Top Ten Books I read in 2013

This feature is hosted by the ladies of The Broke and the Bookish

This was an interesting year for me. I started this blog in April and since then, I’ve found some simply amazing books of all different genres. Books that I probably wouldn’t have found if I wasn’t blogging.

So here goes my list…

It should shock no one that I am putting The Program by Suzanne Young on here. Every single time I’ve been asked for my favorite book of the year, The Program has been my immediate answer. The feels are all there and the character development is amazing. Go read it right now if you haven’t already.

Splintered by A.G. Howard quickly became a new favorite of mine. I had never read retellings before but it looked amazing. So when I got it as a Christmas present, I dove right in. And I loved it. It was absolute perfection.

My Life After Now by Jessica Verdi was a surprise to me. I had no idea how much I would like and yes even love this one.This one was an unexpected and happy surprise.

OCD Love Story by Corey Ann Haydu had the power to be amazing or be terrible and it was amazing. It was awesome to see the characterization of OCD done right and not understated or overstated.

If You Find Me was an amazing debut and it had me pondering my own life and being thankful for the people in it. It also had me pondering the idea of sending Emily Murdoch my therapy bill.It broke me in the best possible way.

Oh how I love books about cults. Gated by Amy Christine Parker was awesome and I loved it big time.It brought out the feels in me a lot towards the end. Yet I totally understand that it’s not a book for everyone.

Pushing The Limits by Katie McGarry actually came out in 2012, but since this is a list of books I’ve read in 2013, I figured it’s okay to put Pushing the Limits on this list. Um, this book was amazing, beautiful and full of feels. Go read this one if you haven’t already.

The Sea Of Tranquility also came out in 2012, but I just recently read it so it made it’s way onto the list.Amazing book, yet another one that broke me into teeny tiny pieces by the time it was the end of the book. I teased the lovely Katja Millay that I was going to send her my therapy bill. I am stunned that it took me this long to read this book.

Uninvited by Sophie Jordan doesn’t come out until the beginning of 2014, but I did read it this year so it also gets to be on this list.It was awesome and different and heartbreaking. Go pre-order this book right now.

Pivot Point by Kasie West was awesome and beautiful and amazing. After only reading one of Kasie West’s books, she has cemented herself on my list of auto-buy authors.Pivot Point was beautifully written and it had one of the best friendships I’ve ever seen in Addie & Laila.Go read this book right now and get ready for Split Second.

All of these authors were actually new to me. That’s been another perk of book blogging. I’ve been introduced to hordes of new authors.Looking at my list, over half of them were contemporaries.Of the other 4, one was fantasy,one was paranormal,one was science fiction and one was dystopian.

So let me know if you’ve read any of these and if you did a Top Ten list this week, link me to that as well. See you guys next year!

Happy New Year!

Top Picks of 2013

So I know I already took part in this for another blog, but I also wanted to make a best of post for my own blog. So look at my choices for books that were published & that I read this year. In the comment section, let me know what you think of my choices.

Best debut novel(s)

OCD Love Story by Corey Ann Haydu was in my opinion one of the best debut novels. It was written wonderfully and the characterization of OCD and it’s variables was quite accurate.Splintered was also one of the best debut novels. It was definitely a “dark” book but so, SO good.

Best start of series

The Program by Suzanne Young. I adored this book more than I ever expected to. It was beautifully written and the characters were amazing.

Best series finale/ Continuation.

So I haven’t read any series finales this year so I decided to pick the best 2^nd book in a series. For that, I go with Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi. It was amazing and left me desperate for the final book in the trilogy.

Best standalone

There are not enough words in my vocabulary to accurately describe my love for If You Find Me. It was beautifully written and the characters were wonderful and enjoyable. It had all of those feelings that are so important to the enjoyment of the book.

Best unexpected favorite

My Life After Now by Jessica Verdi. It was one of my favorite YA contemporaries of the year. I bought this one after a friend recommended it to me. I had no clue how much I would love it.

Best all around

The Program by Suzanne Young. I had heard some iffy things about it prior to purchasing it but I went ahead in purchased it anyway. It had romance, action and all the feels that a reader could ever want.

Most anticipated 2014 book

My most anticipated 2014 book is definitely Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi. I am dying to see what happens to all of the characters.

Cover Love

The cover of Splintered is absolutely gorgeous. I drooled over the cover for ages after I unwrapped it on Christmas morning. The pictures absolutely do not do it justice.

Book Blogger Challenge- Week 5

I’m back again for the 5th installment of the Book Blogger Challenge. This awesome feature comes from the awesome Good Books and Good Wine.Without who I never would have found out about this feature.

Week 5-Recommend a tearjerker

I could actually name a lot of tearjerkers as I have read a lot of them recently. My favorite tearjerker is a virtual tie between The Program by Suzanne Young and If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch. Both heartbreakingly beautiful (if that’s even possible) Both of them caused many tears on my part. If I had to rate them on a tear scale, I’d go with The Program by Suzanne Young.There were many pages and even full chapters that I just sobbed through.

Here are my reviews for both of them. 

The Program

If You Find Me

I gave them both 5 stars easily. They both brought out the feels in me in VERY similar ways.So if you’re looking for a tearjerker, go get your hands on one of these. Or both of them if you REALLY want to cry.

Review: If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch

Book Title: If You Find Me

Author: Emily Murdoch

Published Date: March 26th

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

Genre: YA 

Standalone

Book Link: Goodreads

Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble

Synopsis from Goodreads:

There are some things you can’t leave behind…
A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey’s younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and two strangers arrive. Suddenly, the girls are taken from the woods and thrust into a bright and perplexing new world of high school, clothes and boys.

Now, Carey must face the truth of why her mother abducted her ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won’t let her go… a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn’t spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down.

Disclaimer: This book was purchased by me.

Review:

Oh wow…

I’m not even sure that I can spit out in coherent sentences how amazing this book really was. It’s rare that a book can leave me totally speechless but this one rendered me speechless for a good hour or so after I finished the book.

Not only was I speechless but I had tears rolling down my face during the majority of it. This book really brought out those all important feels and I’m getting choked up again as I try to write a decent review for this book.

The idea of being told so many things and then eventually finding out that most of the things your troubled mama told you were lies. That is just heartbreaking to me. Carey and Jenessa “Nessa” both showed how incredibly strong they were. Carey needed to step up and be the mom that Nessa needed since their own mom had her own issues with mental illness and drugs. 

Suddenly they are forced to live with Carey’s father and stepmother and stepsister even though they had been frequently told that Carey’s father Charlie was a bad man and that they had to stay away from him.It wasn’t explored in the book much but I have a feeling that Carey wondered a lot about her dad despite the lies her mother had told her.It’s only natural to wonder about someone you haven’t seen in a decade.

I loved Melissa, she was exactly the kind of woman that Carey and Nessa needed in their lives and I am so glad that she was such an important part of their girls’ new life. I was focused so much on Carey and Nessa’s story that it wasn’t until the end that I really started thinking about Delaney and how she was feeling about all this. Like Melissa told Carey,it was an adjustment for all of them, Delaney included.I think Delaney struggled with the abrupt changes in her own life with her mom and stepdad.

Ryan and Pixie were totally awesome people. Ryan’s connection to Carey and to her mom Joelle was heartbreaking and the few times it was brought up, I only cried harder.In my head Ryan is the guy who Carey gives herself to. Not because she has to but because she wants to.

This is the kind of book that really makes me so grateful for the people in my life.Especially the people who are constantly and consistently in my life. I don’t know what I would do without them.I absolutely adored this book and it gets an easy five stars from me. I couldn’t imagine this book being any more wonderful.