I don’t think I’ll ever read a memoir that I could love as much as this one. There’s just so many witty observations and funny anecdotes on every page. I can try to list my favorites, but I’d have to quote every other line, from Rainn Wilson’s “How Will Mindy Kaling Die?” pool (which he has apparently been running since 2006), and at the time when she and her mom went to see The Help, they were “weeping so hard it was as thought we’d been black maids in Jim Crow-era Mississippi and the movie had hit too close to home. It weirded people out” or “The Untitled Liam Neeson “You Took My Female Relative Project”, or that one pimple that was “cystic and painful and had roots that seemed to extend into my brain”, or well I might as well list some of them.

On fame

…people were into us. It was glorious. I was vacuuming my car at a gas station during the Gay Pride parade and a group of gay veterans in uniform shrieked, “Oh my God, it’s Kelly Kapoor!” The guys at the gas station thought I was hot shit.

On Hollywood

When a beautiful actress is in a movie, executives wrack their brains to find some kind of flaw in her that still allows her to be palatable. She can’t be overweight or not perfect-looking, because who would want to see that? You might as well film a dead squid decaying on the beach somewhere for two hours. So they make her a klutz. Despite being five foot nine and weighing 110 pounds, she is basically like a drunk buffalo who has never been a part of human society.

On the manic pixie dream girl

This girl can’t be pinned down and may or may not show up when you make concrete plans. She decides to dance in the rain and weeps uncontrollably if she sees a sign for a missing dog or cat. She spins a globe, places her finger on a random spot, and decides to move there. This ethereal weirdo abounds in movies, but nowhere else. If she were from real life, people would think she was a homeless woman and would cross the street to avoid her.

On The Office

For some reason I thought Greg, B.J., and Mike were all best friends, because they had all gone to Harvard and been on The Harvard Lampoon (even though their times at Harvard didn’t even overlap). I’ll never forget one day at lunch, when Mike asked B.J. to go to a Red Sox–Dodgers game, while I stewed angrily on the other side of the room, feeling left out.

“I’ll get you, you clique-y sons of bitches,” I thought.

A common refrain we heard was “I disliked your first season, but by the second season you really came into your own.” I think people thought their compliment meant more if they tempered it with something insulting first. As if I were to say, “I initially thought you were ugly, but then you walked closer to me and I realized you were pretty.” I love our first season. I think it is a little dark and really funny. I found the phrase “came into your own” especially weird, as though The Office finally developed breasts or something.

And although Mindy’s book is witty and fun to read, what I really love is how real her voice is. Her life is so “normal”– hardworking immigrant parents, typical suburban home, a degree from top college– but that normalness also comes with the grade-school bully, embarrassing (but hilariously so) auditions, and my favorite chapter of the book (which also gives it its title), about the first friend that she bonded with over comedy. I love that she’s someone who’s entertaining and clever and witty, but also that she feels like any one of us, too.

Hardcover • 222 pp • November 1st 2011 • Crown Archetype

End thoughts:

• I don’t usually enjoy memoirs (Tina Fey’s Bossypants was kinda just eh) but I love those moments where you can ‘hey, I’ve totally felt that way on more than one occasion, too, (and it sucked!)!’ because sometimes I’m just happy to see it written down, that I’m not alone in my moments of awkward/embarassing-ness… okay I’ll stop now
• I love The Office. Writers need more credit (and they can be hilarious as actors too :P)

Beautiful, just beautiful. And it’s a standalone. And the characters are real and wonderful. Did I mention it’s about flesh-eating water horses? Did I mention it’s beautiful?

Beautifully written, beautifully executed. Despite the fact that the actual races are in the last twenty pages or so, THE SCORPIO RACES is never, ever, boring. Usually, I hate it when most of the plot is build-up. But the fact that the story is the build-up–it’s a fact that didn’t sink until later, and I didn’t mind one bit.

