2011 Wrap Up and Our Top Reads

2011 was a pretty good year all said.  I read some pretty darn good books and went to several book signings  and ALA.  In January Parajunkee and I met Karen Marie Moning *squee!*.  Even though she was sick, she was so wonderful to meet in real life.  Then Rachel and I also got together to meet Jeanine Frost and Pamela Palmer.  I drove into Houston in March to meet Patricia Briggs and Kim Harrison, and again in May for my birthday to meet Charlaine Harris (thanks Murder by the Book, hubs, and my BFF Hannah).  In June, Pam joined me here to help out with reviewing.    I am so thankful she did!  Also in June, the American Library Association hosted their convention in NOLA, so I was fortunate to be able to go and meet several other bloggers and some terrific authors (I'm looking at you, Julie Kagawa, Sarah Dessen, and Carrie Vaughn).  Fast forward to October, and GayRomLit came to NOLA - met some bloggers I never thought I'd ever meet, drank way too much and had a fabulous time.

I had a lot of fun doing M/M month in February :) and later in the year I "discovered" fairies (Julie Kagawa and Melissa Marr) and Dystopia (Suzanne Collins, Veronica Roth, Marie Lu, Ann Aguirre); both of these genres I fought reading for quite some time until I gave in and then I devoured everything I could find!!

And now, here it is, the end of 2011, and I am shutting down Caught in a FAB Romance.  Fingers crossed I'll have my last few reviews done by New Year's, if not they'll post shortly after.  I'll do a goodbye post, so I'm not going to cry about it here.  This post is supposed to be about how much fun 2011 was.

Here are some of our favorite books we read this year (not necessarily released this year).  Not all of them were reviewed here; I've always tried to make it a point to do some reading purely for pleasure.

Patti's Top Picks:

PNR/UF:

Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning

Magic Slays Ilona Andrews

Dark Swan series by Richelle Mead

The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern
(not really PNR/UF but I don't know what category to put this one in)

GLBT:

Tigers and Devils by Sean Kennedy

Something Like Summer by Jay Bell

YA:

The Iron King series by Julie Kagawa

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Enclave by Anne Aguirre

The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins

Erotic:

Fifty Shades series by E L James

Wicked Games by Jill Myles

Contemporary:

The Kowalski family series by Shannon Stacey

A Novel Seduction by Gwyn Cready

Swept Off Her Feet by Hester Browne

I think Sean Kennedy's Tigers and Devils and
 E L James' 50 Shades series were my 
favorite reads of the year.

Pam's Top Picks: 

PNR/UF:

Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning

 (The absolute BEST read for me this year!)

Georgina Kincaid Series by Richelle Mead

Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison

The Mercedes Thompson Series by Patricia Briggs

Kate Daniels Series by Ilona Andrews

Downside Ghosts Series by Stacia Kane

YA:

Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead

Historical:

The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly

The Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran

Contemporary:

Riversong by Tess Hardwick

What were some of your favorites in 2011?

and Pam