Top Ten Tuesday - My Top Ten YA Favorites newly published YA books in 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  For more information, or to join the fun yourself, check out their blog! This week is a Freebie- Your Choice of Topic:) I am going to list my favorite Top Ten YA books I read published in 2015!

1.  Bone Gap by Laura Ruby - There was just the right amount of suspense, mystery   and magic. I loved Finn O'Sullivan; you will too!

2.  The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds - We need more diverse books like these and don't miss his other book, When I Was the Greatest.

3.   Noggin by John Corey Whaley - Even though the premise is as Whaley says, "ridiculous" his writing, his characters, and his words ALL make this book great and a must read.

4.   I Was Here by Gayle Forman - A gripping read that does not disappoint with a hard core female protagonist who is determined to rise to the challenge of whatever life throws at her without her best friend.

5.   Skink-No Surrender by Carl Hiassen - This is a must read adventure that keeps you riveted and riled to the bitter end. I listened to it on Audible- sooo good!

6.   Black Dove, White Raven by Elizabeth Wein - Masterful historical fiction and women pilots.

7.  Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman -   This second Seraphina book warmed my heart.

8.   The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black - There is horror, love, lies, and lots of dark fantasy---very alluring read.

9.  All the Rage by Courtney Summers - A must read for teens and adults.

10.  Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith - For a book that defies description in so many ways, there are wonderfully drawn characters, lots of humor, lots of action and a rippin' good read.

11.  She Is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick - Marcus Sedgwick is such a superb author when it comes to suspense!

Top Ten Tuesday -Books featuring Genocide, Prostitution, Holocaust, Hunger, No Water, Slavery

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  For more information, or to join the fun yourself, check out their blog!

 

I am including Fiction and Nonfiction titles featuring Genocide, Prostitution, Holocaust, Hunger, No Water, and Slavery:
1-  - The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind - Nonfiction - William Kamkwamba strives to want more through hunger, drought, poverty and twice having to stop school because his family did not have the fees.

2 -  - The Book Thief - Haunting Holocaust story by Markus Zusack

3.   - Between Shades of Gray - Author Ruta Sepetys compellingly explores the genocide of Lithuanians in Russia.

4.  - Rose Under Fire - Author Elizabeth Wein writes about WWII pilot Rose held prisoner in the Ravensbrück concentration camp.

5.  My Book of Life by Angel Prostitution novel in verse by Martine Leavitt.

6.  Sold by Patricia McCormick- a girl from Nepal is sold into prostitution by her stepfather.

7.  Trafficked by Kim Purcell - a girl from Moldova is sold into slavery in the US.

8.   Never Fall Down  Cambodian genocide through the eyes of Arn and Patricia McCormick

9.  The Bite of the Mango Nonfiction- Sierra Leone Civil War through one brave girl's eyes.

10.  A Long Walk to Water Sudanese Civil War

11.  Parched Exhaustive, painful search for water is a must read.

12. Slave by Mende Nazer Nonfiction - kidnapped and sold into slavery.

13.  Black Dove, White Raven  Elizabeth Wein weaves a story of female pilots, Ethiopia, war and slavery.

Top Ten Tuesday- Top 10 Inspiring Quotes from Books

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  For more information, or to join the fun yourself, check out their blog!

Top 10 Inspiring Quotes from books – inspires, challenges, makes you think, encourages you, etc.

1- Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi- I read and loved all 3 books in this series- Though they come from different worlds,  Perry and Aria find each other and their relationship is inspiring,  gripping, and all encompassing.

What I was trying to say," Perry whispered, is that I see you in everything. There isn't a word for you that means enough, because you're everything to me." Perfect words," Aria said, her smile wobbling with emotion. "Magical." His mouth found hers again, his kisses hungry, his weight settling onto her. She wove her fingers in his damp curls, and she was gone. Swept away. Nothing else existed beyond his body and hers, moving like strength and surrender, folded into one.

2-The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern – this book was beautiful and haunting in description and I luxuriated in the Celia and Marco relationship as the magical circus takes on a life of its own.  

“I have tried to let you go and I cannot. I cannot stop thinking of you. I cannot stop dreaming about you.”

