I hate doing posts like these before the END end of the year because I wind up doing so much post-Christmas reading and I inevitably leave something out, but I suppose I’ll try. This list contains children’s books, YA books, and grown-up books. One of the things I’m happiest about in my reading life is that I try to read a variety of books. Oh, and not all of these books were published in 2011. You can see my complete list at GoodReads. At this point, I’ve read 346 books this year. I hope to hit 365 by December 31!
I know I should have linked all the book titles to the authors’ websites or to my reviews, but that seemed like too much work and I wanted this to be fun.
Books I Liked That Got Some Hype
But Not As Much As They Should Have
- The Aviary, Kathleen O’Dell
- Packing for Mars, Mary Roach
- No Passengers Beyond This Point, Gennifer Choldenko
- The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
- Divergent, Veronica Roth
- Wonderstruck, Brian Selznick
- Hound Dog True, Linda Urban
- The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, Catherynne Valente
- Marty McGuire, Kate Messner
- Me… Jane, Patrick McDonnell
Books That I Really Don’t Understand
Why Anyone Published Them
- Pomelo Begins to Grow, Romanoa Badescu
- Skippyjon Jones, Class Action, Judy Schachner
- Pretty Princess Pig, Jane Yolen
- The Green Mother Goose, David Davis
- Charlie the Ranch Dog, Ree Drummond
Books That I Couldn’t Finish (but I still plan on trying!)
- Small as an Elephant, Jennifer Richard Jacobson
- Wildwood, Colin Meloy, Carson Ellis
Book That Was Good But Totally Ruined
by an Overdescriptive Back Cover Blurb
- The Magnolia League, Katie Crouch
Books I Randomly Picked Up And Really Liked
- Vintage Knitwear, Marnie Fogg
- Sharing Our World, Ian Reid
- Modelland, Tyra Banks (OH GOD HOW?)
- The Melancholic Mermaid, Kallie George
- How To Build Your Own Country, Valerie Wyatt
Grown-Up Books You Should Read
- The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements, Sam Kean
- Living With Intensity, Michael M. Piechowski
- Force of Nature: How Wal-Mart Started a Green Business Revolution — and Why It Might Save the World, Edward Humes
- The Creative Habit, Twyla Tharp
- NutureShock: New Thinking About Children, Po Bronson
- Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
Best Books With a Message
- Three By the Sea, Mini Grey
- Bigger than a Bread Box, Laurel Snyder
- The Fences Between Us, Kirby Larson
Books I Want To Hold Onto And Cuddle
And Reread Again And Again
- Amelia Lost, Candace Fleming
- I Want My Hat Back, Jon Klassen
- Should I Share My Ice Cream?, Mo Willems
- The Quiet Book / The Loud Book, Deborah Underwood
Best Author Discoveries/Rediscoveries
- Gerald McDermott
- William Steig
- Kate Messner
- Jackson Pearce
- Andy Runton