2008 Superlatives
Posted By Vonna on October 19, 2009
Before I get started on my usual blog I want to take a moment to show off the woodworking project that my son made for me this weekend. He cut all the wood using hand tools– no power saws! He used screws from my dad’s old tool box and made the hole nice and smooth for the birds. He left space under the eaves for ventilation but made sure there was enough coverage to prevent rain from leaking in. (Notice the pencil for the birds’ perch!) What a wonderful surprise this was!
Now on to usual stuff:
I wanted to write a post on my favorite moments from the MG and YA books that I read in 2008, but quickly realized it would be full of spoilers. So instead, I am giving a brief Best Of post.
It doesn’t quite do the job I wanted, which was to point out great bits from all of the books that I enjoyed, and you can see from the brevity of this post that many of the wonderful books I read last year do not get a mention. I’ll try to figure out a better way to do this for the 2009 list. By the way, I have only mentioned books that I read for the first time this year; old favorites were not included.
Superlatives from the list of MG/YA Books Read in 2008
Best Non-fantasy: What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
Best Villain: Dark Wing by Kenneth Oppel
Best World: Dark Wing by Kenneth Oppel
Feistiest Main Character: Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos by R.L. LaFevers
Most Touching: Ida B. by Katherine Hennigan
Most Action: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Best Romantic Fantasy: Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
Funniest: Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
Best Nail-biter: Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Scariest: May Bird and the Ever After by Jodi Lynn Anderson
I plan to post the Superlatives for 2009 in January. I still have a lot of reading to do between now and then.
Which books were your superlatives for last year?
Comment from my son:
I can’t believe you picked Dark Wing over Firestar’s Quest for Best World! Don’t you remember the whole trail and everything? The prehistoric world in Dark Wing was good, but Firestar’s Quest was awesome.
I think THE HUNGER GAMES would take my bests in almost all categories. It was that good. But you listed a lot of really fun books. I loved Ella Enchanted and Coraline.
Natalie, you just made me realize I haven’t put that on my list. It will go on the 2009 list because I only read it a couple of months ago. I agree that it is a terrific book. Even though I loved her Gregor books, my prejudice against present tense narratives kept me from reading it for far too long. But after picking up a copy of Laura Resau’s Indigo Notebook (loved it!) at TLA, I discovered that present tense can be done well, and The Hunger Games is one of the best examples. So glad I read it!
Here are my favorite books read in 2008: Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood by Benjamin Alire Saenz, Airborn by Kenneth Oppel, Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr, Lucky Place by Zu Vincent, and Red Glass by Laura Resau. I just completed Hunger Games and it’s definitely on my list for a 2009 favorite read!
Unbelievable! I left Red Glass off of my 2009 reads, too. That was such a great book.