Favorite Reads of 2011
As with any good book blogger, I am going to tell you my favorite reads from this past year. My goal for 2011 was 52 books. I got through like 50.5, lol. Anyhoo, without further a do……
Favorite Reads of 2011
YA Book:
I adored this book. The cover is my favorite cover of 2011, as well.
The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff
Mackie Doyle is The Replacement – left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. He has been raised among us. But he is not one of us. Now, he must face the dark creatures of the slag heaps from which he came and find his rightful place – in our world or theirs.Unsettling villains and intriguing moral ambivalence make this effort shockingly original and . . .breathtaking." – Booklist, starred review"Even after finishing the book, readers will be left with the eerie sensation that . . . the true darkness has yet to abate." – BCCB, starred review"Well-developed characters, a fascinating Fairy Court, an exciting story line, wicked cover art . . .this book has the makings of a success." – Publishers Weekly"A fast-paced, dark delicacy." – Kirkus Reviews"
NO OF PAGES: 364 BUY ON AMAZON
YA Series: The Caster Chronicles
LOVE! OMGosh. This is the series I want to go on for ever, and contained my favorite character of 2011: Uncle Macon!
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia
Ethan Wate is struggling to hide his apathy for his high school "in" crowd in small town Gatlin, South Carolina, until he meets the determinedly "out" Lena Duchannes, the girl of his dreams (literally–she has been in his nightmares for months). What follows is a smart, modern fantasy–a tale of star-crossed lovers and a dark, dangerous secret. Beautiful Creatures is a delicious southern Gothic that charms you from the first page, drawing you into a dark world of magic and mystery until you emerge gasping and blinking, wondering what happened to the last few hours (and how many more you’re willing to give up). To tell too much of the plot would spoil the thrill of discovery, and believe me, you will want to uncover the secrets of this richly imagined dark fantasy on your own. —
NO OF PAGES: 563 BUY ON AMAZON
Beautiful Darkness (Beautiful Creatures, Book 2) by Kami Garcia
Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena’s family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.Sometimes life-ending.Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan’s eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there’s no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town’s tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.
NO OF PAGES: 512 BUY ON AMAZON
Beautiful Chaos (Beautiful Creatures, Book 3) by Kami Garcia
Ethan Wate thought he was getting used to the strange, impossible events happening in Gatlin, his small Southern town. But now that Ethan and Lena have returned home, strange and impossible have taken on new meanings. Swarms of locusts, record-breaking heat, and devastating storms ravage Gatlin as Ethan and Lena struggle to understand the impact of Lena’s Claiming. Even Lena’s family of powerful Supernaturals is affected – and their abilities begin to dangerously misfire. As time passes, one question becomes clear: What – or who – will need to be sacrificed to save Gatlin?For Ethan, the chaos is a frightening but welcome distraction. He’s being haunted in his dreams again, but this time it isn’t by Lena – and whatever is haunting him is following him out of his dreams and into his everyday life. Even worse, Ethan is gradually losing pieces of himself – forgetting names, phone numbers, even memories. He doesn’t know why, and most days he’s too afraid to ask. Sometimes there isn’t just one answer or one choice. Sometimes there’s no going back. And this time there won’t be a happy ending.
NO OF PAGES: 529 BUY ON AMAZON
Horror/Thriller:
Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman
Failed academic Frank Nichols and his wife, Eudora, have arrived in the sleepy Georgia town of Whitbrow, where Frank hopes to write a history of his family’s old estate-the Savoyard Plantation- and the horrors that occurred there. At first, the quaint, rural ways of their new neighbors seem to be everything they wanted. But there is an unspoken dread that the townsfolk have lived with for generations. A presence that demands sacrifice. It comes from the shadowy woods across the river, where the ruins of Savoyard still stand. Where a longstanding debt of blood has never been forgotten. A debt that has been waiting patiently for Frank Nichols’s homecoming…
BUY ON AMAZON
Middle Grade:
Loved this series! LOVE LOVE LOVE. Uhhh… LOVE!!!!!!!!
13 Treasures by Michelle Harrison
Tanya is no ordinary girl. She can see fairies. But not the fairies we imagine. Evil fairies who cast spells on her, rousing her from her sleep and propelling her out of bed. At wit’s end with her daughter’s inexplicable behavior, Tanya’s mother sends her away to live with her grandmother at Elvesden Manor, a secluded countryside mansion on the outskirts of a peculiar Essex town. There is plenty to explore, as long as Tanya stays away from Hangman’s Wood- a vast stretch of forest, full of catacombs and notorious for people losing their lives. Fifty years ago a girl vanished in the woods, a girl Tanya’s grandmother will not speak of. As Tanya learns more about this girl, she finds herself dangerously close to vanishing into the fairy realm forever.Debut author Michelle Harrison weaves an intricate mystery into a beautiful and haunting fantasy that captures a rich world of fairy lore where only the color red can offer protection.
NO OF PAGES: 368 BUY ON AMAZON
13 Curses by Michelle Harrison
The 13 Treasures have become the 13 Curses. When fairies stole her brother, Red vowed to get him back. Now trapped in the fairy realm, she begs to be seen before the fairy court where she strikes a bargain: Her brother in exchange for all thirteen charms from Tanya’s bracelet.Back at Elvesden Manor, Red, Tanya, and Fabian begin a desperate hunt, but as they soon find out, the fairies have done more than hide the charms; they’ve enchanted them with twisted qualities of the thirteen treasures they represent. And the longer the charms are missing, the more dangerous they become. Can Red, Tanya, and Fabian find all thirteen charms? And if they do, will the fairies keep their promise?
