My Year In Books: Top Reading Recommendations From 2014

Thanks to Goodreads, I have a complete list of the 40+ books I read last year, and I have to say it was a pretty phenomenal year of reading.  Since January seems to be all about making lists, I thought I would share a list of my 15 favorite reads from 2014 (in no particular order).

1.  LOVE LETTERS TO THE DEAD by Ava Dellaira 

I loved, loved, loved this book.  The story, the writing -- it made my heart happy. I loved this one so much that I might go so far as to say it was my favorite read of the year, which is saying a lot when you consider my list.  

2. NOT A DROP TO DRINK by Mindy McGinnis

Mindy is a moderator and posts regularly over at AgentQuery Connect, so I feel a bit like I got to watch her debut happen in real time -- from getting an agent to landing a book deal.  So of course when Not a Drop to Drink finally came out I had to give it a read, and I am so happy to say that it did not disappoint. I suppose it's considered a dystopian story, but it has such a fresh take and the setting feels so realistic and plausible that I hesitate to lump it into that category.  Whether you like dystopians or you're suffering from end-of-the-world burnout, give this book a read. You won't be disappointed.

3. BLUE LILY, LILY BLUE by Maggie Stiefvater

This was my November YA Book pick, so I'll let you read my gushing post here.  Needless to say, I <3 Maggie Stiefvater and all of the books from THE RAVEN CYCLE series.

4.  WE WERE LIARS by E. Lockhart

This was a Goodreads Choice 2014 winner, which pretty much says it all. 

5. FAN GIRL by Rainbow Rowell

2014 was the year I fell in love with Rainbow Rowell. I picked this one up as soon as I had finished Eleanor & Park, and I loved every word of it.  Rowell has a true gift for writing unique characters that jump off the page.

6. ELEANOR AND PARK by Rainbow Rowell

I was worried this one wouldn't live up to the hype, but holy hell did it. And if that's not proof enough, than perhaps the fact that it was a 2014 Printz Honor award winner will be.

7.  BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY by Ruta Sepetys

This is a beautiful and heart wrenching YA historical fiction centered around a fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl named Lina who is forced into a work camp under Stalin's orders.  You can read Lauren's review of it here for more details.

8. THE 5TH WAVE by Rick Yancey

I picked this one up after Triona featured it as her February YA Book Pick.  Admittedly I'm not a huge fan of Sci-Fi, but this story felt fresh, the characters real, and the pacing was so spot-on that I finished it in a matter of days.  I can't wait to read the next one.

9. POINTE Brandy Colbert

I haven't read any stories from the perspective of an aspiring ballerina, and I have to say I really enjoyed it (perhaps that's the ex-dancer in me). Theo is a complicated and well developed character, and her story is heart breaking and at times hard to read in all the right ways.

10. NIGHT OF CAKE AND PUPPETS by Laini Taylor

Laini Taylor is another one of my all time favorite authors. Whether you've read Daughter of Smoke and Bone or not, this is a great read.  It's more of a companion novel than a continuation of the series, and it delves into my favorite character from DOSAB -- Zuzana. As with everything Taylor does, it's beautifully written and hard to put down.

11. SINNER by Maggie Stiefvater

This is a companion novel to the SHIVER series, but like Night of Cake and Puppets you don't have to have read the series to enjoy this story.  As with all things Stiefvater, the writing is beautiful and the characters are blisteringly real.  I love that both Cole and Isabel should be unlikable characters, but in Stiefvater's hands you can't help but root for them.

12.  A MONSTER CALLS by Patrick Ness

So unique, I don't really have words to describe it. I read it months ago, but I still find myself thinking about it -- I think the symbolism, emotion and truth of the story will sit with me for a long time. Highly recommend.

13. CODE NAME VERITY by Elizabeth Wein

This historical fiction is told from the perspective of a young spy who's been captured and imprisoned in 1946 Nazi occupied France.  Filled with twists and turns and an unexpected narrator, this is possibly one of the most unique WWII stories I have ever read. And talk about strong female characters...eesh! 

14. THE DARKEST MINDS by Alexandra Bracken

If you enjoy The 5th Wave, you'll enjoy this story and vice-versa. It has a similar feel and similarly great pacing, though the stories are nothing alike.  If I had to pick between the two I'd pick The 5th Wave, but only by a hair.

15. THE GOLDFINCH by Donna Tartt

I had to have at least one Pulitzer winner on the list, and you can't lose with The Goldfinch. I actually listened to this one as an audio book, which I'm not sure I'd recommend given the length.  But the story was so good I almost missed my stop several times during my work commute, and I found myself staying on the elliptical at the gym much longer than usual because I wanted to find out what happened next.  My only beef with this book is the length, but otherwise it is brilliant, beautiful, unique and worthy of all the praise. 

What were your favorite books of 2014, and most importantly, what should I read next? ;-)

 

What to Read Fall 2012: Part 2

ALA ARCs are oh so much fun. Too bad I have to slow down my reading of them as I head back to school, but then again, I get to go back to teaching. Yay! So here's more of how I spent my summer:

Here's the scoop:

Reading over tacos at my favorite
 local taco stand.