The paranormal elements are there, and they’re used in a way that’s different from anything else I’ve read before. I really got the sense that this is a book that could’ve only been written by one person; Stiefvater’s writing is so rich and detailed, and it’s put to good use because there’s so much you can use to describe the one-of-a-kind setting. Yes, there’s fascinating mythology behind the scenes, but what really shines is the character drama.

Everyone has a reason for wanting to win the races: there’s some who want the glory, and then there’s people that the story delves into– people like Sean and Puck– who have everything on the line. Sean has already won for the past four years, but he needs to one more time if he wants to be leave his boss, Malvern, for good. (Mostly he does it because he loves his horse so much. His man-eating water horse, mind you.) Puck wants to keep her family together. Even though it’s where her parents lost their lives, she could never leave the island where she grew up.

It could’ve been all about the races. It could’ve been plotted so that there were multiple races all along the island, or something like that, so that the action never stopped; however, I’m so glad it didn’t go that route. There is still tension in every scene, and while you could just see it as build-up, each chapter has a purpose. Each chapter has a hook, some rising action, and a climax. I had to stop and admire every scene for being shaped so thoughtfully. There’s conflict everywhere; within the characters, between the horses’ struggle to return to the sea, between the power struggles of those who have it and those who don’t.

And can I just stay something about the characters so that I don’t start gushing about them for pages? Because they’re really great. Each one is so distinct, a lot of them are incredibly lovable, and the dialogue is excellent. Whether it’s a biting remark or the head games between Sean and his rivals, or the humorous exchanges between Puck and her brothers (that comes from them knowing each other so well), or the various other personalities that populate the novel (people like Peg and George just ooze with charisma, charm, and character), I loved them all. (I liked to hate the more loathsome types, too.)

4.6 out of 5

I love this book. There’s something about the dialogue on this page that seems familiar but I can’t really place it. Anyways. I love this book not only because it’s technically wonderful– in plotting, world-building, writing– but for all the subjective reasons as well. I love Puck and Finn (that kid is so cute adjsk;l) and Sean and Brian and Jonathan and Peg and George Holly and how I can practically breathe in the sea and sand, how I just couldn’t put this book down. I love all of it.

Have a few quotes

There are moments that you’ll remember for the rest of your life and there are moments that you think you’ll remember for the rest of your life, and it’s not often they turn out to be the same moment.

As the sun shines low and red across the water, I wade into the ocean. The water is still high and brown and murky with the memory of the storm, so if there’s something below it, I won’t know it. But that’s part of this, the not knowing. The surrender to the possibilities beneath the surface. It wasn’t the ocean that killed my father, in the end. I stretch my arms out to either side of me and close my eyes. I listen to the sound of water hitting water. I smell seaweed and fish and the dusky scent of the nesting birds onshore. Salt coats my lips, crusts my eyelashes. The sand shifts and sucks out from under my feet in the tide. I’m perfectly still. The sun is red behind my eyelids. The ocean will not shift me and the cold will not take me.

Hardcover • 409 pp • October 18th 2011 • Scholastic Inc

Have you ever had a book that’s unique and impossible to put down and all kinds of awesome, but once you reach a certain point, the magic starts to fade? Luckily, the excitement of the first part far outweighs any disappoint in the last, but I thought it was interesting that the exact same thing happened with the another book I’ve read (and loved) by the same author: Not That Kind of Girl.

A lowdown on THE LIST: imagine waking up one morning, walking through the doors of your high school, when suddenly you discover one of that school’s time-honored traditions: a list of the prettiest and ugliest girls in every grade.

What Vivian does brilliantly is incorporate so many different characters into the drama– there are a total of eight characters in the main cast, and I never found myself at a loss when it came to their individual worries, motivations, and personalities.

In the hands of anyone else, the teenagers in this book could’ve easily become a seething mass of stereotypes and cliches. I’m so used to the typical catty popular girl now, that I was flat-out surprised when the select few who were recognized as being at the the top of heap weren’t one-sidedly mean. This doesn’t mean that they’re all just hiding a secret heart of gold either; they’re similar how high school students can really be– quick to dismiss their past wrongdoings, not perfect angels but not complete antagonists either.

