Rebecca Lim | Musings of the Monster Librarian

So here we are- part two of the Top Picks list for 2011.

Each book on the list below was reviewed in the past year, although not all the books were published in 2011. If the book made a Top Picks list in the past, it won’t be on this year’s list (Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson, was first reviewed in 2009 and made the list that year, so it’s not on this year’s list).

Books that made this list were chosen by our reviewers as exceptional examples of compelling writing, creativity, and original illustration or presentation. Many of them provided considerable food for thought as well as entertainment value. The choices were made only from books reviewed for the site, so there are many fine titles that do not appear here. The Monster Librarian’s Top Picks for 2011, listed below, have not been ranked in any order(although I tried to list them alphabetically). We created lists for adult books, young adult books, and kids’ books. I previously posted the Top Picks for Adult Fiction in 2011. You’ll find the Top Picks booklists for young adults and children below. Enjoy!

Note for librarians and readers: As with all recommended reading lists, not all of The Monster Librarian’s Top Picks for 2011 will be appropriate for or appreciated by every reader. Please take the time to check out reviews of these titles at MonsterLibrarian.com before making a decision about reading them or recommending them to others.

The Monster Librarian’s Top Picks for Young Adults, 2011

A special mention goes to Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs, chosen as a top pick by four different reviewers independently of each other.

Abarat series by Clive Barker (Abarat, Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War, and Abarat: Absolute Midnight)

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Cryer’s Cross by Lisa McMann

Drink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst

Ghost Town (Morganville Vampires, Book 9) by Rachel Caine

Ink Exchange (Wicked Lovely) by Melissa Marr

Lockdown: Escape from Furnace 1 by Alexander Gordon Smith

Mercy by Rebecca Lim

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Nickel Plated by Aric Davis

Red Moon Rising by Peter Moore

Shiver (Wolves of Mercy Falls) by Maggie Stiefvater

Skulls by Tim Marquitz

Subject Seven by James A. Moore

Teeth: Vampire Tales edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling.

The Dead (An Enemy Novel) by Charlie Higson

The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

The Monster Librarian’s Top Picks for Kids, 2011

A special mention goes to Crooked Hills: Book One by Cullen Bunn, reviewed independently by two different reviewers and highly recommended by both.

Crooked Hills by Cullen Bunn

Dragonbreath series, books 1-3, by Ursula Vernon (Dragonbreath,

Attack of the Ninja Frogs,

Curse of the Were-wiener

)

Fear: 13 Stories of Suspense and Horror edited by R.L. Stine

Monster and Me (Monster and Me) by Robert Marsh

Scary School by Derek the Ghost

Little Goblins Ten by Pamela Jane, illustrated by Jane Manning

The Island of the Skog by Steven Kellogg

The Shadows: The Books of Elsewhere: Volume 1 by Jacqueline West

Hyperion has been running one of the cooler summer reading promotions for teens I’ve seen from a publisher recently. It’s called unRequired Reading, which I like, because so many times kids are assigned books that they HAVE to read, even over the summer. In our last update, we reviewed one of the books from the unRequired Reading list, Mercy by Rebecca Lim. With the book they sent us, the folks from Hyperion also sent us an unRequired Reading water bottle, a nice thing to have if you’re going to be reading outdoors in the heat (and here we’ve broken a heat record made in 1936) or really, doing anything in the heat. Know a teen who’s been reading up a storm this summer? Been reading like crazy yourself? Leave a comment telling me what your favorite summer read has been, and win yourself a water bottle. I’ll pick a winner randomly and announce it on August 15, so you’ll have a chance to use it before the school year kicks in and the summer heat is gone. And check back with us- because if you’re a winner and we don’t have your address, we can’t mail it to you.