Happy 2nd Blogiversary to me and all my Bookbaggers! :D

Salutations one and all! Welcome to  a very special event: Book Polygamist’s 2nd Blogiversary!!

To celebrate I will be doing my first giveaway competition where one of you will get the book of their choice off my Top 10 Reads of 2012 list plus a bookmark, and two runner-ups will also get a bookmark!! YAY! Bookmarks are fun!!

According to The Wedding Anniversary site the traditional gift for a 2nd anniversary is cotton/straw and the modern one is china O.O hmmm seems like this competition would’ve been more suited to the 1st anniversary (since the traditional gift is paper) but oh well.

In case you haven’t read my Top 10 Reads of 2012 the choices are:

1. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

2. American Gods by Neil Gaiman

3. The Raven’s Heart by Jesse Blackadder

4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

5. Still Life With Woodpecker by Tom Robbins

6. Secrets of Eden by Chris Bohjalian

7. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

8. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

9. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

10. The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff

How to enter/how this will go down:

1. First off if you don’t already follow Book Polygamist please do so 🙂 If you’re a WordPresser then just click the “Follow” button at the top of the page. If not you can follow me on Networked Blogs (via Facebook) by clicking on the widget at the side of the page, or by email subscription (also at the side of the page). You’re also welcome (AKA encouraged; pressured; sad-pleading-puppy-dog-eyed) to Like me on my brand spanking new Facebook page, or subscribe to my RSS feed

2.  Like this post so I know exactly who has entered at a glance

3.  In the comments (or if you’d prefer email me at bookpolygamist(AT)gmail(DOT)com) tell me how you follow me (so you’re easy to find 🙂 ); the book off my Top 10 that you want; the reason you want to read/own that book; and a vague subject matter for the bookmark (i.e. I like fairies; something a bit badass; I hate those zodiac ones/I love those zodiac ones [I’m a Leo] etc. etc.). Please include your prefered email address with your comment as once I have announced the winners I will contact them via email to acquire delivery info

4.  Inspired by Natalie Dee of STUFF I PUT ON MYSELF: a make-up blog I will be assigning every entrant a number starting at 01, in the order of receiving/reading your comment or email. I’ll then put the numbers through a random number generator with the first generated number being the grand prize winner and the next two being the runner-ups. I thought this was a nice and fair system rather than just picking the ones I liked the most (pretty darn biased) or putting your names in a hat (pretty out-dated and easy to cheat). If the first winner is chosen again for one of the runner-ups I will generate a new number. Even if its random it’s not fair if one Bookbagger gets all the goods

5.  You have from the moment this post goes up until the end of the month to enter. On the 1st of April (according to the Perth, Western Australia timezone) I will not accept anymore entries. The numbers will then be crunched and I will announce the winners in a follow-up post as soon as possible

6.  The books will come from bookdepository.co.uk for a few reasons:
A. I love Book Depository
B. They’re cheap but of good quality
C. They deliver really quickly so I can receive your book and send it out to you nice and swift

7.  All books will be paperback and will have the cover shown above, except for Secrets of Eden by Chris Bohjalian because I couldn’t find that cover on book depository. The cover I chose for Secrets of Eden is this. As you all know I am finickity when it comes to covers, and I totally understand if you are too, so If you desire a different cover from the one shown let me know in the comment/email (along with a picture of your desired cover) and I will endeavour to get that one instead

8.  Once I have announced the winners I will contact them via email and ask for their best delivery address to send the prize(s) to and they will be sent out ASAP. Estimated delivery times will be discussed, but keep in mind I’ve never done a competition before so I’m just kind of flailing around during this process

So there you go!

I hope that all of that made sense and I look forward to reading your entries 😀

If you have any questions/queries/concerns/grumbles/funny animal pictures feel free to send me an email at bookpolygamist(AT)gmail(DOT)com

Happy Competition Entering!!!

The 2012 Book Polygamist Awards!

Welcome one and all; ladies and gentlemen, and those in between; Bookbaggers of all shapes, sizes and reading patterns, to the 2nd Annual Book Polygamist Awards!