It also could’ve been easy to lose track of who was who, but Vivian’s characterization is down-to-earth yet distinct. I had a clear picture of who everyone was, from the naive freshmen to the practically battle-scarred former best friends, to the rebel who decides to go all out against the list and everything it stands for. One of my doubts was answered pretty quickly as the school’s principal tried to figure who was behind the making of the list, and the truth is quite the plot twist.

3.7 out of 5

I really love Siobhan Vivian’s style– it’s honest (at times brutally so), and it pulls you in, and I think she’s one of the best at writing realistic high school settings. Each character gets equal time in the spotlight, and the premise goes in interesting directions. Life isn’t much easier whether you’re labeled as the prettiest or the ugliest; it’s the type of message that would usually make me roll my eyes, but the way it was handled was done so well that I came to change my mind. The big reveal and the final line is pretty shocking, but the reason that the score isn’t higher is because it didn’t feel quite believable to me given that the rest of the book was so grounded. Still, this is the type of twisty contemporary story is well worth your time, and it sends a clear message not by preaching to the audience, but instead by using its diverse and believable cast to its full potential.

Hardcover • 332 pp • April 1st 2012 • Push

When you combine elements of mystery, noir, corporate greed and gritty city streets with (would you have guessed?) traditional fairy tale lore, while featuring a young protagonist who just happens to be a wolf, you get something pretty interesting. And Henry isn’t just any wolf– he’s the son of the Big Bad himself.

Let’s start with the excellent: you can’t say DUST CITY isn’t original. The city itself is populated with a variety of creatures, with two basic groups: hominids, including everything from goblins to fairies, and animals– human-sized ravens, foxes, and of course, wolves who seem to walk on two feet. It might seem like an odd image at first, but it didn’t bother me for too long.

The title says it all

The setting is my favorite part of the book. It has some interesting history behind it, which explores some ancient past where animals were as we knew them today. The story doesn’t avoid the dark side of town, and although Henry is a likable, sympathetic lead, he gets mixed up in some shady business, which concerns another interesting element of the setting: dust. Fairy dust, to be exact. The ‘real’ stuff vanished long ago, but factories have been managing to manufacture imitations that are almost too good to be true. Henry gets drawn into the truth behind the trade, he also delves into what happened the night his father attacked a little girl in a red cape and her grandmother.

Cast

It’s fun to see how the fairy tale characters we all know will be reimagined in a retelling, and DUST CITY doesn’t disappoint. We’ve already got the big bad wolf, but we’re also introduced to a cast that includes Jack (a mischievous boy with a habit for thievery) and Snow White (as a hardboiled, no-nonsense cop). She didn’t have an abundance of page time, but her appearances were entertaining to say the least. The original characters were just as lively, with some wolfish personalities such as a rival-turned-ally and a quirky therapist at the detention facility that Henry lives in at the start of the story.

One of those romances

…Where it didn’t feel necessary. While Henry is running around the dark side of town looking for answers, there’s not a lot of opportunities for Fiona to establish herself as a character, or a love interest. Near the end of the book, she tags along with him for a final, dramatic showdown with the antagonists of the story, but it was too late for me to really be invested in how much they suddenly cared for each other. I liked her character; she’s a savvy journalist who’s important in uncovering the truth behind the synthetic fairy dust, but the romance felt a little tacked on.

3.7 out of 5

If some of the concepts and genre-mixing in this book sounds the slightest bit interesting to you, give DUST CITY a read. The plot moves along at a good clip and of all the recent fairy tale retellings released on shelves, I think it’s the most original. The more complex issues are included– discrimination, whether the parents’ wrongdoings should pass onto their children, drug addiction, and so on– but not in a great deal of depth. Still, it’s a fascinating journey with likable characters, and seeing some familiar faces in a new light is entertaining enough on its own.

