2013 End-of-the-Year Book Survey

1. Best Book You Read In 2013? (If you have to cheat — you can break it down by genre if you want or 2013 release vs. backlist) - See more at: http://www.perpetualpageturner.com/category/end-of-year-book-survey#sthash.EjAQF2gN.dpuf

1. Best Book You Read In 2013? (If you have to cheat — you can break it down by genre if you want or 2013 release vs. backlist) - See more at: http://www.perpetualpageturner.com/category/end-of-year-book-survey#sthash.EjAQF2gN.dpuf

1. Best Book You Read In 2013? (If you have to cheat — you can break it down by genre if you want or 2013 release vs. backlist) - See more at: http://www.perpetualpageturner.com/category/end-of-year-book-survey#sthash.EjAQF2gN.dpuf

I read a pathetic number of books this year — grad school pretty much took over my life when September rolled around — so I'm not doing the entire end-of-the-year bookish survey that Jamie at The Perpetual Page-turner hosts each year (my responses would probably get really repetitive). But I did want to give a bit of a summary of my reading this year, so I've answered some of the questions!

1.) Best book you read in 2013? (if you have to cheat — you can break it down by genre if you want or 2013 release vs. backlist)

YA — The Dark Unwinding by Sharon Cameron for pure entertainment value and The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna for thought-provoking goodness

Adult — The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton for excellent historical atmosphere and an unsettling main character

Non-fiction — Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan for a horrifying but unputdownable true story

2.) Book you were excited about and thought you were going to love more but didn't?

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. This one got so many glowing reviews and while it wasn't a bad read, I expected more from it than I actually got. It used some common tropes of the genre and the writing was not as amazing as I thought it would be. I think I'll still continue on with the series but I'll know better now what to expect. (To be fair to the book, I was trying to read it during my first term in my Master's program and I didn't really have the time or energy to devote to reading for pleasure, unfortunately, so it was very slow going.)

3.) Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2013?

The Dark Unwinding by Sharon Cameron — this one was labelled as "steampunk", and I haven't yet read any steampunk books that I'm wild about. But really this one was way more Gothic than steampunk and I ended up enjoying it more than I anticipated.

4.) Book you read in 2013 that you recommended to people most in 2013?

Hmmm...well, hands-down the series I recommended most was the Hunger Games (especially Catching Fire, of course) but I didn't read those this year. So I guess I'll go with Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness.

5.) Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2013?

Insurgent by Veronica Roth and Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness.

6.) Most memorable character in 2013?

Dolly from The Secret Keeper — she was pretty darn twisted — and Matthew from The Lost Girl for sheer swagger. Minka from The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult for her perseverance. Also, winning the award for Most Irritating Fictional Sibling of the Year: Bird from Summer and Bird by Katherine Catmull. I could not stand that girl.

7.) Book that had a scene in it that had you reeling and dying to talk to someone about it? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton and, if non-fiction counts, then Behind the Shock Machine: The Untold Story of the Notorious Milgram Psychology Experiments by Gina Perry.

8.) Favourite relationship from a book you read in 2013 (be it romantic, friendship, etc.)?

Romance: Samuel and Gretchen from Sweetly by Jackson Pearce, Gwen and Gideon from Emerald Green by Kerstin Gier, Eva and Sean from The Lost Girl

Friendship-with-a-spark: Vivien and Jimmy from The Secret Keeper

 
Stepdad-stepdaughter relationship: Frank and Rinn from The Unquiet by Jeannine Garsee

9.) Favourite book you read in 2013 from an author you've read previously?

Probably either Insurgent, Emerald Green, or The Secret Keeper.

10.) Best book you read in 2013 that you read based SOLELY on the recommendation of somebody else?


Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I put this one on my Christmas wishlist last year at least in part because of the reviews/ratings I'd seen by bloggers I follow.

11.) Genre you read most from in 2013?

Probably fantasy/paranormal YA, although there was also a healthy dose of dystopian reads.

12.) Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2013?

This choice might seem a bit strange, but...Matthew from The Lost Girl. Yes, he's sort of a villain, but he just had so much personality and sass.

 

13.) Most vivid world/imagery you read in a book in 2013?

The WWII setting in The Secret Keeper, the Gothic feel of The Dark Unwinding, and the bizarre, fantastical world of Summer and Bird. Also, the creepy atmosphere in Laura Bickle's The Hallowed Ones. 

14.) Book that was the most fun to read in 2013? 

Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell — this book is hilarious.

Looking Ahead...

1.) One book you didn't get to in 2013 but will be your number 1 priority in 2014?

Um, there are a ton of these, can't single out just one...

- A Fault in Our Stars by John Green (no, I have not read it yet; yes, I am aware of its awe-inspiring amazingness; hopefully I will get to it next year, especially since the movie's coming out)
- Reached by Ally Condie (yeah, I know I'm way behind on dystopian series)
- Allegiant by Veronica Roth (ditto)
- Nightspell by Leah Cypess (sooner or later it will get read, I swear)
- A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty (a new Jaclyn Moriarty and I haven't read it yet?! I know, I know...)
- Bloodlines by Richelle Mead (Vampire Academy fans, is this spin-off series equally good? Let me know!)

