At the end of the year I like to look back over my reading pile and think about all the books I've read. It gives me a sense of accomplishment to think "Wow! I really read a lot of books!" And I also like to think about which books stuck with me the most so I can add them to my growing list of lifetime favorite books. So here they are, the Best Books I've Read This Year (in the order I read them):
Graceling by Kristin Cashore (for ages 12 and up). I remember this time last year when I was reading everyone's best books of 2008, and Graceling kept showing up on every list. So it was the first book I read in 2009, and it is really really good. It's about a girl named Katsa who is a graceling. Gracelings are people who have a special power. It can be anything -- like they are really good cooks, or dog trainers, or whatever. Katsa's grace is that she can kill anyone with her bare hands. Whoa! The prequel Fire is really good too (also for ages 12 and up).
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (for ages 12 and up). To be honest, I didn't like this book as much as The Hunger Games (also for ages 12 and up) which is the BEST BOOK EVER! Maybe that's only because I will never like another book as much as The Hunger Games for as long as I live. But Catching Fire is still one of my favorite books of the year for sure, and I can't wait for Book 3!
Escape Under the Forever Sky by Eve Yohalem. This is a fictional story about an American girl who was kidnapped in Ethiopia. In this book, she escaped from her captors and survived alone in the wild when anyone else probably would have been eaten by lions. The lions actually helped her! This is a heart-pounding African survival story, and the part about being helped by the lions is actually based on a true story!
Saving the Ghost of the Mountain by Sy Montgomery. This book is about snow leopards, possibly the coolest animal on earth. They are called ghosts of the mountain because you can be looking right at them (with binoculars) and still not see them. They blend so well into their environment. They only live in the very remote parts of the Himalayan Mountains, so very few people have ever seen one in the wild.
Unfinished Angel by Sharon Creech. I loved this book because it reminded me of The BFG by Roald Dahl. It's not about a big friendly giant, but it's about an angel who doesn't know what it's supposed to be doing. Then it meets a girl who starts telling it about problems in the town, and together they work to help. It's a really heartwarming story and also funny because the angel is pretty clueless and makes up words for stuff that it doesn't know the right word for (like the BFG). It's really cute.
Those were my favorites this year. I know I missed a lot, and there are still some books from 2009 on my To Be Read pile. What are your favorite books that you read over the past year? Tell me about them in the Comments.
— Sonja, STACKS Staffer
Cool. I've been wanting to read Escape Under the Forever Sun. Someone told me it was a good book!
Comment #1 | Posted by: penguinxmas on December 30, 2009 at 10:05 AM
Cool list! The only book I read on this list (and didn't at all like) was Catching Fire.
Comment #2 | Posted by: Crystal on December 30, 2009 at 10:58 AM
I have never heard of these books but they sound good I guess
Comment #3 | Posted by: Gryffondor_Girl on December 30, 2009 at 11:36 AM
OF COURSE I LOVE Twilight, which is and will always be one of my fave books, The Children of the Lamp Series by P.B. Kerr is one that I won't forget, and of course the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. That one is just too good in so many ways. My other faves are the Harry Potter series, LOVE IT, but I did not read it in 2009. Oh-whoops! I just happened to forget one remote series that happened to just about kill me. It was called The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, which made me (literally, ask anyone) drop on the floor laughing.
OK, guys! If you have any good book recommendations, leave a comment to me, twilight fan girl.
Comment #4 | Posted by: twilight fan girl on December 30, 2009 at 11:59 AM
That really is a good idea to write what you actually thought of the book. I just read it then forget it. I think from now on I should write some reviews. Thanks for your comments on the books. I will read some.
Comment #5 | Posted by: hairy_hedgehog on December 30, 2009 at 02:26 PM
I just finished reading Catching Fire today and loved it! I also read the Inkheart triology and loved it. And I also read the land of elyon series and loved it! These three authors need to keep up the good work!
Comment #6 | Posted by: DestinyIslands on December 30, 2009 at 02:39 PM
how you are so cool to be such a great reader!
Comment #7 | Posted by: 12 straberry on December 30, 2009 at 03:01 PM
Some of my favorite books that read during 2009 are: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Elsewhere, Dairy Queen, and Rose in Bloom.