Paperback • 304 pp • September 13th 2011  • Penguin Group Canada

There’s something about the distance, being removed from what’s familiar, that let’s things happen.

Ah, the road trip. In real life, it’s a little bit harder to set off on the typical hero’s journey you see in fantasy and adventure novels, but the road trip is the answer to that little problem; it lets us have adventures without throwing plausibility out the window.

But still, in books, it’s easy to make those road trips idealized. The kind where a life-changing moment is around every corner and there’s always true love at the end of the road. From the beginning, I was prepared for something new, something different from THE DISENCHANTMENTS, and in most ways, it delivered. It’s a story about a boy and a girl who’ve been best friends for as long as they can remember– since high school started, they’ve always had plans to keep university for later, after they journey across Europe for a year. Just as Bev (the aforementioned girl), Colby (the boy) and Bev’s all-girl band set off on their final tour, Bev breaks the news to Colby: she got accepted into an arts college, so she won’t be going to Europe after all.

The relationship between Colby and Bev is more than rocky at the start, it’s not always sunshine and rainbows, and the conflict is all to realistic. Yeah, the narrator’s a guy– and yeah, we get a lot of steamy teenage lust for Bev, but all in all I think LaCour did a great job at making Colby a believable character. If my best friend blew off the year-long after graduation trip we’d been planning for years WITHOUT TELLING ME, then applied to universities when I didn’t because SHE NEVER LET ME KNOW THAT SHE CHANGED HER MIND, leaving me stranded after graduation without a clear plan, I would be extremely pissed. I get some of those mysterious-unpredictable-dreamgirl vibes from Bev, and you could say that it was deconstructed to reveal why they can suck. And I still don’t think her reasons were justified at the end. You should’ve just let him know, Bev. Grr.

However much it bugged me, the important thing is that it worked. And Colby needed that independence in the end, to do his own thing. (Plus, the last minute twist is fantastic and it involves a great secondary character.) Despite it all, I loved most of the cast– the other members of the band, the kooky people they meet, the perfect balance of imperfectness in their trip. Although I was offput by what seemed a little like a cop-out in the end regarding the main character’s relationship.

I also need to mention the writing. It’s hands down my favorite part of reading the book. LaCour’s style is deceptively simple; there aren’t grand metaphors or pretentious monologues– it’s hard to notice it while you’re reading, but she really manages to say a lot with so little.

4 out of 5

Despite all of my personal complaints, this book, as a whole, is well worth the read. Whereas some stories start out well and fizzle out near the end, THE DISENCHANTMENTS gets a boost from the final act. Nina LaCour has a gift for endings. Suddenly the lovely prose is taken a step further; there’s all these beautiful passages and a trace of bittersweet. The final pages were the pure joy of reading wonderful writing. Although different in subject, the tone of the ending reminds me of Hold Still; imperfect, a little painful, but still full of hope for things to come.

Hardcover • 307 pp • Feb 16th 2012 • Dutton Children’s Books

The best moments in this series are the endings. Although the majority of the books is a decent journey/romance, those endings really take a leap of creativity and imagination– they’re unlike anything I’ve ever read before.

The Theatre Illuminata series is pretty unique; it features, among other things: fantasy, magic, epic journeys, long lost parents, many theatrical allusions and a great big love triangle.

I had an interesting experience with EYES LIKE STARS. Although I loved the pretty cover, it was never really a top priority on my to-read list. When I did finally start that first page, it was only so I could say “Meh, not really my thing” and left it alone for a few weeks, without the intention of ever finishing it. The confusing mess of dialogue (mostly from some annoyingly immature fairies) was off-putting.

Eventually I just decided to brush past all my questions (how the heck does this theatre work? In what time period does this story take place??) and let the story do its thing, and I’m glad that I was a little more patient with the at-times chaotic plot. Once I got used to all the strange workings of the Theatre Illuminata, the story is a joy to follow, with some truly brilliant passages here and there. The ending of the first book, in particular, stands out as one of those endings that are near perfect. It sets things up well for the sequel, PERCHANCE TO DREAM, which takes off in a completely different direction as Bertie and her companions venture outside the Theatre in search of Bertie’s father.

