Summer reading (and faves for 2011)

Everyone’s talking about their summer reading choices, which has got me considering what I’ll prioritise in my to-read pile.

(My Goodreads to-read list is now up to 83 and my physical/ebook pile at home is sitting at 28 – don’t tell my husband… I already have to smuggle new books in.)

So… here are the titles I intend to tackle in the coming month or so (after doing my day’s editing quota, of course), in no particular order:

(I started this a few weeks’ back and then got sidetracked – keen to get back to it)

Update: forgot to mention this one (sorry Nicola!):

Top 10 reads for 2011

And, while I’m at it, here are my Top 10 reads of 2011 (some were published before 2011 – I just read them this year), again in no particular order (click on cover for my thoughts on each):

OK, I have make this a top 13 because I nearly forgot…

(And I only nearly forgot the last three because I only reviewed them on Goodreads, rather than on one of my blogs. A few fell through the gaps while I was trying to rationalise my blogging…)

Love to hear what your summer reads will be – and what your favourite reads of 2011 were.

0 Comments

  1. paulaweston says:

    Thanks for an AWESOME comment Place. Love your work. 🙂

  2. Place says:

    Books for Summer:
    Water for Elephants – thanks Aunty Suzy for leaving it here for me while you head back to Darwin.
    The Hobbit – I know the film doesn’t come out until the end of the year, but I’m excited. Even though the film meant that one of my fave BBC shows ‘Being Human’ had to kill off sexy vampire Mitchell so that he could become the dwarf Kili (wow, I can’t imagine a hot Dwarf!)
    The Replacement – just picked up from the library – yay.
    The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. Having just finished Forever, I don’t want to say goodbye to this author’s work.
    Now, fave books from 2011. I returned to full time study this year, so I had to severely curtail my reading habits, which was a real struggle. Nevertheless, I did manage to get in a few books, faves included the following:
    Wicked by Gregory Maguire. That green tinted book, the prequel to the Wizard of Oz, provided us with the Wicked Witch of the West’s perspective. And what a dark world it is, where everything we thought we knew of Oz (particularly for me, who has only seen the film, and not read L Frank Baum’s original book) was not what it seemed.
    Extreme Rambling – walking Israel’s separation barrier. For Fun. by Mark Thomas. This is a non-fiction book – but how to describe it? Part travel diary, part political observation, and part comedy. Mark Thomas has made a living for quite some time as a stand up comedian doing observational political humour, so I guess he knows how to take a super-serious topic and find stuff for us to laugh about. And I do think that this is really the best way to get people to think about things that are controversial and important.
    Tithe: a modern Faerie tale by Holly Black. Not a ‘fairy tale’ for the faint hearted. Predating The Replacement, this novel was released in 2002, and also follows the dark, violent Faerie mythology rather than the ‘…happily ever after’ type that we might have grown up with as kids. It’s the story of Kaye and a Faerie knight, Roiben, whose life she saves when she finds him wounded in the woods near her home town. This book for teens comes with a side order of sex, violence and depravity – I’m not sure how the mother/ daughter chat will go if and when my 10 year old picks this one up in a few years’ time. For me, the writing was beautiful, capturing the pain of Roiben’s life, forced to obey a sadistic Faerie queen. Also enjoyed the sequel, Ironside.
    The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller. This book follows the theme of fated love/ star crossed lovers – one that I can’t get enough of.
    Forever by Maggie Stiefvater. What a great final book to this wonderful trilogy.
    Also, reread several of the Harry Potter series – I think I love these books more every time I read them, Rowling is a genius.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Latest Posts

Latest Comments

Categories

Archives

About Me

I’m the author of the Rephaim series and The Undercurrent.

For my day job, I’m a writer-journalist-professional communicator, where my writing involves a lot less profanity.

I grew up in regional South Australia and now live in the Scenic Rim with my husband and a retired greyhound.

If you’re interested in how I came to land a publishing deal, you can read the short version in this post from August 2011. There’s a longer version (in a guest post) here.

Paula Weston

Latest from the Blog

  • My first ‘best of’ list on Shepherd
    Have you heard of Shepherd.com? It’s a platform where authors provide book recommendations for readers who like their work. It’s a bit of a ‘If […]
  • Stagnation – and an epiphany
    As mentioned in my last post, I’ve been working on a new fantasy series. What I didn’t mention was that, for the first time in […]
  • I’m still here…
    Although I’d understand if you lost interest in this blog long ago. It’s been five years since my last post. I’m keen to get blogging […]
  • The Undercurrent – interviews and reviews
    It’s been a busy six weeks since The Undercurrent was released here in Australia. I’ve had the chance to talk about the new novel  on air, […]
  • Yes, the Undercurrent is a standalone novel
    The Undercurrent – out now in Australia and New Zealand – is a speculative thriller set in near-future Australia and, yes, it’s a standalone novel. […]