Last year the awards graduated from a simple jotting in my book journal, or list on Facebook, to its inaugural seat on Book Polygamist, and here they will stay for the foreseeable future 🙂

As with last years Awards there are the Annual Awards, which are the same each year, and the Special Awards, which reflect the uniqueness of the books that year (with a few which may also be repeated annually depending on what I read)

So without further ado I present The 2012 Book Polygamist Awards!!!

Annual Awards

Shortest Read:

Curses and Blessings for All Occasions by Bradley Trevor Greive – approximately 20 minutes

Honorable Mentions:

The Bippolo Seed and other Lost Stories by Dr Seuss – Approximately 1 hour off and on

Blue by Pat Grant – Approximately 2 hours

Longest Read:

Blood, Guts & Whiskey (Anthology) by Various – 40 weeks and 3 days!! O.O

Honorable Mentions:

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen – 25 weeks

Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe – 41 weeks, 4 days and counting!!! -.-

Most Books Read by a Single Author:

Cassandra Clare & Suzanne Collins – 3 books each
(Cassandra Clare: City of Bones; City of Ashes; and City of Glass.
Suzanne Collins: The Hunger Games; Catching Fire; and Mockingjay)

Best “New” Author Award:

Each year I try to discover new authors (that is authors that are new to me) and then at the end of the year I compile a list of ones that I want to read more of, and choose one “winner” from that list. This year was a tricky one because I read quite a few debut authors, authors I had never discovered before, and starts to a series, but in the end I went with the author I was the most excited to discover, and one who had a significant backlog of works for me to feast on in the near future 🙂

Tom Robbins (Still Life With Woodpecker)

Honorable Mentions:

Erin Morgenstern (The Night Circus)

Cassandra Clare (the Mortal Instruments series)

Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games series)

Lauren Groff (the Monsters of Templeton)

Gail Carriger (Soulless)

Special Awards

The Best End to a Series Award:

Unusually this year I only came to the end of one series, but it was such a good one I thought it deserved a reward. Unfortunately it is on its lonesome without any honorable mentions, but hopefully I will finish a series or two this year 🙂

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

The Best Start to a Series Award:

Soulless (The Parasol Protectorate, Book 1) by Gail Carriger

Honorable Mentions:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

The Longest and Strangest Title Award:

Still Life With Woodpecker by Tom Robbins

Honorable Mention:

The Bippolo Seed and other Lost Stories by Dr Seuss

The You’ve Gained Another Fangirl! Award:

As I said in my Top 10 Reads of 2012 this past year will go down in my own personal history as the year I was initiated into the Hunger Games Fandom, which definitely warrants a Special Award 😀

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

The Tick That Off The Bucket List Award:

2012 will also be memorable because I finally read one of the books from my Top 10 Classics I Want to Read list. Since just recently I started reading Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, which was second on the list, reading all 10 may actually happen! Huzzah!

 To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Blue Award:

Another highlight of the year was my Blue Period which was both an amusing coincidental reading pattern, and a shock out of my reading rut, leading me to some of my top reads of the year. Because of this I must acknowledge the book/graphic novel that started it all, as well as the other blue covered darlings that made the pattern possible.

Blue by Pat Grant

Honorable Mentions:

Curses and Blessings for All Occasions by Bradley Trevor Greive

The Bippolo Seed and other Lost Stories by Dr Seuss

The Templeton Twins: Have An Idea by Ellis Weiner

Best Cover Art:

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus front cover. Images used with permission of Aleksandra @ Aleksandra’s Corner

The Night Circus back cover. Seriously go check out Aleksandra’s Corner: my-book-obsession.blogspot.com.au

Honorable Mentions:

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff

2012 has had its ups and downs, and while I may not have read the quantity of books I have come to expect, the quality of most of the books has been excellent. This has also been a year which sparked wonderfully fun new features such as the (now sadly deceased) Save The Words Saturdays; Notable Quotables; and Micro Reviews from Planet Procrastination, as well as the subsequent rise in followers, comments and likes these features have caused. For this I am grateful and I say a sincere thank you to all of my delicious, hilarious and loyal Bookbaggers, both new and old who have supported me in 2012 and beyond 🙂

Now almost 2 months into 2013 I already have high hopes for this year and cannot wait to see how it unfolds.

