Big Book List 2013

[inkvoices]

As ever I've listed the books I've read this year in an order of how much I enjoyed them rather than just dumping them on you. I've split graphic novels and comics into their own seperate list this year though on account of how this is the year I got my comics geek on *grins* so I read almost as many of those as I did books.

Comments

[franztastisch]

The fact that Wool is on your fantastic list makes me happy as I picked it up on a whim from Oxfam and have yet to read it. However, the fact that How I Life Now is on your fantastic list baffles me cos I read that when it first came out and it is the only book I can ever remember actively hating. Eh. Swings and roundabouts.

AND YOU REALLY LIKED ZOO CITY! I AM SO HAPPY! :D

Isn't Harlequin Valentine a short story too? Cos I'm sure I know the story so never picked up the TPB because I assumed it was the same.

OH and I just read Lazarus today. HOLY CRAP AWESOME.

[inkvoices]

I love the Wool trilogy. I have made many people read them and all have enjoyed.

Ha, and this is why I list books according to whether or not I liked them and not just listing them, because you can get an idea of people's tastes. Out of curiosity, why did I strike a sour note for you? How I Live Now rates for me because:
- of the narration, which is perfect for YA, being not condescending or sounding older or younger than the character is meant to be, and yet still having a unique viewpoint
- for showing and not telling
- for leaving things to the imagination
- for not being anything that I expected
- for being a war story in the style of Carrie's War and A Spoonful Of Jam and other such books that I read when I was younger and yet being a now war, being a future war, and yet the more things change the more they stay the same
- for the writing style

The only reason Zoo City is not a favourite for me is the ending parts I talked about with you. For everything else it's right up there, because it was right up my street :D

[franztastisch]

To be honest, I cannot remember why I didnt like it. When did it come out? cos I read it the year of release or the year after because it won the Smarties prize? Or Blue Peter liked it? I can't remember. And I can't remember anything much of the book, other than the mother was killed in Oslo and she fell in love with her cousin who she described as looking like a dog/puppy. And something to do with blackberries and a farm full of corpses. I literally blanked the whole thing until uni when someone reminded me of it and then all I could remember was that I really really hated it. Weirdly, others I have mentioned this to also hated it.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's in Fragile Things.

LAZARUS IS AMAZING. And I'm reading it in comics right now. Though I'll probably end up getting it in tpb too. So yeah, I know about the timeline stuff. And YES to Forever's design. :D

(Very exited for Wool now :D)

[inkvoices]

I don't know when it came out. I just remember I saw the film trailer with a friend and we were intrigued. Also it had music by Amanda Palmer! But we didn't get change to watch it when it was on at the pictures, so I bought the book in ASDA instead, so it must have been out a long while by the time I got to it this year :) I think it's the writing style and the atmosphere much more than the actual events which hooked me.

I have just checked my copy of Fragile Things and yep, it's in there, and it is the same story :)

LAZARUS! Also today was the day I got Black Widow #1 :D I am in love with the art and have high hopes for the story.

He's just released a batch of other e-books too, Sand, don't know if they'll end up as an actual print book but I have the first part of Sand as part of a Kindle daily deal on dystopian fiction thing, so I shall give it a whirl.

[ladymercury_10]

I loved The Fault in Our Stars and Among Others, too! And hooray, Morning Glories!

Ooh, Secret Avengers and Wolverine & The X-Men sound interesting.

[inkvoices]

As much as it's a fantastic story about two young people, love, friendshop, and banter, I LOVE that it also has all the stories about stories and representation stuff going on, the whole thing being a version of 'this is not a pipe'. And I picked up this week's Morning Glories comic today :)

The Secret Avengers comics, that is the most recent Marvel Now run, are basically all the SHIELD-ness that I wanted for Agents of SHIELD that we didn't get - Clint, Natasha, Coulson, Maria, Fury, Bobbi, and twisty, mind-bending SHIELD missions and antics. Wolverine and the X Men is crack, I swear, and yet. Wolverine in charge of a school! And I now see this as the sanest part!

[brightnshiney]

The only book I can see in your list that I have read is The fault in our stars, which I loved. I'll have to try to read a few from your Fantastic list. :-)

[inkvoices]

Books are love :D What kinds of things do you usually like reading?

[brightnshiney]

My favourite books ever are probably the Harry Potter Series. I'm also a big fan of Cecelia Ahern Jodi Picoult and Dan Brown. This Year I want to read a lot more more than i usually do since I don't have to worry about studying for college.

[inkvoices]

Apologies, I thought I'd replied to your comment. Okay, so now I'm apparently imagining book recommendations *shakes head at self*.

Based on those, have you read 13 little blue envelopes by Maureen Johnson, Before I Die by Jenny Dwonham (although I think it has a new name now and a film), or anything by Holly Black or Sara Rees Brennan?

Off my 2013 list I would throw at you The Ocean At The End Of The Lane (magical realism and it's Neil Gaiman), Omens (if you like Harry Potter, Kelly Armstrong is supernatural and I really like her stuff, this is also the first in what's more a supernatural crime thriller type series), The Rook (because it's essentially the magical equivalent of MI5 and the main character is a fantastic lady), Among Others (magic and loving books), Angelfall and World After (fantastic dystopian supernatural series), and How I Live Now (coming of age but internesting setting and narrative voice, and echoes of John Green type style).