At the risk of ridicule for being absurdly late with this post I have decided to go forth and be mocked. Every year (usually around the 30th or so of December) I write a “Best Books” post for all of you to gobble up and disperse amongst your friends. This year? I found myself in bed.
Christmas this year was a joy. I didn’t travel, just kicked back and enjoyed my children’s joy in receiving an abundance of geek worthy goodies. The day after Christmas however, I woke up with an excruciating headache. Of course, I ignored it. (I am a total 2-year-old when it comes to seeing a doctor. Unless I have an arm dangling precariously, I’d rather lay on my living-room floor and moan.) I made jokes about having a brain tumor, slammed back 10 or 20 Advil and went on with my day. (Don’t worry…this isn’t going to be one of those “surprise I’m actually dying but I’m masking the news with this peppy post”…posts.) By New Year’s day I’d finally had enough (I was afraid I might actually start bleeding from the eyes) and tackled the problem. I had a sinus infection. (See…not dying of some horrific disease.) Naturally, I took offense that a tiny little sinus infection could knock my stubborn ass out of commision…but there you have it. I was fouled by snot. *Shakes fist in air* After a few pills and more wine than I’d like to admit, I finally found the road to cranial recovery.
Which brings us to today. The 8th of January. Or as most of the blogging world would say “A day late and a dollar short.” I am well aware of the ill timing of this post. But being a book enthusiast first and foremost, I don’t want y’all to miss these precious gems from 2013. So I’ve decided to buck the system. Tomorrow I will write a review. I will slam writing styles, I will fawn over characters, I will make love to the page. (Eww.. maybe not.) But today…the 8th of January (Yes, I know I’m repeating myself.) I will pretend that the last week didn’t happen. Rewind your life with me…just for a moment. I promise, you won’t be sorry.
As was the case last year, not all of these books were published in 2013. Honestly…I don’t see the point of sticking to one publication year. I read them in 2013 and therefore 2013 deserves the credit. (Though admittidly…most of them WERE actually published in the last year.) Also, I am about as indecisive as a toddler in a candy store. If you’ve already scrolled down you’ve noticed two list. Yeah, I had to. When I was trying to narrow them down it felt like I was trying to pick a favorite child. So I did the next best thing… HONORABLE MENTION! (Those two words together always sound so…prestigious. Don’t they? No? Gah…)
Anyways…
Here they are…
KO’s Top 10 of 2013
Tandem by Anna Jarzab
READ MY REVIEW
Add it to your Goodreads Shelf / Amazon wishlist
About The Book:
Everything repeats.
You. Your best friend. Every person you know.
Many worlds. Many lives–infinite possibilities.
Welcome to the multiverse.
Sixteen-year-old Sasha Lawson has only ever known one small, ordinary life. When she was young, she loved her grandfather’s stories of parallel worlds inhabited by girls who looked like her but led totally different lives. Sasha never believed such worlds were real–until now, when she finds herself thrust into one against her will.
To prevent imminent war, Sasha must slip into the life of an alternate version of herself, a princess who has vanished on the eve of her arranged marriage. If Sasha succeeds in fooling everyone, she will be returned home; if she fails, she’ll be trapped in another girl’s life forever. As time runs out, Sasha finds herself torn between two worlds, two lives, and two young men vying for her love–one who knows her secret, and one who thinks she’s someone she’s not.
The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch
READ MY REVIEW
Add it to your Goodreads Shelf / Amazon wishlist
About The Book:
“With what should have been the greatest heist of their career gone spectacularly sour, Locke and his trusted partner, Jean, have barely escaped with their lives. Or at least Jean has. But Locke is slowly succumbing to a deadly poison that no alchemist or physiker can cure. Yet just as the end is near, a mysterious Bondsmage offers Locke an opportunity that will either save him or finish him off once and for all.
Magi political elections are imminent, and the factions are in need of a pawn. If Locke agrees to play the role, sorcery will be used to purge the venom from his body – though the process will be so excruciating he may well wish for death. Locke is opposed, but two factors cause his will to crumble: Jean’s imploring – and the Bondsmage’s mention of a woman from Locke’s past: Sabetha. She is the love of his life, his equal in skill and wit, and now, his greatest rival.
Locke was smitten with Sabetha from his first glimpse of her as a young fellow orphan and thief-in-training. But after a tumultuous courtship, Sabetha broke away. Now they will reunite in yet another clash of wills. For faced with his one and only match in both love and trickery, Locke must choose whether to fight Sabetha – or to woo her. It is a decision on which both their lives may depend.”
Hopeless by Colleen Hoover
READ MY REVIEW
Add it to your Goodreads Shelf / Amazon wishlist
About The Book:
“Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies…
That’s what seventeen-year-old Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she’s never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of just one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past that she wishes could just stay buried.
Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he’s nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her. After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn’t at all who he’s been claiming to be. When the secrets he’s been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky’s life will change forever.”
