My Top 10 of 2010

I read so many good books this year (with some duds thrown in for good measure, of course). I wanted to compile a little list for all of you who are looking for some great reading material or are just curious about what my favorites were as I did my 100 in 2010 Reading Challenge. So, here they are. I wanted to to them in order, but I really couldn't rank them. They were all so good. (P.S. To save you a little time, click on the title of the book and read my review!)

1. Nightshade by Andrea Cremer 
2. Matched by Ally Condie 
3. Incarceron by Catherine Fisher 
4. The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller 
5. The Exiled Queen by Cinda Williams Chima  **This is the 2nd book in a series. The first book is called The Demon King. I didn't give the first book a stellar review, but I totally take it back after reading this. I LOVED THIS BOOK. I even bought them both and plan on reading them again soon.
6. Torment by Lauren Kate **Again, the 2nd book in a series. First is called Fallen. Liked the first, LOVED the second.
7. Wings by Aprilynne Pike **To read my review of the second book in this series, click here. I love this series!!
8. The Golden Spiral by Lisa Mangum  **Also the 2nd book in a series. The first is The Hourglass Door. I read this last year, so I don't have a review for it on my blog. I will tell you, I liked it, but I LOVED the second. That happened a lot this year.
9. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins  I am still debating about this book and it's been months since I read it. That's just how it is. Here are my reviews of the first 2 books: Hunger Games and Catching Fire.
10. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

What a fun year this has been! I won't lie-- this challenge was crazy hard at times. Especially having a newborn in my house these last few months. I am so glad I set this goal for myself this year and actually ACCOMPLISHED it! I hope you'll all stick around for 2011 to see what other good reads I can find!

Also, I signed up for a fun challenge for January that you are more than welcome to join me in doing. I am possibly the only person in America that has never read the Harry Potter books, so I am doing a "Potter-thon" hosted by Pure Imagination. I'm excited to read the entire series in January! Anyone want to get a crazy hair and do it with me??? :)

Happy New Year everyone!  (With 10 minutes to spare too!)

Need by Carrie Jones

Zara White suspects there's a freaky guy semi-stalking her. She's also obsessed with phobias. And it's true, she hasn't exactly been herself since her stepfather died. But exiling her to shivery Maine to live with her grandmother? That seems a bit extreme. The move is supposed to help her stay sane...but Zara's pretty sure her mom just can't deal with her right now.

She couldn't be more wrong. Turns out the semi-stalker is not a figment of Zara's overactive imagination. In fact, he's still following her, leaving behind an eerie trail of gold dust. There's something not right - not human - in this sleepy Maine town, and all signs point to Zara.

I am still not quite sure how I felt about this book. I thought the phobia thing was weird. Kind of interesting to see what they meant, but bizarre that she knew them all and named them in alphabetical order in times of stress. Really? Who does that??

I actually loved her Grandma Betty though. She's a tiger ;)  (haha--You'll get this when you read it.)

I also really liked the story. The only real issue I had with it was the ending. I thought it was a little lame. However, this is a series, so there's a chance for redemption. Maybe the lame ending is a setup for a fantastic book #2. 

Favorite quote of the entire book:

"Megan. What an absolutely perfect name for Evil Announcement Girl. Megans always hate me. This Megan isn't about to break my record."

I'm sure you can put two and two together and figure out why this made me laugh out loud. :)

All in all, a good read. I'd recommend this, but it wouldn't be first on my list. 

Happy Reading and Happy New Year!

(P.S. I made it! This was book #100! Holy cow.)

Wish by Alexandra Bullen

For broken-hearted Olivia Larsen, nothing can change the fact that her twin sister, Violet, is gone... until a mysterious, beautiful gown arrives on her doorstep. The dress doesn't just look magical; it is magical. It has the power to grant her one wish, and the only thing Olivia wants is her sister back.

With Violet again by her side, both girls get a second chance at life. And as the sisters soon discover, they have two more dresses-and two more wishes left. But magic can't solve everything, and Olivia is forced to confront her ghosts to learn how to laugh, love, and live again.

This is a book I've been wanting to read all year, but none of the libraries near me have it. So it surprised me when I was looking on Amazon last week at the free YA Kindle books and this was one of them. I was so excited! Of course I downloaded it right away.

