This Year in Books...

As usual I set a new year's goal to read 100 books. I did not read 100 books. I didn't even come close to 100 books. I'm embarrassed for myself after crunching the numbers and subtracting unreleased, unpublished, and class-assigned books so I'm just going to talk about some of the highlights. I may not have read many books this year but there was no shortage of quality.

My favorite book this year was: Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan
This was easily one of the greatest books I have ever read. Now I've loved this series since the beginning. I remember the exact moment I picked The Lightning Thief off the shelf at the library. I remember quickly devouring the next two installments and going into the bookstore when the fourth came out. I remember reading The Last Olympian in one sitting and declaring it a member of my top five favorite books. I had very high expectations for this book and it was everything I wanted and more. On my personal records, it's rated a 15 because I couldn't just give it a 10.

#2 is Seraphina by Rachel Hartman 
I put off reading this book for a long time but when my girlfriend told me that it was brilliant I finally picked it up from the library. And it was brilliant. The voice is gorgeous, the worldbuilding intricate and perfectly woven, the characters are easy to fall in love with. I'm so excited for the sequel to come out next year.

#3 is Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
I was late to the party with this book. When it first came out, I remember hearing mixed opinions about it that turned me off pursuing reading it. Once again I was told by my girlfriend that I had to read it. When my roommate offered to let me borrow her copy, I didn't have any more reasons to say no. I couldn't put it down. The book grabbed me and it wouldn't let go for anything and when I finished I felt like my entire life had changed.

Some honorable mentions:
House of Hades by Rick Riordan
Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Comments

Ash said…
Seraphina is definitely one of my favorite fantasy novels. The world-building is incredible and it is just written beautifully. And Thirteen Reasons Why is just heart-wrenching. I read it a few years back for one of my classes and it was just so moving. And definitely an interesting book to offer up for discussion.

You may not have read as much as you would have liked but you got some great titles in there, and you got to read so I would say you did good. [:
January 1, 2015 at 2:00 PM
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