I hope you all read some wonderful, award-worthy books in 2012 and the remainder of your 2013 is fantabulous (or your own made up adjective for wonderfulness 🙂 )!

Top 10 Reads of 2012!

1. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I absolutely adored this book (which is clearly apparent in my review ) and even though it was one of my first reads of the year (read from mid-January to mid-February) I knew even a few chapters in (heck, maybe even a few pages in!) that It would be in my Top 10 reads of the year. Since I read The Night Circus I have recommended it to friends and family, and the three that followed my recommendation loved it as well. My mind boggles every time I remember that this is Erin Morgenstern’s debut novel and I look forward to more delights from her in the future. According to her website’s not really a FAQ page, she is working on a book which is a “film noir-flavoured Alice in Wonderland” (squee!!) and she is also painting a black-and-white tarot deck inspired by her work (double squee!!) so I’m sure many delights with be had in the near future, and in the meantime I’m glad I own The Night Circus so I can read it again 🙂

2. American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Another book I knew would be on the list early on (I started it at the same time as The Night Circus) because even after a few chapters it blew me away. You can see a succinct summary of what I thought of American Gods in my latest Micro Reviews post, but let me just say this – American Gods now one of my favourite books of all time as well as of 2012. Neil Gaiman is slowly becoming one of my favourite authors (I say slowly because I have only read a few of his books and I personally like to read all of an authors works before they are officially one of my favourites), and American Gods was a big part of this. Unlike The Night Circus I borrowed American Gods from the library, so this year I’ll have to find and purchase it so I can read it again and again!

3. The Raven’s Heart by Jesse Blackadder

Another debut novel (in fact 4 of the books on this list are debut/only books of their authors and all but one – American Gods – are books by authors I hadn’t read before!) and one by an Australian author too, this book was a gem and the only true Historical novel I read in 2012. As I said in my Micro Review post, it is set in Scotland during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots, which I found really interesting as I had never read a book exploring that particular period. I will certainly keep a keen eye out for any other novels by Jesse Blackadder!

4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Reading this classic was a big moment for me this year as I have been meaning to read it for many, many years (unlike many schools mine sadly didn’t designate it as required reading). As I said in my Micro Review (wow a lot of these are on the same Micro Review! O_o) because of the language and subject matter it is sometimes hard to stomach, but nevertheless I am glad I did. Now I just need to tackle the other 9 classics on my list !!

5. Still Life With Woodpecker by Tom Robbins

I have to say a big thank you to the person who gave this book to me and so introduced me to Tom Robbins – thank you Shayne if you happen to read this! 🙂 I am very glad that Still Life With Woodpecker is not a debut or single-child-novel because of all the “new” authors I have discovered this year, Tom Robbins is the one I most want to read again (ooo spoiler for the upcoming Book Polygamist Awards!). I haven’t yet written a review of this wonderfully quirky little book, because every time I try it’s so hard to fully capture and explain the bizarre story, hilarious characters and thought-provoking prose style. I promise I will get around to it at some point (and when I do it will definitely be a full-length one as a book this unique can’t be summed up in a Micro Review) and I hope to read more of Tom Robbins works this year.

6. Secrets of Eden by Chris Bohjalian

This one was a surprise highlight of the year for me. The subject matter (domestic violence; murder/suicide) was quite heavy and the plot wasn’t particularly complicated, but it was the way it was arranged and written, and the distinctly different voices of the main protagonists/antagonists that made it memorable. Because the book was broken up into quarters narrated by four different main characters (the town priest who was close to the abused/murdered wife; the detective investigating the crime; a renowned author who had experienced  the  murder/suicide of her parents when she was a teen and took an interest in the couple’s daughter and the priest; and the dead couple’s teenage daughter) a simple and tragic event morphed into a complicated whodunnit, where I doubted the “facts” of the crime and changed my mind over what really happened at every turn.

7. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

To me 2012 will be the year that I finally read The Hunger Games trilogy, and Suzanne Collins claimed another fan girl for her growing horde! 😀 I had an inkling that I would love this book/trilogy because as I’ve said before I have been meaning to read them for a while following some glowing recommendations from fellow book nerds, and I really enjoyed the film, but I didn’t suspect that I would love it as much as I did, especially considering the fact that I knew the progression of the plot beforehand! In fact I became so engrossed that when it came to key heart-breaking moments (which I won’t spoil here in case any of you are yet to read the book or see the movie) I actually became quite emotional, as if it was a surprise. Bravo Ms Collins, that is a fine feat 🙂

8. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

As sometimes happens with a trilogy (at least a good one) I loved this second installment more than the first and devoured it over three days. This may be in part due to the plot being completely unknown to me, as the second film has not been released yet and I managed to avoid the spoiler landmines littered around the Interwebs, or purely because the world and plot were more expanded in this book, and the final setting was amazing! Either way, despite the first and last books being equally amazing, I think this was my favourite of the trilogy, and I am positively bursting to see how they managed to convert it into a film 😀

9. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

As I said above, this final installment was just as brilliant as its predecessors, and a fitting end as it was extremely intense and wrapped up all the loose ends that had developed over the series (whether they were wrapped up positively or negatively I won’t say :P). Of the three this one took the longest to read (in saying that it still was only a little over a week), mainly because of the intensity of most of the scenes, and I will be very interested in seeing how it is adapted for the screen, and more importantly what rating they’ll be able to give it!

10. The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff

This was a last-minute gem as I only started it at the end of the year (November) and finished it a couple of days into January, even though it has been on and off my library To-Read pile for a really long time. Barely a page in I already knew I was going to love it because even the first line was alluring: “The day I returned to Templeton steeped in disgrace, the fifty-foot corpse of a monster surfaced in Lake Glimmerglass.” What followed was a beautifully written and ambitious novel (especially for a debut!) which gave me countless delicious lines, some of which I made into Notable Quotables, and a story which was an interesting blend of contemporary and historical novels, including old photographs, a map (you know I love maps!) and other tidbits to deepen the historical parts of the story.

So, there you have it: my Top 10 Reads of 2012! If you have read my recent update post you will know that these books will play a very important role in the 2nd Anniversary of Book Polygamist celebrations – one of my fantabulous Bookbaggers (that would be you guys!) will win the book off this list of their choice!! The competition will officially begin on the date of the anniversary (March 5th) so you have a couple of weeks to think about which book you would want the most, and why and I’m really excited to see all your choices 🙂 In the meantime I would love to know what your top reads for 2012 were – did we have any in common? Did you have a fantastic batch this year or a sort of crummy one? And what books are you looking forward to as 2013 trundles on? Feel free to sound of in the comments, and as always I wish you all:

Happy Reading!

Kicking off 2013 with Owls, Mammals and Phryne Fisher!

I have already wrote about how poor my book tally has been this year, and even though I have had heaps of free time since Xmas to read (especially because it’s so hot in Perth at the moment and reading in front of a fan is about all I can manage) my grand total was only 26 – pretty sad considering the last few years I have read over 40 a year and 2012 was the National Year of Reading

I did manage to finish a few great books at the last-minute (Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith; The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff; Soulless by Gail Carriger; and I finally finished the Neo-Noir anthology, Blood, Guts & Whiskey) which meant I could still choose my Top 10 of the year and Annual Award recipients (which I will post ASAP) but it was still a pretty disappointing total.

In the first few days of 2013 I chose a set of new books to read: one from my Bought-But-Have-Yet-To-Read pile – The Journey (Guardians of Ga’Hoole, Book 2) by Kathryn Lasky;

one from my Library Books pile – Mammals by Pierre Mérot;

and one from the pile of books that I’ve borrowed from my friend Sarah – Death Before Wicket (Phryne Fisher Mysteries, Book 10) by Kerry Greenwood

plus I also have two reads which I’ve carried over from 2012: Pyramids (Discworld, Book 7) by Terry Pratchett

and a book that I fear will be on my bedside table forever since It’s already been there since May and I’ve only read two stories out of it – Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe.

I’ve already gotten really into all three of my new reads so hopefully that’s a good sign for the year ahead, at least reading-wise!

Beloved Bookbaggers, keep thine eyes peeled for my Top 10 Books of 2012 and the 2012 Book Polygamist Awards as well as other little titbits before I’m back to work in February, but for now I wish you all a (belated) Happy New Year and as always:

Happy Reading!

