Books That Made Me Laugh Out Loud:
Audrey, Wait, by Robin Benway
Carter Finally Gets It, by Brent Crawford
New-To-Me Series That On One Hand I'm Glad To Have Found, But On The Other, I'm Seriously Horrified That I'd Missed Out On Until Now (Note that I haven't been able to bring myself to finish any -- because I don't want to run out.):
The President's Daughter and White House Autumn, by Ellen Emerson White
Emily of New Moon and Emily Climbs, by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Mistress of the Art of Death, by Ariana Franklin
In the Garden of Iden and Sky Coyote, by Kage Baker
Cut to the Quick, by Kate Ross
Sequel Happiness:
Silent in the Sanctuary and Silent on the Moor, by Deanna Raybourn
Kisses and Lies, by Lauren Henderson
Under the Rose and Rites of Spring (Break), by Diana Peterfreund
Book That Made Me Crave Food:
Chalice, by Robin McKinley
Most Enjoyably Bad Book:
Flowers in the Attic, by V.C. Andrews
Forgettable Plot Saved By a Fresh, Honest Voice:
Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have, by Allen Zadoff
Book I Was Most Surprised By:
Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson
Made of Pure Awesome:
Lament, by Maggie Stiefvater
The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
The Forest of Hands and Teeth, by Carrie Ryan
Unwind, by Neal Shusterman
Diary of a Chav and Posh and Prejudice, by Grace Dent
The Wild Girls, by Pat Murphy
Friday's Child, by Georgette Heyer
Genuinely Creepy Ghost Stories:
Shadowed Summer, by Saundra Mitchell
Bad Girls Don't Die, by Katie Alender
Best Book Hidden Under the Worst Cover:
Eon: Dragoneye Reborn, by Alison Goodman
More Adorable Than Sparkling Puppies:
Something, Maybe, by Elizabeth Scott
YA Book Most Likely to be Loved By Adults More Than Actual YAs (and I Loved it Anyway):
Marcelo in the Real World, by Francisco X. Stork
Biggest Disappointment:
Angry Management, by Chris Crutcher
Books that Invoked Irrationally Violent Emotions in me:
North of Beautiful, by Justina Chen Headley
How it Ends, by Laura Wiess
Books I Loved For Their Imperfect Heroines:
Along for the Ride, by Sarah Dessen
Same Difference, by Siobhan Vivian
Ellen Potter is a National Treasure (and I Don't Know Why More People Don't Know That):
Slob and Pish Posh, by (duh) Ellen Potter
Best Vampire Book For Twilight-Haters:
Look For Me By Moonlight, by Mary Downing Hahn
Worthy of the Hype:
What I Saw and How I Lied, by Judy Blundell
Favorite Roadtrip Book (and MAN, there were a lot of them!):
The Secret History of Prince Charming, by Deb Caletti
Books that SHOULD have made the Cybils YA Shortlist:
Love your list! I especially agree with your "Best Vampire Book for Twilight-Haters" and "Most Enjoyably Bad Book". I'm reading Food, Girls, and Other Things I can't Have right now...
Posted by: Becky | 01 January 2010 at 07:09 PM
I've been meaning to read Chalice...can't believe I still haven't. Not sure if I agree with you on Liar--it seemed a bit too...hmmm...too much to me.
As for ghost stories...have you read the New Orleans book called Ruined? I just started, and despite the fact that the author's overuse of colons is killing me, the story is actually very addicting.
Posted by: beth | 01 January 2010 at 08:00 PM
I so agree with you about Bad Girls Don't Die; definitely creepy!
Posted by: Bellezza | 01 January 2010 at 08:47 PM
Between several of my sweet sister and my mother I got Lament, Ballad, AND Shiver for Christmas. Super awesome. And I can't believe that I haven't read Chalice yet...!
Posted by: Sarah I. | 01 January 2010 at 10:17 PM
You've added more than one book to my TBR, including Ellen Potter and Gentlemen.
