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
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
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.
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
REALISTIC FICTION
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