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 18,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 4 Film Festivals

Click here to see the complete report.

Fiction and Fairy Tales in the mail and a Raven rises from the Grave.

Yesterday I woke up to a lovely sight – a package of books that mum had brought in out of the heat for me and left on the arm of my chair 🙂

I had almost forgotten that I ordered a couple of books from my book club Doubleday when they were having a sale and I could get an added discount thanks to a code I received in an email (I’m a sucker for a bargain!), so I was quite excited to rip open the cardboard and gaze upon my bounty!

The two books I bought were The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, which was the 2011 Man Booker Prize winner and an absolute steal at $17.95 instead of the usual price of $30; and Fairy Tale Rituals by Kenny Klein, a non-fiction book that delves into the magic and mythology behind popular fairy tales and then details rituals based on the tales that work on different aspects of your life. As I may or may not have mentioned before, religiously I define myself as an Eclectic Pagan and mainly take my beliefs from various mythologies as well as herb/flower/animal/stone etc. based beliefs, and since I love traditional fairy tales I was instantly drawn to this book (plus it was only $11.65!).

Then, later in the day while I was hiding from the heat in front of a fan in my room and reading, I finished Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris  and chose a new book from the Books-I-Own-But-Have-Yet-To-Read pile which had grown to 19 strong!

This meant a long and involved eeny meeny miny moe session (in which I wrote down the publication details for all the books to make it easier in the future!) and eventually I landed on The Raven’s Heart by Jesse Blackadder, a debut Historical Romance set in Scotland during the reign of Mary Queen of Scots. I haven’t read much Historical fiction of late (the last one was Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier and that was one of only a handful last year) and since it is one of my well-loved genres it was nice to delve into the past again, especially as my other reads are on the more fantastical side.

In other news this month is the first time I have posted 10 posts (more now!) in the one month since May! This may be due to the fact that I’m on holidays so I’m reading more, or it could be because of my 2012 National Year of Reading extras, but either way I’m quite pleased that my post numbers have been up when they’ve been lagging a bit over the months.

Stay tuned for the next Top 10 lists (Top 10 “Classics” and Top 10 Classics I Want to Read) at the end of January/beginning of February as well as the final Top 10 theme poll, and hopefully some old reviews so I can get back to regular reviewing 🙂

Happy Reading!

And the winner is!…a Post-It?

So, yesterday afternoon as I was getting off my final bus of the day I finished Adultery by Richard B Wright which I have been reading for a couple of weeks but have really devoured over a few days commuting to and from work (it takes me at least an hour to get from my home in Maylands to Duncraig Library where I have had most of my shifts this year).

It was a good little read, not exactly what I was expecting from the genre sticker on its spine but still insightful and interesting nonetheless, and I will review it as soon as I get through the back log (soon my pretties, soon :D).

As soon as I got home (luckily after more than an hour on buses and trains its only a minute to walk home) I laid out all the books from my Library Pile, which consisted of 3 from the City of Bayswater libraries and 4 from the City of Joondalup, ready to eeny meeny miny moe to a single novel when I remembered that there was still one book waiting for me at Maylands Library – American Gods by Neil Gaiman – that I had requested and meant to pick up but I’ve been so busy it has been neglected.

I didn’t want to leave it out because 1. I still had a couple of days before my request expired and I have some time off work so I would be able to collect it; 2. I really wanted to read it as I have heard great things about the book, I have loved the other works by Neil Gaiman and I borrowed it once before but it had to be returned before I could read it because it was requested at another branch!

To include it in the process without it being in my hot little hands, I found the book on The State Library of Western Australia catalogue and copied all the relevant details (Author, Title, Publisher, Date of Publication, Place of Publication, Number of Pages and last digit of the ISBN) onto a Post-it note and lo and behold at the end of the eeny meeny miny moe-ing the Post-it was the winner!

