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The VBC Best Books of 2011 post is in the works, and I’ll try to have it up early enough to be helpful for gift giving. (You can see last year’s best of list here.) I want to try something different this year. I’m adding a Readers’ Choice portion. There are two giveaways tied to this one, to please keep reading.
If you leave a comment on this post with your favorite books — up to three — of 2011, you will be entered to win a book of your choice from our Recommendations pages. You’ll need to leave the comment on or before Nov. 20. Following that, I will tally up all the votes and the Readers’ Choice Best Book will be announced alongside the VBC favorites — and there will be a second giveaway featuring the reader pick for best book. So, choose wisely.
A few rules about what books qualify:
That’s it. Tell me what’s the best book you’ve read this year?
CONTEST DETAILS AND RULES
1. To enter, you must leave a comment on this post.
2. You do not need to follow Vampire Book Club to be entered, but we sure do like it.
3. This contest is open internationally.
4. Contest closes at 11:59 p.m. CST on Sunday, Nov. 20.
5. The winner will be selected using Random.org. Then she will be contacted via email and given 48 hours to claim her prize. If we do not hear from the winner(s) within that time, a new winner will be selected.
6. Entrants must be at least 18 years old or have their parent’s permission to enter. Please review our privacy policy, if you have any questions as to how Vampire Book Club uses your information. (Short version: we’ll only use it to contact you for this contest.)
7. Though unlikely, Vampire Book Club has the right to change or cancel any giveaway at any time without prior notice.
8. Vampire Book Club is not responsible for prizes lost or damage in transit, especially as they’ll be coming via Book Depository.
So there’s a big part of me that wants to say Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews was my favorite book this year just because I’m a hardcore Kate Daniels fan buuut…
Hands down, Blood Bound by Rachel Vincent was the best book I read this year. It was so FRESH and new and exciting and *sigh* dramatic yet romantic. It was one of the few books this year where I just sighed when I finished it. It was absolutely excellent.
I’m going to have to go with Hard Bitten, the fourth Chicagoland Vampire book by Chloe Neill. The whole series has taken my emotions on a roller coaster ride. You know that huge drop that every good roller coaster has? Yeah, that was Hard Bitten.
I have to agree with you on that Adrian! Talk about emotional roller coaster ride….I think I held my breath for the entire six months til I read Drink Deep!
Daughter of smoke and bone- Laini Taylor.. this is how a YA book should be written..Best book I’ve read this year.
Honourable mentions Magic Slays- Ilona Andrews, Beautiful Disaster- Jamie McGuire, Blood Rights- Kristen Painter and Dead on The Delta- Stacey jay.
My favorite is Eternal Rider by Larissa Ione. I read it before the Demonica Series and it’s what got me interested in the world. I can hardly wait for Immortal Rider at the end of the month! Than and Reaver are my favorites and I’m really excited for their books too.
I also really enjoyed Wither by Lauren DeStefano. I made my best friend read it and she loved it too!
Hands down, it was without competition Fifty Shades of grey and its sequel Fifty shades darker, thats just an amazing series, one of my favourite, . . . and of course the books mentioned above were great too!!
This is hard and more so cause I still haven’t made it through my TBR list this year.
– Pale Demon by Kim Harrison (I have this insane love for Trent and Rachel)
– Iron Crowned by Richelle Mead
There were lots of books I loved this year but these are two of my favorite
I would like to nominate Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning. It’s an amazing ending to a fantastic series!
Great Idea! Can’t wait to see how the result will turn out!
This is a hard choice – A lot of fantastic books were published in 2011.
Even though it came out way back in january, I’m still gonna go with Shadowfever as the best book of 2011. It is just hard to top the amazing (and much anticipated) end to the fever series!
Also I would have to say “Deceived by the others” by Jess Haines totally blew me away and left me slack-jawed when it took a highly unexpected (and courageous by the writer) turn. That series is an excellent example of why you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s (not very pretty) cover 😉
Finally i think “The Kingdom of Gods” by N.K. Jemisin will go as nr 3, but that last one was really tough as I have read a lot of great books this year!
Best paranormal book of the year?
That’ll have to be Blood Bound by Rachel Vincent!
She’s one of my favourite authors of all time and her work are never disappointing 😉
Best paranormal book of the year? Succubus Revealed by Richelle Mead! I loved all six books and it was a roller coaster ride the entire way but in the end succubus and she-demon Georgina Kincaid and her boyfriend and favorite author Seth Mortensen get a happily ever after!
This is really difficult, but I’m going to have to go with Blook Bound by Rachel Vincent as well. I think that I wasn’t really expecting much from this book and it just blew me away. Also need to mention Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews (big Kate Daniels fan!) and Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning. I could go on and on, but I think those are the top.
Sorry, Can’t type this morning BLOOD BOUND!
My fave book this year by far is,The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin. In my opinion,this book was perfect. The love story was so amazing. It was a slow building romance,instead of jumping right into it.Which was nice for a change. And the book was so suspenseful,and the mystery kept you guessing the whole time,right up until the cliffhanger ending,which then left with you with even more questions. It was also pretty creepy too. Definitely don’t need to read it at night.
It was truly an amazing book!
No question about it Hexed by Kevin Hearne. I’m also going to mention My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland and Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison.
It’s been an awesome year for good reads!
Mine are all YA:
The Gray Wolf Throne by Cinda Chima Williams
Red Glove by Holly Black
Chime by Franny Billingsly
I’m pathetically behind on 2011 releases though. Hopefully I can get to some of these recommendations over the holidays!
I don’t want to give anything away about the VBC Best Books list — but you’ve mentioned a few of the homerun books that made my list. Not that I’m surprised, VBC readers have EXCELLENT taste.
I’m picking DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth. Some runners up were Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi and The Pledge by Kimberly Derting.
