Best Books of 2008 and My Year-End Awards

Happy New Year, everyone! It's been a busy-but-great year of reading and reviewing. Most of the books that I read were excellent. I had a bunch of really fun author interviews. And I encountered some fabulous books this year that I've ranked, the first one being my personal favorite of the year.

Here are my Top Twenty-One (I couldn't stop at just 20) picks for 2008!:

1) Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

2) Death by Latte by Linda Gerber

3) Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon and Dean Hale

4) Out of the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst

5) Death by Bikini by Linda Gerber

6) I SO Don't Do Mysteries by Barrie Summy

7) Introducing Vivien Leigh Reid: Daughter of the Diva by Yvonne Collins and Sandy Rideout

8) The Teashop Girls by Laura Schaefer

9) Frenemies by Alexa Young

10) The Luxe by Anna Godbersen

11) The Black Sheep by Yvonne Collins and Sandy Rideout

12) Amazing Grace by Megan Shull

13) Artichoke's Heart by Suzanne Supplee

14) Oh. My. Gods by Tera Lynn Childs

15) Lucky T by Kate Brian

16) Candyfloss by Jacqueline Wilson

17) LBD: Live and Fabulous by Grace Dent

18) The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine

19) The Clique Summer Collection: Dylan by Lisi Harrison

20) Bad Kitty by Michele Jaffe

21) Tennyson by Lesley MM Blume

...What were your favorites of the year?

Now.....

Year-End Book Awards:

No prizes are actually awarded, just bragging rights. And this is just my opinion. And feel free to make up your own categories and winners and submit them--I want your opinion on who deserves to win!

Drumroll, please.....

Best Debut Author: Barrie Summy, I SO Don't Do Mysteries

Best Illustrator: Sujean Rim of A Girl Like Moi, Project Paris, and The Teashop Girls

Best Debut YA Novel: Vidalia in Paris by Sasha Watson

Best Debut MG Novel: The Teashop Girls by Laura Schaefer

Best Debut Series: Death By...by Linda Gerber/Frenemies by Alexa Young

Best International Novel: LBD: Live and Fabulous by Grace Dent

Best Female Character: Rapunzel from Shannon and Dean Hale's Rapunzel's Revenge

Best Male Character: Seth Mulo from Linda Gerber's Death By... series

Best Series: Linda Gerber's Death By...books or The Clique by Lisi Harrison

Best Book in a Series: The Clique #5: The Pretty Committee Strikes Back by Lisi Harrison/Death by Latte by Linda Gerber

Best Mystery: Death by Latte by Linda Gerber

Best Fantasy: Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Best Graphic Novel: Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon and Dean Hale/Chiggers by Hope Larson

Best MG Contemporary Fiction: As If Being 12 3/4 Isn't Bad Enough, My Mother is Running for President! by Donna Gephart/The Teashop Girls by Laura Schaefer

Best Book for Younger Readers: Candyfloss by Jacqueline Wilson

Best Discovery in 2008: the Confessions of a Teen Nanny series by Victoria Ashton

Best Unexpectedly-Good Read: The Princess and the Pauper by Kate Brian

Most Creative: I SO Don't Do Mysteries by Barrie Summy

Best Retold Fairytale: Out of the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst/Rapunzels' Revenge by Shannon & Dean Hale

Best Cover: The Luxe by Anna Godbersen and Death by Bikini by Linda Gerber

Funniest Character: Sherry of I SO Don't Do Mysteries by Barrie Summy

Cattiest Character: Jo Lynn Bidwell of Susan McBride's The Debs

Bravest Character: Princess Addie of Gail Carson Levine's The Two Princesses of Bamarre

Most Fashionable Character: Imogene from A Girl Like Moi and Project Paris by Lisa Barham

Character With the Best Personality: Lucida Sans of Dear Julia by Amy Bronwen Zemser

Character With the Best Hair: Jas from Michele Jaffe's Bad Kitty and Kitty Kitty and Rapunzel from Shannon & Dean Hale's Rapunzel's Revenge

Character With the Best Clothes: Avalon of Alexa Young's Frenemies