Okay, so it's day two of Armchair BEA! and today I'm going to talk about the best of 2011 -so far!Incredible as it sounds, we are almost halfway done with this year and this definitely seems like a good time to catch up, doesn't it?
Now let's see...
So far this year has been amazing, and since I can never resist a list, that's exactly what I'll do!
YA
General
If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman.
If I Stay was one of those books I put off forever, in part because I didn't like the original cover and I'm superficial like that. In any case, I was surprised to love these books as much as I did. Adam and Mia felt so real to me that I was able to love them but not like them at times, and cheer for them and want to smack them and just feel like they were my friends.
This one was quite an unusual read for me, but did I love it! Sinda is an amazing character and a girl I would love to call my friend. I loved how she learns to be who she is and embraces her, and how that allows her to keep the things she loved from her former life. I was charmed by this book.
Others: Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins, and North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley
For the younger set:
This book is made out of magic and sweetness and sisterhood. Kat is such an endearing troublemaker and her sisters are so crazy but loving of one another, even if they drive each other crazy, which is really what sisterhood is all about
The Australian Triple Whammy!
Sure, I love kangaroos and koala bears and I even own a plushie wombat (yeah, you read that right!), and I love the awesomeness that is my friend and blog buddy Kylie @The Talking Teacup, but nothing prepared me for the emotional punch that Aussie authors gave me during the first months of the year.
This was, I think, the first book I read this year and boy if it didn't punch me in the gut. Tom Mackee and his family felt so much like they were my own people and I ached and hurt for them, and I laughed and cheered them on. Few books come as close to perfection as The Piper's Son does, never mind that 'perfect' is a note that Melina Marchetta hits time and again.
Originally published in Aussie land in 2010, and landing on my paws by a sheer fluke of fate, this book blew me away. Amelia and Chris might just well be two of the most real Young Adults ever written. Imperfect, crazy and so amazing.
I didn't expect to love this book as much as I did -as I don't actually like the beach all that much and I know next to nothing about surfing - but this book started quiet but amazing and it made me feel like I had been on the shoes of each one of the Starfish sisters at one point or another. These four girls grabbed such a hold in my heart that I don't think I'll ever forget them.
Romance
Historical
This isn't a new author, just a new to me author, but I loved her stories about the Leigh brothers and the women who loved them. They are amazing americana/western romances and I love them for it. Not to mention the they did make me cry like a baby.
This book is very old fashioned, but so incredibly funny. Kitten is one of my favorite heroines ever, even if she's very naive and inexperienced. I never expected to laugh out loud with a book first published in 1944, but Georgette Heyer's humor is the real deal and it carries.
While writing this, I noticed I haven't read all that much romance this year, I need to rectify that. I'm surprised I've not been blown away by any contemporary romances!! The only one that has even come close to be a good contemporary for me is Hungry for You by Lynsay Sands, which technically is a paranormal.
What do I expect to love in the coming months?
Supernaturally by Kiesten White, Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins (I'm finally going to read it), Overbite by Meg Cabot.
Well, that's me, what about you?
Love,
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