'Best of' 2014 reads

It's that time of year again! In no particular order, my top reads of 2014:

• Such a Rush, Jennifer Echols- So good, I read it twice! She is an absolute master of sexual tension.
• The Burning Sky, Sherry Thomas- I could gush on and on. Loved everything about this, especially the magic and Titus. Give me your tortured heroes, all of them.
• Seraphina, Rachel Hartman- Orma is my spirit animal.
• The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, Gabrielle Zevin- Just brilliant, especially if you're a book person. Bookseller recommendation, and I picked up a signed copy.
• Grave Mercy, Robin LaFevers- God of Death hooked me; the brilliant writing kept me (for the whole series). I am almost always most partial to book 1 in series with rotating POVs...something about the first characters I fall in love with. (BONUS: Only $1.99 on Kindle as of this writing!)
• The Winner's Curse, Marie Rutkoski- I'm slightly obsessed with this book and especially the last line. This was a 'word of mouth' read that I snagged on a whim after I seemed to be hearing the title from every blogger I followed on Twitter. There's a reason they were all talking about it. A good one.

Honorables!

Best voice: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, April Genevieve Tucholke

Best series (that I read all of this year): TIE

• The Montmaray Journals, Michelle Cooper (I listened to these on audio and HIGHLY recommend that medium)
• His Fair Assassin series, Robin LaFevers

Best series starter: Blood Red Road, Moira Young

Best sleeper hit (ie. HFS, why aren't more people reading this?!?!): The Lost Sun, Tessa Gratton

My stats for the year: approximately 65 books read, though this number includes some novellas and an early chapter book or two I read with my daughter (and does not include DNFs or manuscripts, my own or critique partners'). This is four fewer books than last year; however, it amounted to only 1,600 pages fewer than last year's total, not even a chapter's worth of words. So I read a bunch of BIG books this year. Looking at my list, I understand why, because I devoured a good amount of rich fantasy, series conclusions, and historical fiction.

The above list is only a smattering of the books I loved and liked out of the 60+! Remember you can always follow what I'm reading on Goodreads or here on the blog.

What were your favorites of the year? What should I put on my TBR for 2015?

Week in Review--BTAF, NEIBA, and a book release

In short: Best. Week. Ever.

Let's rewind to Saturday, the 3rd annual Boston Teen Author Festival, of which I was (3 adjectives):

• Thrilled
• Honored
• Humbled

to take part! Let me just say that it's so much easier to come up with three adjectives on your blog than on the spot from the moderator! I don't think I can say enough about how fantastic BTAF was. Renee and all the BTAFers did an amazing job AND they do it as volunteers, for love of YA and Boston. Thanks also go to the Cambridge Public Library and Porter Square Books for rounding out the event with a place to be and books to buy. I wanted to hug them ALL. (But I didn't, because I was raging sick and handing them my cold as parting gift would not have been nice or a good way to ever get myself invited back.) Unforgettable things:

• Meeting SO MANY readers enthusiastic about teen lit

The early crowd at @BosTeenAuthFest -- auditorium full by the end! #BTAF2014 pic.twitter.com/nY2gqVZnlO
— Cara Bertrand (@carabertrand) September 27, 2014

• Signing books for many of them
• Meeting so many fantastic authors and at least one of their moms
• Being allowed to sit on panel with MT Anderson (National Book Award winner, NBD), Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Claire Legrand, Gregg Rosenblum, & Heather Swain
• Did I mention enthusiastic readers?
• Listening to smart ladies talk about character empowerment in the Choose Your Own Adventure panel

The insightful, funny, inspiring women discussing character agency in "Choose Your Own Adventure" at #BTAF2014 pic.twitter.com/QQz05JJpvH
— Cara Bertrand (@carabertrand) September 27, 2014

• How just incredibly NICE everyone was. I mean EVERYONE. You've never met a friendlier, more genuine group of people.