While there is an emphasis on family and self-discovery, another major element is the love triangle. I thought it was pretty good in that there is never a clear favorite– until the end of the last book, it looked like either Nate or Ariel could end up with Bertie (with each getting more of a focus in the first and second book respectively). I loved how Mantchev painted the picture of each of them representing Water, Air and Earth. By the time I reached the last book, SO SILVER BRIGHT, I was still plenty confused quite frequently, and I didn’t really feel the same kind of urgency to actually finish the book like I did in the first two (except to find out who lost out in the love triangle).

There are still some really, really gorgeous passages that are unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, full of beautiful descriptions and imagery that is so skillfully used that it’s breathtaking. But the downside is that each plot point is chaotic and confusing, as in I’ll read two pages and be completely lost on how the story reached its next destination. It’s hard to explain. I’ll even try re-reading each sentence and concentrating really hard to keep track of what’s happening, but it still loses me at some point or another.

If you’re willing to look past a plot that’s easy to lose track of, there’s a lot to like about the Theatre Illuminata trilogy– the nods to certain plays (mainly Shakespeare, of course) are fun to spot and, sometimes, the chaos is all part of the charm.

Coincidences are funny things. It seems like some of my biggest fandoms (for books, tv, and such) all came from a random link on the internet, or maybe a chance conversation with a friend (who I only met out of another coincidence) and that recommendation led to more and more titles and series until I don’t realize that it started from one random encounter or another.

Like another one of my favorite MG titles, The Clockwork Three, LIESL & PO is about a varied cast of characters who have nothing to do with each other, until mishaps and connections make their stories overlap and eventually collide in a series of coincidences that resemble fate. The two stories have lots of similar elements– including that hint of magic that’s mysterious and never explicitly described.

I’ve been reading more and more MG lately because of several reasons; mostly, though, it’s because I usually don’t have to worry about instaluv or other obligatory romantic tropes that get in the way of plot in teen novels, nor the pretentious and boring adult-ness of literary fiction. I sound like such a snob :p. But really, LIESL & PO brings back nothing but warm and fuzzy feelings from the books that got me into reading in the first place. Although it does involve heartwarming orphans and cruel adults, there’s a lot more going for this novel if you don’t write it off because of that.

And just because it’s for younger readers doesn’t mean it’s dumbed down, either. Whenever Po describes the Other Side, including universes and stars bursting and then dying, or being a part of everything all at once, it’s written beautifully. There was another interesting part where Mo, a palace guard, mentions his lost little sister, but when he lets go of one of her possessions early in the story, the narrator states that they won’t mention any more about her too. It’s unexpected but it alleviates the perfect type of story where all the loose ends are tied in a carefree happy ending.

Personal reminiscing aside, this is a lovely, lovely book that has to be appreciated in person. Oliver’s writing is elegant and the third-person narration has a fairy-tale like feel to it. It reminds me of that proper British-English tone you get from reading Harry Potter or Diana Wynne Jones’ stories. I loved that it isn’t just about Liesl, Po and Will– even the maid and the guard, who could be just background characters, get their point of view. There were moments where the characters come so close to getting past the accidental mishaps that set off the plot, and you know they’ll run into another misunderstanding, but just because you can see it coming doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. And the illustrations! They’re perfect. It made this book a joy to read.

The sequel to 13 Little Blue Envelopes. Ginny is currently stuck in that in-between stage between college essay writing and the rest of her life, and when the opportunity arises to track down that last envelope from her late Aunt Peg, she embarks on another unexpected, hilarious, and heartfelt journey across Europe.