2.) Book you are most anticipating for 2014 (non-debut)?

Death Sworn by Leah Cypess looks and sounds awesome — I really enjoyed her book Mistwood. Also, The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkowski has been generating a lot of buzz already, hopefully it lives up to all the hype!

3.) 2014 debut you are most anticipating?

Well, I'm on the Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge train just like everyone else. But aside from that one... I'm definitely looking forward to The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno. Dissociative identity disorder in a YA mystery? Sign me up.

What books were your favourites of 2013, and which are you looking forward to reading next year? And if you'd like to do this survey, you can link up your post at Jamie's blog here!

Cross My Palm 2013: Contemporary YA

Last week I did my first Cross My Palm 2013 post, looking at trends in sci-fi YA. Now it's time to put contemporary YA under the microscope! This is just based on my own observations of books and what I've seen publishers/authors/other bloggers talking about.

Trends from last year's post that are still holding steady:

- Car accidents. Somehow, inexplicably, either teens love reading about car crashes or YA authors love writing about them, or both. I don't fully understand the obsession, but there you have it. With books like Golden by Jessi Kirby, Truly, Madly, Deadly by Hannah Jayne (admittedly, it sounds like the crash in this one was no accident), Far From You by Tess Sharpe, and The Truth About Alice Franklin by Jennifer Mathieu making their way into the reading world this year and next, it looks like there will be plenty of fuel for this trend for a while yet. (There's even a 2015 release already in this category: Rearview Mirror by Rachel Harris!)

- Road trips and other travel journeys. There are some coming up – How My Summer Went Up In Flames by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski, When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney, Right of Way by Lauren Barnholdt, Open Road Summer by Emery Lord – but not quite as many as last year, it seems. Hopefully there will still be more to come, because I think travel stories offer so much fodder for creativity!

Trends that seem to be on their way out:

- Books dealing with war and/or PTSD. There were several of these published last year, but it doesn't look like that's continuing into 2013 and 2014. Although I'm sure that several of the abduction stories (see below) will probably involve PTSD, and I know for sure that the recently published Bruised by Sarah Skilton does.

- Sister stories. I thought these would keep on going for a while when I wrote up last year's post, but now it doesn't look that way! Deviant by Helen Fitzgerald just released last month, and there's Jennifer Echol's Dirty Little Secret and Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, both of which sound like they deal with sister issues to some extent, but apart from that I haven't seen a lot of upcoming contemporary books focusing on a sister relationship. (Am I just blind here or what?!)

New trends:

- Teens undercover and/or on the run: you might consider this Road Trip Trend's darker, wilder cousin. Examples of books falling into this category include Nobody But Us by Kristin Halbrook, Rules for Disappearing by Ashley Elston, Fake ID by Lamar Giles, Being Henry David by Cal Armistead, Leap of Faith by Jamie Blair, and Pretending to Be Erica by Michelle Painchaud.

- If I had a million dollars... (I'd buy a monstrously large library, of course, but that's besides the point.) It looks like several YA authors are exploring the dynamic of rich and not-so-rich teens. If you've ever wondered "how the other half lives", you might want to check out these books when they're released: What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick, The Distance Between Us by Kasie West, All the Rage by Courtney Summers, Crash into You by Katie McGarry, and The Secret Diamond Sisters by Michelle Madow.

- Girls in sports: I think we have Miranda Kenneally's Hundred Oaks series to thank for this trend, at least in part. In addition to the next upcoming book of hers, Racing Savannah, there's also Played by Liz Fichera, Wild Cards by Simone Elkeles, Out of Play by Nyrae Dawn and Jolene Perry, Riptide by Lindsey Scheibe, and Being Sloane Jacobs by Lauren Morrill. While I'm personally not a big sports enthusiast, it's nice to see YA offering these sorts of protagonists and stories, especially since this used to be viewed more as "boy book" territory.

- Abduction, because amnesia just wasn't good enough. There seem to be a slew of abduction stories permeating the contemporary YA section these days! From Pretty Girl-13 by Liz Coley, Panic by Sharon M. Draper and If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch to Where the Stars Still Shine by Trish Doller, Stained by Cheryl Rainfield and Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway, apparently kidnapping is where it's at in YA.

There's even Leap of Faith by Jamie Blair, which as a twist features the teen protagonist as the abductor. And if you think girls are the only ones who get kidnapped, think again: Pointe by Brandy Colbert makes this very point (pardon the pun) by making the abductee a teen boy.

If you want to get caught up on the offerings in contemporary YA for 2013 and 2014, you might want to check out these two Goodreads lists. (Note that not all of the books on that first one are actually 2013 releases.)

So, what do you think of the trends in contemp YA? Love them? Hate them? Tired of them? See something I've missed? Let me know!

(P.S. To all my Canadian blogging friends: Happy Canada Day!!)