Best Book(s) of 2011 (so far)

Wow. I just recently realized that I haven't posted my fave reads for the first three months of this year. Am I a slacker or what?

*crickets*

So. It may be a little lame being so late with some of this but...here's my favorite reads of January, February, and March. This is so exciting, right? *snort* These are going to be short and to the point.


January:
I'm going to have to go with Shadowfever Karen Marie Moning for this month. Yes, I thought it was well done and all (and I'm not forgetting Pale Demon!) but I'm picking it for the emotional impact it made. It finally wrapped up the five-book Fever series and gave me the ending I could live with. I could finally put the subject of Mac and Barrons to bed (heh heh) and get some distance for a little while - I was quite hyped up for Shadowfever and looking back at January, I'm glad I read it. Now, I'm interested to see where Moning goes from there with all the loose ends she left behind. Hmm.

February:
My favorite read in February was another reread of Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas. I read it during my teeth troubles and it made me feel better. I had just listened to the ebook of Secrets of a Summer Night, the first Wallflowers book, and was in the mood to revisit Evie and Sebastian. Good stuff.

I also loved Unveiled by Courtney Milan and Archangel's Consort by Nalini Singh. Fabulous, both of them, which is definitely no surprise.

March:
Last month, I read two truly outstanding and memorable books: Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly and Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart. Revolution is powerful. Many times while I read it, I was overwhelmed by Andi's pain. It is one of the best researched novels I have ever read; Andi's study of musical DNA is fascinating and the Alice in Wonderland feel to Andi's trip to the catacombs under Paris and back to the Reign of Terror almost lends a little whimsy (the iPod was a nice touch) to a mostly sad but expertly written book.

Nine Coaches Waiting had been sitting on my shelf for a little while now, ever since Jane sent me a copy. It made the book blogger circuit not that long ago but I wasn't ready to pick it up until last week. Nine Coaches Waiting is a gem of a novel and Mary Stewart definitely knows how to write a mystery that keeps you guessing. There's also a bit of romance thrown in for fun as well. This is definitely a keeper.

Thanks for reading!

Best Book of December 2010 (and November too!)

Hooray for YA! This has been an awesome year for me and YA books and the two books I am writing about here are no exception. Anybody who thinks YA books are too juvenile are deluding themselves and some of my favorite series ever have been YA. So, click the link to make the jump to see two YA books that impressed the heck out of me. The best part? Neither has vampires or werewolves :)

Best Book of October 2010

October sure went by fast! I loved the book I picked as my most anticipated for October - The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook - and probably would have chosen it for my favorite if not for this one. This book is the second in a trilogy and had an ending I wasn't expecting.

Best Book of September 2010

Better late than never, right? I usually try to have this post done within the first few days of each month but I'm going to blame this one on NYCC. Sooooo. The book that I have picked did not have the best grade of all books I rated in September but it was my favorite reading experience last month.

Best Book of August 2010

I have a problem. I don't think I can pick one book for August! Of course, this happens to me every month so why am I surprised? Decisions, decisions... Check out what's after the jump to see what I picked.

Best Book of July 2010

I read a decent number of A- or higher graded books in July so this is going to be a tough call for me. At first I thought I would pick Friday Night Bites by Chloe Neill, an urban fantasy series that is so great it's a total kick in the ass :) Twice Bitten, the third book in Neill's vampire series, is sitting on my coffee table waiting to be read. (Um, yeah. Started this post about a week ago. Oops.) You can read my review HERE.

Then I thought I might pick Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher. This astonishing book is YA at its best; Crutcher manages to attack just about every social issue there is and not be preachy or too heavy (no pun intended). It shocked me and made me laugh out loud at the same time. We could all learn quite a bit from Eric, the one who stayed fat for a friend. You can read my review for this one HERE.

Heck, I even thought about Scandal by Carolyn Jewel. This was probably the best romance I have read in some time, definitely the best historical. I didn't write a review because I knew I wouldn't do it justice when I read this one by Jessica at ReadReactReview.com. Jessica is one of the smartest book bloggers out there today. (Read her adult-themed review of Passion by Lisa Valdez HERE if you want a good laugh but I warn you, either wear some Depends or take care of your business beforehand.) Anyway, having read other romances by Carolyn Jewel led me to think she'd be going in a different direction with Scandal but I was way wrong (anyone who has read her PNR series may understand). Scandal is full of flashbacks, which usually I find irritating, but here I can't imagine the story unfolding any other way. I will definitely be looking for Jewel's other historicals.

So what did I come up with? A reread, actually. Fables by Bill Willingham, is a comic book series about fairy tales with a twist. Willingham is a genius, people. He has taken public domain characters like Snow White, the Big Bad Wolf, Prince Charming, and Goldilocks, and turned them on their ear.

See, the Fables have all been exiled from their homes by a Fable they call The Adversary, a wholly unknown foe (at least to the readers until much later in the series), and now live in Fabletown, a secret community living in plain sight in New York City. Snow White is the deputy of Fabletown and the leader is Old King Cole. The Big Bad Wolf, aka Bigby Wolf, is its detective. Snow White and company have been brought into the 21st century and so have their problems: Snow White and Prince Charming are now divorced. Prince Charming, an unrepentant cheater and mooch, has also married and divorced Sleeping Beauty and whored himself to countless other women, fairy tales or not. We are also introduced to Jack of Jack and the Beanstalk, who is dating Snow White's sister, Rose Red, who may or may not be dead and/or engaged to marry Bluebeard. That's just in the first book.

I've only gotten through the first three volumes of Fables so far and I've been so impressed. Willingham has taken old characters and made them new and relevant again. This series is fresh and funny but most importantly, doesn't read like a comic book. And there's cursing! Lots of cursing and even a little nudity too. In one word: fun! If you've never tried a comic book series before or just want to read something a little bit different, try Fables. It was started in 2003 and is still a monthly comic though it's most popular form is in graphic novel. The newest volume, no. 14, will be out this coming December. To find out more, go HERE to see the wikipedia page or go HERE to Vertigo Comics, where you can download the first issue for FREE.

Best Book of June 2010

Another month gone by and another no-brainer decision in this contest.

Best Book of May 2010

This is such a no-brainer it's not even funny but I'm going to hide it behind a jump anyway.