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05 June 2012

Armchair BEA, Day 2: Best of 2012 (so far)


Day 2 of Armchair BEA is your best of books (so far).  So, instead of doing a top 10, I'm only going to do a top 5 (since the year's only half over!)

Here is my list of top 5 books that I've read this year so far (not those necessarily published in 2012, even though I think they all were!)

5.  Waiting for the Magic by Patricia McLaughlin
Waiting for the Magic
People may drift apart But love can hold them together. Sometimes we find that love through magic – Sometimes that magic is all around us.This is a story about all of these things. But it's also a story about how four dogs and one cat help one boy and his sister save their family.

4.  The Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness (it we were being technical, and lets face it, we're not, this would count as 3, but rather than rank each book in the trilogy, I figured I'd just rank the trilogy.  Though if I HAD to choose, Monsters of Men was my favorite of the 3, and if I were doing them separate may just rank higher on the list.  But, since I'm grouping them, I had to kind of average it out in my head.)
Prentisstown isn't like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in an overwhelming, never-ending stream of Noise. Just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd and his dog, Manchee -- whose thoughts Todd can hear too, whether he wants to or not -- stumble upon an area of complete silence. They find that in a town where privacy is impossible, something terrible has been hidden -- a secret so awful that Todd and Manchee must run for their lives.

But how do you escape when your pursuers can hear your every thought?

3.  The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
The One and Only Ivan
Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all.

Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he’s seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line.

Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home—and his own art—through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it’s up to Ivan to make it a change for the better.


2.  Scarlet by AC Gaughen
Scarlet
Many readers know the tale of Robin Hood, but they will be swept away by this new version full of action, secrets, and romance.

Posing as one of Robin Hood’s thieves to avoid the wrath of the evil Thief Taker Lord Gisbourne, Scarlet has kept her identity secret from all of Nottinghamshire. Only the Hood and his band know the truth: the agile thief posing as a whip of a boy is actually a fearless young woman with a secret past. Helping the people of Nottingham outwit the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham could cost Scarlet her life as Gisbourne closes in.

It’s only her fierce loyalty to Robin—whose quick smiles and sharp temper have the rare power to unsettle her—that keeps Scarlet going and makes this fight worth dying for.

1.  Wonder by RJ Palacio
Wonder
I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse.

August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school—until now. He's about to start 5th grade at Beecher Prep, and if you've ever been the new kid then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie's just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, despite appearances?
What are your favs so far?

(all images and summaries are from Goodreads or google image search)

12 comments:

  1. I liked Scarlet. The Chaos Walking Trilogy looks good also

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  2. I don't think I have heard of any of these reads but I am going to have to check them out! I mean seriously they have some fantastic covers and I am often sold on that alone!

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  3. haven't heard of any of those but they do look interesting!
    Chelle

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  4. The One And Only Ivan looks like a book I could read to my class next year. Thanks for the introduction to some new-to-me books!

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  5. Great choices, Amanda!!! Like I said yesterday - I must read Wonder! I'm also wanting to read Scarlet.

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  6. I'm reading Wonder right now! I think its going to be a new classic!

    Great Choices!

    <3 Britta
    http://novelday.blogspot.com

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  7. I LOVED the Chaos Walking trilogy!!! It was so amazing, and I really fell in love with the character and the world Ness created. It was seriously fantastic! I've heard some really great things about Scarlet, I definitely need to pick that one up soon. =)

    Fabulous list!

    -Aneeqah @ My Not So Real Life

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  8. I think the covers for the Chaos Walking Triology look familiar. Like maybe I have come across them and noted that I wanted to read them or maybe everything just starts to blur together at some point when you work with books day in and day out haha. They certainly seem interesting enough to read!

    Thanks for sharing and enjoy the armchair!
    Leila | The Fiction Pixie

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  9. I love that the Chaos Walking series made your list - I love it. :) And I've been wanting to read Wonder since I first saw it popping up in the book blogging world - it looks fantastic! Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

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  10. I so have to read The Chaos Walking Trilogy! I've had them here for ages and haven't gotten to them yet.

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  11. I just downloaded The Chaos Walking Trilogy recently but have not had the chance to read it. It is good to know that you think so highly of it. Wonder would be on the top of my list for the year too.

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  12. I'll be honest, the first book took me about 50 pages to really get into, but after that, I couldn't put it down! It would be interesting to listen to, I'm curious to see how the "noise" works...

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Gold stars given to good comments.