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: Entwined by Heather Dixon

Entwined
Heather Dixon
March 29, 2011
Purchased for Kindle
Amazon Page
Goodreads Page
Grade: A (And I'm thinking of rebuying the hardcover for the gorgeousness of the cover)

Synopsis (from publisher): Azalea is trapped. Just when she should feel that everything is before her . . . beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing . . . it's taken away. All of it.

The Keeper understands. He's trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation.

Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest.

But there is a cost.

The Keeper likes to keep things.

Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late.

---

Review: I actually pre-ordered Entwined for my Kindle (and was completely startled when it magically downloaded at 4am on a Wednesday morning), but then for some odd reason, I read the first few pages, wasn’t impressed, and moved on to another book, regarding Entwined as a disappointment and reminder not to pre-order just because retold fairy tales are cool.

As it happens, retold fairy tales ARE cool, and not reading this one in March meant that while my Kindle was out at Glacier National Park with my mom a week ago, I was checking yet again through the library’s new YA arrivals and was seduced by the gorgeous cover of this book.

I started reading it this time while sitting on the porch, drinking coffee and hoping I wouldn’t have to move before I finished another few chapters.

This is a delightful retelling of Twelve Dancing Princesses from the point of view of the oldest princess and heir to the country, Azalea who’s trying to fulfill her promise to her dying mother to take care of her sisters even with the interference and apparent uncaring of their father the King. The sisters’ only happiness during their year of mourning is dancing, and when their father forbids it, Azalea finds a magical passage leading to a garden and its Keeper who invites the girls to dance every night. At nearly seventeen, she’s also struggling with growing up as the future Queen, knowing that Parliament will probably choose her husband instead of allowing her to fall in love, and managing the poverty of her family while still presenting the proper front as royalty.

Dixon’s writing throughout the book is lyrical and enchanting as befits the fairy tale atmosphere, but it never becomes too Disneyified. Her turns of phrase are both lovely and sometimes hilarious. I’m not someone who laughs aloud while reading very much, but Entwined had me giggling delightedly throughout.

Somehow each of the twelve sisters (all named alphabetically, each after a flower) has her own a personality and part to play in the story. In a lesser author’s hands, given the number of princesses, they easily could have turned into a sloppy conglomerate of names and character traits, but the relationship of the girls is one of the best parts of the book. They’re very close, especially while dealing with the shock of losing their beloved mother, but the closeness never becomes saccharine. All twelve are sisters who tease and mock, argue and throw potatoes at each other but above all are a (mostly) united force who want the best for their family and their country but especially want to be able to dance.

I found the action at the climax slightly confusing, but it wasn’t enough to make the conclusion difficult to follow or unenjoyable. On the contrary, the conclusion felt like the perfect end (as much as I’d like more about Azalea, Bramble, Clover, and the rest) to this book that I now consider one of my favourite of the past year.