Faves of TwentyEleven: The Covers

Faves of TwentyEleven Series

Is an event I ran all last week... until internet dramas had me missing my own event, haha :) Sorry for my absence ~ here is my final post (which I had in drafts but couldn't publish until now). Also ~ won't be able to visit all you guys but I am linked up to check you all out in the new year. I am equally excited and humble at all you awesome book buds who have joined in and made this whole event so. much. more. fun. *hi five*

Day Five (the sheepishly late edition): The Covers

TEN favourite covers selected from books you read in 2011

These covers are from books that came out whenever, but that I read this year...

Burn Bright really is a stunning cover, especially in the flesh. It's got a gorgeous waxy texture. It's striking and dynamic and pretty much perfectly suits the gothic and enticing read inside.

Oh this cover really shines. It's perfectly summery and smiley (the watermelon is smiling) and the hues in the blue are pitch perfect. I love the title font and the little book slogan thingy too. (Also a fan of his 2011 release which I also read this year: Black Painted Fingernails)

I didn't know how much I would love this cover until I saw it in person. Also, the fact that I love the book really helps in furthering endearing the cover to me (I just want to hold this little gem tight to my chest). This cover is pretty much perfect to me and I would love to see more simple and meaningful gorgeous little covers like this in the YA genre. 

Oh ~ I REALLY love this cover. The girls expression (and her cute dimple), the sunny/summery vibe. Also I love what's going on with the title font <3 This cover just completely appeals to me
Note: I also gave this book 5 stars. Oh, I love it so...

This cover has nothing to ddo with the book (well, if it does, I still haven't figured it out) BUT I love it regardless. 

Sure, it looks like a movie poster ~ but it is completely visually arresting. I LOVE the stormy tones against the red flare <3

I like the simplicity in this. Also, the purple font for some reason :)

I think this stock photo is evocative. Completely appealing...

 

Guys, you really have to see this one in the flesh. It shines. Completely, utterly captivating. The inside is just as gorgeously designed.

Oh, Froi of the Exiles is SUCH a beautiful book. I love the colour scheme and the scope in this cover. I love the font and the illustrative touches. And Froi looks fab ;)

a few runners up:

Bizarrely, as I was perusing all the covers of the books I realised there are a lot more covers I don't like than do. So many of then make me cringe, smirk or just turn me off in general. (That is for YA covers and adult). I'd never realised that before, just how many covers I do not like... haha

I guess we all have different tastes in covers so I hope you've liked seeing a few favourites of mine from this year. Can't wait to check out all your posts. Thanks to everyone who joined in and sorry I went awol on my own event ;)

I am off to the mountains until 2012 and will  be relaxing with family and not going online for a week or so (As much as I love my online life, I also love breaks from the internet = bliss). See you all in 2012

*also, am on a mates Mac and I have NO IDEA how to format on here, haha. So ~ just chucking it up as is. Hope you've all had a brilliant Christmas ~ it's all over here for us Aussie, and mine was SO fab. Looking forward to kicking back and doing nothing for a while x

Faves of TwentyEleven: The Random

Faves of TwentyEleven Series


Day Four :) All about random (I love this day as I can spread some more book love around in some more random categories... Love all the books following in my post)

Day Four: The Random


1. fave first sentence

for some reason, i just love this opener:

"Natalia and I stole her mother's new blue Cadillac and drove out to Overpeck to find Tommy."

2. fave book title

God is in the Pancakes 

Every Little Thing in the World

John Belushi is Dead 

The Art of Racing in the Rain

My Beating Teenage Heart 

I Now Pronounce You Someone Else

How To Say Goodbye in Robot

The Hypnotist's Love Story

3. fave reading experience (ie: created a great reading memory)
I loved Reading Saving June with Nic and Jess :) Such a swoony good good book to read together. I also had a lot of fun reading Froi of the Exiles with Flannery :D (hi guys!)

4. book with the best food in it (made you so crazy-envious-hungry)
Oh my gosh ~ The Girl Who Chased the Moon = crazily ignited my taste buds fr food so delectable I will probably never each such sweet goodness (definitely living vicariously through the characters :)

The Secret Ingredient was truly divine :)

5. book with the most sensual weather (made you shiver/sweat)

I nearly felt like I was freezing to death in both these books. Extremely talented authors at writing that sensual stuff...

6. most embarrassing book cover (feeling sheepish in public or just plain ugly)

Oh ~ these kissing covers are awkward (although I do understand the marketing, etc). However, these two books are so much better than their covers may imply :)

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

Winter of Fire! I LOVE Sherryl Jordan, so I should really have prioritised tracking down a copy of this (out of print) post-apocalyptic dystopian fantasy much sooner. I 5 star loved it.

Enclave was not with me for long before I gave it a go ~ but had I seen more buzz I maybe would have made sure I got a copy sooner. I really enjoyed it, hey.

8. book you'd give your mum/sister to read

9. book you'd give your dad/brother to read

10. book you'd like to give your past-self to read (ie, me, when I was 15)

okay, I did not really enjoy this one (not to say it isn't a good YA book). I couldn't gobble up the premise so blindly, plot holes jarred me. I completely wish I could have shut off my logical adult thingy and gobble it up because it delivers with action and stuff. As a teen, I would have loved this: factions, initiations, being gifted, challenges and all that shizz. I really want a do-over on reading this, so I could maximise on the fun. What better time to read this book than when I was an actual teen?

