fave reads of 2011 ~ the books

1. Favourite book read so far in 2011

regarding my faves ~ they aren't necessarily *the best* books i read. they are the ones i just love so much (despite their flaws) that i want to hug them, that make me smile whenever i think of them, that make me feel proud whenever i see them beaming at me from my bookshelves ...

i have TWO picks. one adult fiction and one YA:

WHAT ALICE FORGOT is adult and it's liane moriarty, and i love her so. it's whimsical and beautiful and sexy and quirky. <3 and, as i said, it's liane moriarty, so of course it's an absolute fave :)

PSYCH MAJOR SYNDROME is my YA pick. what can i say? i don't imagine it will be anyone elses fave ~ but somehow that makes me feel like it' even more special. i fiercely love it. fiercely.

(and my two runners-up ~ i have to shout-out their awesomeness):

  

these two were compulsively readable ~ PAST PERFECT so funny, cool and different. SAVING JUNE so sexy, ache-y and addictive <3

2. Most powerful book

SPLIT ahh, how i love you <3

3. The most brilliantly funny

all these three had many moments of hilarity and good good times <3

4. Best ache-y, heart-breaking, tear-jerker read

oh, THE CHOSEN ONE made me ache, you guys :'( and for some reason i was crying heaps in WINTER OF FIRE although i think i was hormonal or something LOL (but i always always get snagged on books with the theme of redemption running through them) 

shout out to: WHERE SHE WENT. so, unlike the ones above, i didn;t actually cry but i felt that emo-pain, haha. very well done O.o

5. Most beautiful story

you guys (!)

6. Fave rainy day comfort read

okay, i had HEAPS for this one (ie a lot of angst in choosing, but moving on ...) EVERY LITTLE THING IN THE WORLD is just gorgeous. and THE GIRL WHO CHASED THE MOON was sweet and smiley and yummy.
7. Best tense, adrenalin-fuelled, unputdownable award

STILL MISSING was intense. INTENSE O.o (actually, i did have to put it down around page 50 just. to. breathe. for. a. moment). (the second half went a little bit wacky b-grade movie drama ~ however i still thought it was fun-crazy-intense times)

8. The beautiful prose award

SONG OF THE SPARROW <3 delicious book
and i also SO enjoyed FIXING DELILAH's writing. beautifully written

shout outs to: ALASKA by Sue Saliba & THE MIDNIGHT ZOO by Sonya Hartnett,

9. most atmospheric and vivid setting

BURN BRIGHT oh my gosh ~ it's like being in one of those crazy-intense dreams where everythign is hypercolour. fantastically done.

and shout out to DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS because, eww, my skin was literally CRAWLING at times (!) completely authentic (and very convincing book that made me want to OCD-style scrub my house)

Oh (!) and my fave aspect of WATER FOR ELEPHANTS was the setting <3

10. i-so-want-to-go-there award

so completely fun, you guys ~ and i don't think we have anything like it in Australia (?). plus ~ ice cream (!)

11. most original and imaginative

i cannot, in good faith, even consider another book for this, haha. <3

12. best under-appreciated, hidden gem book

loved these two books. a lot :) both 4.5 star reads for me

looking through my list of books read this year, i seem to have A LOT of hidden gem books that i so genuinely recommend (i don't often read the hyped/popular stuff) here's a few runners-up which may or may not be on your radar: 

• NOTHING LIKE YOU lauren strasnick
• NO AND ME delphine de vigan

are both books i love a lot (4 star reads)

13. i-had-no-idea-i-would-love this-so award

sleeper hit of the year! well, i had read no reviews and seen no buzz and then WHAM couldn't put it down. in my top three YA reads this year. (and SWOON). reading this reminded me of reading pre-blogging days and finding a random book and just falling in love with it ~ like crazy (i fan-girled a lot over this one over at goodreads. had a bit of a hyper-in-love moment ;)

14. most haunting story

O.o

O.o

15. outside of my comfort zone but gosh how i loved it

i know (!) me + an angel book (!) who knew? i really loved reading this and can't wait for the sequel (all of a sudden i have a series to follow ~ most books i read are stand-alones ...)

16. series that i'm loving

WATERFALL is just so refreshing and good times. And, well, i am a fan of Carrie Ryan. LOVED the final book in her trilogy ~ a really strong ending.

17.  most memorable voice award

first three i thought of: NOTHING LIKE YOU so sparse and achey. WHERE SHE WENT oh my gosh ~ the angst and heart break so truly compelling and authentically male. and ROOM, haha ~ it's wild and different and certainly memorable.

Shout out to: VIOLENCE 101 (Hamish is a sociopath), NO AND ME, and Georgia from ANGUS, THONGS

18. completely awesome premise award

it's like time-travel into the future/amnesia all rolled into one. BRILLIANT, liane, BRILLIANT

19.  would make the best movie

this just looked like a movie in my head the whole time i read it. and, wahey! it is going to be a movie ;)

20.  want to re-read already

oh ~ well the three books above i have read more than once this year (not going to say how many times i have read, ahh, certain parts, haha)

as for what i plan to re-read before the year is out (from books i have read this year):

Phew. Gosh ~ i had so much fun going through and reminiscing about all the good literary times i have had this year :) and there are still a bundle of books that didn't fall into any category yet (!)


* i didn't choose any books that i read as re-reads from previous years (seeing as they are already my faves and would qualify for lots of good things). i also didn't choose any books i read this year that i didn't particularly like ;)


ALSO: blogger is formatting weirdly ~ putting in funky spaces and squishing some bits up. ARGH (!) Sorry


i'll be back on Monday with my choices for 'the characters' and also 5 covers i love (from books i have read) (see this post for the categories)


and ~ for those of you who are joining in ~ here's the linky. you can link up today or any time during the last week of June :) hope you have fun nominating books for the categories :)