Best of 2006

Well, here are the tallies and the results of last year! Please not that my "Best of 2006" is of books I read last year, not just books that came out last year.

In 2006, I read 221 books (this only counts books that were at least 100 pages unless it was just shy of 100, but was thick content).

84 were Juvenile, 87 were Young Adult, 50 were Adult.
I owned 19.
17 were banned.
17 were nonfiction.
61 were required reading for work. 44 were also read for work, but I didn't have to read them.
6 were books I was rereading.
12 were off of Anita Silvey's list of 100 best children's books. 3 were classics.

Books that I wanted to shout off rooftops about when done reading (aka, my top picks for 2006):

Suite Française by Irene Nemirovsky
As Simple as Snow by Gregory Galloway
Kiki Strike Inside the Shadow City by Kirsten Miller
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Fourth Bear: A Nursery Crime by Jasper Fforde
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christoper Moore
A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage

Honorable mentions: Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan, Cracking India: A Novel by Bapsi Sidhwa, Casson Family Books by Hilary McKay(Saffy's Angel, Indigo's Star, Permanent Rose, Caddy Ever After), Fables by Bill Willingham (Book 1 is Legends in Exile) American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow by Faiza Gruene, Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China's Past and Present by Peter Hessler, Kipling's Choice by Geert Spillebeen, Gingerbread by Rachel Cohn, The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale, A Dirty Job: A Novel by Christopher Moore

Best Children's Books:

Obviously, Kiki Strike and the Casson Family as they made best overall.

Top Picks:
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Lady Grace Mysteries Grace Cavendish (actually Patricia Finney, Jan Burchett and Sara Vogler)
The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley
Chasing Vermeer / The Wright 3 by Blue Balliet

Honorable Mentions: Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman, The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, Regarding the Sink: Where, Oh Where, Did Waters Go? by Kate Klise, In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord, Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan , The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

Best YA: Obviously, Boy Meets Boy, American Born Chinese, Kipling's Choice, Gingerbread, As Simple as Snow, Book Thief

Other Picks:
Sloppy Firsts: A Novel by Megan McCafferty (and sequels)
Startled by His Furry Shorts by Louise Rennison
King Dork by Frank Portman
13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier

Favorite Discoveries:
David Levithan
Shannon Hale
Christopher Moore

Already it's January 5th, and I haven't blogged about 5 books yet this week. Does the review I have in draft count? No? Ah well, I guess I'll aim for 10 next week. We'll see if that actually happens, but I do need to talk about those books I put on my best list that I haven't talked about yet!