Favorites of 2011

I will read almost anything you put in front of me but if I don't like it, I may not continue to read it.

Here are my favorite books I read in 2011.

1.. A Storm of Swords by George M. Martin

I flew through all of the books in the Song of Ice and Fire series. This is the 3rd book in the series and my favorite. I flew through the first 3 books wanting to devour them at once. This book was has lots of action, sometimes grim, and the story telling was great. I also read the last two books so far and they are not as good as the 3rd book. I started reading these before I knew about the TV show but I got HBO just to watch the show once I found out about it.

2. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

I am a huge fan of the Mental Floss blog. Ransom used to post unusual photographs of interesting looking people and I loved his posts so I had to read the book. This is a book about an American boy who goes to an island off of Wales after a tragedy and finds the home for peculiar children. It is a quick fun read with weird photos as well.

3. Bright's Passage by Josh Ritter

This book grew on me after I had finished it. I am still not quiet sure what to make of it but I love books that cause me to think. This was one of them. This was on my list to read because of my love of Josh Ritter's music. It is about a World War I army vet and his baby and a talking horse. I will let you read it and see what you think about it before I give my verdict.

4. Shadows and Strongholds by Elizabeth Chadwick

This was the first Elizabeth Chadwick book I read and I have read almost of the books she has written, out of all of them, it is my favorite. It is the story of Brunin FitzWarin and Hawise di Dinan during the reign of King Stephen. I loved the descriptions of life she writes about and the romance between Brunin and Hawise is sweet. It helps that the last name of the heroine is very similar to my own last name. 

5. The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simmons

Another book I could not put down. Alexander is one of my favorite leading men in books. The story takes place mostly in Leningrad during the siege by the Germans. The love story between Tatiana and Alexander wooed me. Of the three books in the series, this was by far my favorite.

6. Scribbling the Cat by Alexandra Fuller

This was a tough read. It is about a soldier of the war in then Rhodesia returning to the scene of the fighting years later. The author went with him on this voyage. I have read her other book, Don't Let's Go To The Dogs Tonight, which I liked and Africa, which I like to read about.