The Annual Book Count

This is the time of year when I count up all the books I read and crow about it here. It's a somewhat silly activity as I know quality trumps quantity any day of the week, and yet I just can't seem to help myself. If I have counted correctly (and given my mathematical shortcomings that's questionable) my 2008 grand total is 125 books. Go me!

Many of those books were teen fiction, and although I have probably already blogged my favorites, I think a small recap of the top three is in order. So, without further ado, I'd have to name the three most impressive teen books I read as follows:

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale.

Two very close runner ups: Paper Towns by John Green (which I have not blogged yet--shocking!) and Outside Beauty by Cynthia Kadohata (which I have blogged, and which I hope wins the Newbery. We'll see.)

Living Dead Girl is by no means an uplifting read but it is a masterpiece of psychological narrative. The Adoration of Jenna Fox is a wonderfully done sci-fi novel. And Book of a Thousand Days was one of the most satisfying fantasy books I have read in a long time. Paper Towns is John Green's best work yet, combining all of the humor that made An Abudance of Katherines such a great read with the serious and mysterious elements of Looking for Alaska, a previous Printz winner. Outside Beauty is a beautiful read about sisterhood and family.


All in all, 2008 was a good year for books. At least the ones I read were good. My last read of 2008 (unless I finish the final 200 pages of Wally Lamb's The Hour I First Believed--not teen fiction, dear readers) was Wake by Lisa McMann. I enjoyed this tale of a teenager who gets sucked into other people's dreams. It's a fast read and an entertaining premise.


Happy New Year! Make 2009 a good one by reading something fabulous.