It was such a privilege to be surrounded by people who love books, love YA lit, and are not afraid to show it. I'm giddy still thinking about it. Any future events I do will have a lot to live up to! I may even have had stop halfway home and rest after the sugar from the approximately 42 cough drops I ingested and my adrenaline ran out. THAT, friends, is the sign of a good day.

Photo: Today’s haul #BTAF14 http://t.co/yQfsa4WdvV
— Cara Bertrand (@carabertrand) September 28, 2014

Next up, this past Wednesday, I was so lucky to be included at the New England Independent Booksellers Association conference as a signing author! It was basically book heaven.

I am in book heaven! #neiba14 pic.twitter.com/pulV6Mbtv5
— Cara Bertrand (@carabertrand) October 1, 2014

The delightful Bill & Ted (really!) of Chesapeake & Hudson hosted me at their table and though I was only scheduled for an hour, they let me stay for almost four!

Signing & smiling at the Chesapeake & Hudson table #neiba14 #sententiaseries pic.twitter.com/vUY9N572mY
— Cara Bertrand (@carabertrand) October 1, 2014

I met so many great book people--booksellers, librarians, publishing reps--and signed and gave away _so_many_ books! The piles, which I thought were huge when I started, were so small by the end. And though I gave away a ton of books, I came home with an amazing selection as well. Thank you, generous publishers! Some for me, and some for YOU. Many of these will be given away to readers at my upcoming events and on Twitter!

The books may or may not look like this. Which are you excited for? pic.twitter.com/ZysGQrhpII
— Cara Bertrand (@carabertrand) October 2, 2014

And last, but certainly NOT least, October 1 was the official release day for Second Thoughts. Get it while it's hot! Though some venues were already carrying them, hardcovers and paperbacks should now available EVERYWHERE! (or if your favorite store doesn't have it, ask them to order it!). And yes, like winter, the eBook is coming!

Next up for me: write thank you notes and finish Sententia 3. :)

10 books

Maybe you've seen this meme going around Facebook*, where someone challenges you or your friends to list 10 books that have impacted you or stayed with you in some way. Well, I've been tagged three separate times now, so it's about time I made my list.

Since this is about books, I can't not post it here! So, 10 books that have stayed with/impacted me over the years:

• The Giving Tree
• Where the Red Fern Grows
• Across Five Aprils
• VC Andrews's entire Casteel Series (Heaven --> Web of Dreams)
• The Bible
• Jurassic Park
• The Power of One
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
• A Good Man is Hard to Find (and Other Stories)
• The Sound and the Fury
• Memory (by Margaret Mahy)
• Twilight

I think that's more than 10, but you get the idea. Now, I challenge you to share your own list!

*I don't have a public Facebook, in case you wanted to look. Connect with me here or on Twitter or Tumblr or by email--I'll respond!

'Best of' 2013

Here we are again, wrapping up another year and delighting in everyone's 'best of' lists! What were my top reads of 2013? It wasn't easy to narrow down, and I might change my mind tomorrow, but right now, I'm calling it these:

• The Clockwork Princess, Cassandra Clare- A fantastic series conclusion. Fantastic.
• The Lucy Variations, Sara Zarr- Beautiful, subtle, and filled with the most perfectly imperfect characters. I was the reader made for this book.
• The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern- Another book I was meant to read. The style won't be for everyone, but the story is beautiful and the ending is perfection.
• The Dream Thieves, Maggie Stiefvater- Just so good. I'm desperate for the next and the next.
• The False Prince, Jennifer Nielsen- Broad appeal and awesome voice made this so very readable.

Fun fact: my top 5 titles all start with 'The'. Keep in mind all these books were read in 2013, not necessarily published.

Honorables!

Best voice: The Vicious Deep (bonus--only $1.99 on Kindle as of 12/30/13!)

Best series (that I read all of this year): Holly Black's Curse Workers, starting with White Cat

Best series starter: Gameboard of the Gods (Not everyone loved it, but I sure did!)