I never thought I’d see a sequel for one of my favorite roadtrip-plots ever, but this one had almost the same amount of charm as the first. It seemed like an interesting choice to show that her first love interest is a bit of a jerk but I managed to like all the characters all the same– although I have to say that Oliver was one of the most endearingly strange people I’ve ever read about.

The plot isn’t as fresh and exciting the second time around, and although it really bothered me at first, I kind of like the idea of mystery surrounding the last envelope. Still, THE LAST LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPE had a few scenes that were too good to pass up.

Score: 3.1 out of 5

Hardcover, 282 pages
Published April 26th 2011 by HarperTeen

Three sisters who never get along discover that they have supernatural powers; April, the eldest (and the sensible one) can see the future, May (the rebel) can disappear, and June (the youngest) can read minds. Although they can be pretty handy at times, their powers start to cause more trouble while the three are still recovering from their parents’ messy divorce.

This was the first book that I read about in the blogosphere (ah the memories :p). It looks like a cute, fun read about sisterhood and some completely unexplainable superpowers– but it’s surprisingly more multi-dimensional, and the three sisters have distinguishable yet flawed and believable personalities. Their interactions with each other are very grounded and somehow the somewhat crazy premise isn’t that jarring. Benway uses each of the girls’ powers in clever ways, and the romance is cute and not as cookie-cutter predictable as I expected. This is the kind of book with truly impressive character development– and balancing it between several very different people, while providing some relatable problems and nail-biting tension in the last act– makes this a highly recommended read.

Score: 3.9 out of 5

Hardcover, 282 pages
Published August 3rd 2010 by Razorbill

Best of 2011:
PART 1: The best of everything
PART 2: Random awards
PART 3: Characters & Romance

Plots, Settings & Endings

Best (and most shocking) plot twists: Unwind by Neal Shusterman

They’re mostly saved until the end, but these plot twists are INSANE. And they weren’t just there for the shock value; they make your jaw drop but it’s like a “damnnn, that’s clever” instead of a “WTF??” feeling.

Best plot untwist: Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

You probably need to read the book to know what I’m talking about. But it’s the point where I fell in love with this book :)

Biggest cliffhanger: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

I wonder how they’ll recover from a revelation like that… (although I have the sequel on my Kobo so might as well find out soon :p).

Favorite setting: Divergent by Veronica Roth

It might not be realistic, but you have to admit that Divergent’s Hogwarts-like class system is a pretty cool idea. (All I know for sure is that I wouldn’t for the world be in Dauntless.)

Most unique premise: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Originally I was thinking of using Thisby for ‘favorite setting’, but I’m not sure I’d want to live on an island with killer horses roaming about. In a year filled with dystopian governments and paranormal romances, Stiefvater’s newest standalone (a standalone! <333) defies any kind of genre I could try to fit it in. The characters are endearing and complex, the writing is breathtaking, and well, this is one of the best books I've read all year.

Most bittersweet ending: Hold Still by Nina LaCour

Oh gosh, that ending. I read it all during math class and it was like the real world didn’t even exist. It was beautiful and heartbreaking and hopeful all at once.

Best ending: A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

Endings aren’t the strongest areas for most stories, but this one was as good as it gets, tying up the loose ends that matter in a manner that gave my brain a bit of a book high as I was frantically flipping the pages.

Best opening lines: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

hehe oh Manchee

Best closing lines: Blood Red Road by Moira Young

Brief but oh so perfect.

I’m going to try switching up my review format for the next few books– unless I have a lot to say, they’ll be in the form of mini-reviews that’ll contain the random mind-babble that I tend to spew on Goodreads because I feel like I can be less formal there. But this is my blog and I’ll subject you all to reaction brain-spewage whether you like it or not!!

Best handled love triangle: Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Unearthly was one of the few paranormal novels that I really enjoyed in 2011 (despite some nagging flaws) but what I appreciated the most was the best love triangle I’ve read all year. Usually I despise this trope, but I have to say that Hand did a great job handling all sorts of ups and downs, from fate and paranormal powers to reluctant friendship and eventually, romance.

