Best & Worst of 2013

A little delayed, but Happy New Year to all my lovely readers and stopper-bys! :) I enjoyed my holidays and my break from blogging, but I think I'm ready to get back to it. I missed writing about books and bookish things! And I want to try some new things here, just not sure what yet. That will take some thought. Anyway, I'm going to start off the week with my best and worst of 2013 along with some favorites. "Worst" isn't exactly all that bad though, I didn't have any 1 star books for the year! Just a few that didn't quite agree with me lol. Let's break this down a little, shall we?

Number of books read:
158 Total (goal was 130, woo!)
12 Classics
22 Rereads
27 eBooks
22 Graphic Novels
8 Baby-Sitters Club books

Most Read Authors:
10 Ann M Martin
7 JK Rowling
6 Terry Moore
4 Christopher Pike, Francine Pascal, Lauren Oliver, Joe Hill, Caroline B Cooney
3 Cecily von Ziegesar, Neal Shusterman, LM Montgomery, Wendy Mass, Tarryn Fisher, James Dashner

Favorite Covers:
Unsouled (Unwind #3) -super creepy
Numbers #1 -the hardbound has embossed white numbers on a white background on the inside cover, I liked it because it was "feely" lol.
Hater #1 -very bold with the red on white.
Amy & Roger's Epic Detour -this book is just begging to be made into a movie with this cover!
Spanking Shakespeare -because it's funny
Bad News Ballet #1 -because I squealed when I saw it at a book sale and it took me back to my childhood.

5 Star Rereads:
Harry Potter (duh)-I finally talked my sister into reading it with me this summer and of course, she loved it! :)
Strangers in Paradise by Terry Moore-my favorite graphic novel series
Anna & The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins -I enjoyed revisiting this and loved it just as much as the first time!
The Thing About Jane Spring by Sharon Krum

5 Star New Reads:
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
Light (Gone #6) by Michael Grant -a fabulous ending to a fabulous series
Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
Lover Reborn (Black Dagger Brotherhood #10) by JR Ward
Locke & Key Vol 4: Keys to the Kingdom by Joe Hill
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern -we watched Hugo over the weekend and I loved it, that's how I would think The Night Circus would look as a movie.
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
Anne of the Island (Anne of Green Gables #3) by LM Montgomery

Almost 5 Star New Reads:
The first 3 Bloodlines series by Richelle Mead -so much better than Vampire Academy, in my opinion.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman -deliciously creepy
Just One Day by Gayle Forman
Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson -so, so sad but very good!
Kidnapped (Sweet Valley High #13) by Francine Pascal -ridiculous SVH plots at its best!
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon -one of my dad's favorites, I can see why!

Amazing Classics:
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Outsiders by SE Hinton
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell

Not So Great Reads:
Just One Year by Gayle Forman -it made me sad that I didn't enjoy this sequel as much as the first.
Deceptions (Sweet Valley High #14) by Francine Pascal -ridiculous SVH plots at its worst, I'll be reviewing this one this week!
Where it Began by Ann Redisch Stampler
Doll Bones by Holly Black

Not So Great Classics:
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley -I really wanted to be scared & I wasn't
The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger -my expiration date has passed for this book
Nancy Drew #1 by Carolyn Keene -again, I'm just too old for this stuff lol

Favorite Non-Review Blog Posts I Wrote:
Banned Book Week 09/24/13
TTT: 10 More Books I'd Turn Into Movies 09/10/13
The Summer Romance Formula 08/21/13
TTT: My 10 Favorite Graphic Novels 08/13/13
That Time I Met Ann M Martin & Neil Gaiman 04/29/13
TTT: My 10 Best Bookish Memories 02/05/13
She's Crafty...She's Just My Type 02/03/13
Book vs Movie: Anne of Green Gables 01/12/13

And finally, department of random, my favorite page from a graphic novel... a young female in an intergalactic army many, many years in the future takes a break reading a vintage romance book in Saga: Vol 2 by Brian K Vaughan. :)

(Artist is Fiona Staples)

Best & Worst of 2011

I thought it would be fun to look back and see what my best & worst books of 2011 were. (Well, the worst might not be that much fun, but we'll muddle through okay?) I'll link back to my reviews when I have them, otherwise I'll just link to Goodreads.

Also, I'm contemplating on if I want to do all the reviews that I am behind on for 2011 or just start over with what I'm reading now and going forward? I know I will for sure do the BSC books. Maybe I'll just pick out the few that really influenced me? Hmm...okay, time for the list!

"The Best" in no particular order:

1. The Doll People series by Ann M Martin-my first review here! These were such cute little books. I picked up the first one as a Christmas gift for my 10 yr old stepsister, I really hope she gives them a chance because I know she will like them!

2. If I Stay & Where She Went by Gayle Forman-wonderful, heartfelt, tear-jerkers.

3. Harry Potter any and all :) by JK Rowling-rereads don't really count do they? Oh well, I will always give these books 5 stars!

4. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (I had the worst time spelling his name right!)-a book that moved me like no other in a long, long time.

5. The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma-another book that really influenced me this year; I haven't actually reviewed this one yet but I think I want to before moving on to current books.

6. The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place books 1 & 2 by Maryrose Wood-2 children's books that I picked up on a whim at the library and thoroughly enjoyed. Might have to review these as well!

7. Various Baby-Sitters Club books by Ann M Martin including Kristy's Great Idea, Boy-Crazy Stacey and Mallory & The Trouble With Twins :)


"The Worst" list...but let me first say that this is how I feel about them, you may feel completely different! I'm not telling you not to give them a try, I'm just saying I didn't like them. Okay? O-tay!

1. Crescendo: Hush, Hush #2 by Becca Fitzpatrick-when I finally realized that I don't like books about fallen angels lol.

2. Infinity: Chronicles of Nick #1 by Sherrilyn Kenyon-my stepmom loaned me this one at Christmas and I read about 230 pages before I gave up. It was too confusing since I hadn't read her Dark Hunter books (which I think I had started the first one and gave up on as well) and just had too much going on.

3. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer-basically it's all Kristen Stewart's fault.

4. The Last Summer by Ann Brashares-I think she should stick to Travelling Pants books...speaking of, isn't there a new one out? Might have to check that out.

5. Various Baby-Sitters Club books by Ann M Martin including The Truth About Stacey, Kristy's Big Day and Hello, Mallory (you see what I did there? Heh...)