Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Books I Read In 2014

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

This week's topic is Top Ten Books I Read In 2014.  I've got three books on the go at the moment, but I kind of doubt that any of them would make it onto this list, anyway.  So here goes!  These are the novels that got the highest ratings this year (I reviewed some picture books that got high ratings, too, but nobody seems to care about those):

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson - This verse memoir comes in at #10, but I think it probably wins for my favourite cover of the year.  It's one of three verse novels that made it into my top ten this year, all of which were historical fiction.

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Surrender by Sonya Hartnett - I had no idea when I started this book that it would mess with my mind as much as it did.  What really happened in that small Australian town?  Who was Finnigan, really?  The setting was written so well that I could actually imagine myself there, and the characters kept me guessing.  It was also one of the few books I read this year with a male narrator.

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The Lightning Dreamer by Margarita Engle - I don't think I've ever read a book set in Cuba before... and I've certainly never read a book set in Cuba in the 1820s.  This lovely historical verse novel is narrated by Tula, a young girl who yearns to become a poet.  Her ideas about abolitionism and feminism are quite revolutionary for the time, and I enjoyed the free verse that was used to describe Caribbean life in the 19th century.

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Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor - I think this book would've made my top ten list no matter what year I'd read it.  It really was a good, satisfying ending to a young adult series... and there are very few books that I can say that about.  The author's writing, combined with the fascinating cast of characters and amazing world-building, took this book to a whole other level.  If she writes another series, I'm definitely going to give it a try!

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All the Truth That's in Me by Julie Berry - I'm still not sure whether to class this as historical fiction or not.  It takes place in a world that seems much like colonial New England, though the location and time period are never specified.  No matter; it's the story that's important, and this is an interesting one, a mystery that just begs to be solved.  The narrator starts out as mute, but she has a lot to say... if only she can figure out how to do so.

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Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse - This was the best verse novel I read in 2014, though it's the one that's been out for the longest.  I really enjoyed the story, and the setting of the Dust Bowl was something I wasn't that familiar with.  Though I might hesitate to recommend it to younger children because of some of the subject matter, I do think it's a really strong book and a must-read for fans of historical fiction.

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Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver - Despite my assertion that fantasy is my favourite genre, there really isn't a lot of it on this list!  But I did really enjoy this middle grade novel from Lauren Oliver, who also wrote Before I Fall, one of my favourite books of all time.  This charming story about a girl, a boy, and a couple of ghosts reads like a classic children's novel from another era.  It has the most adorable illustrations, too!

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Free as a Bird by Gina McMurchy-Barber - I truly never expected to like this book as much as I did.  I chose to read it because it was short, and because it had a local setting.  But then I ended up falling in love with Ruby Jean's voice, and that really made the book work for me.  It's historical fiction about a girl with Down syndrome whose mother dumps her in the provincial asylum.  Not exactly light reading, but Ruby Jean's unique view of the world helped lighten what would otherwise be unbearably dreary subject matter.  The author's notes at the end about the actual "school" where Ruby Jean was placed were almost as interesting as the story itself, and well worth reading.

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Stolen by Lucy Christopher - I really enjoyed this book, even though it's not the sort of thing I normally gravitate towards.  Like Surrender, this one is also set in Australia... but this time, it's the Outback.  Gemma is kidnapped by a young man and taken out to a remote homestead where there is no chance of escape.  While the ending is somewhat of a foregone conclusion (after all, the whole book is written in the second person point of view as a letter to Gemma's captor), the story itself is really kind of amazing.  The character development of the villain was especially skillful.

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Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor - Two Laini Taylor books on one list?  Yes... and there probably would have been three, had I not read the first book in the series in 2013.  I actually thought this second book was the strongest of the three, though maybe that was because it had the most development for two of my favourite characters, Hazael and Ziri.  In any case, the book was great, the series was great, and Laini Taylor is kind of a genius.

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What were the top books you read this year?