Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I've Read So Far In 2013

Each year, I participate in the Good Reads Reading Challenge. I love being able to keep track of the books I read and share them with others. The nerd in me likes to compare how many pages I've read from year to year. This year, I have decided to read 50 books, and I have already read 22 books. You can see all of  the titles I have read here.

Here are the best 10 I have read this year- in no particular order! Unfortunately, I have read some real stinkers this year- but I think I can squeak out my top 10.

#1, 2, 3& 4. I have read (for the first time) 4 of the Harry Potter books this year. I will use all four of them as 1 entry.

I may be 39, but I am a huge Potter Head. I am obsessed- and no matter what the topic of conversation, I can make a Harry Potter reference. My husband and 9 year old are sick of me going on and on... "It's just a book" they say. "You are done reading them." they say. They don't know that these books have become part of my soul. I still can't talk about Snape or Sirius without getting tears in my eyes. I adore these books and the stories and the characters and the fact that they made me think and that I read them to my 2 daughters and we will always have that in common. I wish I could go back and read them for the first time again.

5. Flesh & Bone (Benny Imura #3) by Jonathan Maberry: God, I wanted to love this book. I 5 stared the other 2 titles in the series and erected a monument to Tom Imura in my basement and became so obsessed with zombies that my family called an intervention. I wanted to love this book, but I didn't. So it is on the list because I loved the IDEA of this book.

 Why didn't I love it? This book was a stepping stone- an ends to a means- to get from book 2 to the final book in the series. I didn't feel like anything in this book helped me to further my understanding of the series or characters. In this book- all of the characters got deep and philosophical on me- ain't nobody got time for that int he middle of a zombie apocalypse!

6. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer: Oh.... how I waited and longed for this sequel! I was not disappointed! I loved how the 2 stories (Cinder & Scarlet) ended up being tied together.

7.  Dodger by Terry Pratchett: This book started my obsession with Victorian England. The setting and the characters screamed of Oliver Twist and I found myself wishing I had a cockney accent (I would never shut up if I did!) I loved that this book was historical yet found a way to blend the facts with the story seamlessly. The insertion of Sweeney Todd and Charles Dickens was so fun and I found myself doing research to keep up. Boys will love this book as well!

8.  The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by Chris Wooding: Again, my need for jolly old England brought me to this book. This book is full on wytch hunter, spooky creature, supernatural goodness! There were so many made up creatures that I totally bought into in this book. More or less- a wytch hunter finds a girl in need and discovers that she is possessed by the demon that will bring the end of the world. It is his mission to save her soul and take down the bastards that want to free the demon.  So good!

9. The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson:After reading Dodger, I was on the look out for anything that might feed my Victorian England obsession. Now, this story doesn't take place when Jack the Ripper was alive, but it takes place on the very spot where his murders were committed and I learned so much about the history of his dark deeds. (Again, I researched as I read!) This book takes a paranormal twist that had me guessing until the end! Again, I wanted a cockney accent after reading this book! I also wanted to devour more books about Ripper! Good books make you want to read more books!

10.  Dark Life by Kat Falls: I loved the futuristic UNDERWATER world. I had never read anything that takes place under the sea before- and it was wonderful!  This book had good guys, bad guys, bad guys that were good guys, the future of society riding in the hands of the main character... plus the beauty and mystery of the deep sea. Boys would LOVE this book!