Thursday, January 20

Best and Worst of 2010 - Part IV

Ames: Ok, today is Part IV of our Best and Worst of 2010. Today’s genres of choice are Young Adult, Fiction and Erotica.

Nath: I can't help but shake my head at this funny mismatch of genres, Ames LOL.

Monroe: I'd like to take credit for throwing in Erotica...yet shift credit to Ames for getting me to start Erotica this year! lol

Ames: Yes, cuz I'm a horndog. LOL


Young Adult

Ames

1. My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger
2. Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
3. Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen
4. The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
5. The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg

** Honorable Mentions: (Because five is NOT enough LOL)

i. Rampant by Diana Peterfreund
ii. Out of the Pocket by Bill Koningsberg
iii. Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
iv. The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

Worst/Disappointing - Not that Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian and Nothing Like You by Lauren Strasnick - both books frustrated me greatly. Ugh



Monroe

1. The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
2. Evermore by Alyson Noel
3. Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel
4. Firelight by Sophie Jordan
5. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Worst/Disappointing - I honestly don't have any...I've been REALLY lucky in this category...

I'm extremely hooked to all my YA series! ;) Notice how they are all pretty much paranormals! HA! lol I'm with Ames in saying that 5 isn't enough...I'd have to also say all the Vampire Academy books by Richelle Mead, all the House of Night books by PC and Kristen Cast, and lastly Sherrilyn Kenyon's Infinity...so ya I pretty much eat up all the para YA books lately! ;)



Nath

1. My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger
2. Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner
3. Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
4. The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong
5. Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan

Worst/Disappointing - Fire by Kristin Cashore. I was expecting a lot out of this book and it just didn't do it for me ^_^; Felt like a chore to read this book, unfortunately :(



Nath: Ames, I'm so happy that My Most Excellent Year made it to the top of both our lists!! It was such a great, great book :) And thank you for recommending Amy & Rogers' Epic Detour! Another great book.

Ames: No problem! You should check out The Sky Is Everywhere - I think you'll really like that one too.

Monroe: That's the one about the sister and her boyfriend with the other sister right Ames? I still need to read that one!

Ames: That's the one.  You'd really like it too.  :P

Nath: See everyone? Ames is our pusher LOL.



Fiction

Here is where we thought we could capture books that we haven’t listed yet. Like historical fiction, general fiction, chick lit, women’s fiction, etc.

Ames

Top 3 Fiction titles (except where Ames doesn't know how to count so she made it 4, LOL)

1. Almost Like Being in Love by Steve Kluger
2. False Colors by Alex Beecroft
3. Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn
4. The Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger



Monroe

1. Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
2. Boy Next Door by Meg Cabot
3. Something Blue by Emily Giffin

Worst/Disappointing - Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella...like the author...hate that book! =) *said in the nicest way possible of course.



Nath

1. The Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger
2. Blood Ties by Kay Hooper
3. And One Last Thing... by Molly Harper

Worst/Disappointing - A Summer in Sonoma by Robyn Carr. I love Ms Carr's book and was truly disappointed by this book. Part of it is probably because I went in thinking it was a romance, but it turned out to be Women's Fiction. Then, just the storylines themselves weren't very interesting and some of the characters, very frustrating :(



Ames: I didn't read a lot of general fiction books - as you can see, most of these are historical fiction. And for the longest time, I was referring to ALBiL as a YA (b/c it starts when they're kids). LOL So I guess that's one thing I need to work on this year. Branch out a bit more!

Nath: I don't know what you're talking about, Ames. You branch out so much more than me. LOL, I was lucky to have a Top 3! At first, I thought I'd only have The Last Days of Summer, but I stretched the boundaries a little :)

By the way, I totally agree with your top choice. ALBiL would have been my top pick as well if I've read it in 2010. I kind of regret not having made a Best and Worst of for 2009... Do you think it's too late now? LOL

Also, seems like Steve Kluger was a winner author for both of us!! :)


Ames: Steve definitely was our go-to guy. Thank YOU for telling me all about ALBiL. :)


And Monroe wanted us to include this final category:

Monroe: And normally I'm NOT the dirty one...am I? Why was I the one to think of Erotica???

Erotica

Monroe

1. Stranger by Megan Hart
2. Taking Care of Business by Megan Hart and Lauren Dane
3. Always by Lauren Dane

Can you tell I love Lauren Dane and Megan Hart? ;)

Worst/Disappointing - Kate’s Crew by Jayne Rylon...it scarred me for life...lol Ames remember you suggested it but you didn’t know the (how do I say this) extent of the book? lol And I was SO new to erotica? lol


Ames: Excuuuuse me, I did NOT recommend this book. I hadn’t read it yet. LMAO

Monroe: BUT BUT BUT you told me I should try it...you told little 'ol Monroey-poo with her clean virgin eyes to read this book...you have FOREVER sent me into shock! ;P


Ames:  LMAO!