Posted by: Lu | 01 January 2010 at 10:31 PM
Thank you for the wonderful list and terrific categories. Have you read The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters? It is very creeeepy . . . . and also terrific.
Posted by: Kate | 01 January 2010 at 11:18 PM
Chalk me up for another one who is shocked - SHOCKED, I say - that I haven't read Chalice yet. So many great reads here! Thanks for being a fantastic presence in the blogosphere.
Posted by: Maggi | 02 January 2010 at 12:20 AM
So with you on "What I Saw and How I Lied" - that book was mindblowingly well done. Amazing.
Posted by: Colleen | 02 January 2010 at 01:22 AM
You made my morning with your sweet comment about my work! I just started a new website (launching today) and have a link to your site as one of my favorite book bloggers. Happy 2010 and may all good things come to you this year.
Posted by: Ellen Potter | 02 January 2010 at 08:41 AM
Excellent timing on your part! We've just started our annual J/YA reading challenge at my library, and I've been looking for some books to add to my TBR pile.
Posted by: Rosten18 | 03 January 2010 at 01:13 PM
Even better than her Ariana Franklin medieval mysteries is her City of Shadows and her trilogy written as Diana Norman beginning with A Catch of Consequence.
Posted by: CLM | 03 January 2010 at 05:02 PM
I love Ellen Potter! And What I Saw and How I Lied was just amazing.
Posted by: Jessie | 04 January 2010 at 12:41 PM
Wow, this is a perfect time to thank you once again for your pre-screening service! I had forgotten until I read through this list how many of my favorite books of the year I found via your recommendations. (Including all of those series except Emily of New Moon, and I read my way through all of each. Garden of Iden was the only one I didn't fall in love with, which is a pretty good hit rate!)
Anyway, thanks so much! I finally returned to the library last January after years without good access, and of the 200+ books I checked out I bet you were to thank for more than half of them.
Posted by: Kate F. | 05 January 2010 at 09:51 AM
Friday's Child IS made of awesome!!! So glad you read it and like it.
Posted by: Lisa | 05 January 2010 at 06:17 PM
Just wanted to let you know, as it's probably one of my all-time favorites, that there are actually three books total in the Emily of New Moon series. The third is Emily's Quest. I wasn't sure if you left it out by mistake or because you were unaware, but definitely do not want you to miss out.
Posted by: Alexis Easterday | 06 January 2010 at 06:51 PM
I do, for sure -- I just haven't been able to bring myself to read it. Once I'm done, there'll be none left, and I'll be so sad...
Posted by: Leila | 06 January 2010 at 06:59 PM
Funny, Shadowed Summer is actually my pick for "Best Book Hidden Under the Worst Cover." I thought the cover of Eon Dragoneye was OK, it looked all mystical and stuff.
Also, there are actually TWO more books about Meg Powers (aka The President's Daughter). So you can still read Long Live the Queen, which is amazing, and have one left to read. EEW's The Road Home is one of my favorite books of all time ever.
Posted by: LaurieA-B | 08 January 2010 at 12:09 AM
Yeah, Shadowed Summer could totally fit in that category, too. Great book, TERRIBLE cover. But I loathed the Eon cover so much that I didn't pick the book up for months, whereas the Shadowed one didn't really deter me.
I can actually see Meg Powers #3 and #4 from where I'm sitting right now -- that series I haven't finished yet because, by all accounts, the second half of the series is going to Mess Me Up, and I'm being a wimp. I'll get there, though, I promise.
Posted by: Leila | 08 January 2010 at 06:02 AM
I loved these. I am trying to be politic in my comments--esp during Comment Challenge week!--but oh man, it is gratifying to see someone share my opinions on things.
Posted by: Jessica Leader | 14 January 2010 at 10:14 PM
Mistakes are an essential part of education. (Bertrand Russell, British philosopher)
Posted by: Nike Shox Turbo | 05 September 2010 at 09:05 PM