Top Ten Books I've Read so Far in 2013

I am joining in on this weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. Each week there is a different top ten list topic.

This week's top ten was difficult to narrow down. I have read some pretty spectacular books this year!  These books are all books that I would highly recommend.  

This is a beautiful story about courage and friendship during World War II.  I enjoyed how the author played with style.  It is a must-read for another perspective about this important time in history.

This book won a lot of awards in 2012.  They are all well-deserved.  I loved this story of friendship, but what I really loved was the family relationships that were sometimes messy but always full of love.

This one absolutely deserved the Printz award that it won.  It is dark and haunting and violent and quite graphic at times, but it is an amazing story.  The writing is lyrical and the story is intriguing.  I enjoyed learning more about Haiti through this book.

This one is just so intriguing.  It is part mystery, part science fiction, and completely compelling.  I read this in one sitting and can't wait to read the next one.

This book was surprising in that the author came up with a whole new idea of dragons.  I love the world in this book and really loved Seraphina as a character.  I cannot imagine keeping such a big secret and it was interesting to see how things changed throughout the book.

The story in this book is such an important story for people to learn about.  The problem of homelessness in our nation and for young people is horrible and this book deals with a sensitive issue well.  The mystery in the book is suspenseful and the language is beautiful.  I loved the way that the book was a celebration of books and language...especially Langston Hughes' work.

This book really made me think.  It is disturbing to imagine a world in which abortion is outlawed, but people can choose to "unwind" their teenage children.  The story is very interesting and was another one that I had a hard time putting down.

Assassins and intrigue abound in this book.  I am really excited to read the second book in this series.

This was such a great love story and just a fun travel story.  It really kept me wondering what was going to happen and I am interested to find out what will happen in the next book.

I read this book on netgalley before it came out.  It has since been released and I highly recommend it.  I loved how it gave me a glimpse of the world of martial arts, but it was most intriguing in the story of the psychological effects of surviving a traumatic experience.