2009 Favorites

Since it's the last day of the year, I think I can safely assume I'm not going to read any more books that would need to be on this list. Except for my top pick, they aren't in any order:

1. Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork (I hope this wins the Printz!)
2. Fire by Kristin Cashore
3. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
4. Sacred Scars by Kathleen Duey
5. Front and Center by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Book that wasn't a top book but that I liked a lot and more than I expected: So Punk Rock by Micol Ostow

Favorite Covers:




I chose this one not quite so much because I personally loved it but because it's one of the best nonfiction covers I've seen in a long time. Compared to other books along these lines, for boys, and nonfiction, this one is just fabulous. It looks like the book is going to have a lot of action and put you right into that action.

Favorite non-YA books I read this year:
The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
NurtureShock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman (fantastic if you have kids but also interesting and useful if you're a teacher)

2008 Favorites

With the end of the year, it's time for all the "best of" lists.   I choose to do "favorites" instead since I didn't read nearly enough to choose "the best."  Plus, it's too subjective anyway.  So these are just my favorites of the year.  

New York Times's Notable Children's Books of the Year

Amazon Editors' YA Picks for 2008

I'm pretty happy with the NYT picks, even though I never read Sunrise Over Fallujah.  I can't get behind any list with TDHOFL-B, however.

My favorites:

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

As an aside, even though I read The Disreputable History months ago and loved it and have given it prime display space at the circulation desk and recommended it to students, it hasn't been checked out once.  I'm sad about this, and I don't know what else to do.

2007 Favorites

Since this is the last day of 2007, I think I can safely decide my favorite books of the year without fearing I will read another before the year is up. Note that these are my favorite books rather than the "best" books since the list and all my posts and "reviews" on this blog are not only completely subjective but also written very much in relation to me and my reactions to them.

Favorite Books Published in 2007
Freak Show by James St. James
This was by far my favorite book published this year and the only one that I think will stay in my all-time favorites list (you know, those books that just stay with you, that you mention over and over to others, that you put in your blog profile, etc.).

Other 2007 published books that I really liked and have been recommending to others:

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin (we have 5 copies and they are constantly all checked out)

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

The Off Season by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey (could be an all-time if the other books can elucidate the plot more)
Naomi & Ely's No Kiss List by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Big Poppa E's Greatest Hits: Poems to Read Aloud by Eirik Ott (aka Big Poppa E) (Believe me, if you have students who compete in speech, they have heard of this guy. If you aren't convinced that teens will like his poetry, read this story.)

Favorite Books Read (but not published) in 2007
Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

Feed by M.T. Anderson

King Dork by Frank Portman

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb

Favorite Book Covers of 2007

I've noticed that these two books have extremely attractive covers, and as soon as we put them on the circulation desk for display, they are immediately checked out, and the students have often commented on the attractiveness of the covers:




Books I'm Most Looking Forward to Reading in 2008
Andromeda Klein by Frank Portman
Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr
The Host by Stephenie Meyer
I'd also include Lock & Key by Sarah Dessen if I hadn't already read it (thanks again, Heather!) and whatever the sequel to Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey will be titled if I knew it was coming out in 2008.