Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. It’s awesome. Every Tuesday, the lovely folks over at The Broke and the Bookish post a top ten list topic so that book lovers like you and me can pour over our shelves and make our own lists. You can check out all the other Top Ten Tuesday‘s on their site!
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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. It’s awesome. Every Tuesday, the lovely folks over at The Broke and the Bookish post a top ten list topic so that book lovers like you and me can pour over our shelves and make our own lists. You can check out all the other Top Ten Tuesday‘s on their site!
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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. It’s awesome. Every Tuesday, the lovely folks over at The Broke and the Bookish post a top ten list topic so that book lovers like you and me can pour over our shelves and make our own lists. You can check out all the other Top Ten Tuesday‘s on their site!
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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. It’s awesome. Every Tuesday, the lovely folks over at The Broke and the Bookish post a top ten list topic so that book lovers like you and me can pour over our shelves and make our own lists. You can check out all the other Top Ten Tuesday‘s on their site!
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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. It’s awesome. Every Tuesday, the lovely folks over at The Broke and the Bookish post a top ten list topic so that book lovers like you and me can pour over our shelves and make our own lists. You can check out all the other Top Ten Tuesday‘s on their site!
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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. It’s awesome. Every Tuesday, the lovely folks over at The Broke and the Bookish post a top ten list topic so that book lovers like you and me can pour over our shelves and make our own lists. You can check out all the other Top Ten Tuesday‘s on their site!
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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. It’s awesome. Every Tuesday, the lovely folks over at The Broke and the Bookish post a top ten list topic so that book lovers like you and me can pour over our shelves and make our own lists. You can check out all the other Top Ten Tuesday‘s on their site!
Oh man, this one is a KILLER. I don’t know if you guys can ever tell by my previous lists of any kind, but I have almost a mental block when it comes to following number restrictions. I LOVE lists, but things like “pick your favorite ONE book that you read this year” give me the sweats. I’m so sorry, but I’m probably going to give you five instead. I STRUGGLE with the only 10 business! Some weeks are harder than others, though, and this one–picking my 10 favorite books of the past year–oh my God. I don’t even know how I managed to keep this list to a reasonable number. (Well, actually I DO have an idea how: I cheated all over the place. You’ll see.)
In no real order:
Anna and the French Kiss/Lola and the Boy Next Door, by Stephanie Perkins. I read BOTH of Stephanie Perkins’ books this year and I loved them both REALLY HARD. I’m talking major, MAJOR everlasting love. Stephanie Perkins writes some of the best contemporaries around, no contest. The characters are individual, honest, and real and I LOVES THEM. I feel what they feel. But the relationships? Heavens to Betsy! Those are slow-burning, panty-melting, heart-clenching things of beauty and they make me DIE. Stephanie Perkins could write an Ikea manual on how to put together my bookshelf and I would read every word, rapt, and then clutch the thing to my chest and sigh for days. The love she creates is heartfelt, complicated, genuine, deep, and it ALWAYS WINS. She’s positively magical.
Eon/Eona, by Alison Goodman. HOLY CRAP. These books were so amazing. I had never even heard of this duo until one of my library school book club friends told me that she had just finished EON and was blown away by it. I didn’t need any other recommendation aside from that one to pick up EON, devour it, run to the library, crazed, to get EONA, devour THAT, then collapse in a heap. It was afterglow. (Seriously, though, I’ve never run-walked to my library quicker. I was so afraid that other people would know how incredible these books are and I would have to throw some elbows in the F-J stacks.) These two books are some of the best, most well-constructed, smartest, most magical fantasies I’ve ever read. Eona is an all-time great character. She’s so vivid and real and her story is so intense and twisty and dangerous. Plus, I WEPT at the end of EONA. Tears = win in my book.
A Dance With Dragons, by George R.R. Martin. *Takes several deep breaths* Ok. If you’ve been around my blog before or maybe checked me out on Twitter (you totally should! I’d be so excited to see you!), you might have seen me rave and geek out over A Song of Ice and Fire or even the TV show, Game of Thrones, which is based on the books. I’m kind of a newbie to this series, but it sucked me in IMMEDIATELY and I am now completely in its thrall. ADwD is the most recent book in the series and…I don’t know what I can even say about it that’s not the mindless babbling of a superfan. But what I love about these books is that I cannot stop thinking about them. The characters, the world, the stories…I’m always wondering about where they’re going, and theorizing on what everything means. They’re enrapturing, and ADwD was no exception.