Narrowing it down to three was hard! I’m still not sure, but these three were worth the wait so they got bonus points for not letting me down.
1) Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning
2) Alpha by Rachel Vincent
3) Lover Unleashed by J.R. Ward
I have to say that it’s Envy by JR Ward – it’s the 3rd in the Fallen Angels series and it was the best of the three (even though I have loved all three). The story really has teeth and isn’t just “romance”. My second choice – Shadowfever by Karen Moning. I thought she ended the series well and it had such a great twist! Could have lived without Barrons grilling for a BBQ, but still loved it!
I’ve read so many this year but the one I wanted to get my hands on so badly and read like there was no tomorrow was Retribution by Sherrilyn Kenyon. It’s a series that brings you deeper into many realms and many loves and always surprised even when you think you know what is going to happen. Just love and can’t wait for more.
I loved Without Regret by R.L. Mathewson. I also loved Savage Nature by Christine Feehan.
I can’t just say one so I will put three of my most favorite:
1) magic slays by Ilona Andrews (big fan of Kate from now and always),
2) Blood bound by Rachel Vincent (that book impressed me) and
3) Enclave by Ann Aguirre (Discovering the world we already know)
This is a tough one, there are lots of my favorites. But – keeping it to paranormal/dystopian I have to go with:
-Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews (5 books in and I still love reading about Kate & Curran)
-Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (loved the world, the characters, the whole idea)
-Bloodshot by Cherie Priest (neurotic vampire thief, government conspiracies, a drag queen kickass sidekick, action-packed and it’s funny)
Wither – Lauren DeStefano.
Forever by Maggie Steifvater
“Shadowfever”- Karen Marie Moning
“Magic Slays”- Ilona Andrews
“One grave at a Time”- Jeaniene Frost
Oooo this is great I can’t wait to see what the results will be! I have three!
Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison, Dragos makes me swoon!
Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews, I adore Kate!
And I was going to say Alien in the Family by Gini Koch but that’s not paranormal or have a dystopian focus to it so my last book will have to be Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning, how awesome was that book!?
Pale Demon by Kim Harrison
Shadowfever ~ Karen Marie Moning (Barrons, yummy)
Pale Demon ~ Kim Harrison (Love Rachel/Trent)
Magic Slays ~ Ilona Andrews (Kate is just awesome)
SHADOWFEVER (Karen Marie Moning);
DIVERGENT (Veronica Roth);
SPIDER’S REVENGE (Jennifer Estep)
I could go on…
1. Iron Crowned by Richelle Mead
2. Blood Bound by Rachel Vincent
3. Ghost Story by Jim Butcher
I have more, but if I have to narrow it down to the top three, those would be it.
If I haven’t read the rules I would have nominated both Shadowfever and Fifty Shades of Grey as the most mind-blowing books of this year, but Fifty is not paranormal, so Shadowfever it is.
Hard Bitten by Chloe Neill
Hunt The Moon by Karen Chance
Pale Demon by Kim Harrison
Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning
So many more amazing novels were released, but they are definitely my top four!
1. Shadowfever
2. Divergent
3. one grave at a time
Second Grave on the Left – Darynda Jones
River Marked – Patricia Briggs
Succubus Revealed – Richelle Mead
Sleight of Hand!
DIVERGENT-Veronica Roth
City of Fallen Angels-Cassandra Clare
Red Glove-Holly Black
Bloodlines by richelle Mead or wait did Last Sacrifice come out 2011? Nope that was the year before. Okay yeah Bloodlines! XD
My vote goes to Divergent by Veronica Roth. 🙂
1.) Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor – amazing story and quite beautifully written
2.) City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare – one word: Jace
3.) Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning – did not disappoint and totally swoon-worthy
One grave at a time… There are so many good ones this year but I love that series
I have read so many NEW authors this year. The best new-to-me author would be the Vampires in America series, D. B. Reynolds and her books, Raphael, Jabril, Rajmund, Sophia and Duncan. I have read all 5 this year, but I believe Sonia and Duncan are the ones released this year. Duncan was released today to print and last Friday to e-book. Powerful, graphic reads.
The best truly new author (her first book will be released 12/6) is Amanda Bonilla with her Shaedes Assassins series, first book Shaedes of Gray. I was lucky enough to get an ARC in October. I’ve read it 3 times already. AND preordered the Kindle version.
But my absolute favorite has to be Jeaniene Frost One Grave At A Time.
1) A Discovery of Witches ~ Deborah Harkness
2) Shadowfever ~ Karen Marie Moning
3) Magic Slays ~ Ilona Andrews
The above books should amazing imagery, brilliant writing and the character development & world building from the previous books in their respective series was incredible.
I think I’m going to say Bloodlines by Richelle Mead and Divergent by Veronica Roth. Both amazing books by amazing authors.
Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning (best book ever!)
Dreams of a Dark Warrior by Kresley Cole
The Dragon Who Loved Me by G. A. Aiken
Its fun to see what people are picking, some great books are named! Cant wait to see the results!
Shadowfever-definitely. I suspended all normal tasks just to get through that book!!
Angel Slayer-Michelle Hauf
Fallen-Michelle Hauf
I don’t normally read books in their published year (my TBR is very, very backlogged). But those are definitely the best that I did read from this published year.
Forbidden Blood by F E Heaton
Dark Awakening by Kendra L Castle
First Grave On The Right by Daryna Jones
WOW this is hard… decisions decisions…
I think my 3 favorites are:
1) Blood Law by Karin Tabke
2) Demon Marked by Meljean Brook
3) Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning
Definitely Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning!
has to be shadowfever by KMM! also burn the night by jocelynn drake!
the best one I’d say so far this year is Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning. I’m in love with the fever series. they are really one of the best written series ever!