Thursday 27 December 2012

2012 Recap: Part one.

 


Rachel and I had a fantastic reading year this year, so we decided to put together a post with a recap for the year. Nomes from Inkcrush first did this post last year and I absolutely loved it! So all credit for this post goes to her. I’m absolutely delighted that I’m able to take part in this great post this year. Rachel and I have decided to focus on a small section of questions from Nomes original post. With so many great books to choose from we decided to cheat a little bit and include some runner ups for some categories too.

So here goes;

1. Favourite book of 2012: 
Jasprit: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers. I honestly can’t decide between these two books so please don’t make me! Both books had me awake until the early hours and I felt like I lost a part of myself when I had to put the book down for a few minutes. The funny thing is that neither of my choices are contemporary books o_0

Rachel: If I’m forced to pick just one, Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning is my favorite for the year. I listened to the audio while following along on my kindle the WHOLE day. It was Thanksgiving holiday and my family all had separate plans leaving me alone. Gasp! It was really upsetting that I didn’t have a tornado to clean up in my kitchen! *NOT* Lol!

Runners up:
Jasprit: Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson, Size 12 and Ready to Rock by Meg Cabot and Shadows by Paula Weston.

Rachel: Easy by Tammara Webber, The Piper’s Son by Melina Marchetta, Quintana of Charyn by Melina Marchetta. 

2. Recommended rainy day comfort read:
Jasprit: Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler. Aww this was such a super cute read, not only was I sitting there with a big smile on my face throughout but I was craving cupcakes big time. It’s the perfect book to snuggle up with on a wet and dreary day.

Rachel: Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder was a moody and dark, and poignant romance. It’s a verse novel and it felt like a perfect read to be done by the fire while drinking hot cocoa.  

Runners up:
Jasprit: From What I Remember by Stacey Kramer and Valerie Thomas, road trip to Mexico? YES PLEASE!

Rachel: Something About You by Julie James. Nothing like a well-crafted snarky romance to chase the rain away and broody Jack can warm you right up! 


                                                      
                                                Bittersweet Trailer - Yum! 


3. I want to go there:
Jasprit: Divergent by Veronica Roth. I would love to be in this world, despite it being extremely scary. I would love to know which faction I would belong to, even though I probably wouldn’t survive.

Rachel: Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill.  I’ve always wanted to go to London and they visit a bunch of touristy stops that I want to see!  

Runners up: 
Jasprit: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas.

Rachel: Winter Longing by Tricia Mills was set in Alaska and the author was inspired by the small town pictured in Northern Exposure. I loved that series and always wanted to go to Alaska after watching that show.  That story brought those feelings back again. 

4. Hidden Gem: 
Jasprit: Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rozett. Rozett did a fantastic job with this book, I didn’t really know what to expect going into it, but I was thoroughly surprised. Rose despite being a young mc, I found I could easily relate to. Her voice was so honest and raw. The story had both a deeper meaning; heart wrenching parts but was also laced with humour. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book; Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend next year.

Rachel: Almost by Anne Eliot. This is a self-published story that really touched and warmed my heart. Jess is a mess of a girl suffering from Rape Related PTSD. She is almost raped, which makes it almost worse because she doesn’t feel she has the right to feel what she feels. I love it when I read a self-published story that is as wonderful as this. 

Runners up:
Jasprit: Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan and Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock.

Rachel: Grace Grows by Shelle Sumners, Getting Over Garrett Delaney by Abby McDonald. 

5. Outside of my comfort zone, but I loved it.
Jasprit: Throne of Glass; I’m not a huge fan of fantasy but Throne of Glass just blew me away, with its fantastic world building and hugely loveable characters. It made me realise I’m missing out on a lot of great books outside of my favourite genre. It’s made me want to step outside of my comfort zone a lot more now.

Rachel: The Storyteller by Antonia Michaelis. Everyone who knows me, knows that I do not care for tragic in my reading. After reading Sam’s @ Realm of Fiction review I quickly bought the book before I realized it might have the potential to do some damage. Whoa! It destroyed me but it was so beautiful and heart wrenching, I didn’t care. Well, I did care,( just ask my husband how pissy I was after reading this) but it was memorable! 


Runners up: 
Jasprit: The Assassin’s Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke and The Diviners by Libba Bray.

Rachel: Friends With Boys by Faith Erin Hicks. My first graphic novel and I loved it. 

6. Favourite male mc:
Jasprit: Four from Divergent and Alex from Alderson’s Lila series. I can’t for the life of me chose between these two amazing mc’s. In both books of the series they appear in they just get better and better. I have favourite passages from their books that I like to re-read over and over again, they just leave me weak at the knees and wanting to melt into a puddle of mush immediately. I also love how they always have their girls back no matter what stupid stunts they decided to pull.

