Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish with a different theme every week.
Top Ten Twelve Tuesday (5):
Books I Read in 2012
List is in the order I read them. I cheated and picked 12 because these are all the books I rated with 5 stars this year. Plus top 12 in 2012 has a nice ring to it!
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1. Everneath by Brodie Ashton Why I loved it: Everneath is a deep, dark, rich, tragic and moving story like nothing I’ve ever read. Flashbacks drive the story along and they beautifully show the contrast of the highs and lows that life can take. |
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2. Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale Why I loved it: The witty humor had me laughing out loud and the sarcasm was delightful. There were a few great cultural references that made me think of Gilmore Girls with a longing sigh. |
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3. Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers Why I loved it: Grave Mercy is historical fiction that reads like the best high fantasy out there. If Tolkien had decided to write about Jason Bourne it might have come out something like Grave Mercy. |
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4. Destined by Aprilynne Pike Why I loved it: It was full of battles, betrayal, sacrifice, high stakes, and some beautifully romantic passages that I read over and over. |
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5. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo Why I loved it: Leigh Bardugo took a culture from our world and tweaked it just enough to turn it into a rich fantasy world. She’s genius, I tell you! Shadow and Bone was a new and exhilarating take on high fantasy. |
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6. Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne Why I loved it: The point when I got to know all the characters was when I really started to fall in love with this book. There was such a colorful cast of characters that clashed together in fun ways. It made me laugh out loud even though there were truly terrifying things going on. Seriously. Like, the world is ending and I’m laughing me head off. |
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7. Insurgent by Veronica Roth Why I loved it: I love how the factions are this weird combination of a gang, an entire culture of dress and style, mannerisms and education training for a job. It left me with some deep thoughts about how easily your virtues can become a vice if you’re not careful. I loved the complex idea and story arc. It was an intense, action packed ride that had me saying “Wow” when I closed the book. |
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8. Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale Why I loved it: Romance, danger, amazing characters, wonderful mythology, and a strong voice all kept me up well into the night. |
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9. Endlessly by Kiersten White Why I loved it: One of my favorite things about this whole series is that the voice is so amazing. You get this great, sarcastic, funny teenager who is just full of personality. It’s one of the few YA books that is funny but has heart, too. |
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10. Life of Pi by Yann Martel Why I loved it: Why are tales of survival so enduring and riveting? He fishes, he eats, he drinks and I’m glued to the pages. I couldn’t stop thinking about this book. I have pages and pages of notes, questions, and thoughts while I was reading it. I had no idea going into this book that it would fill my mind with so many deep thoughts and questions. |
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11. For Darkenss Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund Why I loved it: I found the moral dilemma in the book of whether technology is good or bad completely fascinating. I would never have thought that a Jane Austen sci-fi re-telling would work, but it totally does. |
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12. Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry Why I loved it: Lois Lowry is a master and making you turn the pages. With every page you get a sense of something else being not quite right (as she said at her signing) and that’s what kept me glued to the story. She goes into a lot of depth of what the main character is thinking and feeling which I loved. |
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My name is Jessica. I love to read Young Adult and classic literature. I’ve been a book blogger for six years and I haven’t gotten tired of it yet. I’m a very curious reader. Writing about all the questions and thoughts I had while reading a book is the best hobby ever.
Great list! The only one I’ve read is Shadow and Bone, which I thought was good. There are several that I want to read, like the rest of the Wings series, Insurgent, and Endlessly. Thanks for sharing!
Rachel @ Beauty and the Bookshelf
Such a great list – filled with TBR’s for me! I’ve officially done none of these myself but Grave Mercy and Shadow and Bone are two that are must reads for next year! (along with almost the rest of your list!)
I really want to read Life of Pi and Veronica Roth’s books! Here’s my TTT list: http://aliceinreaderland.wordpress.com/2012/12/17/top-books/
Alice @ Alice in Readerland
I’ve only read one book on your list, sadly. If I had read Everneath this year, it would make my list too. Everbound defnitely makes my list. And, I really want to get to Cinder! Someday.
I love love love your list!! Everneath, Grave Mercy, Shadow and Bone, and For Darkness Shows the Stars! I haven’t read For Darkness yet but I’m dying to!
Love the list, a lot of those I myself cannot wait to read :( so many books so little time
LOVED GRAVE MERCY! So much amazingness. Everneath and Endlessly were both really good too. :]
My Top Ten Tuesday