Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I've Read So Far in 2013

(Photo: brokeandbookish.blogspot.com)

 



This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is the Top Ten Books That I’ve Read in 2013. Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. I have kept my list to books that I had never read previously.

 

1. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys- Between Shades of Gray is not the type I usually read and I was hesitant to pick it up from the library. I’m so glad I chose to read it because it’s a seriously amazing book. I loved the characters and the plot. I had never heard of this part of history, so it was something that was interesting (and horrifying) to learn about.
2. Sweethearts by Sara Zarr-This book is so simple, but I love it. Although it has been around for awhile, I never got around to reading it. When my sister got it for Christmas, she told me I had to read it… and I fell in love! I’m definitely interested in checking out more of her books.
3. Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson- I’m not a huge Peter Pan fan, but I actually liked this book. While maintaining elements from the original story, Anderson made the story her own by giving Neverland a more solemn tone. It’s a really cool, different book that I highly recommend!
4. The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen- Although not my favorite Dessen book, it’s still pretty good. I think it’s interesting how Dessen gave this book a more mature tone. The beginning is a bit slow, but the end of the story is amazing. Check out my review for The Moon and More here.
5. Emma by Jane Austen- I’m a huge fan of the movie Clueless, so I wanted to read Emma. This year, I finally got the opportunity. I love it! I fell in love with the characters and the whole plot.
6. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins- Everyone raves about this book, so I had to check it out. Compared to other YA romances, this isn’t overly cheesy. I liked the setting a lot!
7. Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson- This book is so sad! Even though you know the end is inevitable, you keep flipping the pages and hoping the outcome will change. You should definitely check this book out.
8. Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler- I love Sarah Ockler. Her characters are always so real. This one is perfect for summer, but it definitely not an easy, breezy summer read. Check out my review for Fixing Delilah here.
9. Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler- Bittersweet is such a cute story. I like the cupcake recipes at the beginning of each chapter, and Ockler once again impressed me with her awesome writing. You need to read one of her books if you haven’t yet!
10. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater- This isn't the type of book that I would normally pick up. However, I really did enjoy reading it. It's something different than a lot of other YA books out there today. I would recommend it!

 

Disclaimer: I am not being compensated for this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own! All credit goes to The Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books on My Summer TBR List

(Photo credit: brokeandbookish.com)

 

            Since I already compiled a Summer Reading Bucket List here, I thought I would use this post to write additions to that list! Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

1. Lola and The Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
2. As I Wake by Elizabeth Scott
3. Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters by Meredith Zeitlin
4. The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen
5. Virals by Kathy Reichs

 I know this isn't ten books, but I already compiled a pretty long list and I didn't want to add randoms books that I genuinely wouldn't add to my list.

Disclaimer: I am not being compensated for this list. All thoughts and opinions are my own! As always, credit for this idea goes to the Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Beach Reads (however YOU define a beach read!)

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's 'Top Ten' is Top Ten Beach Reads. I define a beach read as a short, light, and fluffy book to pass the time while tanning. While some of these are more fluffy than others, they are all great books for a day at the beach! That being said, let's get into the list!