I plan to pick American Gods up today and I am even more excited to start it because of the unlikely circumstances of it being chosen 🙂

In other news, since I announced my new features to celebrate 2012 as The National Year of Reading I have noted down a couple more quotes and have decided to rename the Weekly Quotable feature so that it is not restricted to being a once a week post and I can post less or more often. From now on the posts will be called Notable Quotables and will be posted whenever I find a quote in one of the books I’m reading that I think is inspirational, insightful, funny or otherwise interesting enough to share with you all 🙂

 

Book Polygamist extras for The National Year of Reading

Hello all!

As I mentioned in a recent post 2012 is The National Year of Reading in Australia and to celebrate and spread the word I wanted to add a couple of extra regular posts to my usual fare of reviews and Top 10 lists.

As I have also already mentioned at first I intended to post a quote of one of the books I’m reading every day as part of Project 365, but I soon realised that this idea would not work for a few reasons:

1. I don’t always read every single day (gasp!);
2. Even when I do read everyday I may not read a line that is worth quoting;
3. Even if I was to read everyday and find a suitable quote every day, going online and posting everyday with my busy study/work schedule is just not practical.

So, I have decided that I will do a quote once a week in a regular feature called Weekly Quotables starting today and continuing throughout 2012!

In addition to this I came up with another weekly feature for this year: Save The Words Saturday. This idea came when I revisited a site I spend hours perusing months ago when I was meant to be studying: savethewords.org. I was refered to the site from an excellent book blog that I follow The Book and Biscuit and followed the link out of curiosity. When I got there I was greeted by a page covered in strange words all in different colours and typefaces, literally calling out at me to pick them!

The Oxford Dictionaries have created the site whose purpose is to promote obscure words that have fallen out of use in the English language. You can simply learn about certain words by clicking on them or you can be more involved by adopting a word (where you pledge to use it in conversation as much as possible); subscribe to a word-a-day email; or buy a shirt with your adopted word on it!

So, as my own contribution to the cause as well as a fun National Year of Reading activity I will be posting a chosen word every Saturday with a definition and link to savethewords.org in case you wish to adopt the cute little word 🙂

As I forgot to start  Save The Words Saturday yesterday (oops!) It will officially begin next Saturday.

Happy Reading!

Top 10 Reads of 2011!

I have been making a list of my fave books of the year for a while now, but before now they have only been chronicled in my reading journals or on Facebook last year, so its pretty sweet to have it out in the blogosphere for the first time 🙂

1. The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman 

This was the first book I started in 2011 (on the 1st of January and all!) and was also one of a few books I read around that time that were the final instalments in major trilogies I had been reading for a while (the others are Destiny by Fiona McIntosh which is also in this list, and The Reawakened by Jeri Smith-Ready that I finished on January 1st so it missed out being on this list :P). I read the first two of the His Dark Materials series, Northern Lights (or The Golden Compass) and The Subtle Knife in 2009 and late 2010 respectively and each one was more gripping and imaginative as the story went on culminating with The Amber Spyglass which was just amazing. Philip Pullman brought everything to light and wrapped up all the loose ends that had developed throughout the series and although many of these conclusions were heart-breaking, the ending felt right. I was left with a sense of awe at Pullman’s abilities and it certainly opened up my year of reading with a bang.

2. Destiny by Fiona McIntosh 

Destiny was another wonderful conclusion to a gripping series, but one that I had been invested in for much longer. As I have said before there was a big gap between starting the Trinity trilogy and finishing it as I read the first book, Betrayal way back in 2008, then the second book, Revenge a couple of months later but was unable to acquire Destiny until early 2011! It was lucky that I re-read the first two books before finding it but even still it was at least a year between the end of Revenge (which was quite a cliffhanger) and the beginning of Destiny so it took me a while to understand what was going on. However once I was caught up this final instalment certainly didn’t disappoint with more twists and turns then  the most intense rollercoaster and countless moments that made me gasp in shock or burst into tears. There were so many satisfying conclusions to conflicts that had carried through the whole trilogy and the final ending was very emotional and riveting, showing Fiona McIntosh’s ability to weave a great ending that doesn’t shy away from harsh realities and fall into the “happily ever after” trap.

