Big Book List 2011
Well I guess that's 2011 done and here's Twenty Twelve - Happy New Year folks!
Here's my big book list for last year. As ever, I love to chat about ones that you've read too or tell people more to make them want to read a book that they haven't yet. Books are love :)
Fantastic = the best of the best. The ones that I felt the urge to tell everyone bout, multiple times, including strangers on the bus. The ones that I bought other people because I had to share. The ones that I really, really enjoyed.
Great = the best of the rest. Books that I would reread, or lodged themselves in my head so thoroughly that rereading might be redundant.
Good = books that I enjoyed, but since book-lovers can't afford everything these ones you could save your money on and find them in the library.
Okay = books are books and therefore wonderful, but I can't help feeling that these ones could have been better.
The Bottom of the Pile = well if you have nothing else to read
Fantastic
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Snuff by Terry Pratchett (a Discworld novel)
Spell Bound by Kelley Armstrong (12 of Otherworld series)
A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin (1 of series)
Water For Elephants by Sara Green
Little Princes by Conor Grennan (non-fiction)
The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss (2 of series)
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher
The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson (1 of 3)
The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson (2 of 3)
The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson (3 of 3)
Between Shades Of Grey by Ruta Sepetys
The World’s Wife by Carol Ann Duffy (poems)
Great
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (1 of series)
The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova
A Clash of Kings by George RR Martin (2 of series)
Who Killed Amanda Palmer? A Collection of Photographic Evidence by Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman
Grace Williams Says It Loud by Emma Henderson
Blindness by Jose Saramago
When God Was A Rabbit by Sarah Winman
You Can’t Get There From Here by Gayle Forman (non-fiction)
Wonder by Robert J Sawyer (3 of 3)
The Demon’s Surrender by Sarah Rees Brennan (3 of 3)
Where She Went by Gayle Forman (2 of 2)
Selected Poems 1923-1958 by e.e. Cummings
Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch (2 of series)
Girl, Interupted by Susanna Kaysen
Serenity: The Shepherd’s Tale by Whedon, Whedon, and Samnee (graphic novel)
Good
Annie On My Mind by Nancy Garden
Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan (1 of series)
The Surgeon by Tess Geritsen (1 of series)
The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans
Go Ask Alice by Anon/Beatrice Sparks
How The Girl Guides Won The War by Janie Hampton (non-fiction)
A Little Gold Book of Ghastly Stuff by Neil Gaiman
How To Be A Woman by Caitlin Moran (non-fiction)
Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (non-fiction)
BBC National Short Story Award 2011
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Huruki Murakami
Deenie by Judy Blume
Lucky by Alice Sebold
We’ll Always Have Paris by Ray Bradbury
The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong (1 of series)
The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan (3 of 3)
Darkest Mercy by Melissa Marr (5 of 5)
Counterfeit Magic by Kelley Armstrong (an Otherworld story)
Freedom’s Landing by Anne McCaffrey (1 of 4)
Okay
Freedom’s Choice by Anne McCaffrey (2 of 4)
Freedom’s Challenge by Anne McCaffrey (3 of 4)
Freedom’s Ransom by Anne McCaffrey (4 of 4)
You Against Me by Jenny Downham
Mortal Remains by Kathy Reichs (also called Spider Bones)
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time by Yasutaka Tsutsri
The Violin of Auschwitz: A Novel by Maria Angels Anglada
The Iron King by Julie Kagawa (1 of series)
This Place Has No Atmosphere by Paula Danziger
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson (2 of 2)
Astonishing X-Men: Exogenic by Elis and Jimenez (graphic novel)
City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare (4 of series)
The Girl in the Painted Caravan by Eva Petulengro (non-fiction)
The Bottom of the Pile
Destiny by Elizabeth Haydon (3 of 3)
Wetlands by Charlotte Roche
Angelology by Danielle Trussoni
Here's my big book list for last year. As ever, I love to chat about ones that you've read too or tell people more to make them want to read a book that they haven't yet. Books are love :)
Fantastic = the best of the best. The ones that I felt the urge to tell everyone bout, multiple times, including strangers on the bus. The ones that I bought other people because I had to share. The ones that I really, really enjoyed.
Great = the best of the rest. Books that I would reread, or lodged themselves in my head so thoroughly that rereading might be redundant.
Good = books that I enjoyed, but since book-lovers can't afford everything these ones you could save your money on and find them in the library.
Okay = books are books and therefore wonderful, but I can't help feeling that these ones could have been better.
The Bottom of the Pile = well if you have nothing else to read
Fantastic
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Snuff by Terry Pratchett (a Discworld novel)
Spell Bound by Kelley Armstrong (12 of Otherworld series)
A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin (1 of series)
Water For Elephants by Sara Green
Little Princes by Conor Grennan (non-fiction)
The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss (2 of series)
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher
The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson (1 of 3)
The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson (2 of 3)
The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson (3 of 3)
Between Shades Of Grey by Ruta Sepetys
The World’s Wife by Carol Ann Duffy (poems)
Great
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (1 of series)
The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova
A Clash of Kings by George RR Martin (2 of series)
Who Killed Amanda Palmer? A Collection of Photographic Evidence by Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman
Grace Williams Says It Loud by Emma Henderson
Blindness by Jose Saramago
When God Was A Rabbit by Sarah Winman
You Can’t Get There From Here by Gayle Forman (non-fiction)
Wonder by Robert J Sawyer (3 of 3)
The Demon’s Surrender by Sarah Rees Brennan (3 of 3)
Where She Went by Gayle Forman (2 of 2)
Selected Poems 1923-1958 by e.e. Cummings
Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch (2 of series)
Girl, Interupted by Susanna Kaysen
Serenity: The Shepherd’s Tale by Whedon, Whedon, and Samnee (graphic novel)
Good
Annie On My Mind by Nancy Garden
Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan (1 of series)
The Surgeon by Tess Geritsen (1 of series)
The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans
Go Ask Alice by Anon/Beatrice Sparks
How The Girl Guides Won The War by Janie Hampton (non-fiction)
A Little Gold Book of Ghastly Stuff by Neil Gaiman
How To Be A Woman by Caitlin Moran (non-fiction)
Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (non-fiction)
BBC National Short Story Award 2011
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Huruki Murakami
Deenie by Judy Blume
Lucky by Alice Sebold
We’ll Always Have Paris by Ray Bradbury
The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong (1 of series)
The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan (3 of 3)
Darkest Mercy by Melissa Marr (5 of 5)
Counterfeit Magic by Kelley Armstrong (an Otherworld story)
Freedom’s Landing by Anne McCaffrey (1 of 4)
Okay
Freedom’s Choice by Anne McCaffrey (2 of 4)
Freedom’s Challenge by Anne McCaffrey (3 of 4)
Freedom’s Ransom by Anne McCaffrey (4 of 4)
You Against Me by Jenny Downham
Mortal Remains by Kathy Reichs (also called Spider Bones)
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time by Yasutaka Tsutsri
The Violin of Auschwitz: A Novel by Maria Angels Anglada
The Iron King by Julie Kagawa (1 of series)
This Place Has No Atmosphere by Paula Danziger
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson (2 of 2)
Astonishing X-Men: Exogenic by Elis and Jimenez (graphic novel)
City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare (4 of series)
The Girl in the Painted Caravan by Eva Petulengro (non-fiction)
The Bottom of the Pile
Destiny by Elizabeth Haydon (3 of 3)
Wetlands by Charlotte Roche
Angelology by Danielle Trussoni