Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here The Broke and the Bookish. Go to their site and join in.
On this week Top Ten Tuesday, I get to pick favorites. Yep, it’s time for Top 10 Favorite Books I Read This Year. It sounds really fun, but it turned out to be very difficult. Problem number one, I am extremely indecisive. Problem number two, I cannot choose which book to eliminate. Problem number three, I’m trying to avoid turning this into Top Five Sanderson Books I Read This Year. I finally decided to divide the list unequally to top 4 adults books and top 6 young adults books.
ADULTS Books
1. Words of Radiance & The Way of Kings (Brandon Sanderson)
See what I did there? Yes, it’s me trying to sneak an extra Brandon Sanderson book into the list. In my defense, I want to use the space for another book so these two books from The Stormlight Archive just have to share the number one spot.
Hmm, I’m sure no one wants to see me blabbering about these books ever again BUT I WILL. If high fantasy is something you enjoy, you need to give this series a try. Remember that number of pages is just that, a number. The first thirty three chapters could be challenging to get through because you wouldn’t understand anything, but hang on, I promise it’ll pay off.
2. A Darker Shade of Magic (V.E. Schwab)
Four Londons. A thief and a smuggler. And one fabulous coat.
If you need more convincing, just read any of my post, I mention this book in nearly all of them.
3. Warbreaker (Brandon Sanderson)
The lesser known, lower rated (on GR) book of Brandon Sanderson is surprisingly great. Every character is well-developed. From the witty Lightsong to the brash Siri to the talking sword (yes, there’s a talking sword in this book. A murderous, sarcastic talking sword).
It’s also part of the cosmere, the fictional world Sanderson created for his high fantasy novels (Steelheart and Rithmatist not included). Can I just say how exciting it is to find characters from another book in this book and vice versa (the so-called worldhopper). Side note: I promise this is the last Sanderson book in this list.
4. Sharp Objects (Gillian Flynn)
Oh gosh Gillian, why are your characters so twisted? I have read a couple of good thrillers this year, but this is the only one that made the list.
YOUNG ADULTS Books
1. Carry On (Rainbow Rowell)
A little shaky at the beginning, but the moment Tyrannus Basilton Grimm Pitch enters the scene, the book redeemed itself. I am a person who usually favors more action over romance, but I make an exception for this book.
2. Six of Crows (Leigh Bardugo)
SIX DANGEROUS OUTCASTS. ONE IMPOSSIBLE HEIST.
That line alone sold me. The characters, however, are the main reasons why this book made it into the list. The book is so impossibly good and it’s totally worth your time. I SHALL GO DOWN WITH ALL THE SHIPS. (AND ALL THE CAPS)
3. Angelfall (Susan Ee)
Intense, action-packed, and funny. Plus a ship I’m totally on board with.
4. Lair of Dreams (Libba Bray)
Lair of Dreams is the sequel to the Diviners, which I enjoyed but did not loved. I didn’t really have any expectation when reading Lair of Dreams, didn’t even pay attention to the synopsis, but even if I did I highly doubt I will see that TWIST coming. I thought I’ll miss Evie, but I really didn’t because the new characters are just so great. Libba Bray could write kickass historical and I could not wait to read more of hers.
5. Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda (Becky Albertalli)
Adorkable and fluffy are the perfect words to describe this book. My favorite contemporary of the year. If you haven’t read it, please do so. Please.
6. Challenger Deep (Neal Shusterman)
Challenger Deep tackles the topic of schizophrenia from first person point of view. The plot follows two parallel timeline, one is the reality faced by Caden the teenager and the other is his hallucination as a crewmember heading to Marianas Trench. This book made me feel uneasy and uncomfortable, and that is a good thing. When Caden hit bottom, I wanted to pull him out so bad. When his reality blurred, it made me disoriented and confused. Bonus point for Shusterman for including the illustrations drawn by his son. They gave me chills.
That’s it for today. Does any of these books make it into your own list? Let me know.
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I suspect I will have trouble when making a list of my favorite books of the year not turning it into the “top five Sanderson books I read This year” as well, LOL.
He’s been dominating all of my “best of” list this year. I suspect if I read his young adult books, it’ll get even worse. lol.
Mine too. 🙂 The first Sanderson books I read was YA. While I like his YA series, I think he does adult epic fantasy best.
My sister read Steelheart after Stormlight and told me to not bother with it (but I’m still going to read it for the sake of completion if nothing else). I also own Rithmatist so I’ll be reading that too.