Now, I have to know-- Why is it that rich people in California give their kids such weird names?? Read it and you'll know what I'm talking about. :)

The book opens on Olivia's first day of school in California. Her family had just moved from the east coast after the death of Olivia's twin sister, Violet. I've never been a twin (or lost one, obviously), but I imagine it would be a crippling blow. Olivia, who seems so lost in the beginning of the book without Violet, stumbles upon a dress shop and begins her roller coaster ride called healing.

I really liked the way this book was written. I don't want to give too much away, but this story could have been written in a way that I could have really disliked. But because of the route the author decided to take, I ended up loving it. The whole book I was wondering how it could possibly end well, but I was so happy with it. I felt like the story was resolved in a way that was best for all involved.

And her love interest.... What a great match! I loved the author's initial description of him. The boy with "burnt blond" hair. I've never heard that before. I thought it was clever.

Oh--One other thing. I hate when I read a book and the popular girls are always such beastly creatures. It's SO overdone. I loved that the "popular girl" Olivia befriends is actually a genuinely nice person. I kept waiting for this scary monster to rear it's ugly head, but it never really did. I loved that about the storyline.

This is such a great read. I highly recommend it!

Happy Reading!

Not Your Average Fairy Tale by Chantele Sedgwick

Unfortunately, this is not a book you will be able to find for a while. This was a manuscript of a book my friend wrote that she gave me to read. In the past few months, I've been able to read some chapters from it and see how the story has developed. I am so glad that I was able to read the finished product! This book has been getting quite a bit of attention from publishers these past few weeks, so it's likely you'll be seeing this on the shelves in the coming year or two. I'm not going to say anything about it other than it was one of the most original stories I've ever read and I absolutely loved it. One of my favorite reads this year by far. :) A big thank you (again!) to Chantele Sedgwick for the immese honor of having a sneak peek at this fantastic book!

Happy Reading!

Torment by Lauren Kate

Hell on earth. That's what it's like for Luce to be apart from her fallen angel boyfriend, Daniel. It took them an eternity to find one another, but now he has told her he must go away. Just long enough to hunt down the Outcasts - immortals who want to kill Luce. Daniel hides Luce at Shoreline, a school on the rocky California coast with unusually gifted students -Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans.

At Shoreline, Luce learns what the Shadows are, and how she can use them as windows to her previous lives. Yet the more Luce learns, the more she suspects that Daniel hasn't told her everything. He's hiding something - something dangerous. What if Daniel's version of the past isn't actually true? What if Luce is really meant to be with someone else? The second novel in the addictive FALLEN series . . . where love never dies.

I remember not totally loving the first book in this series-- Fallen. It hooked me at the first and then was slow. This book was just the opposite. I had a hard time getting into it at first but then I couldn't put it down. I liked this book much better than the first, but it also left me (and Luce-- the main female character) with so many unanswered questions. I am anxious for the next installment, Passion, to be released this coming summer. I felt like I just got into the story and then it ended!

I liked Luce more this time around, and Daniel less.

Luce was more self-assured and assertive. I liked her spunk. You all know I hate "boo-hoo, woe is me" characters though. ;) Daniel--ugh. I understand his wanting to protect Luce, but it bothered me that he treated her like a child. Like he was constantly trying to show his dominance. I just thought that he was going about Luce's "protection" all wrong. He should have explained things to her.

Like I said, there were a lot of unanswered questions. The whole explaining-things-to-Luce problem was one of them. Daniel almost seemed like he wasn't allowed to tell her anything. He couldn't (or wouldn't) tell her about her past lives, he couldn't (or wouldn't) tell her why she was "locked up" at Shoreline. I want to know why she's so important. Why the fate of the world rests on her and Daniel. I want to know how they met, how it all started. There's so much I (and Luce) want to know that just wasn't in this book.

And is it bad that since Daniel was such a jerk in this one, I kind of want to root for Miles? I really liked him! (I'm not saying I will, just that if Daniel doesn't shape up in the next one, I may be forced to.)  :D

I think this is a series worth reading so far-- check them out!

Book 1: Fallen
Book 2 (this one): Torment
Book 3 (Summer 2011): Passion

Happy Reading! 

