"Outside a dog a book is man's best friend, inside a dog it is too dark to read!" -Groucho Marx========="The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." -Jane Austen========="I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."-JK Rowling========"I spend a lot of time reading." -Bill Gates=========“Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.” -Jacqueline Kelly=========

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

TTT: Freebie---Favorite reads of the summer


Top Ten Tuesday this week is a freebie choice. 
The best books I read this summer.

Overall winner and Best Adult Fiction
 All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
This was clearly my favorite book of the summer. 
I "lived the book" for the week it took me to listen to it on audiobooks.

Best YA Fiction
Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman
This was a hard choice. I read lots of YA novels this summer. This was percolated to the top because of spectacular writing and whimsical illustrations. The topic is very serious, though. It is about mental illness.

Best Graphic Novel
Tie.
Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson
and
Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
Roller Girl for its spot-on coming-of-age tale; Nimona for its surprising plot twists and turns. The illustrations in both are fantastic.

Best YA Nonfiction
The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Petersen and the Churchill Club by Phillip Hoose
Admittedly I only read two YA nonfiction books this summer, but this one is quite good.

Best Adult Nonfiction
The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
I realized I knew next to nothing about these American inventors, Orville and Wilbur Wright, prior to reading this book. David McCullough is a favorite author, too.

Best Audiobook Recording
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, read by Zach Appelman
This book is set in both Germany and France. Zach Appelman handled the foreign words and accents beautifully.  I was captivated.

Best Re-Read
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
I think this was my fourth time through this favorite book. I reread it in preparation for Go Set a Watchman, which I also enjoyed.

Best Historical- Fiction (YA)
Audacity by Melanie Crowder
Based on the life of Clara Lemlich, who fought for equal rights for women back around the time of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York. Written in verse and beautifully done.

Best Classic
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Huston
OK. You caught me. I only read one classic this summer, unless To Kill a Mockingbird is considered a classic. This one is written in vernacular so I am glad we listened to the audiobook.

Best Book Club Selection of the summer
Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
No matter what you think of this "sequel" to To Kill a Mockingbird, it was an excellent discussion book on many different levels.



5 comments:

  1. I'm interested in picking up Nimona and The Boys Who Challenged Hitler. Great picks!

    Check out my TTT.

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  2. Yes! TKAM is definitely a classic.

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  3. Perhaps I'll like All The Light We Cannot See better when we discuss it at Book Club. I really wanted to love it!

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  4. I hope to read to the Wright Brothers book soon. I liked Anthony Doerr's novel too and wrote my thoughts on it at http://www.thecuecard.com/books/all-the-light-we-cannot-see/

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  5. Ooh, Challenger Deep is one that I definitely want to read!
    My TTT; https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2015/09/15/top-ten-tuesday-22/

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