The Penderwicks at Point Mouette, by Jeanne Birdsall. Have you guys read any Penderwicks? They’re middle-grade books, but you shouldn’t let that keep you from reading them. I swear they won’t let you down. This is a sweet, funny, heartfelt, endearing series about this AMAZING family of girls who live with their dad (mom passed away some time before the books began). *Sigh* This family…they just touch my heart, you guys. They LIKE each other. Even when they fight. Their dad is a little absent-minded professor, but the mutual affection between everyone is just so lovely. PLUS, one of my very favorite things to read in books is guys and girls JUST BEING FRIENDS. Good ones. Jeffrey, the friend who is a boy, is the freaking cutest thing EVAR, and the way that he is sweet and close to all the girls–Rosalind, Skye, Jane, and Batty (OHMYGOD, BATTY. Talk about ADORABLE!)–is awesome. In this book, the girls and Jeffrey go on vacation in Maine and it’s all just fantastic and heartwarming.
Iron Fey series, by Julie Kagawa. I sometimes have a hard time with fairies. I LOVE them, and I want to read about them, but occasionally I strike out when reading books about them. Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey series, though, was the cure for all my fairy ills. I’m so glad that I caught up with and finished it this year. Meghan is a plucky, strong character and her struggles and journeys are dangerous and complicated by her feelings for the one guy she shouldn’t have any feelings for: Ash, prince of the UnSeelie court (Meghan’s Seelie. Bitter enemies, and all that) and panty-melter extraordinaire. Making things even MORE complicated is her best friend, Puck, who just loves to make trouble. These are the best fairy stories I’ve read and I recommend them to anyone I know who ever says, “I don’t really like books about fairies” because these books are LOCKS for a great read.
Legend, by Marie Lu. This book kind of crept up on me with how much I loved it and now I can’t really get it out of my head. I’ve already read it twice (and reviewed it here), and something about it keeps me thinking about reading it again (I’m a HUGE rereader). Day and June are complex, morally twisty, strong characters whose relationship is fraught with drama and conflicting emotions. The stakes in this story are so high, and I felt real emotions for these characters almost right away. And I LOVED the world, too. Very vivid and clever. I am anticipating book number 2 in this series like WHOA.
Dairy Queen series, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock. DJ Schwenk, you old so and so! Guys, I want to be DJ’s friend. I want to move to her farm, do hard labor, then laugh and be awkward and frank and FANTABULOUS together. I wish I had the stones to join a high school football team, too. This series is so wonderful and one of my favorite reads of the year mostly because there are very few YA protagonists who are more instantly likable than DJ Schwenk. And her relationship with Brian is great because it’s not perfect. Sometimes he acts like a tool, sometimes he’s the BEST EVER. DJ doesn’t really take any of his crap, once she figures out what’s going on because she is so fresh and uncomplicated. But as much as I love Brian, DJ is what makes the Dairy Queen so unforgettable. She has courage and gumption. I love this series HARD.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone, by Laini Taylor. I feel like I should be writing this whole thing in CAPSLOCK because my love for this book is BIG LIKE CAPITAL LETTERS. Before I read this I had never read any books about angels. Crazy, right? But true. It goes without saying, then, that I’m so glad I remedied that with DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE, which was beautiful, gripping, and fantastic. It FLOORED me. Karou is smart, tough, and real. She’s imperfect. And that makes her wonderful. But she’s also mysterious, not knowing truly who or what she is. I was particularly captured by the parts of the story that took place in Eretz, which, like all of the other places described here, was vivid in my mind. And Akiva. GOD! He’s so conflicted and intense. Really, this story is just STUNNING. It’s good vs evil, but the line is blurred and wavering. GAH! I feel like the more I say about it the less I make any sense or do the book any justice at all. It’s magic. It’s gorgeous. It’s engrossing. Hands down one of my very favorite books of the year, and also of EVER.
The Scorpio Races, by Maggie Stiefvater. I have raved about THE SCORPIO RACES before. I might continue to rave about it for all time. When I heard that Scholastic was handing out ARCs of this at Book Expo this year, I made a beeline for their booth because I knew, somehow, that I would NEED this book desperately before I had even read it or knew anything about it at all, really. We’re meant to be together. THE SCORPIO RACES is my lobster (Friends!). I don’t know that I ever could have predicted loving a story about mythical water horses and the quiet, stark broodiness of a young girl and her friend who might be something more. But I did love it. I loved Puck and Sean, who come together so organically. The horses were majestic and dangerous. And the atmosphere of this book is AMAZING. I love Maggie Stiefvater, but this book, I think, might be hard for her to beat. But if a day comes when she DOES beat THE SCORPIO RACES? HOLY CRAP. I don’t know if I could handle it.
