Favorite Books of 2013

Now that there's only two more days of 2013, it's time to reflect on all those good books I've read. This year I only managed to read 27, which is actually the most I've read ever since starting college and high school. But anyways, here are the top 10 books I read this year!

10. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Amazing read, although the only problem for me was Gaiman's writing style, because he has a weird way of explaining what's going on at the moment. I also read The Ocean at the End of the Lane and had even more trouble with it. Nevertheless, the plot pulls you in and keeps you engaged. I mean it's a boy being raised by ghosts in a graveyard how can it not be awesome?

9. The Hate List by Jennifer Brown

Usually I never ever read books that are about suicide, drugs, and school shootings, but this one was different. The reason I even bothered to pick it up was for an All About Me challenge (which sadly I didn't finish). Although at first I wasn't looking forward to reading it, after the first few chapters I was hooked. The Hate List accurately portrays what happens before, during, and after a high school shooting, unlike the media. And since the character, Valerie, is directly related to the shooter, I got to see how she had the handle the situation. Honestly I felt so bad for her, because none of it was her fault. During the entire book I just wanted to scream and tell everyone that just because the shooter was her boyfriend it doesn't mean she's bad too. Anyways, this book was really intense, and I highly recommend it. 

8. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland by Catherynne M. Valente

I was super excited to read this one, and although it was a little below my expectations, it's still one of my favorites of the year. Basically, this little girl, September, winds up in Fairyland and goes on a journey in order to get rid of the new Marquess. This is one children's book I will be making my kids read, because there are so many twists that I just did not expect. And because of that, I will be eagerly awaiting the sequel.

7. This Is How You Die: Short Story Anthology

This is actually the sequel to The Machine of Death, which I read about a year ago. AND ALL OF THE STORIES ARE AMAZING. This is what it says on the back:

The machines started popping up around the world. The offer was tempting: with a simple blood test, anyone could know how they would die. But the machines didn't give dates or specific circumstances-just a single word or phrase. DROWNED, CANCER, OLD AGE, CHOKED ON A HANDFUL OF POPCORN. And though the predictions were always accurate, they were also often frustratingly vague. OLD AGE, it turned out, could mean either dying of natural causes, or being shot by an elderly, bedridden man in a botched home invasion. The machines held onto that old-world sense of irony in death: you can know how it's going to happen, but you'll still be surprised when it does.

How does this NOT make you want to read the book? Just that alone should intrigue you and make you read it because this and it's prequel is amazing. I really recommend it to everyone.

6. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

I don't know why I haven't read this until this year, but I do not regret it one bit. Not only do I love the fact that it's in space, but also it features young kids. I know it is hard to imagine, but it shows that kids can be smart, wise, and responsible. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I'm really looking forward to watching it.

5. The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley

I know I just wrote a review for it (which you should check out), but this novel is just simply amazing and I enjoyed it immensely! I loved Anna so much, I just wish that there was an epilogue or a sequel! Actually, there is a prequel to this, but it's more of a spin-off so I'm not sure I will like it or not. But I will read it soon!

4. The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

If I am not mistaken, this is Wecker's first novel. And kudos to her because this is one HECK of a novel! This is an amazing tale that brings together two religions and connects them with a story of two very magical beings, by using LOVE. I am an absolute sucker for crossovers, so I enjoyed this so much that I cried when it ended. This is an amazing example of a historical fantasy, and I recommend to all, as usual.

3. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

I'm just going to bring up my little post from Tumblr which I wrote right after I finished this:

Ok, let me gush about this book because I JUST NEED TO. If you haven't heard of it, you go read it RIGHT NOW because it describes the Tumblr community COMPLETELY. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell describes Cath, an introvert that literally fangirls about a book series (like harry potter) and writes fanfiction about it,pairing up the two male leads in the series. I can say that she DEFINITELY represents EVERYONE here on tumblr that is part of a fandom, like sherlock, doctor who, harry potter, supernatural, etc. etc.

If you aren't convinced HERE ARE SOME QUOTES:

"Have you ever seen an alpaca, Cather? They're like the world's most adorable llamas. Like, imagine the cutest llama that you can, and then just keep going."

"I'm not interested in lips out of context."

"This was why Cath wrote fic. For these hours when their world supplanted the real world. When she could just ride their feelings for each other like a wave, like something falling downhill."

"There are other people on the Internet. It's awesome. You get all the benefits of 'other people' without the body odor and the eye contact."

As you can see, there's nothing more I can say, other than how SUPER FANTABULOUS this book is!

2. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

I have no words to say other than this quote from the book.

“There are infinite numbers between 0 and 1. There's .1 and .12 and .112 and an infinite collection of others. Of course, there is a bigger infinite set of numbers between 0 and 2, or between 0 and a million. Some infinities are bigger than other infinities. A writer we used to like taught us that. There are days, many of them, when I resent the size of my unbounded set. I want more numbers than I'm likely to get, and God, I want more numbers for Augustus Waters than he got. But, Gus, my love, I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity. I wouldn't trade it for the world. You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I'm grateful.”

1. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I read this book on my kindle for book club, and then I made someone buy a hard copy for me for Christmas. If I had the time, I would read a little bit of this book every day. It made me sad, made me happy, made my frustrated, made me angry, and most importantly, it made me realize how powerful words can be. This story isn't about the Holocaust; it's about a girl that has the ability to shake the world with her words.