Tuesday, December 15, 2009

2009 Top Ten Lists

Everybody and their uncle has a 2009 Best Teen Books list right now, and occasionally there’s a list for the decade. Which makes it our turn, right? But with the possible exception of Alissa, I’m guessing none of us limited our reading to only things published in 2009, so instead I’ll ask: what were your favorite reads this year, regardless of when they were published?

Mine, in no particular order:

Paper Towns, John Green
Tender Morsels, Margo Lanagan
When You Reach Me, Rebecca Stead (I smell Newbery on this one)
Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins
Jellicoe Road, Melina Marchetta
Wintergirls, Laurie Halse Anderson

A second question: what books were you most looking forward to in 2009, and did they meet your expectations? Catching Fire was everything I wanted and more, but I’ve been working on Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan for two weeks and I’m barely 100 pages in—it reads so much younger than I’d expected it to, and the world setting he’s created doesn’t feel as true as the world of Uglies, or even his Midnighters series. The characters aren't grabbing me and the plot (so far) isn't radically original.

So: what were your favorites this year? What disappointed? What are you really really really excited for for 2010?

1 comment:

Alissa said...

I know I've replied to this once already- I swear blogger eats my posts sometimes!!

My favorites of the year:
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
After by Amy Efaw
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
Need by Carrie Jones
Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception by Maggie Stiefvater
The Dust of A Hundred Dogs by King
Alligator Bayour by Donna Jo Napoli
Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Allison Goodman
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Non-fiction:
Truce by Jim Murphy
Marching for Freedom by Elizabeth Partridge

(geez, is that a long list or what, and I know I'm missing stuff!!!)

I was most looking forward to Catching Fire- and it blew my mind. I was so afraid that it would suffer from the "second book" curse, but it held its own marvelously.

I have to disagree with you about Leviathan- it blew my mind. I loved it from the first page and want the sequel now.

As for 2010-
Dead Tossed Waves
sequel to the Prophecy of the Sisters
the new John Green/David Levithan
this world we live in
(i'll stop now, really I could keep going!)