Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Books I Read In 2013

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is Top Ten Books I Read In 2013.  I read more books in 2013 than I expected to (especially since I got off to such a slow start).  August and September were both pretty prolific months for reading, and though I did slow down at the end of the year, I think I read enough books that I can come up with a pretty decent top-ten list.  A few picture books (and one novella) made it into my top 10, but I'm going to stick with full-length novels for the purposes of this post:

10. Beastly (Beastly #1) by Alex Flinn
3.71 out of 5
I do usually enjoy fairytale re-tellings... so I'm not sure why I don't read more of them!  This modernized version of "Beauty and the Beast" incorporates elements of the original story and message and packages them in a present-day, big-city setting.  I enjoyed this one more than I thought I would.

9. The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater
3.71 out of 5
I'd heard a lot about this book before I decided to finally give it a try.  I'd read Stiefvater's Shiver and sort of enjoyed it.  I liked The Raven Boys a lot more... even though I wasn't crazy about the ending.

8. The Lake and the Library by S. M. Beiko
3.86 out of 5
This offering by a Canadian author may not be very well known.  That's a shame, because it's just as good as (if not better than) a lot of the stuff coming out of the major U.S. publishing houses for young adults.  Fans of contemporary fantasy and paranormal stories will probably enjoy this one; I know I did.

7. Odette's Secrets by Maryann Macdonald
4 out of 5
While I'm not generally drawn to books about the Holocaust, this verse novel based on real events and people really drew me in.  The photographs were a nice touch that really helped bring the story to life for today's young readers.

6. Absent by Katie Williams
4 out of 5
I'd never even heard of this book, and I only picked it up because I was looking for something fairly short.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was a highly enjoyable contemporary/paranormal story.

5. Skellig (Skellig #1) by David Almond
4.29 out of 5
While it's been around for a while, I'd never actually read this one.  I'm really glad I finally got around to it.  Its target audience may be a bit younger than that of most of the rest of the books on this list, but it still provided plenty of enjoyment for this adult reader.

4. Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall by Wendy Mass
4.29 out of 5
While many of the verse novels I've read have tended to be about serious (often historical) subjects, this was a fun little story in the tradition of It's A Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol.  I really enjoyed it.

3. My Book of Life by Angel by Martine Leavitt
4.57 out of 5
Who would've thought that a verse novel about a young prostitute living in one of Canada's poorest neighbourhoods would make my top 10?  I certainly wouldn't have guessed it.  And yet, this was probably the best verse novel I read all year with characters that had me thinking about the book long after I'd finished it.

2. Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1) by Laini Taylor
4.57 out of 5
I'm still shattered by that ending.  I loved this book, but I'm hesitant to read the sequel.  This author really knows how to rip your heart out... and I don't know if I can take it!

1. Warm Bodies (Warm Bodies #1) by Isaac Marion
4.71 out of 5
This was the book that got the highest rating out of anything I read this year.  It also made the biggest impression on me and had a big emotional impact.  While it's not the best book I've ever read, it's definitely at the top of my list for 2013.