Thursday, June 30, 2011

fave reads of 2011 ~ the scenes and the random


the third (and final) day for the sharing-the-awesome awards

(as usual, ignore any wonky (blogger!) formatting ~ spaces appearing EVERYWHERE o.O)
can't wait to see what you guys pick :)

the scenes


1. best first chapter

I read the first chapter of SPLIT online and was completely sold.
shout out's to:
  • The first chapter of PAST PERFECT made me grin (on each page) and my heart was already swelling with the knowledge that I was so going to love this book.
  • I flicked through the first chapter of SAVING JUNE in the shops and loved it enough (the voice and the meet-cute) to realise I needed to buy the book <3
2. best climax


i'm going with THE CHOSEN ONE. not so much the climax itself, but just how tightly plotted the book is, the way the stakes are continually raised and the tension builds so masterfully that by the time the climax arrives, i was breathless.

3. best ending

THE MIDNIGHT ZOO by Sonya Hartnett: life-affirming and gasp-worthy and full of hope.

And ... shout-outs to:
  • I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU SOMEONE ELSE (loved it!)
  • BOG CHILD (quietly haunting)
  • GOD IS IN THE PANCAKES (i had no idea, not even an inkling, how this would end)
  • SAVING JUNE (that song, LOL)
4. best plot twist/revelation (no spoilers!)

NEVER LET ME GO ~ even when you see it coming/know what it is, doesn't take away from the breath-taking, ache factor and the emotional whoosh thing (you know what i'm saying). quietly brilliant.

shout outs to: 
  • UNEARTHLY by cynthia hand (nicely done, not melodramatic and makes me pumped for the sequel), 
  • BEAUTIFUL MONSTER by kate mccaffrey (i saw it but i still like that she did it, and think it was effective)
5. scariest/most disturbing scene
i have nothing on Flannery, but here's a few:



the garage scene in SPLIT hit me in the guts, while maybe not the most disturbing i read, it was the biggest emotional impact of a disturbing scene

the haunting story of the the three kids from IN THE WOODS (disturbing in the intriguing way)

shout-outs to:
  • also disturbing/intriguing, Hamish and some of his recollections in VIOLENCE 101 O.o
  • and there's a scene in THE COMET BOX with a dog and a backyard and a kitchen table. i still have a strong visual on it.
6. steamiest scene (or sweetest/sexiest kiss award)

the steamiest scenes are definitely found in my adult fiction ~ but for this award i am choosing some fave YA swoony/best-written make-out moments


PAST PERFECT ~ the scene on the trampoline <3
FIXING DELILAH ~ there's a few on there ;)
SAVING JUNE ~ lots of slow burning URST but, trust me, it pays off :D


7. best swoon-worthy moment


no spoilers BUT jake (!!!) and harper on page 219 (Aussie edition) of SAVING JUNE. i do not recommend peeking ahead as part of the magic in it is watching it get to that point.

8. biggest nail-biting moment


not so much nail biting as tummy swirling, gayle forman really had me aching and wondering if the HEA was going to arrive or not ~ and at some point (most likely to relieve the tension in myself) i came to peace with whichever way the story would go.


here i am choosing SPLIT (again), heading into the climax was really challenging and extremely tense

9. most hilarious scene

oh ~ nothing overly killing-yourself-on-the-floor-laughing BUT here's scenes that always get me grinning whenever i think back to them:

PSYCH MAJOR SYNDROME: Nathan on the road trip and hollaback girl <3 Nathan x


WHAT ALICE FORGOT the grandma's blog (!) LOL
ANGUS, THONGS (etc) too many, every single thing is hilarious from Georgia <3
SLICE: the shaving scenes, the father/son sex talks (!) and the school kayaking camping trip, haha


bonus: GUYS ~ i didn't put fave meet-cute (!) and i am SUCH a huge fan of the brilliant, grin-worthy and impressionable meet-cutes. most my crushes have me rooting for them from their first appearance. anyways, my fave meet-cute (for genius set-up, cute dialogue and general hotness and grin-worthy vibe) was dan and chelsea in PAST PERFECT.


the random 

1. fave first sentence
LOVE the opening to SLICE (steven herrick) and huge props for taking a "taboo" opening and making it cool)
My name is Darcy Franz Pele Walker.
Ignore the middle names.  
I do.
tell me you smiled. c'mon :)

2. fave book title
here's four titles that i'm liking:

  • how to say goodbye in robot
  • i now pronounce you someone else
  • the dark and hollow places
  • every little thing in the world
(the bottom two are also lines in the book ~ i seriously LOVE that)

3. fave reading experience (ie: created a great reading memory)

i read SLICE (steven herrick) while on hols in katoomba, and the book is set in katoomba and it just made it feel more awesome. very relaxing, smiley times.

LOVED reading and swooning along with Jess and Nic to SAVING JUNE (hannah harrington). it was very cool freaking out over how awesome it was and going a bit crazy over peanut better together ;)

4. book with the best food in it (made me so crazy-envious-hungry)

THE GIRL WHO CHASED THE MOON (sarah addison allen) I was dying for those cakes/pastries/pretty much anything they ate/smelt/mentioned.

