My 10 Favorite Books Read in 2011

I read over 50 books this year (the most ever for me!) mainly from the Young Adult category, and thought I'd break down my favorites (Note: not all the books from my list were published in 2011). I've written reviews on my blog for each one if you're interested in more detailed thoughts - check the archives in the side bar.

Here are my top 10 reads for 2011: 

10.

Moonglass

by Jessi Kirby
This is a solid contemporary novel about loss, love, new beginnings and the beach. I almost listed Anna and the French Kiss here, which is equally as good. Tough decision, but Moonglass surprised me by going deeper than I expected.

9. & 8.

White Cat (Curse Workers, #1)

and the sequal:

Red Glove (Curse Workers, #2)

by Holly Black
What sold me is the audio version read by Jesse Eisenberg - he brings the supernatural crime family to life. This is the mob if the mob had mystical abilities. It's frightening!

7.
 Revolution

by Jennifer Donnelly
A beautifully written mesh of contemporary and historical. It's dark and gritty but utltimately hopeful.

6.

Paranormalcy (Paranormalcy, #1)

by Keirsten White
It's so much fun when a heroine can run amok in a world of supernatural creatures and not take herself too seriously. Her best friend is a mermaid and she dreams of having a locker in a real high school. More paranormal YA needs to be funny like this series.

5.

Jane

by April Lindner
A modern re-telling of Jane Eyre. Engaging and heartbreaking.

4.

And Then Things Fall Apart

by Arlaina Tibensky
Hilarious, quirky and quick-paced, this ties in Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar in refreshing and amusing ways.

3.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson

by John Green and David Levithan
Two Will Graysons meet in an unlikely circumstance and change each other forever. And also there's a big gay musical. And by gay I mean actually gay, produced by one of YAs most memorable characters Tiny Cooper. Hold Me Closer, the story of love by Tiny Cooper. OMG. Hilarious.

2.

Paper Towns

by John Green
I can hardly believe just a year ago I'd never read a John Green novel. Now I've read four. Paper Towns was my first and by default favorite. I adore the supporting characters and love the interweaving of crass high schoolers grappling with existential questions and taking impromtou road trips.

1.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1)

by Laini Taylor
This is my favorite from 2011. I felt immediately transported into Karou's lush world and ate up every last morsel of this story. This is one YA trilogy I'm thrilled to continue reading.

Book Review: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green

Title: Will Grayson, Will Grayson
Authors: David Levithan and John Green
Genre: YA Contemporary
Published: 2010

Will Grayson, Will Grayson is literally about two guys named Will Grayson whose lives intersect one day and calamity ensues. I could leave it at that, or just say, "John Green wrote this so read it!" but given this is a book review you probably want to know more.

The first Will Grayson attends school in affluent Evanston, IL, just north of Chicago. He used to be with the in-crowd until he wrote an editorial to the paper to defend a gay classmate; his perceived mistake being that he signed his name instead of remaining anonymous. Now, his only friend consists of said gay classmate - Tiny - a 6 and half foot tall lumbering jock who sings constantly and has a new crush every week. Will meets a few other friends from the Gay Straight Alliance, including Jane, who he thinks he might like, kinda sorta, maybe but not really. The second Will Grayson is even more ostracised; he's a depressed loner who also lives in a fairly affluent Chicago suburb (Naperville - the next city over from me), but his single mom barely scrapes by. He hates everyone including himself. His only solace is an online relationship with Isaac, who he's never met. He's Will's only real friend besides a sarcastic goth girl from school. Isaac is his secret.

Each chapter alternates between the Wills. It's not until a third of the way in that the two cross paths. Evanston Will can't get into a concert with his friends (he tries a fake ID which says he's 20, not 21) so he wanders the shops across the street, while Naperville Will drives to Chicago to meet Isaac in the same area. The meeting with Isaac does not go as planned, and the Wills encounter each other in a very confusing exchange - if you can only imagine meeting someone randomly with your same name. Each of them come to believe their meeting was somehow fated, and the two become unlikely allies.

Of course Tiny involves himself in both Wills' relationship issues. Tiny wants to fix everyone, like it's his mission. His hopeful nature is encouraging even though Tiny has issues to work through himself. All of the relationships evolve in unexpected ways, down to the kids and their parents, which feels refreshingly realistic.

Tiny's other passion, besides fixing people, is a musical written and directed by himself about himself. At first it's the life story of Tiny Cooper, until he realizes it needs a more outward focus. He then changes it to Hold Me Closer (Tiny Cooper - a play on the song Hold Me Closer, Tiny Dancer)- a musical about love. The songs are hilarious but the story itself is rather sentimental. Evanston Will Grayson is convinced it will fail, and tries to protect Tiny from the scathing judgement of students at school. But Tiny isn't one to be held back. The transformation of Tiny's dream into a real stage production feels like rooting for the underdog with a satisfying conclusion.

This book takes a genuine look at how complex relationships are without sacrificing enjoyable storytelling. There are so many great lines and the sentiment behind it is even better. It's one of my favorite reads of 2011.

YA Lit article on popculturegeek.com

I have a friend who puts together a pretty cool site called popculturegeek.com - I can confirm he's a legit pop culture geek because he wrote and published a survival guide to San Diego Comic Con. If you ever plan to venture into that crazy spectacle definitely read his book first! (There's a print and e-book version)

Anyway, he's graciously let me start infiltrating his comic and movie focused site with my penchant for YA Lit. I wrote a little piece about dystopian YA books - specifically Legend by Marie Lu, Ashes by Ilsa Bick and Divergent by Veronica Roth. Take a look and comment if you want!

I'll be writing more for the site in the coming months, covering movies, possibly video games and whatever else is thrown my way.

You can follow popculturegeek on twitter which features a cosplay of the day (that's fans dressing in costume at events - you like like dudes in Wookie costumes, slave Leias and pretty much any comic, video game, movie or TV character you can think of) along with links to reviews, etc.

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