My 2011 in Books

We’ve established that I am a prolific reader. This blog is mostly about the books I’ve read, so my plan was to write a year-end post about the very best books I experienced in 2011. In reviewing my on-line library, however, I realized that I wanted to comment on more than just the great books, I wanted to share my thoughts on the books that weren’t so great, too. 

I read 76 books in 2011. That’s not including the books I reread because I love them. I can’t go a year without reading The Hunger Games Trilogy, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Wuthering Heights, Graceling and Fire, selected books from the Harry Potter series, and of course the Twilight Saga.

I know. That’s a lot of books. I am a sucker for a free or $99 Kindle ebook and I get sucked into series even if the books are not that great. I’ll be the first to admit my booklist in 2011 was not the most discerning, but there was some fiction that blew my mind, elevated my love of reading, and inspired me to continue to write.

Here is a simple synopsis of books that I loved, books that were okay, and books I wish I had never read.

Books that blew my mind:

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Steifvater
The Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Chime by Franny Billingsley
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen
Shine by Lauren Myracle
Divergent by Veronica Roth

Books I loved:

Leviathan, Behemoth, and Goliath by Scott Westerfeld
13 Little Blue Envelopes, The Last Little Blue Envelope and The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
Sweethearts by Sarah Zarr
Death Comes to Pemberly by P.D. James
Forever by Maggie Steifvater
The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer
The Winter Sea by Susan Kearsley

Books I liked a lot:

How to Be Bad by Lauren Myracle, Sarah Mlynowski, and E. Lockart
Austenland by Shannon Hale
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
City of Bones, City of Ashes, and City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal
The House at Riverton and The Distant Hours by Kate Morton
The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
Between the Lines, Where You Are, and Good For You by Tammara Webber
A Great and Terrible Beauty, The Sweet Far Thing, and Rebel Angels by Libba Bray

Books that were okay:

Not That Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian
Flat-Out Love by Jessica Park
Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick
The Girl in the Gatehouse by Julie Klassen
The Girl Who Was On Fire by various authors
Evermore by Alyson Noel
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
The Chosen Soul and The Game by Heather Kilough-Walden
Ashes by Ilsa Bick
Eternal Eden by Nicole Williams
So Over You by Gwen Hayes
Breathless by Heather C. Hudak
The Trouble with Kings and A Posse of Princesses by Sherwood Smith
Lover Unleashed by J.R. Ward
Camille by Tess Oliver
The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzsch
Incarceron by Katherine Fisher

Books that I wish I hadn’t read:

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
Immortal by Lauren Burd
Sam I Am by Heather Killough-Walden
The entire House of Night Series by P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast
Passion by Lauren Kate
The Wicked Woods by Kailin Gow

So there you have it. My 2011 reading list. There are several books I’m excited to read in 2012. I’ll do a post on that soon.

Until then, happy reading!