Rachel:
 This is truly torture having to pick just one!  I have way too many book boyfriends. But if I have to pick: JERICHO BARRONS!!! Enough said. 

Runners up: 
Jasprit: Rafa from Shadows.

Rachel: Noah from Pushing the Limits.

7. Favourite female mc:
Jasprit: Celaena Sardothien from Throne of Glass. She was a proper kick ass mc, we certainly need more mc’s like this, and she knew she could kick butt, but she wasn’t anyway cocky about it. Like most of the guys in this book were. But she also had a vulnerable side that we didn’t even get to touch the surface with. She was a mc which ticked a lot of the boxes for me; her extra traits such as intelligence and wittiness made her an easy mc to connect with.

Rachel: Kami from Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan. She was just so much quirky fun! I loved her dry humor and wit.  

Runners up: 
Jasprit: Heather Wells from Meg Cabot's Heather Wells series.

Rachel: Mac from the Fever series. 

8. Favourite couple:
Jasprit: Alex and Lila and Heather and Cooper. Despite taking ages to realise that they were meant to be together, Heather and Cooper were the perfect fit. Their humour and snarkiness worked well together. Cooper was always there whenever Heather put herself down; he got mad when she tried to underestimate herself. And he balanced out her knee jerk and dramatic tendencies perfectly. Together they were such a barrel of laughs.

Rachel: Barrons and Mac from the Fever series. I just loved the build up between these two.  They kept fighting and denying but there was no mistaking they had it bad for each other. Jericho would move mountains for Mac. Lucien and Phaedra from The Lumatere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta. They were my favorite couple, and the progression of their relationship held my rapt attention. 

Phew! That was tough, be sure to stop by on the blog tomorrow when we will have part two of our recap with you, we will be sharing some of our favourite covers and our most anticipated reads of 2013.

19 comments:

Leanna Elle said...

Yay! Jasprit - we had the same fave of 2012 and it was partly the fact that you loved it so much that bumped it all the way up my tbr list! :)

Vegan YA Nerds said...

I love the idea of a recap post and enjoy reading your answers, ladies! You've made me remember some of the great books I've read this year (like Shadows) and made me realise there are still so many I am yet to read (like Unspoken!)

Shooting Stars Mag said...

some wonderful books! I still need to read so many of them. I LOVED This is Not a Test and need to read more by Courtney Summers now. I also really want to read Pushing the Limits. I keep hearing great things.

-Laruen

Aneeqah said...

SO many awesome books, you two! I wasn't able to enjoy This is Not a Test, but I think I agree with everything else you two mentioned here! I love Four to pieces, he is definitely one of my favorite fictional guys of all time. Along with Noah from Pushing the Limits! He had such a raw side that I loved reading about. I also love Kami from Unspoken. Her character is just so quirky and different, which made reading from her POV so enjoyable.

Fantastic picks you two! I can't wait to see what you guys picked for Part 2! =)

Anonymous said...

Ladies, there are no words to explain how much I adore this post!

Rachel, The Piper's Son was one of the most heart wrenching, brilliantly rendered books I've read EVER. But it is Melina Marchetta, after all. ;) Chasing Brooklyn is on my TBR list and thanks to you and Sam, I'd love to get my hands on The Storyteller! And yes, Kami is a hilarious, charming girl whose voice I fell in love with while reading Unspoken. :)

P.S. BARRONS IS MIIIIINE.

Jasprit, The Assassin's Curse was way out of my comfort zone (traditional/high fantasy is normally not my cup of cocoa) but I ended up really liking it too! Also, This Is Not a Test was a stellar, completely brilliant novel. :) Courtney Summers is easily one of my newly discovered fave authors. :)

Divergent Gryffindor said...

Love this post!:) This adds a few books to my tbr pile

Aa'Ishah said...

What an awesome post! Jasprit, I agree with you about going to Tris' world, although it would be really dangerous I'd still love to visit and know what faction I'd be placed in. I kind of feel like I might be a Divergent myself - I don't really see myself fitting into one particular faction. Four would have to be one of my absolute favourite book boyfriends. I can't wait to start Dash and Lily's Book of Dares, it looks like such a fun, cute read! Rachel, do let me know if you happen to stop by London one day. ;) Thanks for sharing, ladies, I can't wait to see Part Two! :)

Jen R. said...

Ha, I love it how Rachel keeps on mentioning the Fever series. I'm currently reading Shadowfever, and I'm loving it so bad even though I don't usually read adult UF! :) Mac and Barrons all the way!