The Sky Is Everywhere, by Jandy Nelson. So. This book. THIS. BOOK. This book didn’t come out in 2011, but I didn’t read it 
until earlier this year and FOR ALL THAT IS HOLY AND AMAZEBALLS I have no idea why I waited so long. Jandy Nelson’s THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE slayed me into little tiny bits, then carefully found all of those pieces and lovingly glued me back together again. I read a lot of books about death and grieving this year, and they were all really good. But this one…it plucked every one of my heartstrings. Lennie is dealing with the death of her beloved older sister, Bailey, and in the midst of her grief finds herself pulled in opposite directions towards two boys: Her sister’s boyfriend, Toby, and the new guy in town, Joe. I liked that Lennie and Toby connected the way they did, even though it was totally wrong and really gross, because it helped me understand how torn up they were over their loss. And Joe. Joe Fontaine is probably tied for first in my favorite YA love interest for this year with Etienne from ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS. His connection with Lennie was so passionate and genuine. I loved them together. And I LOVED LOVED LOVED how this gorgeous book showed me that grief comes from love, but that love can come from grief, too.
*I really also have to give honorable mentions to Jenny Han’s Summer series and Deanna Raybourn’s Lady Julia Grey series, which I also read this year. These two series ROCK MY SOCKS.
You know what’s funny about this list? I thought I would have a hard time thinking of books that I want most for Christmas because I actually wanted to make a list of books that were already out that I hadn’t bought already. Since I’ve been buying more books than usual lately, I thought that my list might be a little thin. And then my list went all, “SIKE! HAHA, you silly girl! You can ALWAYS think of MORE BOOKS!” And lo and behold, I easily came up with 10 books AND MORE, but I managed to stop adding books through sheer force of will. My only problem is that I only realized how many books I COULD have asked for when I made up this list YESTERDAY, so I’m probably only getting two of them. Top Ten Tuesday, I love you, but I’m shaking my fist at you today. Because you’ve made me want more things.
Mastiff, by Tamora Pierce. Beka Cooper! Girl, I can’t wait to read all about your last adventures in the Provost’s Guards. Since I actually thought to ask Santa to bring me this book for Christmas, I should be reading about you really soon. I’M PSYCHED! Tamora Pierce’s books are some of my very favorite fantasies, not only because the worlds are lively and complete and the stories are gripping and awesome, but because the main characters in her books are KICK-ASS NINJA girls who are independent, confident, brave and smart. Love them.
East, by Edith Pattou. THIS book was so gorgeous. But because I LOVE my library and I want it to be there forever and ever, I borrowed this book instead of purchasing it. I read it. I loved it. NOW I WANTS IT. It was so lovely and evocative and touching! It just gives me the warm fuzzies, even though the book contains polar bears, ice, winter, snow, and traversing the Arctic Circle. *sigh* I need to own this one, friends. I hope Santa got my letter.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone (UK Edition), by Laini Taylor. All I want is the cover. The book is AMAZING, but I like the UK cover better than the US one. Something about the black opalescent feathers is just so striking and stunning that I want to be able to hold it in my hands and pet it and STARE. I mean, LOOK at the PRETTY:
The Probability of Miracles, by Wendy Wunder. I just love the sound of everything about this book. A young girl with cancer moves to this wackadoo little town in Maine (called Promise) where all kinds of improbable things happen–even things that might be considered…MIRACULOUS. I wish I had remembered to ask for this one! I might have to Santa this one to myself for Christmas. Plus, that cover! So gorgeous!
Witch’s Brew, by Heidi Kling. Witch’s Brew, Witch’s Brew, where for art, thou, Witch’s Brew? I’ve been waiting for this book to come out for what seems like FOREVER. I’m beside myself with anticipation! because I’ve heard wicked awesome things about it: an ebook series published in installments that is a kind of choose your own adventure. WORD! DOUBLE WORD because it’s a series with 10 BOOKS IN IT about WITCHES. Putting this on here is more like a wish, though, since I probably won’t be able to get it for Christmas. I’m hoping that some holiday karma will at least get me a release date and a cover!
Kat, Incorrigible, by Stephanie Burgis. Magic? Check. Plucky, trouble-making young heroine? Check. Annoying sisters? Check. Regency-era England setting? Check. True loves hanging in the balance? Check. Magical shenanigans all around? Check. Sounds like something I would LOVE because I ADORE plucky, trouble-making, magically inclined young heroines AND Regency-era England. Alas, my library doesn’t have this one. *sad face* Santa? If you could?
