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Thursday, June 30, 2011

Faves of 2011...So Far (3) The Scenes and The Random

Today is the final day of this very cool book awards/survey thingy that is hosted by Nomes over at inkcrush.

Check out day one (The Books) at inkcrush and the links to other bloggers taking part and day two (The Characters and Bonus 5 Covers) and day three (The Scenes and The Random) with links...

Read my day one and day two picks.

The books must be ones we have read this year.


Today's lists are about The Scenes and The Random!
(all links lead to my reviews)


THE SCENES

best first chapter
Saving June, Five Flavors of Dumb, Where She Went. You must all be so sick of me raving about these three over the last three posts :D

best climax
I think a lot of books could probably fill this category but I'm going to go with Die For Me this time.

best ending
Where She Went. Perfect <3

best plot twist/revelation (no spoilers!)
Between, so did not see the turn the story took!! And OMG, The Warlock, last page(!). I was expecting something but not that!

scariest/most disturbing scene
I really didn't like the scenes featuring Brand in Burn Bright and I also thought Lenoir with the blood was gross.

steamiest scene (or sweetest/sexiest kiss award)
My current vote goes to Jake and Harper from Saving June, specifically the scene when The Doors are playing...

best swoon-worthy moment
Oh gosh there are so many! The one that really sticks in my mind is when Jake sings 'Tears in Heaven' to Harper as she falls asleep in Saving June. I remember this one the most for two reasons: I wrote it down so I could remember how much I swooned and also because it's one of the more recently read books for me. There are lots of other swoon-worthy moments in Just Listen, Where She Went, Anna and the French Kiss, The Big Crunch and A Little Wanting Song.

biggest nail-biting moment
Hmm I'm not sure. Most likely something from Divergent but I think I need to re-read it.

most hilarious scene
Oh gosh I'm not sure! So many books have laugh-out-loud scenes but I have a terrible memory. I look forward to seeing what everyone else comes up with.

most heart-breaking/tear-jerker moment
This one is easy for me. Early on in The Demon Trapper's Daughter I practically bawled my eyes out. I won't say why because I don't want to spoil anything for anyone but I'm pretty sure I cried for like, 30 pages. And I find this funny because it's not supposed to be a sad book but anyway...

I also found one scene in particular from Between that I thought was written extremely well and I totally welled up. Again, I don't want to say what it is because it's kinda crucial to the storyline but if you have read it then you most likely know what I am talking about (hint: memories). And another one is in Five Flavors of Dumb and a scene between Finn and Piper when Finn talks about why he learned sign language. I get a lump in my throat everytime I read the quote (see review).

THE RANDOM

fave first sentence
"The first time Wes saw June, he thought she was kind of funny-looking."...and the following two sentences make it even better..."She had these thick lips, a wide mouth, greenish-blue eyes that were a little too far apart, and her hair - a dark blond color - looked still wet from her morning shower. Wes thought she looked like a sea creature pretending to be human." From The Big LinkCrunch.

fave book title
Black Painted Fingernails. With a shout-out to 90 Packets of Instant Noodles and also You Against Me (even though I didn't really like the book)

fave reading experience (ie: created a great reading memory)
Nic, Nomes and I all read Saving June at the same time so it was awesome to be able to chat about what was going on, especially since we all LOVED it. Special mention to Where She Went and Die For Me because, having recently been to New York and Paris, I was able to really picture the settings even more so than usual.

book with the best food in it (made me so crazy-envious-hungry)
LOL I don't have one for this but I'm guessing Nomes and Nic will put Peanut Butter... ;)

most embarrassing book cover (feeling sheepish in public)
I don’t really have one for this but I suppose Hex because it is bubble-gum pink and doesn’t look like a book a 24-year-old should/would be reading.

can’t believe you waited this long to read the book (!)
A Little Wanting Song (also published under Chasing Charlie Duskin). This was first published in Australia in 2005! I don't know why I had never heard of it, especially since I have worked in a bookstore since 2005, but after totally loving Graffiti Moon, I finally read it.

*********

I found these categories the hardest out of the three days because they rely on you remembering scenes and when you have read as many books as I have over the last six months, it can be really hard, regardless if you really liked them or not! Lesson of the day, make more notes when writing reviews!

Thankyou to Nomes for coming up with this great idea. I've totally loved reading what everyone picked and my TBR has even more titles on it *sigh*

9 comments:

  1. Oh Where She Went.. such perfection <3 Ahh I need to read Five Flavors of Dumb too! great list!

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  2. I've been wanting to read Divergent. I hear it's great.

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  3. i LOVE all the book titles you chose (and even though you didn't like it that much i am still quietly excited about reading YOU AGAINST ME) i think BLACK PAINTED FINGERNAILS is an awesome title <3

    love how we keep talking about how good SAVING JUNE is ~ weird how no one else in the world has read it but all my Aussie buds love it <3

    am so glad you went back and read cath crowleys book. iread it a while ago but re-read it this year (after graffiti moon withdrawals ;)

    and, for some reason the scenes in BURN BRIGHT did not worry me? although iagree the blood thing with lenoir was, well, weird. i re-read it twice b/c i couldn't quite grasp what i had just read ...

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  4. oh yes to A Little Wanting Song, it is such an excellent book, I adored it. I can't wait to read Graffiti Moon, which is finally out here in feb 2012!!!

    Also, yes to the car wash scene in Just Listen ~ love that and to Piper and Finn - loved their relationship!

    I have pre-ordered Saving June on the strength of all the swooning in these lists :) Can't wait

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  5. YAY for Saving June! We both pick that for steamiest and swoon worthy moment, surprise surprise lol. As well as favourite reading experience.

    And also the ending for WSW. It was a total awwwwwwwwwwwww moment. Great list Jess :)

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  6. You said it! It's hard to remember the scenes in detail, I just kind of go, oh that made me cry though I can't exactly remember what it was about it that did. I'm thinking I should start an excel file with book notes. :) Yes, I am a major dweeb.

    Loved your picks and I am so jealous you guys have Saving June already. I really want to read it now!! I just started Five Flavors of Dumb last night. I really like Piper's character.

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  7. I'd never get tired of gushing over Where She Went or hearing people gush over it! Perfect ending. I was so happy!

    Tears in Heaven? Seriously. I'm kind of apprehensive now because that sounds kind of cheesy to me. LOL

    So jelly that you got to go to NY and Paris. It must have been awesome to match the story to the actual places!

    Great list, Jess. Thanks!

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  8. Angie - haha an excel file. actually sounds like a good idea!

    Missie - it's not about the song but the situation they are in. Trust Me! and Nic and Nomes :)

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  9. Agreed Angie. That is totally something that I would do. Am right now considering keeping a book or word doc or something with my favourite quotes/parts of books that i love with page numbers so that I can reference back to them. Haha.
    Love all of the lists though :)

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