Armchair BEA - Best of 2011.... so far

Here is Tuesday's writing prompt for BEA
 

Tuesday is Armchair BEA’s big Giveaway Day! We’ll be doing giveaways all week here, but if you’re hosting a giveaway for Armchair BEA-goers on your own site, this is the day to post about it there and link it up here! And if you’re not hosting a giveaway, today’s suggested posting topic is “Best of 2011”: share some of your favorite books so far this year, and/or the the books being promoted at BEA that you hope will end up among your favorites for the year!

I am not giving anything away today, so here are my favourite reads of 2011 so far, plus a few honourable mentions!

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins - This is YA at it's best. I am planning to review this book as part of the Paris in July event that is being run by Karen from Bookbath and Tamara from Thyme for Tea again this year. For now, I will say that this book had me wishing that I could visit Paris any time of the year, not just in July.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness - If there was a book that ticked all my boxes in terms of something I would really enjoy reading, then this book was it. It has vampires, witches, time travel, romance, drama and adventure, and a fabulous house, and much, much more! Can not wait for the second book in the trilogy.

 

The Last Letter from Your Lover by Jojo Moyes -This book won the UK Romantic Novelists' Association award for Romantic Novel of the Year, and I have to say that it was well deserved. I couldn't imagine that I would love a book about two people involved in an adulterous relationship would touch me the way this one did. It also had humour and poignancy in the form of break up letters from various sources. Just thinking about the book makes me want to reread this book.

The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley - I think I am genetically predisposed to love the writing of Susanna Kearsley, and this book was no exception. I was going to say that this was her best book since The Winter Sea, but given that The Winter Sea was her last book, that really doesn't say all that much does it! I am currently working on a buddy review for this one, so the review should be up shortly! I will say that this book has a twist in it that literally had me gasping out loud when I read it!


This year I seem to be reading  a lot of short stories, with a particular focus on short stories by Australian authors. This is quite a change for me, because before this year I used to mainly search out short stories only when they were part of an ongoing series that I was already invested in. It also has had the added bonus of introducing me to some Australian authors that I hadn't read before.

So my honorary mentions go to

Margo Lanagan - I am thoroughly enjoying my trip through Margo Lanagan's short stories. You can read my review of Yellowcake here. I can't wait to read her next collection, and do also intend to read Tender Morsels soon too.

Marianne de Pierres -  I bought her Glitter Rose collection when I went to Sydney earlier this year. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but it was oh so good. Now I need to read Burning Bright!

Tansy Rayner Roberts - I first read this author in the Sprawl anthology. Her short story Relentless Adaptations was funny and imaginative, and I really enjoyed her voice. Then I read Love and Romanpunk, which is a collection of four short stories, and really, really enjoyed that too! I have subsequently bought her novel Power and Majesty (the first book in the Creature Court trilogy) and I have high expectations for it.

One of the interesting things about this list is that the Sprawl anthology, Glitter Rose and Love and Romanpunk were all published by the same publisher - Twelfth Planet Press. I am not a reader who normally takes notice of particular publishers but I am now taking notice of this one. Yet another way my reading has changed a little this year.

So there you have it. My favourites of 2011 so far, and some honourable mentions. What are you favourite reads of this year so far?