3. The Good Mayor by Andrew Nicoll 

This was a beautiful, quirky, charming little novel which was a surprise highlight of my year. Andrew Nicoll described the fictional Baltic town of Dot as well as all the unique characters inhabiting it with loving detail that made me eager to read for hours on end. The story was quite simple – a forbidden love story between the Mayor of the town and his married assistant – but it was the execution of it that was so addictive to me, the dancing around the two did, never admitting their feelings for each other and by the end I was quite frustrated with them both (which made me want to read even more just to see if they’d ever get their act together!). Even ‘tho it took a really strange turn at its climax this only made me like the book more as it was so unexpected. A great read for someone who loves a good RomCom but one that’s a tad odd 🙂

4. Blueeyedboy by Joanne Harris

This one was a big surprise because as I am a huge fan of Joanne Harris and am use to her usual fare of magic, food and small town politics (or other tight-knit communities like a college or nunnery), or as in her earlier works gothic styled historical novels with a touch of mystery and Blueeyedboy certainly doesn’t fit into those categories. Well and truly in the modern age, this novel tells its story exclusively through LiveJournal posts which gave it a creepy atmosphere of confession and mind games. It was a frightening, disturbing and unsettling book where the lines between fiction and reality and between online and offline personas was very blurred and I was constantly changing my mind about who was the “monster” and who was the victim. The twists were often very unexpected and sudden, so I found myself reeling through most of it, but by the end I was left impressed by Joanne Harris’ talent (to create a fantastic psychological thriller so different from her usual style) and even that early on in the year (I read it over a week in February) I knew it would be on this list as I stayed with me long after the last word.

5. Twilight by William Gay

I almost didn’t read this fantastically atmospheric book because of its title, but I am so glad a bunch of glittery vampires didn’t put me off as it was a fantastic, if quite confusing read. This is the first of my Top Reads that I have reviewed on this blog, and that review can be found here. Since I went into why this book was so amazing in that review I won’t go into it much here, but will just say that this book showed some of the finest writing of my readings this year as well as being one of the more creepy and vividly described novels I read in 2011. Not for the faint hearted or easily confused, but for lovers of language and spooky imagery this is a real treat.

6. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

This is another book I reviewed this year so I won’t go into too much detail, but as soon as I finished it I knew it would be on this list as it certainly made an impact on me. This is one of those novels that grew on me (like my friend Sarah would say, like a fungus :)) and the second half was read in huge devouring sessions as opposed to the snail’s pace of the first half. If any of you decide to give this little french gem a shot I would highly recommend that you watch the movie adaptation afterwards as it cleverly takes the story from page to screen and was a lovely little film in its own right 🙂

7. Coldheart Canyon by Clive Barker

This one is definitely not for those light of heart (or stomach!) as it is a classic Barker tale filled with gruesome creatures, violent sexuality and lots of gore. I have yet to review it, even ‘tho I reached the end on the 20th of October (naughty naughty!) as it has been hard to find the right words to explain it. It is a blend of absolute horror in the craziest supernatural form that Clive Barker excels at, and a tale of the underbelly of Hollywood from its Golden Age of ageless movie starlets in glorious black and white and blissful silence, to the modern age of plastic idols. Not one I would recommend as an introduction to Clive Barker (it would likely scare many away) but once readers are used to his work (maybe starting with lighter novels like Abarat and then moving on to his crazier stuff like Sacrament?) this is an excellent example of his expansive and very warped imagination. He’s a freak but I love ‘im 🙂

8. The Secrets of the Chess Machine by Robert Löhr

This was a more light-hearted read of 2011. Although there was some murder mystery elements and other dark parts It was always easy and fun to read as opposed to some on this list which I dipped into less often. I love a good Historical Saga, especially one that is based on real events rather than just a certain time or place in history, and this little beauty was exactly what I was looking for. More details can be found in my review but be warned, this one may be a bit difficult to find. I was lucky enough to find it at my local library, but since reading and reviewing it a friend and fellow Library student has been trying to find it in bookstores to no avail. My best bet would be an online bookstore such as Book Depository or second-hand and rare book supplier Abe Books.

9. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

This book was a fairly recent read (I finished it on the 8th of December) but I knew from a few chapters in that it would be a highlight of 2011. I first heard about it from my mum who saw it reviewed on Australian morning show The Circle and thought I would like it as before my Library studies I was a floral assistant and I have always been intrigued by the Victorian custom of courting lovers communicating through flowers. She then bought it from me as part of my amazingly generous birthday presents and I was lucky enough to choose it out of my To Read pile at the beginning of November. I have yet to review it (I’ll get there I promise!) but it was a beautifully touching story with an interesting and solid background in the meaning of flowers and the effect the foster child/adoption system has on children even into adulthood.

10. Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier 

This last book almost didn’t make it on the list as when I started it on the 9th of December, even ‘tho I loved it from the first chapter I didn’t think I would finish it before the start of the new year. But thanks to some marathon reading, mostly due to the fantastic writing skills of Tracy Chevalier and my ardent wish to include it in my Top Reads I finished it the day before New Years Eve 🙂 This was a very interesting and touching novel that amerses you in a historical time and place perfectly. Tracy Chevalier is wonderful at capturing a time and place and inventing believable details surrounding a pivotal artistic (or in this case scientific) movement. I have loved every book she has ever released from the moment I read The Virgin Blue as they were all sound Historical novels with a backbone of facts and a great deal of heart. This one is based on the true story of Mary Anning, a working class girl in 19th century England who discovers the first aquatic dinosaurs and sets the scientific world alight with talk of extinction and the age of the earth, but it is also about the friendship between two women (Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot) who are from a different class and background and two decades apart in age but share a love of fossil hunting. I promise I’ll do a proper review as soon as I get through the 8 that are still backed up 😛

Stay tuned for my other highlights of the year in the form of my 2011 Book Polygamist Awards! which I will post within the next couple of days, and I hope to see all my usual Bookbaggers as well as lots of new faces throughout 2012 🙂

In case you weren’t aware 2012 is The National Year of Reading in Australia, which libraries around the country are getting involved in with special activities and programs as well as extra storytime sessions, displays and the like, so expect some extra little tidbits this year 🙂

One idea I had was to post a small quote from one of the books I’m reading every day as part of Project 365 but what with my last semester of study being this year as well as continuing casual work at libraries, and hopefully some form of social life, I don’t see myself keeping that up for longer than a few weeks, so maybe I’ll make it something more achievable like a quote once a week?

Let me know what you guys think in the comments and as always, HAPPY READING!!!! (in caps for added New Years emphasis :P)

The 2011 home stretch

Leading up to this, the final day of 2011 it seemed like I wouldn’t finish any of the five books I was reading and my final tally for the year would be 40, the smallest number i’ve achieved in the past few years!

I was a bit disappointed with this especially because I set myself a goal of 45 (which I thought was quite conservative considering I read 50 last year) on Shelfari.

But then I found myself quite bored over the last few days what with Christmas being well and truly over, no work scheduled until January, homebound because my dog has had half her teeth removed and I had to look after her, and bad holiday TV, so I have been reading A LOT! 🙂

First I was hooked on V for Vendetta

which I finished on the 29th, then I turned my attention to Remarkable Creatures

which I finished devouring yesterday, and then I polished off The Extraordinary and Unusual Adventures of Horatio Lyle last night and some of today!

Because of my zealous reading habits not only have I bumped my tally up to 43 (nothing on last year but not too bad considering all the study and work I’ve been doing :)) but I was able to choose two new books to start in 2012:

Adultery by Richard B Wright that came from my Library Book pileand Charlaine Harris’ Grave Sight that was the winning book out of 17 in my Books I Own But Have Yet To Read leaning tower of Pisa 🙂I will also be taking two books into the new year with me – Books of Blood vol. 1-3 by Clive Baker which I have been reading over 30 weeks (and counting O.o) because if I read more than a couple of stories in one sitting I can feel myself going a tad madand The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson, which I am yet to fully get in tobut there’s bound to be stragglers when one reads multiple books at once 🙂

For now I wish you all a great New Years Eve (I will be keeping my gummy dog company and watching DVDs like the premature nana that I am :)) and I will see you all in 2012 with a special version of my Top 10s: my Top 10 Reads of 2011! and the 2011 Book Polygamist Awards! where I will give awards to books that took me the least and most time to read, the author that I read the most and other little tidbits.

Cya next year and as always, Happy Reading!