11. book that lived up to (or superseded the hype)

so eerie and captivating and just plain GOOD.

12. book you stayed the latest to finish (confess!!!)
oh so many. Not so much because they are oozing with suspense, but more because I was just having the best time reading them:

13. book you were *dying* to get your hands on the most

Two series books, one sequel and one companion novel. Did they deliver for me? 

I loved two of them. 

LOATHED one of them, 

and thought one of them was just okay...

Also, I was so stoked to have two Elizabeth Scott books coming out this year. She is one of my fave comfort read authors <3

14. fattest brick of a book you read (by page count)

SO bizarre ~ I have a tie. Both In The Woods and Froi of the Exiles have 593 pages. What are the chances, eh? :)

15. killer cliffhanger award

you've probably already heard about this one... ;)

Loving all you guys who are joining in (and also, thank you all EVER SO MUCH for the comment love) HOWEVER ~ I am having some internet dramas and having trouble getting online to visit everyone so please be patient with me as it may take me a few days to get a handle on things, haha. Thanks xx Nomes

(Also, thanks for the inks in the comments. You guys are geniuses like that, haha. See you all soon (and my ten fave covers tomorrow (which is only an hour away, LOL...)

Faves of TwentyEleven: The Scenes

Faves of TwentyEleven Series


My answers for 
Day One: The Books
Day Two: The Characters
Tomorrow will be Day Four: The Random

Day Three: The Scenes


1. best first chapter
Split: Oh ~ pitch perfect male POV and full of ache and intrigue, I love Jace from the first few pages.
Virtuosity: Opens with a prologue ~ and it is stunning.
Past Perfect: oh, Leila Sales, I clicked with your sense of humour from the first page and grinned my way through the first chapter. Love knowing I am about to fall in love with a book.
All I Ever Wanted: YES, sublime writing, cute guy and cycling <3

2. best climax


God is in the Pancakes: I seriously had NO IDEA which way things were going to go down. That is a perfectly suspenseful climax.
The Chosen One: the tension in this book was text-book perfect and then some ~ all the way up to it's breath-taking climax where stakes were the absolute highest.
Virtuosity: another one where I was clueless to how it was all going to play out. Niiiicely done.

3. best ending
in searching around for this category I found I could MUCH easily choose books for worst ending, haha. So many endings had me gnashing my teeth, wishing for an epilogue or leaving me still unresolved. So, here's a few endings I thought were handled with such finesse :)


Genesis: OMG
Her Daughter's dream: made me cry
I Now Pronounce You Someone Else: it was different :)
How To Save A Life: in hindsight, well, obviously it would be the perfect ending. But while I was reading it I was edging towards., well, just how is this going to end?

4. best plot twist/revelation (no spoilers!)
Genesis: perfectly handled. Mind = blown

Froi of the Exiles: no particular one, but the plot kind of weaves and twists constantly. My fave plot revelations were always to do with the characters, their connections and back stories...

5. scariest/most disturbing scene

6. steamiest scene (or sweetest/sexiest kiss award)


Okay ~ so FIVE books is a bit much, eh? (and this is only in the YA scene, gosh). Here's my reasons...

I REALLY liked Connor in Not That Kind of Girl. In fact, Siobhan Vivian has a gift with crafting her love interests and writing those sexy scenes (aspiring writers: take note, haha). Some of the best YA stuff I have come across ;)

Hunting Lila was all about that swoony/sexy stuff ~ constantly delivered in such a fun and flirty way (okay ~ so I have already reread a few of those scenes...and am getting nostalgic now just thinking about it)


Saving June: Hannah Harrington makes you wait for it (the tension builds like crazy) but then when it comes, mate, does it deliver *fans self*


Fixing Delilah: my gosh, the swoon. Some gorgeous kissing scenes in there.


Chasing Brooklyn: much tamer than the other four here ~ but the first kiss was just so sweet and sexy (one of my fave YA first kisses). And it had thoughts from both the male and female POV <3

8. biggest nail-biting moment
Where She Went: Ugh. Those of you who have read it. Gayle Forman nearly killed me.
The Chosen One: well, pretty much the entire book, LOL.
The Queen of Attolia: More too stunned to even move to bite the nails. Early on, it was hard to believe what happened, really happened...

9. most hilarious scene
Oh, pretty much all of Three Wishes. Completely my thing. I grin, ridiculously so, in that book.
Slice: classic Herrick humour in such a brilliant and endearing male POV
The Good Daughter: oh, some more Aussie YA love ~ I love so many parts in this book. I especially laughed in a certain scene with Larry Emdur on The Price is Right. Such a classic!

10. most heart-breaking/tear-jerker moment*
AM I REPEATING MYSELF TOO MUCH ABOUT THIS BOOK?

*which is on a bargain January 2012 preorder for the paperback price...(you know,. FYI)




BONUS: favourite meet cute
Oh, definitely Past Perfect. Grinned and sighed and then had great anticipation for further appearances from Dan in the book.


Shout out to There You'll Find Me. For gorgeous dialogue and getting me to swoon and grin from the meet vute (and any other time Bentley showed up...)

Gah! Linky drama. Link in the comments, or whatever. Love you guys 


xx Nomes