5. book with the most sensual weather (made you shiver/sweat)
  • seriously felt like i froze to death while reading BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY (was even shivering while reading it in summer) 
  • and also FAR FROM YOU (lisa desrochers) the snow (!) the ice (!) so cold (!)
  • and oh my gosh, that scene in THE DARK AND HOLLOW PLACES where the girls are walking the wall through the night ~ painfully, bitterly cold.
6. most embarrassing book cover (feeling sheepish in public)

i must say, i procrastinated reading julie james based on her covers. glad i got over myself and checked her out (and read her safely at home, LOL)


and THE DARK DIVINE. argh. i know most people love it but i don't get it. those lily while legs tangled in sheer purple and positioned as if she's half needing to go the toliet. it made no more sense ot me after reading the book (i am out of the loop on this one)

7. can’t believe you waited this long to read the book (!)

obviously, ANGUS, THONGS AND PERFECT SNOGGING. my sister told me years ago how awesome it is and i have no idea why i waited so long to check it out. it's made of win :)


and... that's it (!)


i know there's still a little bundle of REALLY GOOD BOOKS i read that didn't get a nominations, which makes my head hurt a little. but choosing was hard enough without angsting over all the other goodness out there, LOL. (I have read 102 books so far this year ~ so I guess it's my absolute faves so far that keep popping up and made the biggest impression on me)


guys, it's been brilliant and all your linked-up posts are absolutely charming and mt TBR is, well, starting to politely bulge, haha.


x Nomes

16 comments:

  1. Oh Nomes we put the same for steamiest, swoonworthy and reading experience! We rock :)

    I really can't remember the scene you are talking about in The Comet Box :S

    And I must start my copy of The Chosen One.

    I also thought the plot twists in Beautiful Monster was really well done :)

    And she totally does look like she needs to go to the toilet on the cover for Dark Divine!

    Ok that's enough from me. Thanks again for organising this spread-the-awesome! x

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  2. oh my gosh, i desperately need to go reread Split. SUch an amaze-balls book, those scenes and that first chapter.. you're right, they just totally hit you in the gut. I don't think I"m doing this award-day, I just can't pick books! And I can't think of books either, my mind just blanks~ sorry :(
    Oh oh oh, and Never Let Me Go!! Oh my gosh <3 Fantastic list! I can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with :)

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  3. Agree with Never Let me Go as the best plot twist! The whole thing with the missing kids in In The Woods disturbed me so much the fact that it's never resolved disturbed be even more.
    Have you read The Likeness by Tana French? It's even better than In The Woods, even more haunting.

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  4. haha, I think that every time I see The Dark Divine cover. Her legs are also super skinny.

    I agree, I love it when the title appears as a line in the book. When I get to that line it's like everything clicks and comes together.

    Thanks for hosting these lists! They've been really fun to read and compile. :)

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  5. Laughing at your description of the Dark Divine cover. And Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging looks like a good book. Adding it to my to buy list!

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  6. This is my favorite day of the awards, Nomes. It gives books that might not be the best the chance to show of their strong points.

    About the scariest scenes, what can I say? I looooove scary books and horrificness. I'm definitely going to prowl through your linky list to see what people listed for that award.

    And I can't wait to see what Nathan gets up to on the road trip:) Or to see why they are even going on a road trip! (since I'm not there in the book yet)

    You're fab and I love this whole faves idea.

    xo
    Flann

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  7. Great choices Nomes. I have had SO much fun doing this and my TBR list is HUGE now. I have pre-ordered Past Perfect and Saving June because of everyones lists :D I'm also going to take Psych Major Syndrome on my holiday, it sounds like a holiday book!

    The grandma's blog in What Alice Forgot is so funny, I love her. I also love when the title features in the book, it just makes me smile ~ not even sure why!

    Thanks again for this and looking forward to the years end lists and even more categories :)

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  8. Wow! these were super hard to pick!!

    I'm with you on the title-as-line-in-the-book. I love it when it happens.

    Thanks for hosting this, it was awesome. It really gave me a chance to look back to my year in books, and I realized I've been re-reading a lot, so I'm going to try to focus on new (to me) books in the next half of the year :D

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  9. HOLLABACK GIRL. Just thinking about that scene with Nathan gets me grinning.

    We both picked Slice for funniest and Saving June pg. 219 for swoony moment.

    I am very nervous about the garbage scene in Split ~gets tissues ready~. And I can't wait to read The Chosen One.

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  10. Yeah, that Dark Divine cover is a little weird, though I don't know what the book is about so I couldn't say if it fits or not.

    I have so many of these on my TBR list - and I just found that Psych Major Syndrome is on sale at Amazon!!

    This was so much fun Nomes - and it forced me to pay attention to my blog, always an added bonus. Hope you do it again at the end of the year. :)

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  11. Nomes, This was such a great challenge and really got me thinking. Books help us create so many great memories about the way we felt or related at the time we read them. It was wonderful to reminisce, and to also realize I haven't read nearly enough of debuts or really good books. LOL

    I've added quite a few new to me books to my TBR because of you. When you love a book, it shows and your enthusiasm is contagions! <3<3

    Those book covers aren't early as embarrassing as some of the ones I've read, in public! But yes, she does look like she need to get to a toilet. Not good.

    Your fave reading experiences sound super fun. And I'm mad curious about those hilarious scenes you mentioned.

    Thanks for sharing!

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  12. Enjoyed reading your post. :)
    I've been wanting to read The Chosen One for quite some time now. May have to go pick it up soon.
    Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

    <3
    Pixie

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  13. Great idea!

    I've combined all mine in one post! It tried to pick different books but my favs just kept coming back up lol!

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  14. These lists have really shown us which books everyone is in love with! Thanks for hosting!

    I just finished Saving June today, and I didn't like it as much as everyone else is, including you :( sad...

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  15. I totally missed posting this one but I have been so buy, might get to it later, but definitely of the days this one is the most creative and my favorite of the 3 days! Love your answers and definitely will be adding the book I haven't read to my TBR.

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  16. I so want to read Saving June! It appears many times in the posts. It seems great!

    I like to read fun, hilarous YA. It seems Angus, Thongs is a book in the hilarous book list. I will read it soon.

    Although I haven't read Something About You and The Dark Divine, I agree with you that it's quite sheepish.

    Thanks for sharing all these awesome books! :D

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Thanks for the commenty love :)