My 2012 Favourites

Recently I saw a Wordle on The Hub (why yes, I'm doing some professional reading) which deals with the top YA fiction of this year - 2012. I've been inspired to create my own top ten list of what I've read this year, from this year. I kept it to either the introductions of series or stand alone books, unless the book in the series stood out by itself as opposed to being a continuation of a story.

This is hard!

1. ’The fault in our stars’ by John Green. Beautiful, smart and funny.
   
2. ’Cinder’ by Marissa Meyer. Cinderella with a twist.
   
3. ’I hunt killers’ by Barry Lyga. I didn't expect to enjoy a serial killer book so much but the nature vs nurture debate was fantastic.
   
4. ’Skinny’ by Donna Cooner. A different Cinderella story as well as a different look at body image.
   
5. ’Enchanted’ by Alethea Kontis. Another twisted fairytale (sensing a pattern here).
   
6. ’Chopsticks’ by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral. A relationship told in pictures.
   
7. ’The List ‘by Siobhan Vivian. Painful look at high school
   
8. ’The Diviners’ by Libba Bray. Historical, supernatural, dark and light. I’m still thinking about it.
   
9. ‘Friends with Boys’ by Faith Erin Hicks. Graphic novel about fitting into high school – with a spooky element to it.
   
10. ’Tempest‘ by Julie Cross. Time travel and love story rolled into one.

Honorable mentions go to ‘The Selection’ by Kiera Cass, ‘Ripper’ by Stefan Petrucha, ’Born Wicked’ by Jessica Spotswood, ‘Masque of the Red Death’ by Bethany Griffin, ‘The way we fall’ by Megan Crewe and ‘Illuminate’ by Aimee Agresti.

Plus, series continuations that I anticipated and enjoyed: ‘Insurgent‘ by Veronica Roth, ‘City of Lost Souls’ by Cassandra Clare, ‘The Golden Lily’ by Richelle Mead, ‘Fever’ by Lauren DeStefano, ‘A Million Suns’ by Beth Revis, ‘Pandemonium’ by Lauren Oliver, ‘Reached’ by Ally Condie, ‘Girl of Nightmares’ by Kendare Blake, ‘Beautiful Redemption’ by Kami Garcia, ‘Such Wicked Intent ‘by Kenneth Oppel, ‘Goddess Interrupted’ by Aimee Carter, ‘Fear’ by Michael Grant, ‘Underworld’ by Meg Cabot, ‘Rise of Nine’ by Pittacus Lore,

This list was made that much more difficult by having to determine what came out in 2012 and what I read in 2012. That list – what I read in 2012 – would be much longer and involve books from the last few years! (‘The Name of the Star’ by Maureen Johnson, ‘A Monster Calls’ by Patrick Ness and so on…)

Book Review - 'The Fault in our Stars'

I always keep a list of books that I've been told I should buy for the library. All of a sudden, out of the blue, students came to me asking if I had any John Green novels. Not just one, but several students came and upon hearing that I didn't, implored me to buy some. As luck would have it, that evening on a (personal) trip to the bookstore, I saw a copy of 'The Fault in our Stars' by the much lauded John Green and picked it up.

I picked it up and fell in love.

Ok, that might be an overstatement. But it was, in my mind, a perfect little book. 'The Fault in our Stars' is a story of snarky kids with cancer. Hazel, who has terminal cancer which has been distracted (but not deterred) by a miracle medicine enjoys watching marathons of 'America's Next Top Model' and rolling her eyes at her cancer support group which takes place in the literal heart of Jesus. However, when Augustus Waters and his one leg enter the support group, Hazel gets a chance to enjoy parts of her life in a way she and her family had never anticipated. When she shares her favorite book with Augustus, he joins her in her pursuit of finding out what happened - the book ends in the middle of a sentence. This pursuit takes them around the world and back again, as they try finding out the ending of that story before they have to confront the ending of their own.

This book has everything that I look for in a book - strong characters, compelling story, believable plot lines. It also has dry wit, humour, realistic situations and some great people. Green makes me believe in these characters and does a great job in showing their divide between those with and those without cancer. However, they are, to quote Jonathan Larson, living with disease, not dying. It is this distinction that makes Hazel and Augustus - two children with old people names who will never be old - real to me.

And obviously, these characters are real to many, not just mid-thirties librarians. When I mention this book to students (having bought a copy for the library as I didn't want to donate the one I bought for me) they, or the friend they were with exclaim how much they loved the book. How they loved the characters. It works for them and they love that.

I am now reading 'An Abundance of Katherines' by Green. I like it, just not as much as 'The Fault in our Stars'. 'Looking for Alaska' has been checked out of the library by two or three people in a row and I've had no chance to get it myself. Thank you Mr. Green for these books. It's fantastic to get realistic fiction that's funny.

This is a bit of a love letter rather than a review. I will admit, I just really liked this book. It's nice, writing about something I really enjoyed. I have also recommended it for our Provincial High School reading list. It was that solid.

To link to this review: