Dear The Broke and The Bookish,
Seriously? For real? Sigh.
Love,
Megan
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is a challenge! I feel bad for all you veteran bloggers out there. At least I only have 2.5 years worth of books to slog through!
So let’s rewind the clock to 2010, when I first started keeping track of my books on the blog. This was a good year. I discovered Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins, Paranormalcy by Kiersten White, and I fell in love with two spin-off series, The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan and The Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. I love these authors and their books and they will always have a place on my favorites shelf, but they still can’t top these hits of 2010:
1. Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer. Jacky Faber is my hero. I want everyone to read these books. A girl disguised as a boy, pirates, bawdy sea shanties, and more! What’s not to love?
2. White Cat by Holly Black. It’s Harry Potter meets The Sopranos. Magic and mafia. A perfectly flawed male POV. I was sorry to say goodbye to Cassel this year. A must read, in my opinion.
3. The Drake Chronicles by Alyxandra Harvey. This series got me out of my post-Twilight vampire slump. I thought I was over vampires. Wrong. I love me some Drakes.
I could go on and include The Cardturner by Louis Sachar and Going Bovine by Libba Bray, but I need so save room for my 2011 and 2012 favorites. Moving on to 2011…
And I thought 2010 was a good year! 2011 brought gems Hourglass by Myra McEntire and Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier (I do love a good time travel book!). the Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith stuck with me for days after I had finished and Where She Went by Gayle Forman actually made me cry. But, the next spots on my Top Ten list are reserved for these four books:
4. Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John. This was the feel-good hit of the year. Again, everyone should read this book.
5. The Ranger’s Apprentice series by John Flanagan. And this is when I truly learned to not judge a book by its cover. I picked up the first book in the series because I needed to find more “boy” books to recommend to my readers. I had no idea that I was going to discover a new all-time favorite series!
6. Blood Red Road by Moira Young. I received this as an ARC from the publisher. It gathered some dust on my desk. I attempted a few pages but was turned off by the dialect. More dust. Then the guilt set in. I had gotten a free advanced reader copy and I was neglecting it! So, I buckled down, and holy crap, it was amazing! I think the little blurb on the cover of the paperback edition declaring it “better than The Hunger Games” is a little mean-spirited and cocky, but totally true.
7. The Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. I would like to thank a number of coworkers for peer pressuring me into starting this series. I am half way through book 3 and I love it so much that I can hardly think of anything else!
Before Stork by Wendy Delsol and Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins start to feel snubbed for not making the top ten, I need to move on to 2012. I have read some awesome YA books this year, but top honors goes to a non-YA!
8. The Rook by Daniel O’Malley. This has to be one of the most bizarre and intriguing books I have ever read. So unique. And strange. And funny. An awesome debut!
9. Cinder by Marissa Meyer. Another stunning 2012 debut! Cinderella is a cyborg. Love.
10. The ten spot is shared by two amazing graphic novel series. I didn’t start reading graphic novels until about a year ago. Now I am hooked. My favorites have been Fables by Bill Willingham and Locke & Key by Joe Hill.
Wow, that was hard. Please don’t tell Ashes by Ilsa Bick and Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King, Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly, or I am the Messenger by Marcus Zusak that they didn’t make the list. They were awesome and I don’t want to hurt their feelings!
Happy Reading!
˜Megan