I’ve read great reviews of his YAs from people who haven’t read his epic novels though, perhaps because they are easier to get into? Honestly, his adult fantasy novels could be such slow burner.
I still really like Sanderson’s YA novels, and probably wouldn’t have read his adult fantasy novels if I hadn’t read some of his YA first, so that’s true. His YA novels are still really good. I just like his adult fantasy better. Of course, that could be because I’ve read them more recently.
I hope I’ll like them. I could always do with some good YAs.
Great list! I read Sharp Object this year and I was totally obsessed! Have you read Gillian Flynn’s other books? She just came out with The Grownup – which isn’t a novel, it’s a short story (64 pages) – but wow, so twisted and crazy. I recommend it if you’re as obsessed with Gillian Flynn and thrillers as I am! Thanks for sharing this list, I am going to check a couple of these books out!
I bought her three books in a bundle and read all of them. I’ve heard about the grownup, I rarely read short story but I’m going to give it a try. Thanks for the rec.
You’re welcome 🙂
So many great books! I want to read warbreaker so badly it sounds amazing! and A Darker Shade of Magic is totally on my list it was amazing!
I love witty characters and warbreaker is full of them. The other day I spent hours highlighting my favorite passages (in ebook) because they’re just so sarcastic.
Have you read any of Sanderson books?
YASSS to ADSOM. I cannot wait for the second book. 🙂
Sadly I haven’t, it’s something I plan to change in 2016 because I want to read mistborn and warbreaker. What else of Sanderson’s have you read?
I know what you mean I plan on devouring a gathering of Shadows as soon as it comes out
The first two mistborn books, warbreaker, elantris, the first two stormlight archive, and a short story called the emperor’s soul. So far he didn’t disappoint me.
Yep, I have a countdown til AGOS release on my phone. lol.
I also want to check out the way of kings. It’s so intimidating but I love challenges!
It IS challenging to start and to get into at first.But it was EPIC. I was obsessed with the book for weeks after.
That is exciting! Once I get a couple more huge books on my TBR out of the way I am going to dive into that one
Oh, I have been dying to read Challenger Deep ever since I heard about it. <3
Challenger Deep is really good. It’s not a fun read for sure, but it does the job of portraying teenager with schizophrenia.
Challenger Deep looks interesting. I’m a Sanderson fan in theory, but in reality the only two books of his I’ve ever been able to sink into were Mistborn I and II. My Top Ten of the Yeaer.
I fully endorse Challenger Deep. It does not romanticize mental illness and it’s able to portray the horrible reality of believing something you know to be not true.
Brandon Sanderson books can be slow burners so it’s totally understandable. Maybe give his novella a try? The Emperor’s Soul is short but solid.
Hmm, I think I’ll put both of them on my TBR. Thanks 🙂
I have a bunch of Sanderson books on my TBR list. The problem is, they’re on the second, ‘series I haven’t started’ list, which really has to come after the ‘series I have started’ list for the sake of my sanity. But I’ll get there!
No worries. 🙂 I took forever to start reading his published works too.
I haven’t tried any Brandon Sanderson yet but I heard his stories are worth it. I’ll soon get to it 🙂
They say Sharp Objects is the best among the three (with the others being Gone Girl and Dark Places). Flynn is just so good at dark and twisted stories!
YEY. 😀 Let me know if you need further encouragement. lol. His adult high fantasy could be such slow burns though so if you’re not sure you can enjoy a book with that kind of pace, perhaps you want to try his YA first? Either steelheart or rithmatist. I haven’t read them but I heard they’re considerably more fast-paced.
I like Sharp Objects best, but the other two are also terrific. I believe you’ve read Gone Girl and Dark Places? I’m still on the hunt for her short story, The Grownup.
Ahh yeah Steelheart is his famous (in the YA world) title. Its sequel, Firefight is as awesome I heard. I had difficulty getting through A Song of Ice and Fire but yeah, I’ll still try some adult fantasy.. eventually. Haha!
I saw The Grownup from the bookstore last time though I didn’t pay much attentione. Is it a thriller too?
lol. I still read mostly YA too, except for fantasy and thrillers.
I believe it was psychological thriller, Flynn’s specialty yeah?
Brandon Sanderson’s books are amazing, I’m currently trying to read everything I can from him. I absolutely loved Six of Crows as well. There are some books here I’m definitely adding to my TBR. Great post!
Me too! I’m diving into his YA catalog right now, and after that probably his short stories.
Thank you 🙂