The Best and Worst Books I Read in 2012!
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I have had a great reading year, even if I have failed my Goodreads 100 Book Challenge! I found out a lot about my own reading preferences and what makes me happy and what makes me angry! I read some amazing fantasy, which is what I will remember most about my reading in 2012. Lets just hope I can be a better blogger in the New Year and start posting more frequently again! Now, without further ado here are my best and worst books of 2012: The Best of the Best: 5 Stars!
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The Name of the Wind is one of my new all-time favorite books and has inspired me to read more high fantasy in 2013! Here's to Lord of the Rings and A Song of Ice and Fire! BRING IT OHNN.
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2012 will always be the year I first read Jonathan Safran Foer's books and gushed about them all year on my blog too! Extremely Loud changed my life for realz.
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Ahh prose doesn't get much higher than JSF- some call it pretentious, I call it magic!
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Just as everyone told me I would be, I was completely seduced by The Book Thief- I was sobbing in a ball by the end.
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Another favorite book that I discovered this year- The Secret History is just joyous and seriously unforgettable.
5 Star Graphic Novels!
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LOVE this- come on it's a classic.
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I'm not quite sure why I adore this quirky graphic novel set in the English countryside but it is just a complete riot and the art is gorgeous!
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I love the OTT film noir style of Sin City...it is camp and gruesome and stylised awesomeness. A Dame to Kill For is my favorite.
Favourites I will read again: the 4 Star Books!
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This one really surprised me. I didn't have high expectations going in, but it ended up being a meaty slice of YA fantasy with an adorable romance thrown in.
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Everyone loves this and so did I! Still haven't got round to the sequel though- oops!
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The Chaos Walking series is one of the best YA series out there- everyone should read it. Monsters of Men, the final book, is my favorite. Boy colt. Sob.
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I have been meaning to read this book for agges and it was just as disgusting and beautiful as I had hoped. Her given name was Dolores but in my arms she was always Lolita.
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This slice of fantasy was just so original and awesome- definitely want to re-read! Dragons as they've never been seen before.
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I took my first plunge into Lemony Snicket this year and it got a huge thumbs up from me- great Dickensian books for children that don't patronise.
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2012 was a year in which I read a variety of fantasy novels set in Japan and China. This was one of the best. DRAGONNSS!
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I realised this year that I am not a huge fan of Middle Grade- I like my books a bit more gritty and gruesome and you just don't get that with children's books. However, this one deserves a mention because it is whimsical and wonderful.
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Terrifying, meaningful and heartbreakingly sad, this is a contemporary that throws in the zombies and works!
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Another fantasy series, this time set in feudal Japan (or a close relation to it). Quite simply, a simple and beautiful YA fantasy series that will have you screaming NOOOO!
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I really loved this fantasy tale with Russian influences- the romance was just right up my street.
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How had I never read The Hobbit before this year!? It was SO GOOD...and I loved the film too!
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I wasn't expecting too much from this YA but it was top notch- original, exciting and adorable!
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Best Cinderella re-telling HANDS DOWN! Brilliant.
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The Casual Vacancy was probably the most controversial read of 2012 but I loved it- grit and Englishness abound.
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I am really glad that I finally got around to this one- multi-layered and poignant.
They Were Pretty Good: 3 Star Books!
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I really enjoyed this indie novel- contemporary fans would probably love it but I just can't completely clock with the genre.
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Again, I found it entertaining but a bit hard to slog through. Very wordy and overwritten...but still hilarious.
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This re-telling of Othello through the eyes of the villian, Iago, started out slow but became awesome by the end. If you can sit through the boring bit it's worth it.
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This was quite an underwhelming Middle Grade- cute characters but a little silly on the facts and figures.
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I was looking forward to The Underground Man for aggges- the premise sounded so cool. However, it was less cool than I hoped.
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Uglies is from a time when there wasn't much YA about and authors could get away with mediocrity- really nothing special but not bad.
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Gripping, climactic and ultimately unsatisfying- you would never want to read it twice. A throw-away thriller.
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Again, not bad but pretty average. Loved the setting but the werewolves were underwhelming.
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Not scary. At all. Cheap Victorian imitation novel really.
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Dull, underwhelming characters and a creepy romance. Addictive though.
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So forgettable...I can't even remember it. Cover nothing like contents.
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I was reading this book when I started my new job, and it took me months to finish. Maybe I was stressed at the time, but this book was just boring.
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I didn't care for this one: the ending was terrible and the rest felt forced.
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I'm glad I read this before the film came out but it wasn't great. Kinda silly but thinks it isn't.
Books I Disliked: 2 Stars!
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Depressing, morbid and ultimately tedious: I did not like.
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Crewel was not for me at all: terrible characters and writing.
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Truly awful story and love triangle but also so addictive!
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Love the heart on the cover of this graphic novel but it was idiotic and nonsensical!
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Dull, cheesy and claustrophobic: not for me.
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I think I learnt that I like the epic proportions of Fantasy novels, so books set on spaceships are just not my thing. Disliked this one.
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I knew this one wasn't going to be intellectual but it exceeded even my expectations of shallowness. Addictive though!
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This was a real disappointment: I was expecting to be wowed but instead it was a cheap Hunger Games knock-off with weird supernatural crap. Ogh.
HATRED: The 1-Starers!
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I only REALLY regretted reading one book this year and that was The Map of Time by Felix Palma. Awful- took me absolutely ages to finish it and hated every single second. Well those were the highlights and lowlights of my reading in 2012! I found lots of new favourites and tried lots of different genres. Next year is all about Fantasy, and hopefully better blogging. See you on the other side!