Top 13 of 2013

It's a new year and that means new books!  Here are my favorite reads of 2013.  Note: They're books I read this year, not necessarily books released this year.

13. The Host
Not a big action adventure, or book that had me biting my nails (in fact, I read it after seeing the movie!) but it's one of those that will always stay with me.  It's a book you want to go back and read your favorite scenes when you're feeling lonely.

12. This Lullaby
This was my first Sarah Dessen ever and I fell in love.  The romance was amazing, the story was amazing, and I don't know how I could have ever lived without reading a Sarah Dessen.  I haven't read anymore, but this year I plan on trying to read them all!

11. The Dresden Files (Butcher) & The Iron Druid Chronicles (Hearn)
Really, these are amazing.  Iron Druid was hilarious, it had me on the ground laughing, and Dresden keeps my heart rate up.  This was the year I discovered that I loved Urban Fantasy, and these are the books that did it.

10. The Selection
At first I didn't think I would like this book, but as soon as everything really got going I was in love.  I remember sitting on the couch in the middle of the day and not looking up from the book until it was early evening.  If you haven't read this, I seriously think you should.

9. No Place Like Oz
I hadn't been planning on putting a novella on this list, but Oz has me salivating for the full length novel, Dorothy Must Die.  The writing is amazing, the premise is amazing, and I wish I could live within this author's mind because it must be beautiful.

8. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Another book that I just couldn't put down.  I bought it because of all the early buzz and hadn't planned on loving it as much as I did.  It definitely is gothic horror and it is definitely amazing.

7. Julie Kagawa
I know she's not a book, but she is my second favorite author of all time (second only to Cassandra Clare).  The Eternity Cure left me a little ball on the floor crying my heart out and The Iron Traitor left me screaming at the wall.  She can break my heart and piece it back together and I love her for it.

6. Days of Blood & Starlight
EPIC!  Epic on the scale of epic fantasy.  Epic on the scale of Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings.  Epic, on a scale of 1 to Sherlock Season 3, it reaches the level of Sherlock Season 3.  While I wasn't thrilled with Daughter of Smoke & Bone, this one was so amazing, it was all worth it.

5. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Sadly, I don't own this book.  I read it on vacation and was planning on getting a good creep out of it (because, on vacation, I like to read horror.  There's just something about Florida...) but was enthralled.  I hadn't known much about it prior to checking it out from my library, but it quickly became one of those books I recommend to everyone.

4. Mara Dyer
One of those series everyone should read.  It has taken on a life of its own and I'm dying for the final one.  Dying, literally.  I think I'm going to take a day off of school to read that bad boy and I won't regret anything!

3. Ryria
Speaking of books I recommend to everyone, I've become a missionary to these books.  I spread the word, even to people who hate reading, because these books are life altering.  One day when I was just miserable and didn't want to get up I said to myself, "But you have to get up and see Royce and Hadrian!".

2. The Bone Season
It got a lot of early buzz, and if not for that, I wouldn't have read this one.  Samantha Shannon's not the next JK Rowling or anything, but I thought this book was one of the most perfect ones I ever read.

1. Clockwork Princess
Last, but not least, is the one book I truly consider perfect.  I have a bad track record with final books in series.  They just never seem to wrap everything up nice and neat, they leave me hanging, or they just feel rushed.  Well, this one was everything but, and Miss Clare has delivered to me the only book I have ever given 6 stars.  Well done, well done.