Top Ten Tuesday | Books Read In 2011

This week's Top Ten Tuesday is: Top Ten Books I Read In 2011

(I may be cheating a little by lumping series' together :P)

1. Morganville Vampires - Rachel Caine

2. Wintercraft - Jenna Burtenshaw

3. Paper Towns - John Green

4. Will Grayson, Will Grayson - John Green

5. Evermore - Alyson Noel

6. Beastly - Alex Flinn

7. North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell

8. Good Morning, Midnight - Jean Rhys

9. The Color Purple - Alice Walker

10. Let It Snow - Green, Johnson & Myracle

I'm in no way disrespecting any of these authors as I love them ALL, but 2011 wasn't a great year for my reading pile! I pretty just much read series' of books rather than stand-a-lones so it was difficult to choose. I read ELEVEN of Caine's books in 2011! Hopefully when it comes to posting my 2012 reading list, it will be a little more varied :)

Sick/Ill Book Tag

I love these book tags! I tag whoever reads this ;) As always, link me to your answers in the comments as I love seeing what people come up with :)

This tag is the Sick/Ill book tag. As the owner of an autoimmune disease myself, I thought this one could be fun/different to anything else. The aim of the game is to pick a book that suits the description of the condition.

A total of 9 illnesses whose symptoms mirror how a book made you feel:

1. Diabetes: a book too sweet, like really sweet.
Let It Snow - Green, Johnson & Myracle.
Such an adorable book, containing three short stories (one by each other). Very sweet and easy to read. 

2. Chicken Pox: a book you've read once, and will never pick up again.
Fifty Shades of Grey - E.L.James or any autobiography.
Reading that book once was more than enough for me! Also autobiographies are really interesting to read but I can't see myself ever re-reading one.

3. Influenza: the flu a contagious book that spreads like a virus
The Study Series - Maria V Snyder
Since buying these books, i've gotten five other people to read them and LOVE them. I will forever push these books on to people :)

4. The cycle: a book you read every month, year or often
Harry Potter Series
I think every Potter fan re-reads these often! :)

5. Insomnia: a book that kept you up all night.
Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer & The Name of the Star - Maureen Johnson
The Twilight books were just so easy to read that I soaked them up. I'm an unashamed Twilight fan and they would probably still keep me up all night!
Johnson's book was just brilliant and I could not rest until I had the story finished.

6. Amnesia: a book that's forgotten and failed to leave a powerful impression in your memory
The Vampire Chronicles - Anne Rice
I really need to finish this series! It's not that I didn't enjoy what i've read so far - I honestly just keep forgetting that i'm in the middle of it. It's just not powerful enough to make me want to finish I guess.

7. Asthma: a book that took your breath away
The Fault in our Stars - John Green
Beautiful writing, fantastic characters and a plot line that literally takes your breath away. This is a total must read.

8. Malnutrition: a book that lacked food for thought
Hush, Hush / Crescendo - Becca Fitzpatrick
I recently reviewed Crescendo and as I explained there - there's just nothing to these stories so far but I can't stop eating them up! Sometimes, I just can't argue with the critic in me, and I just have to sit back and read...:)

9. Travel sickness: a book that took you on a journey through time or space or to a specific local on the map
Eragon Series - Christopher Paolini
(With the exception of Inheritence, which I am yet to read).
I read these a few years ago whilst I was in hospital. Not really a 'travel' journey, but a journey none-the-less. They're just wonderful stories that anyone can get into and I hope that by the end of the year i'll have read the final installment to complete the story!

Let It Snow - Green, Johnson & Myracle

Beautiful presents wrapped in ribbons, and multicoloured lights glittering in the night through the falling snow. A Christmas Eve snowstorm transforms one small town into a romantic haven, the kind you only see in movies. Well, kinda. After all, a cold and wet hike from a stranded train through the middle of nowhere would not normally end with a delicious kiss with a charming stranger. And no one would think that a trip to the Waffle House through four feet of snow would lead to love with an old friend. Or that the way back to true love begins with a painfully early morning shift at Starbucks.
Thanks to three of today's best-selling teen authors - John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle - the magic of the holidays shines on these hilarious and charming interconnected tales of love, romance and breathtaking kisses.

Followers of my blog will know that I am a big fan of John Green and his books so it probably comes as no surprise that this book was no exception and I 100% love it, and recommend it.

Aside from that little note, this is not just a John Green book. A collaborative effort between Green, Johnson and Myracle turned into something magnificent and will now forever be my favourite Christmas book, and top 5 all year books.

Let It Snow is three completely different stories that occur at the same time, same town and has mentions and appearances from characters in each of the stories, so you can always get a little fix from the previous one. I know that was a good thing for me anyway as I really didn't want to leave the characters from any of the stories once i'd grown to love them.

The writing styles of Green, Johnson and Myracle all seem quite similar to me. This is a GOOD thing as they are continuously easy to read, follow and love. I'm not sure if this is intentional or a happy chance as I haven't yet read any more of Johnson or Myracle's works.

The stories contain a heavy amount of snow which is WONDERFUL. I live in a very rainy place where snow is practically a myth, so to get the feeling of a real white Christmas filled with adventure was perfect and made me want to snuggle up in pjs whilst reading. The adventures are exciting and unpredictable too!

As the blurb suggests, there is a lot of teens and a lot of romance - but not in the tacky way that some books have. The characters are genuine, real and identifiable and as I keep repeating - so very LOVEABLE!

I'm sad to have reached the end of the book in such a short time (literally just a couple of hours) as I couldn't put it down, but I loved every word on every page and I wish more great authors would do collabs like this. In fact, Let It Snow is probably the only reason I have any Christmas spirit at all this year :)