NO OF PAGES: 496 BUY ON AMAZON
Childrens:
*Not just choosing because she is my friend, either. This series is GREAT and I can’t wait for her to release book 2 for you all!
The Magic of Finkleton by K.C. Hilton
$.99 LIMITED TIME OFFER!Most folks say, "Mother Nature controls the rain." However this is not the case in the village of Finkleton. In the perfect little village of Finkleton, the weather is always perfect. Every farm grows the best, biggest, healthiest crops in the entire world, and everyone is happy. Soon after the Finkles inherit their Uncle Harry’s shop and move to Finkleton, they discover magical secrets hidden in his shop. One clue at a time, Jack, Lizzy and Robert learn the town’s amazing secret. No, Mother Nature is not in charge in Finkleton! Ever since Uncle Harry’s death, the weather has not been cooperating. Farms are starting to fail. Will the Finkle children be able to solve all the magical mysteries before the village is destroyed? Come along to Finkleton. A very special, magical adventure is about to begin! Age Range 9-12 Childrens / Middle Grade FictionChildren’s Literary Classics Seal of Approval June 8, 2011Literary Classics Finalist September 29, 2011Literary Classics Gold Award for Best of Pre-Teen Fiction October 14, 2011Book ReviewReviewed by Rita V for Readers Favorite The Magic of Finkleton is a captivating novel written by K.C. Hilton. Siblings, Robert, Jack and Lizzy, are thrown into a bizarre world of mystery and intrigue when their house is burned down in a disastrous thunderstorm, which happens precisely at the same time their Great Uncle Harry dies, leaving them his home and general store in the perfect picturesque town of Finkleton, England. Finkleton is no ordinary town though; the weather is always mysteriously perfect, the crops are overly abundant and its residents are exceedingly happy. Soon after settling in, the children begin discovering astonishing secrets and unraveling clues that aid them to use their unique abilities to help bring the weather back to failing crops and a nearly destroyed village. Why are there hourglasses hooked up on strings to each individual farm? What is the secret lever? What do the maps and scrolls actually point out? The children must find the courage and strength within themselves to figure out their ancestral secrets and set out on a magical adventure to save Finkelton. K.C. Hilton brings a powerful punch of magic into a fast-paced older children’s book that does not disappoint. I found it to be inquisitive, exciting, and truly fun to read. It is rare to find a book so intricately written in which the reader is actually encouraged to participate. I loved the use of descriptive words; the plot was full of twists and turns, and the depth of the characters was amazingly accomplished. The cover alone had me enthralled and highly anticipating this lovely read! K.C. creates the perfect recipe of magic, adventure and imagination that are all easy to comprehend for older children on up to adult readers. I very much look forward to reading her next novel, The Return to Finkleton, and sharing these wonderful books with my daughter as she gets older. I can easily see K.C Hilton’s series as either a television series or a film series comparable to Harry Potter, and I do not say that lightly. She is truly a genius in her mad writing skills, and this book portrays to all audiences who love a little magic in their life. This is by far, the best novel I have read all year, and if I could have given it ten stars, I would have. Look out world, here comes K.C. Hilton!
NO OF PAGES: 192 BUY ON AMAZON
Fiction:
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The wildly popular New York Times bestseller and reading group favorite. Aibileen is a black maid in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, who’s always taken orders quietly, but lately she’s unable to hold her bitterness back. Her friend Minny has never held her tongue but now must somehow keep secrets about her employer that leave her speechless. White socialite Skeeter just graduated college. She’s full of ambition, but without a husband, she’s considered a failure. Together, these seemingly different women join together to write a tell-all book about work as a black maid in the South, that could forever alter their destinies and the life of a small town…
NO OF PAGES: 476 BUY ON AMAZON
Non-Fiction:
Beyond the Body Farm by Bill Bass
There is no scientist in the world like Dr. Bill Bass. A pioneer in forensic anthropology, Bass created the world’s first laboratory dedicated to the study of human decomposition—three acres of land on a hillside in Tennessee where human bodies are left to the elements. His research at "the Body Farm" has revolutionized forensic science, helping police crack cold cases and pinpoint time of death. But during a forensics career that spans half a century, Bass and his work have ranged far beyond the gates of the Body Farm. In this riveting book, the bone sleuth explores the rise of modern forensic science, using fascinating cases from his career to take readers into the real world of C.S.I. Some of Bill Bass’s cases rely on the simplest of tools and techniques, such as reassembling—from battered torsos and a stack of severed limbs—eleven people hurled skyward by an explosion at an illegal fireworks factory. Other cases hinge on sophisticated techniques Bass could not have imagined when he began his career: harnessing scanning electron microscopy to detect trace elements in knife wounds; and extracting DNA from a long-buried corpse, only to find that the female murder victim may have been mistakenly identified a quarter-century before.In Beyond the Body Farm, readers will follow Bass as he explores the depths of an East Tennessee lake with a twenty-first-century sonar system, in a quest for an airplane that disappeared with two people on board thirty-five years ago; see Bass exhume fifties pop star "the Big Bopper" to determine what injuries he suffered in the plane crash that killed three rock and roll legends on "the day the music died"; and join Bass as he works to decipher an ancient Persian death scene nearly three thousand years old. Witty and engaging, Bass dissects the methods used by homicide investigators every day, leading readers on an extraordinary journey into the high-tech science that it takes to crack a case.
NO OF PAGES: 306 BUY ON AMAZON