My 2013 Top 10 Books

I know there are still a couple of months left in 2013 but since I’ve already reached my goal of reading 100 books in 2013, I figured I’d go ahead and post my top 10. A little disclaimer here, I’m posting any YA series I’ve read as “one book”. They are quick reads and all go together pretty well.

10.

This quirky, light-hearted book is about a girl trying to piece together what happened to her mother, Bernadette, through emails, letters and text messages. Bernadette is quite the character and you are sure to get a laugh or two out of the book.

9.

This is an updated retelling of Pride and Prejudice. Shelby Roswell is a history professor whose first book has been poorly received by Ransom Fielding, a renowned historian. When he comes to her college as a visiting professor, the sparks fly.

8.

This was one of my review books that took me by surprise. There were so many twists and turns in the book that I kept doubting what the truth was. When Maddy attends the funeral of a former love who had swindled her, she is shocked to see him standing at his grave before she learns he had a twin brother that she had never heard about. There is a lot going on in the small town of Churchill, Wisconsin and Maddy is in danger.

7. (and the rest of the Unfortunate Fairy Tale series

This was a pleasant surprise for a fee eBook I picked up. Mina Grime is an awkward teenager, prone to accidents. One day while on a field trip, she saves the boy she’s had a crush on and things start to change. When she learns what her mother has been running away from, that they are direct descendants of the Brothers Grimm of fairy tale fame and there was a curse passed through the generations that can only be broken if a member lives through every fairy tale, her life really becomes complicated.

6.

I know, I know this book has been around and loved for years. I finally read it when I heard the movie was being made (by the way, can’t wait until Nov. 1). In a world that lives in constant fear of another alien attack, society is looking for the child that can save them. Enter Ender Wiggins. He has grown up with a sadistic older brother and a loving sister. He has been picked on but he is the boy the government has their eye on. When he is sent to Battle School, he quickly becomes the one everyone is watching as he continuously succeeds in the zero gravity battle room

5.

Another review book that I loved. Missionary Julie Foster has returned to England after years of living in India due to her dad’s poor health. Determined to help her family, she finds a position as a governess at a nearby manor. Sir William Ramsey has just inherited Highland Hall and is tasked with the unenviable job of figuring out how to pay the exorbitant death tax left on the property. Can Julia’s faith bring healing to the residents of Highland Hall?

4.

This is the first in a YA trilogy by Myra McEntire but was different enough from all of the dystopian YA series out there I really enjoyed it. Emerson Cole sees people from the past. She knows they aren’t ghosts but doesn’t really know exactly what they are. Her brother hires someone from The Hourglass to help her understand what is going on with her. Michael Weaver explains that these are time ripples (or rips) and Emerson has a time travel gene.

3.

Recommended to me by a friend because of the Jane Austen references, I was surprised to like this book for other reasons, mainly the relationships between the three women the book centers around. Gemma Hendricks is determined to get her job back by scoring an interview with Colin Firth while he’s in a small town in Maine filming a movie but it’s another story that ends up capturing her. Bea Crane finds out she was adopted at age twenty-two, she decides to go to main to find her real mother. Veronica Russo has come home to face her path.

2.

I had seen this book mentioned a few times over the past few months but once I saw the movie trailer, I knew I had to read it. Set in WW2 Germany and narrated by death, Leisel Meminger steals her first book at her brother’s grave while on her way to her new foster home. Her foster mother is gruff but loves in her own way, her new foster father is the encouragement she needs to teach herself to read the book she stole. When the family takes in and hides a Jewish man, things really get interesting for Leisel and her foster family. ***Read this book with tissues

1.

If we are friends on Facebook or have talked to me about books over the last several months, it will be no surprise to you that the Divergent series ranks number one on the list of books I’ve read. Set in a Dystopian Chicago, society has been divided into five factions based on bravery, honesty, knowledge, serving and kindness. Students reach a certain age and take a test to determine which faction they will go into. Beatrice (later known as Tris) takes the test and can’t be lumped into one group, she is what they call divergent and being divergent is not a good thing, it’s something that must be kept secret. Follow Tris as she decides which faction she will join and her experience joining that faction.

How about you? What are the best books you’ve read this year?