Booking Through Thursday

Booking Through Thursday is found at http://btt2.wordpress.com/

It's the last day of the year, and you know what that means ... nostalgia and looking back.

What were your favorite books of the year? (Books that were new to you in 2009, if not necessarily published this year.)

I read quite a few great books this year and it was hard to pick out my favorites but I managed to! Out of the 77 books I read this year, my top 15 (because I couldn't possibly pick 10!) were, in no particular order:

1) Empire Falls - Richard Russo
2) The Adoration of Jenna Fox - Mary E. Pearson
3) The 19th Wife - David Ebershoff
4) Night - Elie Wiesel
5) Angry Conversations with God - Susan E. Isaacs
6) Inkheart - Cornelia Funke
7) North of Beautiful - Justina Chen Headley
8) The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield
9) The Book of Ruth - Jane Hamilton - a re-read for about the fifth time
10) Once was Lost - Sara Zarr
11) Geektastic - edited by Holly Black
12) Her Fearful Symmetry - Audrey Niffenegger
13) The Magicians - Lev Grossman
14) The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins - OMG! As good as everyone said it was!
15) Generation Dead - Daniel Waters

Review: Generation Dead / Daniel Waters

Title/Author: Generation Dead / Daniel Waters
Format / Pages: Hardback / 392 pages
Publisher: Hyperion
ISBN: 978-142310921-1
Genre: Young Adult
Source: Library

From the book jacket: All over the country, a strange phenomenon is occurring. Some teenagers who die aren't staying dead. They are coming back to life, but they are no longer the same. Termed "living impaired" or "differently biotic", they are doing their best to blend into society again.

But the kids at Oakvale High don't want to take classes or eat in the cafeteria next to someone who isn't breathing. And there are no laws to protect the differently biotic from the people who want them to disappear - for good.

With her pale skin and goth wardrobe, Phoebe Kendall has never run with the popular crowd. But no one can believe it when she falls for Tommy Williams, the leader of the dead kids: not her best friend, Margi, and especially not her neighbor Adam, the star of the football team. Adam has realized that his feelings for Phoebe run much deeper than just friendship. He would do anything for her - but what if protecting Tommy is the one thing that would make her happy?

First line: Phoebe and her friends held their breath as the dead girl in the plaid skirt walked past their table in the lunchroom.

My thoughts: Let me first say, they did not make books like this when I was growing up! While there were some very good young adult books when I was a teenager (back in the 90s!) the quality of young adult books has grown so much in the past few years - and this book is no exception.

Waters' first book is smart and funny, thought-provoking, and relevant to the problems teenagers face - although, admittedly, I don't think zombie-ism is running rampant right now. This fabulous book really held my attention. I couldn't put it down and when I turned the last page, the next thing I did was go right to my local library's website and put the next book in the series on hold. I can't wait to find out what happens next.

Friday Finds

I'm a little late but here goes anyway!

What great books did you hear about this week? Share with us your Friday Finds!

Friday Finds is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

This is what I saw on the blogosphere this week:


Lies My Mother Never Told Me - Kaylie Jones - seen on Luxury Reading

The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe - J. Randy Taraborelli - as seen on Beth's Book Review Blog

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress - Rhoda Janzen - seen on Chick with Books

Quote of the Day

"There were moments when my heart ached for him: I loved him so much."

- Dreamland, Sarah Dessen

Quote of the Day

"I was drowning in broad daylight and no one could tell."

- Dreamland, Sarah Dessen

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. Here's how it works:

- Grab your current read.

- Let the book fall open to a random page.
- Share two "teaser" sentences from that page.

- Share the title and author of the book.

- PLEASE AVOID SPOILERS!

My teasers:

"His expression didn't change as he laughed again, the sound like that of someone heavy stepping on a dog's squeak toy.

Adam felt himself grinning."

- Generation Dead by Daniel Waters

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read.
• Open to a random page.
• Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Make sure what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!
• Share the title and author too, so that other participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

Here we go:

"There were only two occasions of release which were not punishment. Release of the elderly, which was a time of celebration for a life well and fully lived; and release of a newchild, which always brought a sense of what-could-we-have-done."

From The Giver by Lois Lowry

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by A Striped Armchair and Out of the Blue that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.

For Me:
Inkheart / Cornelia Funke
I, Robot / Isaac Asimov
The Bar Code Tattoo / Suzanne Weyn
Tarzan of the Apes / Edgar Rice Burroughs
Fool / Christopher Moore
Fahrenheit 451 / Ray Bradbury

For the Kid:
Tiger / Valmik Thapar
Tigers / Gwenyth Swain
Tigers / Melissa Cole
Tigers / Lesley A. DuTemple
The Tiger / Stuart P. Levine
Foxes / Sophie Lockwood
Baby Fox / Aubrey Lang
Foxes / Mary Ann McDonald
Wolves / Dan Greenberg
The Secret World of Wolves, Wild Dogs, and Foxes / Theresa Greenway
Growing Up with Wild Wolves / Sandra Markle
Coyote / Stephen R. Swinburne
Dog / Juliet Clutton-Brock
Lions / Melissa Cole
Lions / Claire Robinson
Lions / Kathy Darling
Face to Face with Lions / Beverly and Dereck Joubert
Big Book of Race Cars / Trevor Lord
The Mouse and the Motorcycle / Beverly Cleary
Dear Mr. Henshaw / Beverly Cleary
Otis Spofford / Beverly Cleary
Sideways Stories from Wayside School / Louis Sachar
How Santa Got His Job / Stephen Krensky
Geronimo Stilton: The Curse of the Cheese Pyramid
Geronimo Stilton: Wedding Crasher
Geronimo Stilton: It's Halloween, You 'Fraidy Mouse
Geronimo Stilton: My Name is Stilton, Geronimo Stilton
Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space (and the Subsequent Assault of the Equally Evil Lunchroom Zombie Nerds) / Dav Pilkey
Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants / Dav Pilkey
El Capitan Calzoncillos y la Ridicula Historia de los Seres del Inodoro Morado / Dav Pilkey (I'm thinking he didn't notice it was in Spanish.)

For the Kid but that I intend to read:
Help! I'm a Prisoner in the Library / Eth Clifford

As I'm sure you can tell, our library bag was a bit heavy this evening.

Currently Reading: The Giver / Lois Lowry