Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Road Trip Wednesday- Best Book of 2010




Here's a list of my FAVORITE books of 2010

I read a lot of books this year--- most of them trendy and cool with lots of buzz.  The Duff, Paranormalcy, If I Stay...  these books were excellent reads and I highly recommend them, but there were a few books I wanted to feature because I enjoyed them more.



 Anna and the French Kiss, and not because I blogged about it yesterday or because it was the most recent book I read.  It was incredible and everyone who read it would agree.  Read yesterday's post for the full review.




Half Life of Planets:
I loved this book- I reviewed it on my blog and e-mail the author.  I loved this book more than Will Grayson Will Grayson.  It's a story told from two POV and one of the character is an boy with Asperger's syndrome.  As a teacher, every year I teach at least one student with  Asperger's syndrome and I never stop to think how they are going to handle their first love. This book touched me on personal and professional level.  And I wasn't the only one who loved this book.




The Ghost and The Goth
100% solid FUN.  Every page 100% fun.  The voices of the two characters were very distinct voices and very different motivations.  The plot was solid.  Will was one of the most interesting characters I've read all year.  I even gave him a Christmas Gift this year.  It is also the nominee for a Best Fiction for Young Adults award (BFYA) through the American Library Association (ALA),


Little Brother
Possibly one of the most important books I've read all year.  The story about a boy who's a techie kid and the government thinks he's a terrorist.  He's not and doesn't become one until the government kidnaps him and goes too far.   It's about friendship and impossible odds.  It raises lots of questions about privacy and safety. 



Perfect Chemistry:

HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT. Did I mention this book is HOT?  A gang member makes a bet he can sleep with the perfect girl in school.  Seriously her rep is that she's perfect.  However once the story goes on, she's not perfect by a long shot.  It reads fast and it's fun and powerfully touching.  I loved this book.




October Sky:
I didn't want to teach it.  I didn't want to read it. I was convinced my students would kill me or complain the board of ed and have me fired.  You know what? I loved it.  I cried at the end.  I whimpered. My students LOVED it- three students finished it in a week.  Before we left on winter break nine students finished the book.  20% of my students finished the book before the class got to page 60.  Nearly 50% of the students were further in the book then we were reading as a class.   The story is about a boy growing up in a West Virgina Coal mining town who decides to build rockets.  It's a wonderfully inspirational story. 


Does this post look shockingly a lot like a post from last week?  YES!!!  Thanks YA Highway for making this EXTREMELY easy for me.  It's like you knew today I was going to be with a computer today.  THANKS!!!!!

Go forth and read-- What are your top books of 2010?

8 comments:

  1. great choices-- I just got half life of planets because you requested it (haven't started it yet), and many of the others are on my list!

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  2. Awesome list!! *adds all to TBR*

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  3. I TOTALLY agree about ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS. I love, love, love that book. It is definitely on my top five list for 2010.

    I am glad you and your class liked OCTOBER SKY so much. It is such a wonderful story.

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  4. I have been wanting to read The Half Life of Planets, so it's nice to hear that it's good. And Little Brother sounds really good, too!

    Thanks for the recommendations!

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  5. eek I haven't read any of those yet! They sound great.

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  6. Awesome recommendations!! Half Life sounds incredible.

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  7. Wonderful list! Thanks for reminding me about OCTOBER SKY.

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