The Best of 2010

Nothing horrible happened to me this year, which considering 2009, is something to celebrate all its own. But some very good things happened to me as well.

Best Personal News of the Year

• I met Neil Gaiman!

• I sent out my novel and got rejections and am looking forward to many more rejections in the new year.
  

• I went to my first American Library Association Conference and got to see my awesome friend Sarah and visit Washington DC for the first time too.
  

• I got my driver's license!

• I finally feel like I have a good group of friends in the California area. However, unlike the the song Auld Lang Syne, my old acquaintance have not been forgot. I still love you guys.

• Over 300 blog posts! Gotta admit, that's pretty good.
  

Best Books

• Best Teen Book: Will Grayson, Will Grayson. I think this was easily John Green's best book with both humor and meaning--teaching us the importance of friendship.

• Best Young Adult Fantasy Books: I was sure I reviewed I Shall Wear Midnight but cannot seem to find the review anywhere! My favorite Tiffany book is still Wee Free Men, but this is still Pratchett, and thus, still wonderful and Tiffany really becomes a woman and a witch in this book.

• The Goblin Gate is another fabulous book I didn't review. I think what happened is I got these both as advanced readers copies at the ALA Conference and didn't feel right reviewing them until they actually came out and other peoople had a chance to read them. But in doing this, I forgot to review them completely! However, I do remember this is a fun, fast paced book with interesting ethical questions about survival. I eagerly await the sequel, The Goblin War.
  

• The Lost Hero was easily the best Rick Riordan book I've read so far, and that's saying a lot because I really loved his other books. I did review this one. Just click title for the link.

• Best Adult Book: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

Best Movies

I reviewed both the following movies. Click the titles for the links.

Tangled







Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I







I hope your year was full of great things as well and that 2011 is even greater!

Will Grayson, Will Grayson:

Book and Audiobook Review

Summary

Will Grayson is a teen in Evanston, IL whose non-confrontational personality is often challenged by his larger than life friend, Tiny Cooper. Will Grayson is a teen in Naperville, IL who has no friends. Happenstance cause these two to meet one night in Chicago and their colliding paths cause them to share more than just their names.

Overview (No spoilers)

What I really liked about this book was that it was a marked departure from John Green's usual romantic themes. It deals in romance, but more importantly, it's a treatise on friendship: what it is, what it means, and what a true friend will do for another. It's not that I haven't loved the romances Green has written, but this was a refreshing change not just to him but also for YA books in general which, much as I adore them, I will confess often rank romantic love far above friendship. As for Levithal's character, I've never read anything else by him, so I can't compare, but I did like his character in the end. Though I'll note that I hated him in the beginning. It wasn't that I couldn't relate, since though it constantly shames me to admit it, it really wasn't that long ago that I was a teen. But the anger and angst of the age are not things I miss. However, the character's need to use his anger to distance people because of his own fear that he wasn't worthy of affection struck a more universal cord with me.

Audiobook (Mild spoilers)

Only after listening to the audio did I glance at the text and realize that Naperville Will's sections were written in textspeak grammar which, no doubt, would have driven me nuts to read since I can't even abide textspeak when someone is texting me. That combined with his angst-ridden character might have made me give up earlier if I hadn't been listening. I also was impressed that they sang the songs and the ex-boyfriend song cracked me up when the guy sang "I don't have to you you why." Something about the tone mixed with the words was what made it funny. And it was a good choice for them to alternate readers, of course. I'm guessing Evanston Will's reader sang the songs but honestly I don't know for certain. Overall, they were both excellent voice actors that were able to emphasize feelings I may not have felt from a straight reading of the text.