Hellos and Best Books of 2011

These past two months have been such a crazy mash-up of insanity, holidays, Yuletide, and Issues that I kind of started to hide from anything that wasn’t Absolutely Required because everything was stressing me out.  And then, of course, once that starts, it’s hard to stop hiding because there is Much Guilt.

But luckily there has been the start of the New Year and an acknowledged place for New Beginnings so I poke my head out again to say how much I missed all of you and how much I’ve missed this crazy book blogging thing we do.  So hi!  I doubt I will be posting as much as I had been last year, but I want to keep posting and keep up the conversation.  

To make this a real post, I just want to take a moment to look back at the best books I read in 2011.  I didn’t review them all, but I did review some, and I’ll link to those reviews in the list.

• A Brief History of Montmaray and FitzOsbornes in Exile by Michelle Cooper - My favourite books of the year.  The story of the royal family of a tiny (fictional) island in the Bay of Biscay in the late 1930s. Gorgeous history, fantastic characterization. I can not wait for the third book.  Can. Not. Wait.
• Entwinedby Heather Dixon - An amazing and magical retelling of the fairytale Twelve Dancing Princesses. The author managed to create distinguishable personalities for each of the twelve sisters which is a feat in itself.
• Deadline by Mira Grant - The sequel to Feed which came out in 2010. Somehow Grant avoided the 'second book of a trilogy' curse with a further exploration of the world, the virus causing zombies, and the wonderful characters she makes us fall in love with.

• All These Things I've Doneby Gabrielle Zevin - Not a dystopian, but a future New York where coffee and chocolate is banned because caffeine is a dangerous drug. A mafia princess (the 1st person narrator with a unique and interesting voice) tries to protect her siblings and find her own path after their father is murdered.
• The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson - Hilarious and terrifying on the same page.
• White Cat and Red Glove by Holly Black – Utterly brilliant writing and worldbuilding.
• Fallen Grace by Mary Hooper - A mourning emporium with a cameo from Charles Dickens.
• Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys - Heartbreaking and gorgeous.
• Jessica Darling series by Megan McCafferty – How did I last this long without reading them before? I have no idea, but I’m kind of glad I got to read them all in one big bite.

• Eon and Eona by Alison Goodman - Asian dragon lore and girls dressing as boys. An incredibly unique magic system and an epic fantasy.
• If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman - These are books you'll weep over. And they're amazing.
• Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins - Technically I read Anna at the very end of 2010, but I reread it about 6 times in 2011 so I'm counting it.

I don't know how real journalists do it! I always feel so badly when I'm choosing for 'best of' lists. All the poor books that I really liked but just didn't quite measure up!

Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Lola and the Boy Next Door
by Stephanie Perkins
September 29, 2011
Bought from Amazon
Goodreads Page
Amazon Page
Grade: A

Synopsis (from Publisher):  Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit -- more sparkly, more fun, more wild -- the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket -- a gifted inventor -- steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

---

I feel as though everyone’s already said all there is to say about Lola and the Boy Next Door, but when has that stopped me from rambling on?  (Answer: Never)

I started Lola with a bit of trepidation.  After all, I’d loved Anna and the French Kiss so much – was the new book going to measure up?  What if I didn’t love it?  I didn’t want the pressure of the disappointment!  To my relief, after an uncertain first thirty or so pages, I fell completely in love with Lola in all her quirky and costumed glory.

I feel like Lola experiences more of an internal journey than Anna did (and, yes, I’m going to have to compare the two a bit because between the fact that they’re companion novels and the fact that Anna and St. Clair are secondary characters, the comparison is just so immediate!).  Anna’s journey was one of trying to figure out who she was after being ripped away from everything familiar while Lola had to determine if her need to stand out was her real self or some sort of disguise surrounded by helpful (and not so helpful) family members and friends, all with opinions of their own.

I really loved her quirky and hilarious voice even when (especially when) it turned bittersweet as she tried to muddle through the boy and family troubles, many of which really seemed universal.  We don’t all have an older rocker boyfriend or a homeless mother showing up on our doorstep, but we all have probably had the boyfriend (or girlfriend) that our friends hated or parents who don’t quite see where we’re trying to go.

And then there was Cricket.  Sigh, Cricket with his awkward limbs and great sense of style and total adorableness.  I was half in love after his first introduction and totally head over heels as the book continued.  I really liked seeing the tension as he was pulled between his twin sister Calliope and his crush in Lola.  He so badly wanted to be there for both of them, and neither made it all that easy on him.  Speaking of which, I loved Calliope in all her prickly, perfectionist glory.  If book 3 could be Calliope and Her Quest for Olympic Gold, I would be all over that.  Because seriously, how awesome is she?

As long as we’re on the secondary characters, I was so excited to get the glimpse into Anna and St. Clair’s lives!  Other blog reviews had mentioned that they play a big role of course, but I was thrilled to see them interact with Lola, Cricket and her other friends and just to see how they’re doing a bit down the line.  Especially I liked how their complete connection and little jokes still were at the point where people outside of their little circle of two were slightly excluded.  …okay, not that that’s a good thing, but it seemed so relevant to their relationship that I loved seeing it continue.

So yes, I ended up loving Lola and thinking myself totally silly for ever worrying about it.  Now…can I have Isla’s book please?  Maybe right after I reread Anna?

Waiting on Wednesday: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Waiting on Wednesday’s a feature hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine to highlight the books we just can’t wait to get our hands on.

This week the book that I'm on pins and needles for is:

Lola and the Boy Next Door
by Stephanie Perkins
September 29, 2011

Synopsis from Publisher:  Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit -- more sparkly, more fun, more wild -- the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket -- a gifted inventor -- steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

---

Well, this definitely isn’t a unique pick or anything, but I’m totally okay with that.  Anna and the French Kiss was one of the best YA contemps of 2010, and from the pre-release reviews people have done on Lola, it sure looks like Stephanie Perkins is continuing her winning streak.

But it’s over a month away.  Way too far to wait for.  Which...okay, I realise the silliness of saying that right after doing a book last week that won’t be out for 8 months, but still.  Everything about Lola is calling to me - her costume designing, the gorgeous boy on the cover, the fact it’s set in San Francisco...I can’t wait!

And I just reread Anna recently so I can’t even do that again to pass the time.  Sigh.  I’ll have to console myself with the fact that I got copies of Bloodlines and Sweetly yesterday, and I didn’t think that day would come either.

Plus if you somehow have missed reading Anna and the French Kiss, you’ve got a whole month to go do it.  What are you waiting for?