1. The Boyfriend League by Rachel Hawthorne- Danielle wants a boyfriend and loves baseball, so the perfect solution is to get a baseball-playing boyfriend. When the newspaper advertises that the local summer team needs homes for players, Danielle volunteers and falls in love with the cute pitcher. A light, summer read with a cute love interest and some funny moments!
2. So Inn Love by Catherine Clark- In So Inn Love, Liza works at an inn that's right on the ocean. She doesn't expect to fall in love or meet up with her old childhood friend that suddently acts as if they have no history. Like The Boyfriend League, this is a fluffy book with a cute romance!
3. Thrill Ride by Rachel Hawthorne- Megan leaves her boyfriend to work at an amusement park (that I swear is Cedar Point). Thrill Ride is the perfect beach read because it's just plain fun. It's nothing too deep and has some cute romantic moments.
4. 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson- Though not fluffy like the other books I have mentioned, 13 Little Blue Envelopes would be great for the beach! Ginny recieves 13 envelopes, which take her on a crazy adventure through Europe. The traveling aspect of the book and the quirky characters make it a great choice for the beach!
5. Beneath the Glitter by Elle and Blair Fowler- If you like reading magazines at the beach, you'll like reading Beneath the Glitter there as well. In Beneath the Glitter, Sophia and Ava London hit up the Hollywood social scene after their popular YouTube videos go viral and they work on their makeup line. It's a fluffy, Hollywood glitz novel that's perfect for anyone who loves reading People magazine at the beach.
6. Girl At Sea by Maureen Johnson- Like 13 Little Blue Envelopes, this isn't exactly a fluffy novel like the others. Girl at Sea follows Clio as she sails on a boat around the Mediterranean with her father and his crew in search of a treasure. This is a cool story that mixes a past event with the present. The Mediterranean and boat aspects of the book make it a cool book to read while at the beach.
7. Killer Cruise by Jennifer Shaw- So, who's trying to kill the birthday girl? That is what Ashley (the birthday girl) is trying to figure out when she sets sail on a cruise ship with her friends for her sixteenth birthday. With a some romance and a killer (pun intended) mystery, Killer Cruise is a slightly different choice for beach read.
8. Past Perfect by Leila Sales- Chelsea works at a colonial village for the summer that has a rivalry with the village from across the street. Chelsea unexpectedly falls in love... but with the enemy. Past Perfect is funny and original, but not very deep, which makes it perfect for the beach!
9. Picture Perfect by Catherine Clark- Emily goes on a vacation with her family and family friends in the Outer Banks. While she meets some cute guys, it is a guy from the past that has her heart. Like Thrill Ride and So Inn Love, Picture Perfect is a light, fluffy novel with a cute romance and the perfect beach setting for a read at the beach.
10. Reality Check by Jen Calonita- This book will make you never want to be on a reality show (as if Jersey Shore wasn't enough). Charlie and her three best friends become insta-celebrities when they are given their own reality show. However, their friendship threatens to fall apart when on screen drama becomes off screen drama as well. Just like Beneath the Glitter, Reality Check is perfect for those who like reading magazines like People while at the beach.

Disclaimer: I am not being compensated for this article. All thoughts and opinions are my own! Credit for Top Ten Tuesday goes to The Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books Featuring Travel in Some Way

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. Today's 'Top Ten' is Top Ten Books Featuring Traveling in Some Way. So, let's get started!

1. Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen- This is one of my favorite Sarah Dessen books. Colie is shipped to Colby Beach while her mother tours around Europe. Such a good story!
2. Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson- Taylor travels to her old lake house to spend one last summer with her father, who is dying from cancer. This story is so sad and not your typical summer novel!
3. Cloaked by Alex Flinn- If you love fairytale retellings, you'll loved Cloaked. It isn't your typical Cinderella retelling either; it is a mixture of a few different and more obscure fairytales. It follows a poor teenage boy as he goes on a wild adventure around the Florida Keys in search of a prince-turned-frog. Although it isn't my favorite Alex Flinn novel, it's still a great story.
4. Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler- This is one of my favorite books EVER. Anna travels to Zanizabar Bay with her friend Frankie, where they plan to meet twenty boys in twenty days. Like Second Chance Summer, this isn't your typical summer novel. I was basically in tears throughout the whole thing!
5. Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen- Another one of my favorite Dessen novels. Auden travels to Colby Beach to spend a summer with her father and his new family. It has romance, depth, and great characters. Love it!
6. Just One Wish by Janette Rallison- Just One Wish is my favorite Janette Rallison novel. In the novel, Annika travels to Los Angeles to find a famous movie star that plays Robin Hood and bring him back to her brother, who has cancer, before he he gets surgery. On one page I was laughing and on the next I was nearly in tears. It's so sad, and definitely Rallison's best novel!
7. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares- This is seriously the ultimate travel book. Carmen goes to NC, Bridget goes to Baja California, Lena goes to Greece, and well, Tibby stays at home. I seriously love this book. It makes me sad, happy, and everything in between. I absolutely love their friendship!
8. The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks- Trust me, the book is WAY better than the movie. Ronnie goes to Wrightsville Beach to spend the summer with her father. This book. THIS BOOK. I have read it nearly ten times and every time it just GETS ME.
9. Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler- Ockler is one of my favorite authors and I love Fixing Delilah! Delilah travels to her deceased grandmother's house in Vermont for the entire summer to prepare for her grandmother's funeral and sell her grandmother's house. As always, Ockler delivers an awesome story that makes me want to just jump and scream and fangirl all day long. Click here to read my review on Fixing Delilah.
10. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins- Everyone has heard of and read this book. Anna is shipped off to a boarding school in Paris and there she meets the wonderful Étienne St. Clair. It's such a cute story!

