Five Star Books

The Best of 2013

All books I've given a five star rating to on Goodreads will appear here, with links to reviews. 

• Maus by Art Spiegelman
• Wild: a Journey from Lost to Found by Cheryl Strayed
• Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
• Full Frontal Feminism by Jessica Valenti
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

The Best of 2012

Any book I've given a 5 star rating to on Goodreads will be here. These are the ones that I would recommend to anybody,anytime because they were just brilliant!

•  Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen
•  The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings
• The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen 
• Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel
• Fables Volume 4: March of the Wooden Soldiers by Bill Willingham 
• A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness 
• Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness
• Maine by Courtney Sullivan
• The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
• The Taste of Sorrow by Jude Morgan
• 1602 by Neil Gaiman & Andy Kubert
• Let's Pretend This Never Happened  by Jenny Lawson
• Peaches for Monsieur Le Cure by Joanne Harris

  The Best of 2011

These are my absolute favourite books of 2011. The ones that I've put down and just not known how to follow them. The ones that put you off reading for a while because they're just so awesome there's no way anything could possibly be so awesome. If I did ratings still, these are the ones that would get five stars without a doubt.

• A River in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters
• Apple Bough by Noel Streatfeild (re-read)
• Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
• Chocolat by Joanne Harris (re-read)
• Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
• Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
• Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story by Carolyn Turgeon
• Going Out by Scarlett Thomas
• How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran
• Howards End is on the Landing by Susan Hill
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (re-read)
• Lost at Sea by Bryan Lee O'Malley
• Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
• Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
• Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
• Saplings by Noel Streatfeild
• Still Alice by Lisa Genova
• Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• The Annotated Peter Pan: The Centenary Edition by J.M Barrie & Maria Tatar
• The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen
• The Growing Summer by Noel Streatfeild (re-read)
• The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien (re-read)
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
• The Painted Garden by Noel Streatfeild (re-read)
• The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen
• Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
• White Boots by Noel Streatfeild (re-read)

If you want to see the full list of things I've read this year, come and find me on Goodreads, where there's a shelf of everything I've read in 2011!

Books Read in 2012
I had discontinued this page and was going to just keep track on Goodreads, but I find I miss having a master list here that I can easily check out when I get behind with reviews!   

1. Yossarian Slept Here by Erica Heller (New Author Challenge, Support Your Local Library Challenge)
2. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (Graphic Novel Challenge)
3. The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson (New Author Challenge, Mixing it Up Challenge)
4. A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare (Reading Shakespeare Challenge, Telling Tales Challenge)
5. The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen (Telling Tales Challenge, 50 States Challenge)
6. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
7. The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings (50 States Challenge)
8. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (50 States Challenge, New Author Challenge)
9. The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
10. Kick Ass by Mark Millar (Graphic Novel Challenge)
11. Fables Volume 3: Storybook Love by Bill Willingham (Graphic Novel Challenge, Telling Tales Challenge)
12. A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve (New Author Challenge, 50 States Challenge)
13. The Magician's Nephew by C.S Lewis (Narnia Reading Project, Telling Tales Challenge)
14. Dear Fatty by Dawn French (Mixing it Up Challenge)
15. Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen (Year of Reading Louisa May Alcott)
16. Escape by Barbara Delinsky (New Author Challenge)
17. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (Year of Reading Louisa May Alcott)
18. Good Wives by Louisa May Alcott (Year of Reading Louisa May Alcott)
19. Little Men by Louisa May Alcott (Year of Reading Louisa May Alcott)
20. Jo's Boys by Louisa May Alcott (Year of Reading Louisa May Alcott)
21. So Many Books, So LIttle Time by Sara Nelson (New Author Challenge)
22. State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (Support Your Local LIbrary Challenge)
23. Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson (New Author Challenge)
24. The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffeneger (Graphic Novel Challenge)
25. One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson (Mount TBR Challenge)
26. Back When We Were Grown-Ups by Anne Tyler (50 States Challenge)
27. The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler (50 States Challenge)
28. The Awakening by Kate Chopin (Mount TBR Challenge, 50 States Challenge, New Author Challenge)
29. 666 Park Avenue by Gabriella Pierce 
30. Skippy Dies by Paul Murray (New Author Challenge)
31. Stephen Fry in America by Stephen Fry (Mixing it Up Challenge)
32. Stone Arabia by Dana Spiotta (New Author Challenge)
33. Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel (Graphic Novel Challenge)
34. Ragnarok: The End of the Gods by A.S Byatt (Telling Tales Challenge,New Author Challenge)
35. Fables Volume 4: The March of the Wooden Soldiers by Bill Willingham (Graphic Novel Challenge, Telling Tales Challenge)
36. The Red House by Mark Haddon
37. Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan (Telling Tales Challenge)
38. Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult
39. The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry (New Author Challenge & Support Your Local Library Challenge)
40. The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection by Alexander McCall Smith (Support Your Local Library Challenge)
41. The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua (Support Your Local Library & Mixing It Up Challenge)
42. The Lost Art of Gratitude by Alexander McCall Smith (Support Your Local Library)
43. Fables Volume 5: The Mean Seasons by Bill Willingham (Graphic Novel Challenge & Telling Tales Challenge)
44. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte (A Classics Challenge, The Classics Club & Mount TBR Challenge)
45. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (Telling Tales Challenge)
46. Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness (Telling Tales Challenge)
47. One Day by David Nicholls (Mount TBR Challenge)
48. French Lessons by Ellen Sussman
49. Fables Volume 6: Homelands by Bill Willingham (Graphic Novel Challenge & Telling Tales Challenge)
50. Percy Jackson & the Last Olympian by Rick Riordan (Telling Tales Challenge, Support Your Local Library Challenge)
51. Fables Volume 7: Arabian Nights (and Days) by Bill Willingham (Graphic Novel Challenge & Telling Tales Challenge)
52. We Bought a Zoo by Benjamin Mee
53. The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman (Support Your Local Library Challenge)
54. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (Support Your Local Library & Mixing It Up Challenge)
55. Maine by Courtney Sullivan (50 States Challenge)
56. The Patchwork Marriage by Jane Green
57. One Moment, One Morning by Sarah Rayner
58. Hideous Kinky by Esther Freud (Mount TBR Challenge)
59. The Patchwork Marriage by Jane Green
60. The Taste of Sorrow by Jude Morgan
61. The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente (Telling Tales Challenge)
62. Goodbye for Now by Laurie Frankel
63. The Umbrella Academy Volume 2: Dallas by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba
64. Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman
65. Welcome to Rosie Hopkins Sweet Shop of Dreams by Jenny Colgan (Support Your Local Library Challenge)
66. Fairytale Ending by Gigi Levangie (Support Your Local Library Challenge)
67. The Resourceful Mum's Handbook by Elen Lewis (Support Your Local Library Challenge)
68. The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai (Support Your Local LIbrary Challenge)
69. In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner 
70. Secrets to Happiness by Sarah Dunn (Support Your Local Library Challenge)