1. Blessed by Tonya Hurley

""Agnes!' My mother wailed, clutching the pale arm of her only daughter. 'Is he really worth it? Worth this?'" Begins the chic new trilogy by the author of the Ghostgirl series (also former personal publicist to the George Michael, Prince, Morrissey, The Cure, and the Olson twins among others. Wow. BTW Her coolness level is definitely reflected in this book.) And from there, it's a fast-paced, edgy, and twisted dark adventure into the lives of three girls who are given matching bracelets by a mysterious hot guy while checked into a Catholic hospital. After that the girls are pulled deeper and deeper into the lore of ancient Catholic Saints, and into a modern world where they are the Saints. Really original idea. I loved the concept, and the thrill of the book, and recommend it for those who are comfortable in an edgy, dark YA world (I tend to be a bit of a wuss), enjoy exploring religion in a fresh way, and like a fast-paced adventure. Watch for it 9/25/12. Simon & Schuster.

2. Before You Go by James Prellier

Heading out on my sweet
beach cruiser to find a nice
spot to read.

"Jude squeezed his eyes shut, blinking away the sun's glare, and waited for the eight-fifteen-in-the-freaking-morning bus." Eight-fifteen as freaking early? I wish. Such a teenager. And he is. Jude is moody, complex, and has a right to be. He's been quietly dealing with the guilt of having been on duty when his little sis drowned years ago. Unfortunately, we know that she won't be his only tragedy. The book begins with a preface that alerts the readers that there will be another traumatic event at the end, and we spend the rest of the book building up to said tragedy. Throughout the work Jude becomes a richly complex character who falls in love with a complex real human girl, and makes good friends as he spends a summer working a crap job on the beach. But we all know something's coming, and it does. And it's sad. I recommend this one for anyone in the mood for rich complex characters facing problems for which they should be far too young. It's out now (Came out July).  Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan).

3. Colin Fischer by Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz 

At my desk 

"Colin clutched his precious, dog-eared Notebook to his chest." Is not the sort of first line I expected from the screenwriting duo behind X-Men: First Class and Thor!, and neither is this delightfully quirky mystery whose crime-solver has Aspergers and needs a collection of facial-expression notecards to tell him what people are feeling. I know that the autism narration thing has been done, and done well before (I absolutely love Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time), but this one doesn't feel derivative. The characters are well-drawn as Colin navigates freshman year without the help of his aide, and ultimately sets out to solve the mystery of who brought a gun to school. I recommend this book for anyone who wants to re-experience high school from a naively logical perspective, loved Encyclopedia Brown, or just wants a sweet and engaging mystery. Look for it November 2012. Razorbill. (Penguin).

Happy Fall (into) Reading Everyone!!!

What to Read Fall 2012

AKA What I'm Doing With My Summer Vacation: Part 1

I'm digging my way through all the ARCs I collected from ALA, and I'm having a blast. Here's my first trio of previews for what will be hitting the shelves soon:

Unwinding after a beach day

1.    Time Between Us by  Tamara Ireland Stone

At ALA I was promised that this book would be romantic. The marketing guy was nice and used a hushed knowing smile when he said “ro-man-tic.” He said it was definitely a “must-read.” And so I did. And then I threw the book against a wall. That said, it’s actually a good book, but there are books one should read at certain points in one’s life and others that might compel them to throw a book against the wall (hint: if you're single and having a down day, you may not want to read about people in love).
 So let me break it down for you. Who should read this? People who love that Notebook-esque romance, music junkies who want a written soundtrack to the grunge movement of the 90’s, those who want to escape to a reality where time travel is possible so you can go back and change the past, hop over to Italy for a date, or just want to feel the rush of what first love is like all over again.

2. Freaks Like Us by Susan Vaught

On the porch

For a crime-show junkie like me, this one sucked me right in. Vaught goes inside the head of a very lovable schizophrenic teenage boy who has to fight through voices in his head, terrifying imagery, etc. to try to figure out what happened to his best friend/ girl of his dreams, a selectively mute girl from his Severely Emotionally Disabled class who has disappeared. He's praying that the voices who tell him it's his fault are wrong as his medication begins to wear off and the 24 hour mark of her disappearance draws closer.

Who should read this? Anyone who is as addicted to Criminal Minds as I am, but also those who like psychological thrillers, quirky love stories, or those who want a better understanding of what it's like to have mental illness. I will NEVER look at those who ride the short bus the same way again. Thank you, Susan Vaught.

3. A Girl Named Mister by Nikki Grimes

My favorite chocolate shop/ cafe

This one isn't new, but when I was at the booth, the woman working took me through a number of the new titles, and then ended by putting this book in my hands and said "it isn't new for fall, but every teenage girl should read this." She's right. There are so many times in my teaching career where I wish I had this book on hand to give to a girl who's sitting outside my classroom on the verge of tears confessing that she or a friend might be pregnant. It's a novel in verse split between two Marys. One is the Mary of the Bible, the other is "Mister", whose given name is Mary. The poems parallel the two girls as they discover they're pregnant, the rumors that swirl, and track Mister's crushing sadness that she has broken a promise to God and gotten pregnant by a guy who doesn't love her. It's deceptively simple, beautifully-written, and ultimately hopeful.

Out now
Zondervan

Who should read this? Every religious teenager who is considering having sex (though having attempted to teach "girl" books to the guys before, I'm not optimistic on boys reading it), the parents/teachers of teenagers, those who have forgotten that there are real and high stakes in normal teenage life, and those who want to explore what it really means to be Christian.

Due out Oct. 2012
Disney Hyperion

Due out Sept. 2012
Bloomsbury