Monday, December 30, 2013

[Top Ten Tuesday: The Best Books Of 2013!]

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly linkup hosted by The Broke And The Bookish!

HOW?  How do you pick only 10 books?  I wanted to pick so many more, but when I really sat down and picked my top ten of the year, I was really pleased with the books that have made my list.  There were so many awesome books out there this year and so many that are still sitting on my shelves unread.  Sadly those books never even stood a chance of getting on this list, but I did read over 80 books this year and out of that 80, I think this is the cream of the crop.  And don't mind me if I end up cheating a little bit.  Oh and these aren't in order at all.  How could I pick a ranking for these books?!

"In the Shadow of Blackbirds" by Cat Winters!
This book was amazing!  I don't know how Cat did it, but she made everything about this book spooky and creepy and also very human at the same time.  The war setting and the ghost elements blended so well together!

 "Code Name Verity" and "Rose Under Fire" by Elizabeth Wein!
I know, more then one book, but I read both of them this year and I feel like they are sister books.  I mean they are companion novels after all.  These stories of WWII will leave you with so many tears and a feeling of hope that you won't be able to get rid of for ages.

"If You Find Me" by Emily Murdoch!
This book also slayed my soul.  I'm not much of a contemporary/social issue book fan, but this book made me change my mind about that.  The blunt truth in these pages will leave their mark on you, that's for sure.

"Just One Day" by Gayle Forman!
Once again I will say that this woman can do no wrong and she does to YA lit what Cameron Crowe does with his movies.  She makes a simple story become something you can relate to and she gets her points across with a realistic magic that I can't even begin to understand.

"Dangerous Girls" by Abigail Haas!
This book freaked me out and pulled one of the biggest surprises of the year off.  Anyone who saw that ending coming is my hero.  Seriously, I can't even wrap my mind around it, even after all this time.

"Nameless" by Lili St, Crow!
I'm not even sure why I loved this book as much as I did, but I couldn't put it down once I got to the meat of the story.  I'm also a huge fan of St. Crow's writing style.  I think this one wins for best fairytale retelling of the year for me.

"Not a Drop to Drink" by Mindy McGinnis!
This book is as gnarly as they come.  McGinnis doesn't hold anything back and she's not afraid to kill off people.  It's gory, it's gritty and apparently my brain only likes to describe this book with words that begin with g!

I don't know why it's taken so long for me to read this book?  I fell in love with it and the creepiness of The Unconsecrated.  Best name for zombies that I've ever heard, hands down.

"Fractured" by Sarah Fine!
This book in no way, shape or form struggled with middle book syndrome!  I've got to hand it to Fine for writing a middle book that rocked just as much as her first (Sanctum).  If you haven't read these books, do it now and thank me later!

Of course we had to have a Gaiman book on this list.  He is my favorite author after all.  I love that this book exists.  It's so strange and odd and wonderful.  I mean the mane character doesn't even have a name.  Not sure how you pulled that one off Neil, but you did!

Well there's my list!  What's on yours?  I wanna know.  Leave your link below or tell me in the comments! 

9 comments:

Rachel said...

Eep, I've only read NOT A DROP TO DRINK! But IN THE SHADOW OF BLACKBIRDS, CODE NAME VERITY, JUST ONE DAY, and THE FOREST OF HANDS ON TEETH are on my list! Great list, and Happy New Year!

Rachel @ Beauty and the Bookshelf

Tammy Sparks said...

If You Find Me and Dangerous Girls are books I wanted to read but didn't have time. I'm going to try to read them in 2014! Awesome list, we only have one book in common (In the Shadow of Blackbirds) but I enjoy seeing how different everyone's lists are:)

My Top Ten list.

Lili said...

I've only read FRACTURED and JUST ONE DAY on your list, so it seems like we both have some catching up to do!

Greg said...

Not a Drop to Drink is on my list for January, I want to read that one after hearing so many good things. I'm not as familiar with the others but there are several that look good!

GillyB said...

ROSE UNDER FIRE, IF YOU FIND ME, CODE NAME SOBBITY, AND DANGEROUS GIRLS. YESSSSSS. I VERY MUCH APPROVE OF SO MUCH OF THIS. And most of the other books I'm dying to get to to. It looks like you had a great reading year, Christianna. I hope the next one is just as excellent!

Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm said...

Great list. You've got some really amazing books on your list. I just got Not A Drop to Drink for Christmas and I am really excited to finally read that one. Happy New Year :) My TTT.

Unknown said...

So many of these look amazing! In The Shadow of Blackbirds and Nameless especially.

My list is here: http://roseshadowink.wordpress.com/2013/12/31/top-ten-tuesday-top-ten-book-i-read-in-2013-its-my-birthday/

Unknown said...

Ooh four in common, and four absolutely fabulous reads! I looove those ones too! I'm so glad to be reminded that you loved If You Find Me, Dangerous Girls, and Just One Day because those are all on my "must get to in 2014" list!

Nicole said...

Many of these are my favorites too! Fractured OBVIOUSLY, and If You Find Me, Rose Under Fire, In the Shadow of Blackbirds, Just One Day, Code Name Verity.... great list, great year!