Armchair BEA: Best of 2011

 Today's topic at Armchair BEA is “Best of 2011!”

I have to admit, my reading isn't always the newest books out there. I love to bargain shop and go through backlist books and find stuff I might have missed.

Even on the many book tours I've participated in...the books weren't necessarily published this  year.

However....there is one book that stands out already as a favorite for 2011 and I'm sure it will make many lists.

I think Lauren Oliver's Delerium is probably the most reviewed and anticipated book this year, and for me it really didn't disappoint. I loved it and I reviewed it for Rex Robot Reviews right around the time it was released.

I'm not totally into YA or dystopia, but this book was really a gripping read and I look forward to the continuation of the story.

Now here is one of the books I'm sure will make my list when it gets released.

Kimberly Cutter's The Maid looks like a fabulous read. I love historical fiction so this one is right up my alley!

Blurb: The girl who led an army, the peasant who crowned a king, the maid who became a legend

It is the fifteenth century, and the tumultuous Hundred Years’ War rages on. France is under siege, English soldiers tear through the countryside destroying all who cross their path, and Charles VII, the uncrowned king, has neither the strength nor the will to rally his army. And in the quiet of her parents’ garden in Domrémy, a peasant girl sees a spangle of light and hears a powerful voice speak her name. Jehanne .


The story of Jehanne d’Arc, the visionary and saint who believed she had been chosen by God, who led an army and saved her country, has captivated our imagination for centuries. But the story of Jehanne—the girl—whose sister was murdered by the English, who sought an escape from a violent father and a forced marriage, who taught herself to ride and fight, and who somehow found the courage and tenacity to persuade first one, then two, then thousands to follow her, is at once thrilling, unexpected, and heartbreaking. Rich with unspoken love and battlefield valor, The Maid is a novel about the power and uncertainty of faith, and the exhilarating and devastating consequences of fame