Disclaimer: Top Ten Tuesday is created by The Broke and the Bookish. I am not being compensated for this article. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

Top Ten Tuesday: Freebie

Top Ten Tuesday is created by the blog, The Broke and the Bookish. This week's 'Top Ten' was Top Ten Tuesday Freebie, or anything that you want. I chose to do the Top Ten Books That Disappointed Me.

This is my first time doing a Top Ten Tuesday!

1. What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
       I love all of Sarah Dessen's books. I still enjoyed this book; however, I was slightly disappointed as I felt it wasn't on par with some of her other novels. It just felt as if it was missing something and the secondary characters weren't as memorable to me as characters in her previous novels. I still like this book, but simply not as much as her other ones.

2. My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick
       Since this book recieved so many rave reviews, I was sure that I would like it to. However, after reading it, I was majorly disappointed, as I didn't like it at all! I didn't like the characters, I didn't like the plot, and I didn't like the romance. I don't know why, but this one just didn't do it for me.

3. The Selection by Kiera Cass
     When described as a mixture of The Hunger Games and The Bachelor, I expected tons of drama, catfights, and some dystopian elements. What I got out of The Selection was an unlikeable heroine, a stupid love triangle (I'm not a total love triangle hater, but I did not particularly enjoy this one), and an extremely awkward prince. Not a fan at all.

4. Matched by Ally Condie
       This book had so many great reviews that I was sure that I would love it. I like it, but I do not love it. I appreciate Condie's writing style, but it didn't completely blow my mind. I also was not entirely impressed with the series as a whole either.

Click here for my review on the Matched Trilogy.

5. North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

      I literally wanted to read this book forever. So, imagine my disappointment when it did not meet my expectations. I enjoyed the geocaching element and the characters were decent. But, it just was not what I wasn't expecting and I didn't find it as great as other readers described. It is still a good book, but my expectations were a bit too high.

6. The Lying Game by Sara Shepard 

      I enjoyed watching Pretty Little Liars on TV when it first came out (I stopped watching for a few episodes and never caught up so I stopped watching it)and my mom was a fan of The Lying Game series so I caught a few episodes. While I like the book better than the show, I expected lots of drama out of this, but I just did not like it. Much of the drama is pointless and I didn't feel like I was on the edge of my seat as I was while watching Pretty Little Liars. I think the book would be more interesting and mysterious if Emma narrated rather than Sutton. 

7. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

      I love The Hunger Games. The first two books were amazing, so I expected the third to be amazingly awesome as well. But... It was just average. For me, it moved slow and wasn't nearly as good as the others in the series.

8. Pants on Fire by Meg Cabot

      I love Meg Cabot's The Princess Diaries series and many of her other books. Out of all her books, this is by far my least favorite. Although I liked parts of the book, I didn't like the protagonist. I couldn't really connect with her. For me, this is a huge disappointment from Cabot since I typically love and relate to her protagonists.

9. The Juliet Club by Suzanne Harper

      I wrote a letter to Juliet and even got a response, so this plot intrigued me. However, this book wasn't what I was expecting at all. I enjoyed the setting, but other than that, it left much to be desired, which is sad because it had a lot of potential.

10. Take A Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg
      I really enjoyed The Lonely Hearts Club. It's funny, empowering, and just plain fun to read. So, it was a no-brainer to pick up Take A Bow. However, I was not impressed. It was just an average book and nothing really stands out from the book for me.

Disclaimer: I am not being compensated for this article in any way. All thoughts and opinions are my own!