Friday, December 31, 2010

The Best of 2010 in Books!

Today marks the last day of a great year :(  2010 marks the birth of Booklopedia (that sounded really cheesy hahaha), the first time I've ever actually stuck to writing down all the books I've read, and a lot of other wonderful book-related and not book-related things.  So, to basically sum up this year, in books of course, I have decided to be a part of a survey created by The Perpetual Page Turner!!!


1. Best book of 2010?
Do I really have to choose?  I think that the best book is... The Iron King by Julia Kagawa... It's definitely one of my favorite books this year! 

2. Worst book of 2010?
I wouldn't say that it's the worst book that I read, but I just didn't like it that much.  That book would have to be Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink.  I actually read a lot of reviews that said it was really good, but for some reason, I just didn't like it... I think I'll have to try and re-read it.

3. Most Disappointing Book of 2010?
I was really looking forward to reading Misguided Angel, the 5th book in the Blue Bloods series, and it was okay, but it was just SOO short!  When I compared it to my copy of The Van Alen Legacy, it's like half the size!  And it focused so much and 3 of the characters, that the rest, like Bliss, just sort of seemed to have disappeared. 

4. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2010?
This isn't exactly a YA book, but it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!  It's called The Help by Kathryn Stockett, and it's really good!  I thought it was going to be boring because I don't normally like reading historical fiction books, but it was a fantastic book!

5. Book you recommended to people most in 2010?
Hmm...  Well, I definitely told some of my friends to read If I Stay by Gayle Forman and The Iron King by Julia Kagawa...  Oh!  There's also The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han which I found to be a really good book, and so did the other people who I recommended it to!

6. Best series you discovered in 2010?
This is a tie between the Gone series by Michael Grant, The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, and The Iron Fey by Julia Kagawa... All great series!

7. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2010?
Definitely Julia Kagawa, Lauren Oliver, Michael Grant, Jenny Han, Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl, and probably lots more :)

8. Most hilarious read of 2010?
I don't read a lot of hilarious, laugh-out-loud books, but I did have the chance to read Priscilla the Great by Sybil Nelson and I've got to say that Priscilla is one funny character who made her story a really funny read!

9. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2010?
Basically all the books that I put under #6!

10. Book you most anticipated in 2010?
I think it was Linger by Maggie Stiefvater... You should've seen me!  I pre-ordered it on Amazon, but then the release date was changed and Amazon didn't know, so I got mine a couple days later... I kept pressing the "track order" button like every hour to see when it would be shipped out hahaha.  I was being pretty ridiculous :D  After Linger, it was just about every other book that was on my list of books I needed.  They were mostly the next book in a series. 

11. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2010?
There are SOOO many!  You can see some of them in my Cover Crazy posts which have included all of the books in the Vampire Kisses series by Ellen Schreiber, Beastly by Alex Flinn, Impossible by Nancy Werlin, Fallen & Torment by Lauren Kate, and all the books in the Need series by Carrie Jones.  Other ones that haven't been spotlighted in Cover Crazy would have to be Linger by Maggie Stiefvater, Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl Matched by Ally Condie and Nightshade by Andrea Cremer! 

         


12. Most memorable character in 2010? My mind keeps going back and forth between Cassia in Matched and Calla in Nightshade.  They're both really strong characters who both try and change the order of things in their world and I admire them for their strength.  Who wouldn't remember a kick-butt heroine like Calla or a smart character like Cassia?

13. Most beautifully written book in 2010?
It's a tie between Matched and If I Stay.

14. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2010?
If I Stay by Gayle Forman and Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver.  They're both basically about the same concept, life and death, but they both really make you think about how precious life is :)

15. Book you can't believe you waited UNTIL 2010 to finally read?
I'd have to say The Hunger Games... I really have no idea why, but I never picked it up when I saw it in the bookstore, even after all the hype about it.  I finally managed to when I was at my school's library, and let's just say that I fell in love :D

Sorry if there were lots of repeats like The Iron King... but those books just really stood out to me this year.  Of course there are other books that haven't been mentioned here that were also really great. 

I hope you guys have a wonderful 2011!

Cleo :) 

3 comments:

  1. Awesome picks-- I love the Iron Fey series, as well as the Gone books. I think Gone is one of the more under-appreciated YA series out there, so it's good to see other people love it like I do. :) I didn't like Prophecy of the Sisters either, btw-- barely finished it.

    Anyway, it was fun reading through your survey. Happy New Year! :)

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  2. I'm with you on Prophecy of the Sisters. I actually really liked the idea, but I couldn't get into the book. The second one was a real struggle for me.

    On a happier note, I just finished The Iron King and I loved it! I don't even usually like fairy books, but this one was fun!

    I haven't read the Gone series yet (but I plan on it), but I have read the Everworld series, which is co-authored by Michael Grant. I LOVED the Everworld series, so if you haven't read it yet I definitely recommend it!

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  3. I'm so excited Priscilla the Great made your list! It means a lot. I can't wait to read some of the other books on your list. I ordered Matched yesterday.

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