5 Lists of 5 & A New Look

I don't know about you but I love making lists ... and lists with pictures is even better. So, in the spirit of listing & reading, here are a few of my favorite lists. I've compiled them over the months & would love it if you stole this idea & made your own lists (& shared them with me!) as well.

5 Best Dystopians

What else would I list first? These are my absolute favorite because they are well-fleshed, colorful worlds peopled with characters who are realistic, multi-layered, and flawed but grow in some way. They are imaginative & enterprising.

1. The Maze Runner by James Dashner
2. Wither by Lauren DeStefano
3. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
4. The Dark & Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan
5. Across The Universe by Beth Revis

5 Best Non-Dystopians

Because these are books I loved as much as I loved my top 5 dystopians.

1. Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen
2. Drought by Pam Bachorz
3. Firelight by Sophie Jordan
4. Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
5. Vamplayers by Rusty Fischer

5 Great Ideas / Poor Executions

I feel like half the books I read I lament that the idea was fantastic but the execution failed to live up to the awesome potential. Here are the ones that saddened me most.

1. The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher
   Failed when I realized the narrator was keeping info from the reader for the sake of future plot twists.
2. Fallen by Lauren Kate
   Failed when it became clear the centuries old fallen angel was as immature as a high schooler (seriously, he flipped off the love of his life?) & his re-incarnated girlfriend was even worse.
3. The False Princess by Eilis O'Neil
   Failed from the first instance of underwhelming magic & the fact we almost never got out of the narrator's head.
4. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
   Failed halfway through after I couldn't take any more of Shay or the way every chapter seemed to need a cliffhanger & therefore became obviously crafted to lead toward one.
5. Possession by Elana Johnson
   Failed on the first 2 pages due to the improbability of the first scene alone.

5 Books I Wish I Never Read

I mean there are a few, even though I generally love most of the books I read. Most of these I chose to read because I wanted to be able to speak intelligently about them with people who had also read them. You know, so I could explain exactly why I didn't like them. But a couple were assigned reading back in high school.

1. The Twilight Series (esp. book 4) by Stephenie Meyer
2. Fallen by Lauren Kate
3. Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
4. Bliss by Lauren Myracle
5. Don Quixote by Cervantes

5 Books I Can't Wait To Read in 2012

I figured I'd finish up with a hopeful look forward. These books need to be in my hands soon though!

1. The Kill Order by James Dashner - Release: August
   Hello?! Prequel to The Maze Runner.
2. False Memory by Dan Krokos - Release: August
   The idea behind this one just interested me & ooh shiny cover!
3. Endlessly by Kiersten White - Release: July
   I adore this series & I am really looking forward to seeing how the snarky Ms. White finishes it all up.
4. A Million Suns by Beth Revis - Releases: January
   I really enjoyed Across the Universe (until the slap-in-the-face ending) so I'm curious to see where Ms. Revis takes this.
5. Fever by Lauren DeStefano - Release: February
   Wither is probably at the top of my most favorite books. I hope this continues with the awesomeness even if the cover is ugly as sin.

My 2012 Reading Resolutions

Happy 2012! Time to get the blog back up & running now that the holiday & family craziness has died down. It's good to be back!

I'm not usually one to make New Year's resolutions but I took a look at my half-mile long TBR list & the books sitting around my room, covering just about every surface in piles that are rather tall & precarious. Yeah, it's time to make a couple resolutions. Here's my list.

1. Read through that box of old Richie Tankerseley Cusick books I bought 2 years ago.
   So far I've gotten through about a third of them in the past 2 weeks. They are fast reads so I figure I can do this.
2. Read as much of the pile of last year's ARCs that I never got to last year.
   There are probably 15 of them in this massive pile on my bookshelf threatening to fall over. It must be done!
3. Get rid of some books.
   And by some, I really mean I lot even though I totally hate parting with books in any way. I did it last year (like 3 garbage bags of books got donated) but I am still overflowing with books!
4. Write more book reviews.
   I sort of gave up doing it last year but I really enjoy writing them. So I want to write them again.
5. Read at least 2 books from genres I don't usually pick up.
   Last year I had a very pleasant & surprising experience reading a book outside my normal genre choices. I found a brand new favorite author. I'd like to branch out & discover more this year!

 

BACON SUGGESTS...
Reading, writing, & blog related sites to check out as suggested by Bacon, the zombie pig.

RandomBuzzers.com
YA site for Random House, they have a great lineup of books coming out this year, some of which they will be giving away in ARC form!
Anne Michaud, Writer
Blog of indie author Anne Michaud. She's the best author you may have never read. Check out her Friday Flash short stories. They're eerily delicious.
WeHeartIt.com
I've become addicted to this because of all the pretty pictures. I plan to include my finds here in my posts if I can.