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
READ MY REVIEW
Add it to your Goodreads shelf / Amazon wishlist
About The Book:
“Fifteen-year-old Lina is a Lithuanian girl living an ordinary life–until Soviet officers invade her home and tear her family apart. Separated from her father and forced onto a crowded train, Lina, her mother, and her young brother make their way to a Siberian work camp, where they are forced to fight for their lives. Lina finds solace in her art documenting these events by drawing. Risking everything, she imbeds clues in her drawings of their location and secretly passes them along, hoping her drawings will make their way to her father’s prison camp. But will strength, love, and hope be enough for Lina and her family to survive?”
The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
READ MY REVIEW
Add it to your Goodreads shelf / Amazon wishlist
About The Book:
“After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.
Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.”
The Lair by Emily McKay
READ MY REVIEW
Add it to your Goodreads shelf / Amazon wishlist
About The Book:
In the battle against the vampiric Ticks, humanity was slowly but certainly headed for extinction. For months, twin sisters Lily and Mel had been quarantined” with thousands of other young people being harvested for their blood—food for the Ticks. Finally escaping with a few friends, the twins are separated—and must continue the fight on their own . . .
After making it to a resistance base camp in Utah, Lily learned to survive at all costs. But when a Tick attack decimates the fighters, Lily and her pregnant friend, McKenna, decide to make the hard trek north to Canada—and safety.
Meanwhile, Mel is being taught how to survive by the very vampire that turned her. Living without her sister is hard, but dealing with the fact that her autism was cured by the vampire bite is an even bigger challenge.
But when a monstrous betrayal places Lily in mortal danger, Mel must set out to find her, save her, and begin to unravel the empire of destruction that the Ticks have built.
Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi
I didn’t review this book (I read it for pleasure) but if I had…it would have been a 5! Two words: Chapter 62.
Add it to your Goodreads shelf / Amazon wishlist
About The Book:
tick
tick
tick
tick
tick
it’s almost
time for war.
Juliette has escaped to Omega Point. It is a place for people like her—people with gifts—and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance.
She’s finally free from The Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch.
Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.
In this exhilarating sequel to Shatter Me, Juliette has to make life-changing decisions between what she wants and what she thinks is right. Decisions that might involve choosing between her heart—and Adam’s life.
Foreplay by Sophie Jordan
READ MY REVIEW
Add it to your Goodreads shelf / Amazon wishlist
About The Book:
Before she goes after the life she’s always wanted, she’s about to find the one she needs.
Pepper has been hopelessly in love with her best friend’s brother, Hunter, for like ever. He’s the key to everything she’s always craved: security, stability, family. But she needs Hunter to notice her as more than just a friend. Even though she’s kissed exactly one guy, she has just the plan to go from novice to rock star in the bedroom—take a few pointers from someone who knows what he’s doing.
Her college roommates have the perfect teacher in mind. But bartender Reece is nothing like the player Pepper expects. Yes, he’s beyond gorgeous, but he’s also dangerous, deep—with a troubled past. Soon what started as lessons in attraction are turning both their worlds around, and showing just what can happen when you go past foreplay and get to what’s real…
Seeds of Discovery by Breeana Puttroff
READ MY REVIEW
Add it to your Goodreads shelf / Amazon wishlist
About The Book:
Quinn Robbins has never noticed William Rose at Bristlecone High School – not until the night she almost runs him down in her car. After that, she never stops noticing him. Because William is different than the other boys…
Why does a high school senior always have his nose buried in medical journals? And how does he keep disappearing down by the river every Friday night?
When William starts to show up in her dreams, she is unsure if her curiosity has turned into obsession – or if there is something more mysterious going on. Unable to rest, Quinn follows William to the river one Friday night…and discovers something startling – something she thought could only exist in a fairytale.
Uh oh, Quinn. 1st Period History will never be the same!
The Program by Suzanne Young
READ MY REVIEW
Add it to you Goodreads shelf / Amazon wishlist
About The Book:
In Sloane’s world, true feelings are forbidden, teen suicide is an epidemic, and the only solution is The Program.
Sloane knows better than to cry in front of anyone. With suicide now an international epidemic, one outburst could land her in The Program, the only proven course of treatment. Sloane’s parents have already lost one child; Sloane knows they’ll do anything to keep her alive. She also knows that everyone who’s been through The Program returns as a blank slate. Because their depression is gone—but so are their memories.
Under constant surveillance at home and at school, Sloane puts on a brave face and keeps her feelings buried as deep as she can. The only person Sloane can be herself with is James. He’s promised to keep them both safe and out of treatment, and Sloane knows their love is strong enough to withstand anything. But despite the promises they made to each other, it’s getting harder to hide the truth. They are both growing weaker. Depression is setting in. And The Program is coming for them.
Honorable Mention
I have reviewed all of these with the exception of “The Sky is Everywhere” and “Allegiant.” If you are curious about my thoughts…searching both the title or author should pull them up.
Now, I know that not all of you have been around for the whole of 2013. And because of this, you might have missed a few things. So, I’ve decided to list some of my favorite articles from the last year. So you can catch up!
Click the image to read the article.