Hourglass, by Myra McEntire. I can’t believe I haven’t read this yet! Ever since I heard it was about time slipping/travel, I immediately thought of one of my very favorite adult series, OUTLANDER, by Diana Gabaldon. I’m not entirely sure that the two have very much in common at all aside from the time-bouncing, but that’s not the only reason I want to read HOURGLASS and am hoping that Santa can DIVINE my wish for it and surprise me come Christmas morning (is this NOT part of his magic?). No, I am hoping that this book is under the tree because it sounds plain AWESOME and intriguing.
Midwinterblood, by Marcus Sedgewick. I can’t read anything about this book without being completely fascinated. It sounds kind of mind-blowing. It’s the story–well, it’s lots of mini-stories–about two people/souls who, over the course of the retreating centuries (the book starts in 2073 and goes backward) are bonded through various kinds of loving relationships–mother and son, husband and wife, and more–while trying to reunite with one another. You see, these two souls who love each other dearly and for infinity, always seem to be wrenched from each other in the most painful ways. I’m not sure that I’m doing the book itself any justice with my description, but it really does sound crazy good. HOWEVER, CURSES upon this book because it’s not available in the US yet. I might have to scour the internets and ship one to myself. Not very Santa/Christmas-magicky, but I don’t have any choice!
A Long, Long Sleep, by Anna Sheehan. So I’m a sucker for fairy tale retellings, and this science-fiction-esque spin on Sleeping Beauty sounds fantastic. A girl who is woken from a chemically induced sleep by a boy after 62 years of sleeping, during which time her family and all the people she loved are killed, and becomes the heir to an interplanetary empire and must face all the dangers that entails while trying to come to grips with her feelings for the boy her kissed her awake. But seriously, INTERPLANETARY EMPIRE, you guys!! I LOVE it!
Breadcrumbs, by Anne Ursu. Something about me and my reading habits: I’m kind of a seasonal reader. I like to read books that take place at certain times of the year AT those certain times of the year. For instance, I would never read a book that takes place in the cold, snowy winter–like BREADCRUMBS–in the middle of July. Don’t kill my summer buzz, winter book! I’ll get to you, I promise! And BREADCRUMBS sounds just like the kind of thoughtful, sad, it’s-cold-outside-but-I-feel-warm-and-fuzzy-INSIDE kind of books, and it’s getting tons of recognition. Since it’s finally winter time, I’m completely ready to read this one. I can’t wait to get my mitts on it.
Ahh!! There’s too many books!! This list could have been so much longer!
Giving books for Christmas is pretty easy in my family. Well, I should rephrase. Giving books for Christmas is easy in my family FOR A FEW PEOPLE. Me. I’m probably the easiest. If most of my presents under the tree are books, I’m happier than a pig in…well, *ahem*. I’m very, very happy. My mom is another one. She reads a ton. But sometimes I find it hard to figure out what books to give, especially to pickier readers. Thankfully, this list throws all that worry aside and I can just give people books that I THINK and HOPE they would enjoy as much as I did because the books reminded me SO MUCH of them.
Merry Happy, book readers!
The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. This one I would give to my Mom. She’s actually ASKED to read it before, but she always kind of backs off. I think she’s afraid of YA. Which makes no sense, am I right? No, I think she is just so used to reading, you know, books for grown ups that reading a book for young people doesn’t even cross her mind as something she would enjoy. But THE HUNGER GAMES is a different animal altogether, and I think she would appreciate it. Oprah certainly never chose a book like this one!
The Sky Is Everywhere, by Jandy Nelson. Oh, Jandy. Your book is magic. Not coincidentally, Santa and Christmas are ALSO magic. I want to spread your book around like Christmas cheer, so I’m going to give this one to my mom AND my sister. They both have sisters (one of whom, obviously, is moi), so they would understand the sisterly bond between Lennie and Bailey, and I think they would both fall in love with Joe. Most importantly, though, I know that they have both lost loved ones suddenly and without warning, and I think that Lennie’s story of grieving and love would touch them right where it touched me: the ticker.
Anna and the French Kiss, by Stephanie Perkins. Ooooh! *Squeals* This book! So, some quick family background: when my mom turned *cough*50*cough* a couple of years ago, we took a family vacay to Paris. It was MAGIC. Best vacation EVER. I know that my mom and my sister would read this book and be transported, as well as fall completely in love with Anna and the tingly, AMAZING Etienne.