Best adult book (ie. books primarily intended for an adult audience, just to be clear.): Among Others

Best sleeper hit (ie. HFS, why aren't more people reading this?!?!): Dangerous Girls


If my count can be trusted (which, let's be honest, it probably can't), I'll have finished 65 or 66 books by the time this pumpkin turns into 2014 (not including manuscripts, my own or critique partners') and DNFed only 3 or 4 others. I'm excited that I exceeded my goal of 52 books by quite a few! How did I do it? I made some changes. First, I made reading a priority. I did less of some other things I enjoy in order to read more. Also, I changed the way I read. At any given time now I'm reading three books: one on Kindle, one on audio, and one print copy from the library. This way I maximize my reading time (depending on where I am/what I'm doing and which medium is accessible) and model all reading platforms for my daughter. It's allowed me to read more, though I admit I don't read with as much focus. It's a trade-off I'll accept for now!

The above list is only a smattering of the books I loved and liked out of the 60+. It was a good reading year!

What were your favorites of the year? What should I put on my TBR for 2014?

"I've noticed it often"--on the condition of being a young woman

Reading Jo Walton's brill Among Others, which is not a YA book but at the same time is, and she so perfectly sums up the condition of being a teenage/young woman, sometimes just a woman at all, that I had to share the passage:

There's a thing--I've noticed it often. When I first say something, it's as if people don't hear me, they can't believe I'm saying it. Then they start to actually pay attention, they stop noticing that a teenage girl is talking and start to believe that it's worth listening to what I'm saying. With these people, it was much less effort than normal. Pretty much from the second time I opened my mouth their expressions weren't indulgent but attentive. I liked that.

--Jo Walton, Among Others

Just think about it. And about whether or not your own expression is indulgent or attentive.

All the thinking thoughts and The Lucy Variations by Sara Zarr

Yesterday, a really great long early summer day, started with an amazing morning—one of those mornings where as a mom of a young kid you wonder when you’ll ever ever get again. But my young kid is getting less young and this particular morning she was content with my presence rather than my undivided attention, so I finished a book. And I loved it, the morning and the book.

Sara Zarr’s The Lucy Variations was an amazing book, but even more that maybe it was an amazing book for me. I got this book, in my heart and in my head. Maybe it helps that I was a musician in my youth. (Not like Lucy, not at all, just a slightly better-than-average high school musician, but I felt that connection.) It was really more than that though. Lucy’s world intrigued me in a very real way, yes, but I loved three things best about this book:

• The beautiful imperfection of every character. I can’t give a higher compliment than to wish I could someday write flawed people half as well.
• The way it’s made me think. Not about the book, though I continue to think about that, but about not the book. About my life and the world and a hundred different things not connected to the prose except by my own brain. I read a lot to not think, and so many books I would read for thinking I can’t anymore, since I’ve come to know too well that though they’ll be wonderful, they’ll be unhealthy for my mood and my psyche for days/weeks/months to come. This book was different. It was not a comfortable book, which is part of (the heart of?) its brilliance, but it was not a dark book. It was hopeful and thoughtful, and for this particular reader, I suppose that’s the perfect storm.
• The way that it is a love story, but NOT a romance.

I gave the book five stars which, in the way of music competitions, may be jumping the gun, because this was my first audition, so to speak. Lucy was my first Zarr, though I’ve got Sweethearts on my Kindle, and seems not her best-received by audiences so far. I recognize why—how the world may not interest everyone and especially how the uncomfortable nature of much of the story would be, well, uncomfortable for a lot of readers—and suppose I admire it even more for its challenges. The ears of the judge matter as much as anything, and this book found its perfect listener.

Even though I read a lot, book reviewing like this isn't usually my thing... But I wanted to gush about this book and had no reason not to! You can always follow what I'm reading on the tab up at the top or on Goodreads.