I was introduced to THE coolest site this year:
Goodreads. It is amazing and you should totally join! It is essentially a catalog of books you've read, books you want to read, and a way to find new books. Basically heaven in a website :D
With that said, my horizons were expanded immensely this year. I attempted to read 100 books in 12 months and came up six short. Well, here's to 2014, right?
I tried to narrow my list to ten... here goes.
(In no particular order.....)
1.
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell: I was first introduce to Ms. Rowell with her novel
Eleanor and Park, through which I struggled, and was amazed by how much I LOVED this book. It is clever and witty and hearbreaking and hits you in all the right places.
It's Cather's first year of college (that hit me in the feels) and she is struggling to understand why her twin sister, Wren wants to room with someone else, she can't comprehend why Wren needs space. Struggling with leaving her dad alone back home, Cath sticks to what she does best, and what offers her the most comfort - Simon Snow. Fan Ficion, forums, role play... she lives in her own world trying to block out the people that want to surround her. A professor who doesn't believe in Fan Fiction, a grumpy roommate with an overly charming, always around boyfriend, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about writing... Can she make it without Wren? And what about her dad?
2. Charade by Nyrae Dawn: I actually have a serious problem because I absolutely love this new "New Adult" genre. It's gritty and real and about characters my age with real issues that don't involve high school drama. WARNING: There is sex. There is swearing. There are drugs. But the story is epic and it makes your heart hurt and I love that.
(From Goodreads): Nineteen-year-old
Cheyenne tries to portray the perfect life to mask the memories of her
past. Walking in on her boyfriend with another woman her freshman year
in college threatens that picture of perfection.
Twenty-one-year-old
Colt never wanted college and never expected to amount to anything, but
when his mom's dying wish is for him to get his degree, he has no
choice but to pretend it's what he wants too.
Cheyenne needs a
fake boyfriend to get back at her ex and Colt needs cash to take care of
his mom, so they strike a deal that helps them both. But what if
Cheyenne’s past isn’t what she thought? Soon they’re trading one charade
for another—losing themselves in each other to forget about their pain.
The more they play their game, the more it becomes the only thing they
have that feels real.
Both Cheyenne and Colt know life is never
easy, but neither of them expect the tragedy that threatens to end their
charade and rip them apart forever.
3. Saving Wishes by G.J. Walker-Smith: This takes place in Australia, and hits me in my love for travel. It has a twist that you don't see coming and will steal your heart, break it into a million pieces, and mend it back at the perfect moment.
(Goodreads):
For Charli Blake, being seventeen is a tough gig.
She's
been branded a troublemaker, her reputation is in tatters and she's
stuck in Pipers Cove, a speck of a town on the coast of Tasmania.
Thankfully,
it's temporary. Her lifelong dream of travelling the world is just
months away from becoming reality. All she has to do is ride out the
last few months of high school, which is easier said than done thanks to
a trio of mean girls known as The Beautifuls.
When Adam Décarie
arrives in town, all the way from New York, life takes an unexpected
turn. His arrival sets off a chain of events that alters her life
forever, convincing her of one thing. Fate brought him to her.
Saving Wishes is the story of a girl who doesn't quite fit the life she's living, and the boy who helps her realise why.
4.
Crash Into You By Katie McGarry: Something about a bad boy and good girl just does it for me. (Goodreads):
The girl with straight
As, designer clothes and the perfect life-that's who people expect
Rachel Young to be. So the private-school junior keeps secrets from her
wealthy parents and overbearing brothers...and she's just added two more
to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in
her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker-a guy she
has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the
tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out
of her mind.
Isaiah has secrets, too. About where he lives, and
how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get
tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for
kicks-no matter how angelic she might look.
But when their
shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they
have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how
far they'll go to save each other.
5. Cinder By Marissa Meyer: A very different read from the past couple of books, more young adult than new adult. You say scifi, I say the future.
(Goodreads):
Humans and androids
crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the
population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make
their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.
Cinder,
a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a
mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her
stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the
handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an
intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty
and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her
past in order to protect her world’s future.
6. The Selection by Kiera Cass: The Bachelor meets The Hunger Games... does that make sense?
(Goodreads): For thirty-five
girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to
escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world
of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and
compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.
But for America
Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her
secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to
enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a
palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.
Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all
the plans she's made for herself and realizes that the life she's always
dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.
7. Graceling by Kristin Cashore:
(Goodreads): Katsa has been able to
kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight - she's a Graceling,
one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece
of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced
as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king's thug.
When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change.
She never expects to become Po's friend.
She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace - or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away...
8. One Tiny Lie by K.A. Tucker: This is the second book in the series, but I just enjoyed this one so much more than Ten Tiny Breaths. You should definitely read both, preferably book 1 first...
(Goodreads): Livie has always been
the stable one of the two Cleary sisters, handling her parents' tragic
death and Kacey's self-destructive phase with strength and maturity. But
underneath that exterior is a little girl hanging onto the last words
her father ever spoke to her. “Make me proud,” he had said. She promised
she would...and she’s done her best over the past seven years with
every choice, with every word, with every action.
Livie walks
into Princeton with a solid plan, and she’s dead set on delivering on
it: Rock her classes, set herself up for medical school, and meet a
good, respectable guy that she’s going to someday marry. What isn’t part
of her plan are Jell-O shots, a lovable, party animal roommate she
can’t say ‘no’ to, and Ashton, the gorgeous captain of the men’s rowing
team. Definitely him. He’s an arrogant ass who makes Livie’s usually
non-existent temper flare and everything she doesn’t want in a guy.
Worse, he’s best friends and roommates with Connor, who happens to fits
Livie’s criteria perfectly. So why does she keep thinking about Ashton?
As
Livie finds herself facing mediocre grades, career aspirations she no
longer thinks she can handle, and feelings for Ashton that she shouldn’t
have, she’s forced to let go of her last promise to her father and,
with it, the only identity that she knows.
9. Wait For You by J. Lynn: I absolutely adore this book, mostly because there are parts of myself that I don't like that I find in Avery, that I love in Avery. It feels good to see that these aren't necessarily bad things.
(Goodreads):
Some things are worth waiting for…
Traveling
thousands of miles from home to enter college is the only way
nineteen-year-old Avery Morgansten can escape what happened at the
Halloween party five years ago—an event that forever changed her life.
All she needs to do is make it to her classes on time, make sure the
bracelet on her left wrist stays in place, not draw any attention to
herself, and maybe—please God—make a few friends, because surely that
would be a nice change of pace. The one thing she didn’t need and never
planned on was capturing the attention of the one guy who could shatter
the precarious future she’s building for herself.
Some things are worth experiencing…
Cameron
Hamilton is six feet and three inches of swoon-worthy hotness, complete
with a pair of striking blue eyes and a remarkable ability to make her
want things she believed were irrevocably stolen from her. She knows she
needs to stay away from him, but Cam is freaking everywhere, with his
charm, his witty banter, and that damn dimple that’s just so… so
lickable. Getting involved with him is dangerous, but when ignoring the
simmering tension that sparks whenever they are around each other
becomes impossible, he brings out a side of her she never knew existed.
Some things should never be kept quiet…
But
when Avery starts receiving threatening emails and phone calls forcing
her to face a past she wants silenced, she’s has no other choice but to
acknowledge that someone is refusing to allow her to let go of that
night when everything changed. When the devastating truth comes out,
will she resurface this time with one less scar? And can Cam be there to
help her or will he be dragged down with her?
And some things are worth fighting for…
10. For Real by Chelsea M. Cameron: Okay, first time around, I called this a three outa five. Second time around - Holy Moly I loved it. I must not have paid close attention the first time, but the second time I was riveted. Here's why:
(Goodreads):
Two people. One fake relationship. What could go wrong?
When
virgin Shannon Travers gets fed up with her friends demanding that she
find a boyfriend, she enlists the help of tattooed, mohawk-rocking
graphic design student Jett. He’s more than happy to play along with
their Fake Relationship, including the Ten Rules of Fake Dating that
control-freak Shannon comes up with. Even if he likes to violate them.
Repeatedly.
But what happens when Fake Dating starts to feel… not
fake anymore? Will Shannon be willing to let go and embrace the first
thing in her life that’s ever felt REAL?
Hey, what are your favorite books that you read in 2013? Did I miss some? Did I lead you to a new favorite? Let me know!
Mia
P.S. Bear with me as I figure out how to use this site and format my posts, it's so confusing!
