Top Ten Tuesday: Best Books I Read This Year

Top Ten Books I Read In 2014 (Overall, By A Particular Genre, 2014 Releases)

 

Steph

These topics are so hard. I honestly can’t remember ALL the books I read! I just know I’ll be leaving some amazing titles out, I always do.

1. More Than This by Patrick Ness.
2. Dust by Arthur Slade.
3. Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman.
4. The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten.
5. The Boundless by Kenneth Oppel.
6. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate.
7. Cats of Tanglewood Forest by Charles de Lint.
8. Smile and Sisters by Raina Telgemeier. Graphic Novel.
9. Zita the Spacegirl  and sequels by Ben Hatke. Graphic Novel.
10.  Journey and Quest by Aaron Becker. I’m a sucker for wordless picturebooks.
11. I feel that I haven’t left space for all the wonderful picturebooks that have come out this year – there are plenty! I have loved so many!

 Nafiza

Ugh. I can never just choose a certain number. I have agonized over the following for days but finally decided to pick some 5 star reads even though some 4 star reads definitely do belong on this list as well. Ah well.

1. How to by Julia Morstad
   This picturebook just does it all for me. The feels, I tell you. The feels!
2. The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
   This book has the best parts of fantasy and courtly intrigue. And Janet will love it when she finally has a chance to read it. (Haha.)
3. House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones
   This was unbelievably entertaining. I read it out loud to my dad and we loved the quirkiness of it.
4. Tokyo on Foot by Florent Chavouet
   The art in this one is out of the world. I’m glad I splurged on it.
5. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
   This book is less about the story and more about the exploration of gender and racial stereotypes. As a piece of literary work, it has its shortcomings but as a commentary on societal attitudes towards perceived minorities, the book is priceless.
6. The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly by Sun-Mi Hwang
   This one is short and simple but dudes and dudettes, it packs a punch. Right into the gut.
7. Love is the Drug by Alaya Dawn Johnson
   So I will tell you guys all the reasons why I loved this one on the 31st of December. Until then, rest warm in the knowledge that is ahmazing.
8. Ms. Marvel vol 1: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona
   I like the art but it is the writing that won me over. Man, as a Muslim girl who did a lot of her growing up in Canada, though without obvious superpowers, I can relate like crazy.
9. 2 a.m. at the Cat’s Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino
   This novel has one of the most precocious nine year old heroines I have had the fortune of meeting. The book is lush with lyricism, and moves forward with such grace until the amazing climax that stole my breath away. It’s lit fic at its best. I think so anyway.
10. The Cracks in the Kingdom by Jaclyn Moriarty
    Hands down my favourite book this year. Seriously. I loved it so hard.
11. The Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy by Martha Wells
    Superb worldbuilding, superb storytelling, just general superbness. All three books were brilliant.

And there are so many more I haven’t spoken about but eh, go stalk my Goodreads page if you want. :)

 Janet

I’ll go by books that I read for the first time in 2014. Otherwise my list would be rather predictable, wouldn’t it?

1. The Name of the Star and The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson.
2. Seven Spiders Spinning and sequels by Gregory Maguire. A nice balance of multiple, competing perspectives and type with character growth. Horrifying (ugh those spiders!) and funny to boot.
3. The Lion Hunter and A Coalition of Lions by Elizabeth E. Wein.
4. Keeping the Castle by Patrice Kindl. A Pride and Prejudice-esque comedy with an endearingly mercenary protagonist. Also, read Kindl’s Owl in Love for a laugh-out-loud take on shape-shifting and high school crushes.
5. Lumberjanes by Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson, and Brooke Allen. I’ve only read issues 1-3, alas. Hope this comic comes out in book form soon!
6. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. Harsh and extraordinary.
7. Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park. Magic realism (maybe?) set in Australia with profound reflections on growing up and stubborn characters who do not always get along.
8. Britain’s Kings and Queens by Sir George Bellew. An opinionated overview of Britain’s reigning monarchs. Hilarious.