I also talk about Barrons here and poke fun in him here- Our Top Ten Book Boy/Girlfriends of 2012… Chat style! :)

Jenny said...

JERICHO BARRONS RACHEL!!!! *dies* That series will forever top my list of favorites ever. I couldn't have loved ICED any more if I'd tried, I'm really enjoying Dani, Christian and Ryodan, but I'm beyond excited to get back to Mac and Barrons after her trilogy is over.

And Jasprit, I completely agree with you on Confessions of an Angry Girl being a hidden gem - I didn't expect to love that one as much as I did!

Keertana said...

Aahhh, amazing list you two! First of all...JERICHO BARRONS! Do we need to even SAY anything else? ;) I just adored so many of the books you two picked this year and even better, you gave me some recommendations as well! Chasing Brooklyn and The Storyteller are definitely on my TBR Shelf now and Jasprit, I am SO THRILLED that you added Dairy Queen on here as a mention! ;) Seriously though, I can't wait for Part Two of your recap now! :D

Tanja - Tanychy said...

I must read both Gone Girl and Shadowfever!! :) I can't believe I haven't read either. I loved both The Storyteller and Throne of Glass. To be honest The Storyteller can hardly be in anyone's comfort zone, but the book is sooo good! :) Amazing picks girls :)

Blueicegal ♥ said...

gahh!! you guys are making me super guilty for not reading some of these awesome books. I can just tell that I will love them. AND HECK YES TO THE PIPERS SON AND SHADOWFEVER!!

Beverley said...

Fantastic post guys! Where do I start? :D

Jas, THRONE OF GLASS! I'm not much of a fantasy girl either but Sarah J. Maas' novel blew me away too! And I'm so glad Celaena is your favourite female mc of the year! We need more kick-ass characters like her! And I'm very eager to try Bittersweet - sounds perfect for a rainy day! And wasn't Dash and Lily's Book of Dares such fun?

Rachel! Firstly, I'm so glad you loved Easy so much because it's near the top of my TBR pile and I CAN'T WAIT to devour it :D And yes, NOAH HUTCHINS! I adored that bad boy!!! Whoop whoop for Kami from Unspoken! Her wit and humour had me giggling non-stop!

Fabulous post, thank you for sharing your favourites of 2012! Hopefully 2013 will be just as much of a success for you both <3

Jen (Books and Other Happy Ever Afters) said...

Oh my golly, ladies! This is a wonderful post! You have no idea how many new books I've just added to my must-read pile for 2013. Apparently I've been missing out on so many! I need to get my hands on THIS IS NOT A TEST, BITTERSWEET, THE STORYTELLER. ALMOST seems like a lovely, emotional read as well. Great picks, and thanks for sharing, Jasprit & Rachel! :)

Henrietta @ Leisure Reads said...

I love what you're sharing! Jas, Alex from Hunting Lila and Celaena from Throne of Glass are also my favs. And Rachel, I think I'll have to make it my goal to start the Fever series in the new year :)

Anonymous said...

Awesome awesome post, ladies! It would take me forever to decide from your list above. I definitely love all your choices. Jasprit, I see a lot of Heather and Cooper! I love them too! They are such a perfect couple and YES, it did take them forever to get together, but I was so happy when they finally did.
Ah Rachel! It seems like Mac and Barrons really did rub on you! ;) Well, it's completely understandable!
I have This Is Not a Test, so I'm going to have to read that book because it's your favorite read of this year! Also, I've been seeing a lot of Gone Girl. Can you believe I haven't read it yet?
Rachel, thanks for listing Almost up there. I've never heard of that book before but it seems so poignant. I'm going to try it out soon.
Great list, you guys! I'm sure you had quite the time deciding on your books! :)

Maja (The Nocturnal Library) said...

Jasprit, I knew you liked Gone Girl, but I hadn't realized you liked it that much! I definitely need to make time for it soon. And OMG, Lucian and Phaedra are my favorite couple as well, with maybe Deuce and Fade from Outpost as runner-ups.
As always, great post, ladies.

Livvy said...

Great list guys. I see why you had to pick runner's up since I wouldn't be able to pick just one.

Gone Girl I keep seeing that in my shops and I think I read your review... Hmm. Maybe have to pick up that one.

Divergent and the Heather Wells series are two books that I want to get around to next year.

I think moving out of your comfort show is a great thing to do and glad you guys enjoyed it.

Lovely sum up!

Book Passion for Life said...

It's great to see what you're favourite reads were ladies. There's a few I'd like to try and read this year. Great post!

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