This Year in Books...

I feel like such a slacker. Last year I read 301 books. This year, a measly 189. Of the 189, they range into a few different categories: 151 were graphic novels, 5 were nonfiction titles; and 33 were fictional titles. Sadly, there were only 4 fictional books that I had no reason to read them except that I wanted to. All the rest of the fiction, nonfiction, and a large portion of the graphic novels, I was assigned to read them through committee work, reading for book groups, or reviews for library journal publication.


So what did I really enjoy this year? I'll try not to mention ones I've already written about and some titles I didn't talk about since I reviewed them for journals or the library didn't own them. So read below to see what I've been doing when I haven't been reading Harry Potter fanfiction!



Flight Explorer is a graphic anthology of short stories. Geared towards younger readers, it's got some great stories and lines in it! Big Mouth by Phil Craven is very funny especially when Big Mouth tells another character "You're not nice!" Karen has a copy of that panel hung up at her desk. Kazu Kibuishi has been the editor and contributor of all the Flight anthologies. This one has a great short of his character Copper.



Hana-kimi by Hisaya Nakajo finished its 23 volume manga run this year. It was a very satisfying cross-dressing shojo series. Mizuki has become a foreign exchange student to get closer to her sports idol, high jumper Sano. The only problem is that he goes to an all boys' school!



Life Sucks by Jessica Abel
Dave Marshall has a pathetic existence: he hates his job as a night time manager at a convenient market, the girl he's mad about has no clue he exists, and he can't go out into the daylight unless he wants to burst into flames. Yup, he's a vampire. But unlike those romantic notions of vampirism that is running rampant in teen literature, these vampires have to pay rent and keep jobs, and still live in the real world!




And I guess it's now time for my favorite novel I read this year which was many people's favorite a few years ago when it came out. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I'm embarrassed that I had not read it until this week actually! Narrated by death, death follows the life of Liesel, a young German girl in the thick of WWII. Unlike many WWII novels, this one never felt like it was trying to teach us a moral lesson. It just described life on the poor street of Molching, Germany and how words saved this one girl's life. I recommend it for anyone who loves words and books. As well as anyone looking for a meatier book with lyrical descriptions and fully fleshed out side characters.


Devastatingly Beautiful.



So there you go. A quick slight glance at what I was reading besides all of the ones I've already posted about! What were your favorites of the year?