Top Ten Books I've Read So Far In 2013

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is based on favourites of 2013. These aren’t books that necessarily came out in 2013, but books that I read in 2013. The Top Ten Tuesday meme is as always hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. And here is my list of some books that have made me all excited in 2013.

Slated and Fractured – Teri Terry

I’m not cheating, shut up. Slated and Fractured are the two first books in a trilogy. They are spectacular. It’s about a girl named Kyla who has had all her memories removed, she’s been Slated. It is because she’s done something bad, presumably, and teenagers can be Slated and given a new chance. Kyla starts getting her memories back. The world she lives in is really creepy and well-written. It’s basically London in the future and the UK has become a police state. It’s so scary and cool. And yes, I loved them both. I’m really looking forward to the third book. I think I need to reread the other two when the last one comes out.

Jonas – Jens Bjørneboe

This is a Norwegian classic. I’ve been meaning to read it forever. It should be read when you’re in school, but I don’t think it is taught in school in Norway. Anyway. It’s a critique of the Norwegian school system in the 50s. A kid who is dyslexic, Jonas, is held back in school, because he can’t keep up. He is sent to a school for “stupid” kids and he runs away. It also goes through the stories of other people, people who are connected to Jonas and have been let down by the system. Bjørneboe is so angry and so awesome, and I loved it.

The Hero’s Guide to Saving the Kingdom – Christopher Healy

O-M-G. I want the next one. It was laugh out loud funny. Seriously. The princes are so sweet and hilarious. The princesses are badasses. It was so brilliant.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone – Laini Taylor

I’m not sure if I have words, it was so stunning, and there were angels, and it was a lot of fun. And I want the next one right now. I want Karou and Akiva. I want more of them. I want them to be together. I got all weepy. Oh it was so beautiful.

Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

I love Jane Austen. If she were alive I would marry her. Because that wouldn’t be weird.

Let’s Pretend this Never Happened – Jenny Lawson

Not a fictional book, which is nice, mixing it up a little. It was so funny, and sometimes it’s sad, but Lawson writes it so well and so funny, she’s hilarious, and even if something bad happens she handles it with such grace and such awesome mood and she’s beautiful. And I laughed out loud. Sitting outside, in a park. People lookin’ at me. I had so much fun.

Sisters Red – Jackson Pearce

http://jackson-pearce.com/

I love fairy tales. I was told fairy tales when I was a kid, I think, or at least I had fairy tale books. And I love them. This is a weird, awesome, version of Little Red Riding Hood. Two sisters, Scarlett and Rosie, fight Fenris, who are a sort of werewolf type monster. Scarlett is so badass and cool, and I loved the concept. I also liked that the fairy tale isn’t overwhelming. I think it can be hard to redo LRRH without making just a carbon copy, because there is so much that has to be in it to clearly make it a LRRH retelling, but how do you not make it too obvious? This was different and fresh.

A Dance With Dragons – George R.R. Martin

I am so in love with A Song of Ice and Fire. I watched all of Game of Thrones. I love it. I was so excited, and I wasn’t aware that there were more books coming, so I kind of freaked out. Found out there were more books, did internal happy dance. They are so awesome.

Neverwhere – Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is so great. He writes creepy, weird stories that makes your skin crawl, and that make you just keep reading. And I am so looking forward to the last Gaiman book, is exciting. So yeah, I just really like him, and so far all his books have lived up to the Gaiman ness of it all.

Scarlet – Marissa Meyer

Again a fairy tale retelling, and again LRRH. It’s the second book in the Lunar Chronicles, and it’s a lot of fun. It’s based on LRRH, and you just see little traces of it, the book tries to not be too overt, and it mainly succeeds, there’s a guy named Wolf and there’s a girl with a red hoodie, but it is set in France in the future, so it also is a bit different, although apparently there is a traditional LRRH that is also set in France, I didn’t know that, very cool. And there is more Cinder (from the first book), and her new friend, who I am falling in love with guys. It was just a lot of fun. I am really excited for Cress, which I think will be out in winter 2014, and I think it’s based on Rapunzel. Yes it is (see me research). And then another year to wait for Winter, the final instalment, based on Snow White. Excited as hell.