This will probably end up as a top 20 books I read this year...the best published this year, the best published beforehand. Up first, the oldies! Some were first published in the UK this year, but I'm going by their original publication date. Titles link to Goodreads, if the word Review is linked, it's to my full review.
Title: Out
Author: Natsuo Kirino
Published: 1997
Review: Gory and a bit depraved, but excellent character development and motivation.
Title: Saving June
Author: Hannah Harrington
Published: 2011
Review: Really emotional contemporary with a nice musical touch.
Title: Anna Dressed in Blood
Author: Kendare Blake
Published: 2011
Review: Fun gory ghost story.
Title: Entangled
Author: Cat Clarke
Published: 2011
Review: Intriguing from the first two words.
Title: Heartless
Author: Gail Carriger
Published: 2011
Review: Laugh out loud from beginning to end.
Title: Ready Player One
Author: Ernest Cline
Published: 2011
Review: 80s kid dream, full of both retro and futuristic technology.
Title: Good Omens
Authors: Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
Published: 1990
Review: Darkly funny apocalypse fic.
Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Published: 2006
Review: Powerful look at the Holocaust that gets you really attached.
Title: Ash
Author: Malinda Lo
Published: 2010
Review: Magical, beautiful retelling of Cinderella.
Author: Stephen Chbosky
Published: 1990
Review: Look at teen life, every single aspect of it, friendship, abuse, mental issues, fitting in, standing out, general awesomeness. There wasn't a full review because it's impossible to describe how amazing it was.
Awesomely concise review of pre-2012 books - recognise some, but will be sure to check the rest out!
ReplyDeleteOooh.
ReplyDeleteI'm planning to read The Book Thief early on in 2013 and I've got Saving June left over from 2012.
I've also got "Perks" and "Anna" along with a couple of books by Neil Gaiman on my Wish List.
Great post.
You've got some fabulous books on this list, Nina! There are a few that I really need to pick up. I really enjoyed Anna Dressed in Blood, and loved the fact that the author never shied away from gore. It made the story feel like a true horror story, which we don't get too often with YA books. I also read Saving June, and was a fantastic road trip book! Really emotional, full of good stuff. You've piqued my interest in Entangled! It looks really good, although I haven't heard too much about it. That one is totally going on my TBR! And I really need to pick up The Perks of Being a Wallflower. It's been made into a movie and everything, yet I still haven't read it! You definitely seemed to have loved it. =)
ReplyDeleteFantastic list! I love this idea of doing a list like this, since we mainly focus on books only published in 2012.
Brilliant list! I think the community sometimes focuses too much on newly published or upcoming titles and forgets about all the fantastic books that are already out there, so this is great :)
ReplyDeleteThis is a great list!! I love Saving June so much, it is such an awesome book.
ReplyDeleteCait x