First of all, can you believe it's December 19? I certainly can't. (Nor can my to-do list…)
One of my favorite things about the end of the year is all of the Top 10 lists—best movies, best songs, and of course, best books. But when it came time to do my own Top 10 Books list, I actually had quite a hard time. It wasn't that I didn't read 10 amazing books this year. It's that I read so many more than 10 amazing books this year! As of today, I have read 94 books in 2014—a personal record—and many of them were spectacular. So, please don't assume that if your favorite isn't on this list, I didn't love it! I most likely did.
Without further ado, here's my painstakingly crafted Top 10 Books I Read in 2014, in chronological order of when I read them (with links to my original blog posts about the books, where applicable):
A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd (original post HERE)
Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens (original post HERE)
Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick (original post HERE)
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (original post HERE)
I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson (original post HERE)
Simon vs. the Homo-Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (original post HERE)
My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga (original post HERE)
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir (original post HERE)
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (original post HERE)
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Brown Girl Dreaming squeaked in under the wire for this list—I just finished it on Wednesday! And I'm so glad I read this beautiful book. Woodson's writing is vibrant and rich. Her verse says so much in so few words. She tells such a powerful story. My favorite sections were those in which she was beginning to discover herself as a storyteller, and then as a writer. For example:
Nothing in the world is like this—
a bright white page with
pale blue lines. The smell of a newly sharpened pencil
the soft hush of it
moving finally
one day
into letters.
How perfect is that?! If you haven't picked up Woodson's National Book Award–winning book yet, don't waste any more time. (And the same goes for all of my Top 10 books, obviously!)
What were your favorite books read in 2014? I'll start making my 2015 reading list now!
In the meantime, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!!
~Kathryn