Favorite Books of 2011 (2)

Is it just me or were there a ton of awesomely wonderful fantabulous great books released in 2011? No, it wasn't just me. To express my immense love for the marvelous books I've read this year, I decided to start doing posts that each feature one of my favorite books if 2011. These posts will come at random times. The books that I choose to feature are in no particular order of how much I love them.

The book I chose this time is...

You can read my review for it HERE!

What did you think of this book? Leave your thoughts in comments and leave links to your review of it :)

Delirium by Lauren Oliver (REVIEW)

Delirium (Delirium #1) by Lauren Oliver

Genre: YA Dystopian - Publisher: HarperTeen - Publication Date: February 1, 2011 - Format: Hardcover - Pages: 441 - Source: Received as a gift (At Random)

Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love. (Goodreads.com)

My experience with Delirium was kind of like eating chocolate cake. It's delicious and while you're eating it, you think, well this might be the most wonderful thing I've ever eaten. You want to devour the whole thing, but savor each fabulous bite. You hope you never run out of the chocolate cake. But the thing is, Delirium trumps that chocolate cake by like three trillion. It's almost hard for me to sit here and write a review, because I feel like I could never do this book justice no matter how hard I try.

If I had only a limited amount of words I could use to describe this book (and thank the heavens I don't!), I'd have to say my top choices would be heart-breaking and tantalizing. Everything about this novel is utterly heart-breaking and gut-wrenching. The world, the belief systems, the relationships. Everything. Sometimes I wanted to step inside of the novel and shake some SENSE into the people. This story was tantalizing because even when there were the happiest scenes, I could still feel the enormous pressure of impending doom pressing down on the characters.

I wasn't sure what to expect going into this book. I had never once read a bad review of it, and I was agonizingly desperate to read it. The first 20 pages or so were kind of slow and I thought, Oh no. This is going to be just like Matched by Ally Condie. But then it picked up and I couldn't stop reading. I seriously could not. Oliver's writing is absolutely stunning and vivid and all together awe-inspiring. I get chills just thinking about it. I felt every emotion deep in my gut and it was so beautiful and simultaneously terrifying because I would never want to go through what Lena goes through.

This book isn't action-packed or particularly fast-paced, but it is still exciting. Gorgeous. Moving. It made me feel, made me think, made laugh, made me cry, made me shake my head, made me whoop with excitement. It got my hopes up, it tore me to pieces.  

I'm hesitant to say that this is one of the best books I've read in 2011, but I'm pretty sure it fits. I know that this is a book I will never forget, a book that I will hold dear to me for a long time. A book that I will never get tired of reading. There are twists and turns and trouble and bittersweet moments.

This book shows that love can make people better, braver, stronger. It shows that love can make people blind and stupid while making everything clear and making people smarter at the same time. People can act foolishly and admirably. It can make people crazy while being the only thing that keeps them sane. Love is a risk, and this book proves that it is a risk worth taking.

Lena is strong and courageous, even when she doesn't realize it. Alex is...Alex is marvelous. Absolutely marvelous. No words can describe how much I fell in love with him throughout this novel. Hana and Gracie. Carol Rachel. They all brought something unique and special to the table that I can't even put into words.

Now, I'll say this: The last two pages of the book were emotionally the most difficult thing I have ever read. I sobbed and sniffled and it took me ten minutes to finish those last two pages because I couldn't read past my tears. Then, I read the summary for Pandemonium, the sequel, and I cried even harder. This book haunts me. I went to sleep thinking about it, I woke up thinking about it. I will be buying Pandemonium the day it is released. I can't even do a 'Reasons I liked it' section for this book, because I loved every little bit of it. Everything. This book has over 400 pages and I read it in less than twelve hours.

If you even came remotely close to enjoying...

If I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Matched by Ally Condie

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Divergent by Veronica Roth

If I Stay by Gayle Foreman

Then you will LOVE LOVE LOOOOOVE Delirium.

Amazon - Kindle - B&N - Nook - Indiebound - Book Depository

In My Mailbox (5)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren!

 

I didn't get a lot this week (which is definitely a GOOD thing), but the books I did get are all super awesome and I am excited for all of them!

 

 

The Academy (After Life) by T.P. Boje (Received from author)

Diary of a Part-Time Ghost by Vered Ehsani (Received from author)

Crave by Melissa Darnell (Received eARC from NetGalley)

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

A Shade bookmark signed by Jeri Smith-Ready

And a cute business card.

A GINORMOUS thanks goes out to http://lratrandom.blogspot.com/ for giving this to me for a RAK. Delirium was my number one most wanted book (Review coming tomorrow), and when she emailed me and asked for my address, I sort of died. She also included the signed bookmark which was an awesomely unexpected treat!

On my wishlist (3)

On my wishlist is a weekly meme hosted by Book Chick City every Saturday.

If you would like to participate or learn more about it, click HERE.

My wishlist: 

Entice by Carrie Jones

Publication date: December 14, 2010

Genre: YA paranormal

Summary from Goodreads:

Zara and Nick are soul mates, meant to be together forever.
But that's not quite how things have worked out.

For starters, well, Nick is dead.
Supposedly, he's been taken to a mythic place for warriors known as Valhalla, so Zara and her friends might be able to get him back. But it's taking time, and meanwhile a group of evil pixies is devastating Bedford, with more teens going missing every day. An all-out war seems imminent, and the good guys need all the warriors they can find. But how to get to Valhalla?

And even if Zara and her friends discover the way, there's that other small problem: Zara's been pixie kissed. When she finds Nick, will he even want to go with her? Especially since she hasn't just turned...she's Astley's queen.

I've read so many bad reviews for this series, but I love it. It's a light and easy read, and with the cliffy ending of Captivate, I've been itching to read this book.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Publication date: February 1, 2011

Genre: YA dystopia

Summary from Goodreads:

Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.

GAHHH! I've wanted to read this book for forever. The premise is original, and I've heard so many great things about it.

Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

Publication date: May 31, 2011

Genre: YA mythilogical paranormal

Summary from Goodreads:



How do you defy destiny?

Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.

As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart.

I've been in love with this cover since the moment I saw it. It is just so beautiful. I also have a slight infatuation with mythology, therefore I knew that this book would be perfect for me. I've read a few reviews about it, and I feel like this is either a love-it-or-hate-it book. I hope that I read it and love it!

What is on your wishlist?