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Still waiting for snow... probably won't see even one tiny crystal flake till Janus shows his baby face.  Meanwhile, let's count up the books from 2011.  This year I am weighing in at 141 total books read (131 young adult books, and 10 books from the adult collections), -- could still (probably will) squeeze one more title in before midnight this Saturday.  How do I know how many?  I track and tag what I read using LibraryThing. You could also keep track in your library account using the bookbags feature. 141 total books read in 2011, works out to two and a half books a week. Yay, kudos, tra-la-la for me.  Soooo, which ten from 2011 did I think were tops? :

Seven from the teen collection:

Three from the adult collection:

SHOW ME THE SNOW

It's winter, and I am wishing for a little snow to lighten the days.  Maybe you are too.  So, until we get some of the real thing, here are a few books for icy crystals by proxy. This chilly list is a mix of genres. Wintersmith; Stork; Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow; Snow-walker; and East; are fantasy stories.  Whiteout is a mystery.  The White Darkness, Trapped, Revolver, and Brian's Winter are suspenseful, survival, adventure stories. Let It Snow, is a romance. Emperors of the Ice is historical fiction, based on a true story. I have read and can recommend: Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, and The White Darkness. I gave both books 4 stars. Trapped, while not a favorite of mine (I gave it 2 out of 5 stars), might appeal to those of you who enjoy survival stories.  I gave Stork, three and half out of five stars.  It is an urban fantasy that weaves Norse mythology into a small Minnesota town.  There is a sequel titled, Frost.

Brian's Winter, by Gary Paulsen, 1996. Instead of being rescued from a plane crash, as in the author's book Hatchet, this story portrays what would have happened to Brian had he been forced to survive a winter in the wilderness with only his survival pack and hatchet.

East, by Edith Pattou, 2003.  A young woman journeys to a distant castle on the back of a great white bear who is the victim of a cruel enchantment.

Emperors of the Ice: A True Story of Disaster and Survival in the Antarctic, 1910-13, by Richard Farr, 2008.  Apsley Cherry-Garrard shares his adventures as the youngest member of Robert Scott's expedition to Antarctica in the early 20th century, during which he and Edward Wilson try to learn the evolutionary history of emperor penguins. Includes historical notes.
 

Let It Snow : Three Holiday Romances, by John Green, Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myracle, 2008. In three intertwining short stories, several high school couples experience the trials and tribulations along with the joys of romance during a Christmas Eve snowstorm in a small town.

Revolver, by Marcus Sedgwick, 2010.  Finland, 1910: Fifteen-year-old Sig is shocked to see a hole in the frozen lake outside his family's cabin and to find his father's corpse nearby.  Sig's sister and stepmother go for help, leaving Sig alone with Einar's body in the cabin. Soon after, an armed stranger barges in, demanding a share of Einar's stolen gold.

Snow-walker, by Catherine Fisher, 2004.  The snow-walker Gudrun came from the swirling mists and icy depths beyond the edge of the world to rule the Jarl's people with fear and sorcery, but a small band of outlaws will fight to the death to restore the land to its rightful leader.

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, by Jessica Day George, 2008.  A girl travels east of the sun and west of the moon to free her beloved prince from a magic spell.

Stork, by Wendy Delsol, 2010.  After her parents' divorce, Katla and her mother move from Los Angeles to Norse Falls, Minnesota, where Kat immediately alienates two boys at her high school and, improbably, discovers a kinship with a mysterious group of elderly women--the Icelandic Stork Society--who "deliver souls."

Trapped, by Michael Northrop, 2011.  Seven high school students are stranded at their New England high school during a week-long blizzard that shuts down the power and heat, freezes the pipes, and leaves them wondering if they will survive.

The White Darkness, by Geraldine McCaughrean, 2007.  Taken to Antarctica by the man she thinks of as her uncle for what she believes to be a vacation, Symone--a troubled fourteen year old--discovers that he is dangerously obsessed with seeking Symme's Hole, an opening that supposedly leads into the center of a hollow Earth.

Whiteout, by Walter Sorrells, 2009. Sixteen-year-old Chass makes her way through a Minnesota blizzard, seeking not only the murderer of a beloved music teacher, but also something belonging to the killer who has been chasing her mother and herself around the country.

Wintersmith, by  Terry Pratchett, 2006.  When witch-in-training Tiffany Aching accidentally interrupts the Dance of the Seasons and awakens the interest of the elemental spirit of Winter, she requires the help of the six-inch-high, sword-wielding, sheep-stealing Wee Free Men to put the seasons aright.

TEEN THINK TANK'S TOP 44 READS FOR 2011

The Library's teen advisory board met last Thursday, Dec. 1 (next meeting is in February), for pizza, and, well, to meet, and eat pizza. We talked about what the 2012 poetry contest theme might be (good ideas were generated), discussed movies, and books, ate pizza (Thank you, Friends of the Library!), and whether a homework/writing drop-in program was something people would come to here at the library (members all said no).  While we ate more pizza, eleven members of the TTT wrote down their favorite reads from 2011, which I have posted below (all linked to the online catalog, of course).  

To solidify that reading mood here is a video from...
Julian Smith, I'm Reading A Book:

THE TEEN THINK TANK’S

TOP 44 READS OF 2011

  

Fiction : 

Young Samurai: Ring of Earth, by Chris Bradford 

A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess 

Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll 

Hush, by Eishes Chayil

Nightshade, by Andrea Cremer

Elixir, by Hilary Duff

Hush Hush, by Becca Fitzpatrick

Ranger's Apprentice series, by John Flanagan

Beastly , by Alex Flinn

Tyger, Tyger, by Kerstan Hamilton

Magic the Gathering : Lorwyn, by Cory J. Herndon

Seekers series, by Erin Hunter

Need, by Carrie Jones

Iron King, by Julie Kagawa

A Dragon's Awakening, by Aya Knight

The Power of Six, by Pittacus Lore

Pendragon series, by D.J. MacHale

Wildwood Dancing, by Juliet Marillier

The Murder of Bindy MacKenzie, by Jaclyn Moriarty

A Step From Heaven, by An Na

All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Remarque

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs

Heroes of Olympus series, by Rick Riordan

Holes, by Louis Sachar

Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley

Skinjacker trilogy, by Neal Shusterman

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien

Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut

Girl in Hyacinth Blue, by Susan Vreeland

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

Skin, by Adrienne Vrettos

Graphic Fiction and Manga :

 The Walking Dead, by Robert Kirkman

Naruto, by Masashi Kishimoto

Bleach, by Tite Kubo

Maximum Ride, by NaRae Lee

Death Note, by Tsugumi Ōba

One Piece, by Eiichiro Oda

American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang

Graphic Format Biography :

Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi

Smile, by Raina Telgemeier

Non-Fiction :

The Anthology of Rap, by Adam Bradley

The Book of Awesome, by Neil Pasricha