Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Eleven First Quarter Favorites


Posted here are my picks for favorite books read so far in 2013, as of March 31.  Out of the 42 I have read, eleven are now in the running for my top ten reads of 2013.  If I had to put them in order of favorites from 1 to 11, the four realistic fiction titles would be wrestling for top spot.  This is a surprise since although I like realistic fiction it is not my favorite genre.  So, if realistic fiction is not usually your favorite genre too, you might consider giving one of these a try.  If you read something on this list, I would love to hear your opinion.  Titles are linked to the Library's online catalog.

HISTORICAL FICTION
A Time of Miracles, by Anne-Laure Bondoux, 2012.
In the early 1990s, a boy with a mysterious past and the woman who cares for him endure a five-year journey across the war-torn Caucasus and Europe, weathering hardships and welcoming unforgettable encounters with other refugees searching for a better life.

HISTORICAL FANTASY
Dodger, by Terry Pratchett, 2012.
In an alternative version of Victorian London, a 17-year-old Dodger, a cunning and cheeky street urchin, unexpectedly rises in life when he saves a mysterious girl, meets Charles Dickens, and unintentionally puts a stop to the murders of Sweeney Todd.

Etiquette and Espionage, by Gail Carriger, 2013.
In an alternate England of 1851, spirited 14-year-old Sophronia is enrolled in a finishing school where, she is surprised to learn, lessons include not only the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but also diversion, deceit, and espionage.

HISTORICAL MYSTERY
Out of the Easy, by Ruta Sepetys, 2013.   Josie, the 17-year-old daughter of a French Quarter prostitute, is striving to escape 1950 New Orleans and enroll at prestigious Smith College when she becomes entangled in a murder investigation.


REALISTIC FICTION
Eleanor & Park, by Rainbow Rowell, 2013.
Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits--smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.


Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, by Benjamin Alire Saenz, 2012.  15-year-old Ari Mendoza is an angry loner with a brother in prison, but when he meets Dante and they become friends, Ari starts to ask questions about himself, his parents, and his family that he has never asked before.

My Sister Lives on theMantelpiece, by Annabel Pitcher, 2012.
With his family still grieving over his sister's death in a terrorist bombing seven years earlier, twelve-year-old Jamie is far more interested in his cat, Roger, his birthday Spiderman T-shirt, and keeping his new Muslim friend Sunya a secret from his father.

Now is the Time for Running, by Michael Williams, 2011.
When soldiers attack a small village in Zimbabwe, Deo goes on the run with Innocent, his older, mentally disabled brother, carrying little but a leather soccer ball filled with money, and after facing prejudice, poverty, and tragedy, it is in soccer that Deo finds renewed hope.

SCIENCE FICTION
Homeland, by Cory Doctorow, 2013.  (sequel to Little Brother, 2008)
When Marcus, once called M1k3y, receives a thumb drive containing evidence of corporate and governmental treachery, his job, fame, family, and well-being, as well as his reform-minded employer's election campaign, are all endangered.


Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline, 2012.
Immersing himself in a mid-twenty-first-century technological virtual utopia to escape an ugly real world of famine, poverty, and disease, Wade Watts joins an increasingly violent effort to solve a series of puzzles by the virtual world's creator.

S U S P E N S E
How to Lead a Life of Crime, by Kirsten Miller, 2013.
A teenage pickpocket, haunted by the ghost of his brother killed by his father, is recruited for Mandel Academy, a school for criminals where only one student survives each semester.