Ames

1. Love's Fortress by Samantha Kane
2. Paradise Rules by Beth Kery
3. Sex on the Beach by Susan Lyons (this one was an anthology which I generally do not like but this one was enjoyable!)

I used to read contemporary erotica, but I noticed with my new found love of m/m, that I've really cut back. So yeah, didn't really read that much quality stuff. I read a lot of short stories/novellas for Book Binge, but very little of it really stood out for me.



Ames: Nath claims she didn’t read any erotica (I don’t believe her LOL) so she doesn’t have anything to contribute. :)

Monroe: I claim she's in the closet about her love for Erotica! HA! Love you Nath! ;p

Nath: I can send you my list for 2010! LOL. I thought I read Broken by Megan Hart, but it turned out to be in 2009 ^_^; Well it's not really surprising, since I've never been much into erotica...

Ames: I'm just teasin' ya! LOL You need to read more Megan Hart and Lauren Dane too! And Beth Kery!

Monroe: Amen on Ames comment! lol Woot woot to
Megan Hart and Lauren Dane!

13 comments:

Isabel said...

I love broken! that's my fav megan hart. :) GReat lists you guys!! Awesome. And ya Percy Jackson made it. :)

~ames~ said...

Izzy-Thanks sweetie.

I keep meaning to read the Rick Riordan series. And Megan Whelan Turners. I should add them to my must read soon tbr pile. :P

Monroe Dawson said...

Iz~
I need to read Percy Jackson...I really enjoyed the movie!

Mollie said...

Hehe ya and erotica. Don't read much erotica but a lot of YA!

My Most Excellent Year was also one of my faves! I also loved The Sky Is Everywhere, and of course The Hunger Games.

Too bad about Fire, Nath, I really enjoyed that one. I'm a Cashore fangirl. Can't wait for Bitterblue!


Have Amy & Roger on my radar. Have been meaning to read it for awhile now...I'll get to it eventually!

Megan Hart said...

wootwoot! honored to be on your list. ;)

M

Monroe Dawson said...

Megan~
How could you NOT make our list? ;) You truly rock sweetie!

Rowena said...

I have My Most Excellent Year, Amy & Roger's Epic Detour and well, all of Ames books in my TBB list. I'm going to get them soon and read them for myself. I can't wait!

Rowena said...

And I LOVE how you guys went from YA to Erotica, haha.

Hilcia said...

Ooooh, you ladies have some of my very favorite books up there!
Almost Like Being in Love, Last Days of Summer, plus I really enjoyed Percy and the Olympians and Something Borrowed by Emily Griffin.

I still have My Most Excellent Year in my TBR and Love's Fortress will get read this year! Love Brothers in Arms. :D

nath said...

Isabel - Yeah, everyone loves Broken :)

And yeah, LOL, after reading all the Percy Jacksons books one after the other, it'd be crazy if it didn't make it ^_^;

Monroe - Awww, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief book is so much better than the movie, Monroe!! Read it!!

Mollie - Yep :) We have no difficulty discussing anything related to books :)

I just love, love, love My Most Excellent Year. It's such a great book, but also feels good book :) Can't help but smile when reading it.

Yeah, Fire really didn't work for me, but I'm definitively in the minority LOL.

You have to read Amy & Roger's Epic Detour, Mollie!!

Megan Hart - Thanks for stopping by!! :) and yes, we definitively love your books ;)

Rowena - You're going to have a blast reading them, Wena :)

And LOL, it just happened that way about YA and Erotica being in the same post LOL.

Hilcia - LOL, great minds are definitively thinking alike, Hils :)

LOL, My Most Excellent Year is a good book to keep in case you need to be cheered up :)

Christine said...

I'm really enjoying your Best and Worst posts!

This is what I'm learning from your lists:
1. When it comes to YA and contemporaries, my tastes are in alignment with Ames.

2. When it comes to paranormal and UF, I think my interests are closer to nath's.

3. When it comes to Megan Hart... Monroe and I are in complete agreement. She's an amazing writer who has pretty much carved a genre all her own.

4. I think I need to be reading Jill Myles' PNR!

5. I need to read some Steve Kluger, too.

Thanks for doing these lists! Is this the last one?

~ames~ said...

Christine-Nope! LOL One more post is going to go up soon. :P

And yes, Jill Myles is definitely someone to pick up. Soon!

nath said...

Christine - LOL, Christine :) Seems like our trio is your perfect match!! :)

And yes, you definitively should read Steve Kluger. You're going to love him :)