Best of 2008

Admittedly rather belated, but then again so am I, habitually. Without ado, the best books that I read in 2008. [Click for Good Reads page.]

1. The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss [adult, realistic]
2. The Bearskinner, by Laura Amy Schlitz [picture book]
3. Wasted, by Marya Hornbacher [memoir]
4. Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City, by Kirsten Miller [young adult, adventure]
5. The Perilous Gard, by Elizabeth Marie Pope [young adult, historical/fantasy]
6. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie [young adult, realistic]
7. God's Silence, by Franz Wright [poetry]
8. Coraline, by Neil Gaiman [middle-grade, fantasy/horror]
9. Looking for Alaska, by John Green [young adult, realistic]
10. Anne of the Island, by L.M. Montgomery [young adult?, realistic]
11. Song of the Sparrow, by Lisa Ann Sandell [young adult, verse, historical/fantasy]
12. The Wednesday Wars, by Gary D. Schmidt [middle-grade, realistic/historical]

The Perilous Gard

The Perilous Gard, by Elizabeth Marie Pope is simply delicious; I loved it through and through. It'sabout a lady-in-waiting of Princess Elizabeth's who is exiled to a mysterious, isolated castle for her little sister's indiscretion. There she quickly becomes entangled in the strange goings-on of the Elvenwood, and is plunged into an ancient and dangerous world straight out of legend.


Kate was a fabulous character who dwells happily outside the confines of that tired stereotypical YA historical/fantasy heroine, and I thought this book's "fairy folk" were marvelous - they're not the kind of fairies you're used to seeing in fantasy novels, and the author doesn't push anything past the bounds of believable or even possible (quite refreshing), but they really are great. Pitch-perfect plotting and pacing, too.

Please, if you haven't read this book already, don't miss it! It's one of the best I've read all year.

Grade: A+

"There is a place where even music is no longer necessary"

Things that are making me happy:
My R.A.'s photoblog from her internship in the Himalayan foothills of northern India.

The Rapunzel's Revenge countdown widget that Taiger made.

The Kiki Strike influence, which continues to prompt me to do things like climb through windows and go over fences instead of around them.

Knowing that my sister will be home from west Africa in a week and a half.

The book of Franz Wright poetry I am reading right now, God's Silence. It is astonishingly beautiful and true.

The Perilous Gard, by Elizabeth Marie Pope. I finished it this morning, and I loved it!