2013 Book Superlative

Everyone's doing it, why not me?

Want to know how many books I read this year? A whopping 100. I have no clue how it happened, but it has been a tremendous reading year. And I have to say I did some pretty great writing this year as well. Are the two related? Maybe. I definitely believe reading, and reading widely, can strengthen your own work. Anyway, without any further ado, here are my superlatives. I would definitely like to give a shout out to my local library for stacking so many amazing books, and to Kindle for having some great sales. Without them I would be nowhere.

Favorite Sophomore Release: This has got to be a tie between Where the Stars Still Shine by Trish Doller and The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin. Both these books blew me away. This is the second book by both authors and I didn't notice a slump in the writing in any way, if anything I think they got stronger. Honorable mention to Days of Blood and Starlight and The Dream Thieves.

Favorite New Series: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. This book was creepy, haunted in a beautiful sort of way, with an original premise. I'm so excited to read the follow up and see where Violet and River are since the events that took place in the first book.

Favorite Debut: There were SO MANY tremendous debuts this year. Honestly, I still have dozens of books to make it through. But I have to say I had a lot of fun reading The Collector by Victoria Scott. Dante was funny, snarky, obnoxious at times, but the story kept me on the edge of my seat and I found myself rooting for him despite his faults.

Favorite Contemporary: Okay, wow. I've read a ton of contemporaries, this was the year of the contemporary.. Picking just one is SOOOO hard. But I have to say The Sea of Tranquility hit me right in the feels. I couldn't put it down. It made me laugh, smile, cry. I loved this book with so much of my heart.

Favorite Under The Radar Book: Letters To Nowhere by Julie Cross. This book had tragedy, romance, gymnastics, and was subtle about the issues it dealt with, and I highly recommend it.

Favorite Late To The Party Book: The Sky Is Everywhere, The Girl Who Chased The Moon, both had family drama and swoony romances, and are very different from each other, but the writing in both makes me envious.

Favorite Scifi Fantasy: Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi and Crown of Midnight by Sara J. Maas. Perry and Choal are my favorites for many reasons. I CANNOT wait to read Into The Still Blue.

Favorite Closing To A Series: Quintana of Charyn. This book put every other end to a trilogy to shame. It raised the bar so high I'm not sure any book will ever be able to reach it. This series as a whole is so wonderful, raw, heartbreaking, beautiful, I can't say enough about it. Honorable mention to The Clockwork Princess and Beautiful Redemption.

There are so many more amazing books I want to write about, but I'm afraid of how long this post would get if I got into it. If any of you want recommendations, don't hesitate to ask. I love sharing my faves with other readers! Hope 2014 is as book filled as 2013 was. I'm so excited to see what the new year holds!