Comment #8 | Posted by: fallbookgirl on December 30, 2009 at 03:24 PM
I'm reading Graceling right now,and so far,it's really really good.Catching Fire is THE BEST!!!My other favorite books that I read this year (and were published this year)were:
Intensely Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor(for ages 12 and up)
The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
Sent by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Diary Of A Wimpy Kid:Dog Days by Jeff Kinney
In Too Deep by Jude Watson
Max by James Patterson(for ages 12 and up)
Comment #9 | Posted by: Rachel on December 30, 2009 at 04:31 PM
Nice list!! I'll check those out!! My best book list that I read this year is: Twilight saga, The Wedding Planner's Daughter series, and... I think that's it. Althought my list is only two things... relize that they're series. So I have more than two books. :) ;) Check them out!! I love them!
Comment #10 | Posted by: puckgirl on December 30, 2009 at 04:40 PM
i wiil read all the book if it take 597 days the book i like is catching fire
Comment #11 | Posted by: rican1 on December 30, 2009 at 05:20 PM
COOL LIST! THE ONLY BOOK I READ IS CATCHING FIRE THAT IS MY FAVORIT BOOK
Comment #12 | Posted by: RICAN on December 30, 2009 at 05:26 PM
COOL BOOK RIGHT CRYSTAL THAT CATCHHING FIRE IS THE BEST RIGHT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Comment #13 | Posted by: RICAN on December 30, 2009 at 05:30 PM
I love Catching Fire. It's SOOOO awesome!
Comment #14 | Posted by: catching_fire on December 30, 2009 at 06:02 PM
i hate catching fire its so boring i think
Comment #15 | Posted by: maria on December 30, 2009 at 07:40 PM
I have accomplished reading the first and second Harry Potter. Now I am obsessed with Harry Potter. I am only nine years old and have seen all the movies of harry potter movies years 1-6. I have also accomplished reading Trading Faces By:Julia Devillers. Also Liberty Porter: First daughter also by Julia Devillers. I recommend reading those books if you have not read them. Anyway i better stop blabbing about what I read. Happy New Year!
Comment #16 | Posted by: HermioneGrangersuperfan on December 30, 2009 at 07:54 PM
I totally agree with you about catching fire. The Hunger Games is like, my most favorite book ever! Although Catching Fire wasn't as nerveracking as the first book it is definently and good book to read for those lokking for a thriller.
Comment #17 | Posted by: Anna on December 30, 2009 at 08:08 PM
I don`t know any of those books.
Comment #18 | Posted by: styb124 on December 30, 2009 at 09:45 PM
hmmm... I'm deciding to read catching Fire now...:)
Comment #19 | Posted by: animeninja518 on December 30, 2009 at 10:45 PM
The favorite books I read this year was:
The Diary of Wimpy Kid series
Tentacles
Cryptid Hunters
Jack`s Run
Zach`s Lie
The Underland Chronicles series
The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series
The Five Ancestors series
The Dragons series
I,Q: Book one Independence Hall
Zoobreak and Swindle series
The Inheritance Cycle
The Thief Lord
The 39 Clues series, ( books 1-6)
The Charlie Bone series
Schooled
Found
A Series of Unfortunate events series
Peak
Elephant Run
Encyclopedia Brown
Alec Flint: The Nina the Pinta and the Santa Maria
The Spiderwick Chronicles
The Tale of Despereaux
The Guardinas of Ga`Hoole series: Book 1:The Capture
Comment #20 | Posted by: giantlion on December 30, 2009 at 10:45 PM
I've read Holes by Louis Sachar this year and I really enjoyed it. It's a mix of a lot of things. Have you read it yet?
Comment #21 | Posted by: Anonymous :) on December 30, 2009 at 11:36 PM
I am practically a bookworm! love the books!=]
Comment #22 | Posted by: ipy on December 31, 2009 at 01:53 AM
Whoa!!Those books all look really cool!! I can't wait to read them!!
Comment #23 | Posted by: harryp12345678 on December 31, 2009 at 09:31 AM
Wow, I can't wait to read some of those books, they look really good! My favorite books I read this year are:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Wild Space
The 39 Clues (3-6)
Found
and a LOT MORE! But I can't really remember what I read previous to, like, August... anyway it was a great reading year for me and I read 100+ books!
Comment #24 | Posted by: obiwancrazy on December 31, 2009 at 03:56 PM
My top series I read in 2009: Harry Potter(which I have read twice this year), Diary of a wimpy Kid (Books 1-3), and the best of all THE 39 CLUES.
P.s. Never heard of any of those
Comment #25 | Posted by: cat78956 on January 01, 2010 at 12:09 AM