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly. So, my cousin is 10 years old. She is AWESOME. (She’s also smarter than me. Once during a visit she asked me for help with her Chinese math homework, and I was like, “What’s Chinese math? *crickets* Bueller?” It’s legit, though, and she didn’t really need any help.) But aside from myself, she is without a doubt the most voracious reader in my family and I love it so, so much. But why this book? Well, my cousin loves science and animals and nature. Always has. And Calpurnia…Calpurnia is MY GIRL. She’s spirited, smart, curious, determined, and funny. She reminds me so much of my awesome little cousin and I HOPE more than anything that she loves this book because every time I see it on my shelf, I think of her and how much I see her in Calpurnia, this young spitfire who likes staring at bugs and sucking in as much of the world as she can fit in her lungs.
A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin. I just spent most of yesterday in a state of nerd happiness about Game of Thrones the TV show, which comes from my constant state of nerd happiness about the books on which the show is based. My dad’s not the biggest reader, but he does love fantasy, especially the really long kind that he can listen to in his car for weeks and weeks, like he does with Harry Potter. If I’m being honest, though, I kind of want to give him this book because I KNOW that neither my mom nor my sister would EVER read these books and my dad is my only hope for a kindred spirit.
Princess Academy, by Shannon Hale. We’re back to my cousin again. Because not only is she going to singlehandedly raise the US math and science standardized test scores, she’s also a girl after my own heart: she LOVES fantasy. LOVES IT. (If she was a year older, maybe two, I’d have already given her THE SCORPIO RACES because horses are her spirit animal; horses + fantasy = Scorpio Races. I literally CANNOT WAIT to give her this book.) But can you talk about really great MG/YA fantasy without mentioning Shannon Hale? I can’t. And while there’s not a lot of hard, magical fantasy in PRINCESS ACADEMY, it has Miri, who is brave, tomboyish and generous of spirit. She’s also a mini badass, and I love her.
She’s So Dead to Us, by Kieran Scott. In case I haven’t mentioned it, I’m from New Jersey. (You know, that place where Snookie is NOT actually from.) This book–this whole series–takes place in New Jersey. Not the part of Jersey where I live, but still. The connection is strong. My sister, I think, would LOVE this book. The Jersey connection is a plus; the rich, snobby, mildly slutty high schoolers are a plus, too, because that’s sort of wealthy-trashy. And my sister LOVES trashy (Right now this minute, she’s watching Melrose Place–THE ORIGINAL–on Netflix and getting upset that Sidney is leaving). These books are pure guilty pleasure and I loved them. I think she would too. In fact, I bet my MOM would love these, as well. These kids are like the kids of the Real Housewives of New Jersey! Winner, winner, chicken dinner!
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. 
Valente. *Sigh* THIS book was so fantastical and whimsical and wonderful. It’s just so gorgeous! Over Thanksgiving, my cousin told me that she had been reading a book, a fantasy, and she was disappointed that the ending was “too logical,” as in she was expecting something more fanciful. Future blogger? Methinks yes! But anyway, I think that this book has PLENTY of illogical things for even the most hardcore fantasy lover. It’s imaginative, clever, vibrant and…just…perfect. Also, the girl’s name is September, which is my birth month. Bonus for me. This book would also be an interesting test case to see if books for young people seem as magical to actual young people as they do to me and lots of other readers who haven’t been children in a long time. I’d be curious to see if she liked it.
The Summer I Turned Pretty (Summer #1), by Jenny Han. For the love of ANGST! This trilogy was so full of tortured emotions, grief, love, and, well, angst that is just tore up my heart. Wait…did I mention that this book was angsty? What a coincidence! My sister’s middle name is Angsty! She would devour these. And then we could debate: Conrad or Jeremiah? (God! I’m still so torn! But probably Conrad. He made me DIE. Or…I don’t know! Jeremiah squeezed my heart so hard! I need a ruling!) But these books remind me of my sister, with the drama and the brooding and the tugging heartstrings. That’s a compliment, by the way.
The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkein. I remember seeing these movies every year right around now, actually, and just being so overwhelmed by the AWESOME. And that was AFTER I read the books. My dad loved the movies, but–for shame!–he’s never read the books. And I just can’t live with that. This series is one of the reasons I love fantasy, and I think my dad would love it too.
Top Ten Childhood FavesTop Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. It’s awesome. Every Tuesday, the lovely folks over at The Broke and the Bookish post a top ten list topic so that book lovers like you and me can pour over our shelves and make our own lists. You can check out all the other Top Ten Tuesday‘s on their site!
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