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?