The Forgotten Carols by Michael McLean

Michael McLean's touching Christmas tale has become a timeless classic. It tells the story of a nurse whose empty life is changed by her patient, John, who expands her understanding of Christmas. "The Forgotten Carols" are original songs from the perspective of characters such as the innkeeper who turned the young couple away or the shepherd who slept through the angel's announcement. Their personal accounts, until now, have been overlooked or ignored. Together, John and Constance discover what the world has forgotten about Christmas.

I remember people talking about "The Forgotten Carols" when I was growing up but I never knew what it was, or really even cared. But a few years ago, at Christmastime, my husband had gone out shopping and brought home the stage version on DVD. We watched it that night. I loved it. Now we watch it every Christmas. I also actually didn't know that it was a book until my mother-in-law and I were talking about the movie and she asked me if I wanted to borrow the book. The book is just as good. :) Here's an excerpt:

"Chapter 1: My Name is Constance



When her mother named her Constance, she had no intention of ever calling her Connie. Her mother once explained to her that Constance was a solid name, a name with substance and dignity, but "Connie" well, "Connie" was just fluff.


A lot of young girls growing up in her neighborhood would have welcomed a friendly, "Hi Connie" from her friends at school, or, at the very least, would have acknowledged the greeting with a smile. Not Constance. She corrected them resolutely. "My name is Constance." She would say, looking and sounding a bit life a stuffy old librarian with an attitude problem. "I am not a Connie."


She had that right. She was not then nor did she ever plan to be a "Connie."


It is possible to be obedient to a fault, Constance was. It never occurred to her that anything her parents ever said was not absolute truth. No advice, counsel, instruction, or observation made by her parents was ever challenged. She tried in every way to be her mother in miniature. This remarkable devotion was an enormous source of pride for her parents, through Constance never knew it. All she knew was that her parents were never wrong.


That wasn’t true of course. They were wrong on just about everything that had anyting to do with raising healthy, well-adjusted children, they didn’t teach their only child how to think or dream or feel or question or wonder or choose or discover anything for herself. They believed it was their job as parents to do all that for her – and she let them.


You’d have expected things to change when Constance turned fourteen. That was the year her parents assured her that her mother’s illness was only temporary. But that was a lie. Constance watched her mother stoically refuse to accept the truth about her condition – and the truth was, she was dying.


Typically when families receive such news, there’s an initial period of denial and anger and heartbreak, followed by a sincere search for tender ways to express deep feelings and say good-bye. But Constance received only her parents’ reassurance that everything was find and that recovery was just around the corner. In fact, the only thing that even came close to resembling tenderness during that time was something Constance overheard her mother say about the nurse who helped Dr. Burton. She mentioned to her husband one evening that the nurse seemed to be a rather competent woman. It was the nearest thing to a complement Constance had ever heard her mother give. And so it’s probably no surprise that a few years after her mother’s death, Constance went into nursing.


To fully appreciate what happened to Constance last Christmas, you need to know that she had been a nurse at the Fullerton Hospital her entire career. Although she could never be accused of being overly compassionate, she had never shirked her duties or failed to follow a doctor’s order to the letter. And she had never, ever questioned or challenged anyone in authority at the hospital. Needless to say, doctors loved her – and patients didn’t.

It was this absolute commitment to following the voice of authority that placed Constance in an extremely awkward position a few weeks before Christmas a year ago. The chief administrator of the hospital called her into his office with a special request ..."

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!
Happy Reading!

Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith

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Quincie Morris has never felt more alone. Her parents are dead, and her hybrid-werewolf first love is threatening to embark on a rite of passage that will separate them forever. Then, as she and her uncle are about to unveil their hot vampire-themed restaurant, a brutal murder leaves them scrambling for a chef. Can Quincie transform their new hire into a culinary Dark Lord before opening night? Can he wow the crowd in his fake fangs, cheap cape, and red contact lenses — or is there more to this earnest face than meets the eye? As human and preternatural forces clash, a deadly love triangle forms, and the line between predator and prey begins to blur. Who’s playing whom? And how long can Quincie play along before she loses everything?

Can't say I liked this one. Quincie, although I like her name, I didn't care for. At all. I thought she was a weak main character in a mediocre storyline. The idea for this book was a good one, I thought, executed in a poor way. It most definitely had potential, but fell appallingly short. Don't bother picking this one up. It was a sad offering of a debut novel.