTALLY OKAY WITH IT. In fact, she was so okay with it that her reaction was LOL MY BAD, PROBABLY SHOULD'VE CLOSED THE BLINDS. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK.
Can we please stop romanticizing creepy guys already, YA authors? Thank you!
- Howl's Moving Castle was a beautiful thing to read after Shiver. For some reason, I feel like I would've liked it more had I read it when I was a younger teenager. I might have been more enchanted by it then. I still really liked it, but... I don't know. I was a little disappointed by it too. Does that make any sense?
Currently reading: Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City by Kirsten Miller. You've got renegade Girl Scouts exploring an underground city under New York, blowing shit up, breaking into buildings, and led by a 12-year-old assassin-in-training. You bet this book is badass. I'm about halfway finished with it, so it'll probably be finished tonight.
Up next: Worldshaker by Richard Harland. I also snagged a bunch of books from my little sister that I need to read for my thesis, so I'll be going through the first books in Pretty Little Liars and Private, as well as a Sarah Dessen book. (I'm shuddering at the thought).
Books I need to acquire: The last 39 Clues book. That came out recently, right? And, let's not forget, MOCKINGJAY next Tuesday. *shrill scream of excitement*