Borrowed the idea from The Daily Dahlia who borrowed it from Jamie/The Perpetual Page Turner. It’s basically an end of year book survey and I thought it seemed like a really neat way to wrap up a year of reading. (Note: I left out parts of the questionnaire. Check out either of the two blogs I mentioned for the rest of it.)
BEST BOOKS IN 2013
I’m gonna take a page from Jamie at the Perpetual Page Turner’s post and do my fave per genre, because picking just one is not gonna happen:
Contemporary – PUSHING THE LIMITS by Katie McGarry and JUST ONE DAY by Gayle Forman
Paranormal – ANGELFALL by Susan Ee and THE RAVEN BOYS by Maggie Stiefvater
Dystopian – DEFIANCE by CJ Redwine and PRODIGY by Marie Lu
Historical – ROSE UNDER FIRE by Elizabeth Wein
Fantasy – THRONE OF GLASS by Sarah J Maas
BOOK I WAS EXCITED ABOUT BUT DIDN’T LOVE
THE INFINITE MOMENT OF US. So much of Wren and Charlie’s love story threatened to push all the buttons for my feelings, but when it came right down to it I just couldn’t buy their romance.
MOST SURPRISING (IN A GOOD WAY!) BOOK OF 2013
TRANSPARENT by Natalie Whipple. I follow the author on Twitter and totally sympathized with her not at all conventional–and downright challenging–path to publication. When she began mentioning her debut I figured I’d give it a look. I read the entire thing in under two hours, most of it leaning against the wall in my kitchen because I was WAY too absorbed to stop reading long enough to sit down.
BOOK YOU READ IN 2013 THAT YOU RECOMMENDED TO PEOPLE MOST IN 2013?
CODE NAME VERITY by Elizabeth Wein. One of those books that I skated through the first half of, stopping and starting at will, before the second half hauled me in by the lapels and wouldn’t give me a moment’s peace until I’d finished. (Terrible metaphor, but the point still stands.) It also doesn’t hurt that good historical fiction goes a lot further with the book lovers I know than almost anything else.
BEST SERIES YOU DISCOVERED IN 2013
THE LYNBURN LEGACY by Sarah Rees Brennan. You want complicated relationships all across the board, a beautifully constructed English country town, and a creepy Victorian era plot that only grows more twisted? If you answered yes to all of these things (I did), then you’ll probably read the book in an evening (I almost did.)
FAVORITE NEW AUTHOR YOU DISCOVERED IN 2013
Alexandra Bracken, without question. Everyone I knew who read THE DARKEST MINDS raved about it, and I completely and totally understood why. The sequel is on my shelf right now and the anticipation might actually be killing me.
BEST BOOK THAT WAS OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE OR A NEW GENRE FOR YOU
HUSHED by Kelley York. I love dark YA/NA and angsty male protagonists, but I’d never really read something with so many deeply screwed up characters in so many screwed up situations. That said, it was refreshing to read a book with a gay romantic pairing where the plot didn’t center around either of them stressing about falling in love with another guy. Authors writing QUILTBAG books, take note!
MOST THRILLING, UNPUTDOWNABLE BOOK OF 2013
Super freaking tough call. There were a bunch of books I read in one sitting this year, but of those, only one kept me up until after two in the morning, and that was ELEANOR AND PARK by Rainbow Rowell.
BOOK YOU READ IN 2013 THAT YOU ARE LIKELY TO RE-READ IN THE COMING YEAR
HYDRAULIC LEVEL FIVE by Sarah Latchaw. Excellent indie published fiction with a romance that’s by turns hilarious and heart-breaking. (Actually, I’ve re-read large chunks of the book already.)
FAVORITE COVER OF A BOOK YOU READ IN 2013
ALL OUR PRETTY SONGS by Sarah McCarry. I’m a sucker for musical instruments on book covers though.
MOST MEMORABLE CHARACTER IN 2013
Jared, from UNSPOKEN by Sarah Rees Brennan. Hands down.
MOST BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN BOOK READ IN 2013
THE RAVEN BOYS by Maggie Stiefvater. I’m actually trying to figure out which parts of my body I’d have to sell to Satan for an ounce of her talent.
BOOK THAT HAD THE GREATEST IMPACT ON YOU IN 2013
TARGET by Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson. I have a lot of trouble discussing why this book grabbed hold of me so much, since it wasn’t the most well-constructed story I found this year. I guess I found it refreshingly honest of the author to write a male character who takes on a pair of issues that are so commonly dismissed as female-centric.
BOOK YOU CAN’T BELIEVE YOU WAITED UNTIL 2013 TO FINALLY READ
THE PIPER’S SON by Melina Marchetta, since I read SAVING FRANCESCA half my lifetime ago–or so it seems–and would’ve jumped on a possible sequel had I only known one existed.
FAVORITE PASSAGE/QUOTE FROM A BOOK YOU READ IN 2013
“Please come back soon. The window is always open.” –CODE NAME VERITY by Elizabeth Wein
SHORTEST AND LONGEST BOOK YOU READ IN 2013
Uh, these are just guesses, but I would have to say MY BOOK OF LIFE BY ANGEL by Martine Leavitt was the shortest, and THE DARKEST MINDS by Alexandra Bracken was the longest.
BOOK THAT HAD A SCENE THAT HAD ME REELING/DYING TO TALK TO SOMEONE ABOUT IT
GIRL OF NIGHTMARES by Kendare Blake. The only thing that kept me from talking to someone was the possibility of scaring the hell out of all my then coworkers simultaneously.
FAVORITE RELATIONSHIP FROM A BOOK YOU READ IN 2013
Friendship-wise THE RAVEN BOYS by Maggie Stiefvater. In terms of romance Eleanor and Park from ELEANOR AND PARK by Rainbow Rowell.
FAVORITE BOOK IN 2013 FROM AN AUTHOR YOU’VE READ PREVIOUSLY
REVENGE OF THE GIRL WITH THE GREAT PERSONALITY by Elizabeth Eulberg. Please keep on writing more awesome ladies and strong female relationships for me in 2014!
BEST BOOK YOU READ IN 2013 THAT YOU READ SOLELY ON A RECOMMENDATION FROM SOMEONE ELSE
THE WEDNESDAY SISTERS by Meg Clayton Waite. Thanks, Grandma!
GENRE YOU READ THE MOST FROM IN 2013
Contemporary or paranormal, if I had to guess.
BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY IN 2013
I was relatively stone-faced throughout the majority of the book, but the very last page of CODE NAME VERITY made be bawl like a baby.
BOOK YOU READ IN 2013 THAT YOU THOUGHT GOT OVERLOOKED THIS YEAR OR WHEN IT CAME OUT
HUSHED by Kelley York. I decided to read this based on one review, and now I can’t believe more people haven’t read it. A chillingly fascinating, but ultimately redemptive story.
What other books should I know about for 2014? What are you eager to read?