Worst handled love triangle: In the Shadow of the Lamp by Susanne Dunlap

**spoilers** Ohhhhhh dear. Our heroine, Molly, is in inner turmoil over two guys (a childhood friend-sort of nice guy turned soldier, and a swoony WWI doctor) and while the storyline was decent, the way the love triangle was resolved was… well, if you don’t mind some spoilers, the doctor dies in her arms while she proclaims that she always loved him and he was The One, then a few pages later she finds the soldier, apologizes for rejecting him and then declares how much she had always loved him and how foolish she was for not seeing it before. What. -_-

Cutest romance: Anna & the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony Jon

Of course you’ve probably heard of the sheer adorable-ness that is Anna, and it’s definitely my favorite romance novel of the year. But Five Flavors of Dumb also surprised me by having an awww-worthy romantic plotline that was also realistic. In a book that I wouldn’t at all describe as fluffy. ;)

Best couple: Mia & Adam (Where She Went by Gayle Foreman)

When I was reading it, Adam was just the perfect boyfriend in If I Stay, hardly a three-dimensional character, but more of a device to cause conflict in the story. Where She Went took that opinion and smashed it to bits, and you’d have to read it to understand the kind of character development that this sequel manages to portray.

Biggest douchebag: Josh (Five Flavors of Dumb)

I thought that Josh would turn out like one of those jerks that have a hidden soft side (psssh) but thankfully he just played the attention-hogging jerk straight up and got what he deserved in the end ;P

Best best friends: Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta

At the beginning of Saving Francesca, the titular Francesca is basically friendless at what used to be an all-boys school. She makes it easy for her (and the reader) to dismiss the few girls at the school because they simply don’t seem like friend material. And then the book just takes these simple characters and creates friendships that are as unexpected as they are in real life, but no less rewarding.

Best animal (lulz): Mammoth-Sized Furry Fire-Breathing Turtles (A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin), Gigantic Sandworms (Blood Red Road by Moira Young)

I seriously didn’t even believe what I was reading when I got to that part in George R.R. Martin’s series. I wonder how the tv show is going to manage that…

” alt=”" width=”150″ border=”0″ />Favorite male character: Ned (The Piper’s Son)

There weren’t many main characters that happened to be male that left a significant impression in my mind last year, but somehow Ned the cook, a guy who was mostly in the background in the beginning of The Piper’s Son, managed to create some of the most brilliant, funny, and touching scenes in the entire book. (It helped that he got all the best lines.)

Favorite female character: Charlie Duskin (A Little Wanting Song)

For more reasons that I can name; Charlie is just one of those quiet, unassuming characters that you slowly warm up to until you start wishing that you could know them in real life because they’re that awesome.

Best villain: Mayor Prentiss (Chaos Walking)

I think that Mayor Prentiss will always be the most well-written villain I’ll ever meet. In some ways, he’s more terrible than the most despicable being on the planet, but I can’t help but admit that I kept making room for doubts about his evilness. Evil isn’t nearly the right word for the kind of villain he is– it’s too cartoonishly simple to describe the complexity of his actions. He also scares the living bejeezus out of me and that’s why I’m giving him this award.

Best cast all-round: The Cardturner by Louis Sachar

I thought long and hard about this category, but in the end I have to say that the cast in The Cardturner belongs in a grade of its own. Although I love Melina Marchetta’s bands of friends and Crowley can do wonders with individuals, this book wouldn’t be the same without each and every one of its unique faces. From our reluctant and snarky but well-meaning teenage protagonist, to his eighty-year old grandfather, his surprisingly savvy little sister, his hilarious best friend, each and every one has hidden depths, and each scene makes the best of their personalities. By the end of the book I loved all of them.

There’s just one more part after this. But first, a week full of tests T_T And btw I really want you to read The Cardturner. It didn’t look like my type of book at all, but it’s hilarious and very surprisingly amazing. I will endorse it TO THE END OF THE WORLD