3-I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson - There is so much to totally love about this book- family lies, secrets, jealousies but also deep abiding love, compassion, and artistic brilliance.

 

 “I gave up practically the whole world for you,” I tell him, walking through the front door of my own love story. “The sun, stars, ocean, trees, everything, I gave it all up for you.”

“Or maybe a person is just made up of a lot of people,” I say. “Maybe we’re accumulating these new selves all the time.” Hauling them in as we make choices, good and bad, as we screw up, step up, lose our minds, find our minds, fall apart, fall in love, as we grieve, grow, retreat from the world, dive into the world, as we make things, as we break things.”

 

4- All The Bright Places – Jennifer Niven – a very meaningful read - No matter what we think about these Finch and Violet ---this book speaks volumes about teens and what they grapple with on a daily basis-bullying, death, suicide, depression, mental illness, labels, stigmas, family dysfunction, drugs, you name it!

“You have been in every way all that anyone could be.… If anybody could have saved me it would have been you.”

The thing I realize is that it's not what you take, it's what you leave.

5- The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black - this dark world of Faerie folk living side by side in Fairfold is cunningly slow to unfold. So read very closely all the juicy details and bread crumbs...

 

“And elsewhere in the woods, there is another party, one taking place inside a hollow hill, full of night-blooming flowers. There, a pale boy plays a fiddle with newly mended fingers while his sister dances with his best friend. There, a monster whirls about, branches waving in time with the music.  There, a prince of the Folk takes up the mantle of king, embracing a changeling like a brother, and, with a human boy at his side, names a girl his champion.”

6- Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell- It is Park and Eleanor who slowly, but surely find one another first through comic books, then music, then conversation. None of their relationship and then their romance is easy, but they find each other and hold on.

 

“I don't like you, Park," she said, sounding for a second like she actually meant it. "I..." - her voice nearly disappeared - "think I live for you."

7- Gabi: A Girl in Pieces by  Isabel Quintero - What I love about Gabi's voice and character is that she is so authentic; she is hilarious in her thoughts and words (she is a wonderful writer and poet- she is compassionate- she is confused) she is just a teen looking for answers.

“The way my Tia looks at Raul is the way I look at Martin. He makes her happy and helps her see that she is stronger than she thought she was. It's not that he makes her stronger, but he definitely helps her see that she has been strong all along.”

8- Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi

Aria “Do you ever miss anything?”Perry smiled, 'You, all the time.”

 

9- Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles – gotta love those Fuentes brothers!

“You are the one girl that made me risk everything for a future worth having.”

10. I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga the best serial killer series!!!

“Jazz hadn't given her many details of exactly what life in the Dent house had been like, but he'd told her enough that she knew it wasn't hearts and flowers. Well, except for the occasional heart cut from a chest. And the kind of flowers you send to funerals.”

Top 10 Reads- Books on My Spring TBR list!

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  For more information, or to join the fun yourself, check out their blog! This is a short list of books I have on Goodreads that I want to read this spring (plus all the other Hub Challenge books I am reading until June)
1. Fairest by Marissa Meyer

2. I Was Here by Gayle Forman

3. The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

4. The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds

5. When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds

6. The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

7. The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski

8. Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver

9. Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story by David Levithan

3rd Top Ten Tuesday

This week the Broke and Bookish are taking as their topic Top Ten Books from the last three years and of course I have too many; this is my 3rd and final list of favorites!!!
1. All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven-compelling first novel of love, death, and finding oneself.

2. Bright Before Sunrise by Tiffany Schmidt-  Brighton and Jonah will surprise you and melt your heart.

3. Jasper Dent Series by Barry Lyga - what would you do if your father was a serial killer?

4. Eliot Schrefer books-Endangered and Threatened- For animal lovers, African animals in distress.

5. Ruta Sepetys books - Between Shades of Gray and Out of the Easy -Genocide and prostitution, historical fiction

6. Marissa Meyer Lunar Chronicles- Cinder, Scarlet, Cress- twists on fairytales, great reads!

7. The Unwind Dystology by Neal Shusterman - all of them!

8. Curse Workers series by Holly Black - Urban fantasy- White Cat, Red Glove and Black Heart

9. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman - Great female protagonist, Half dragon Seraphina

10. Scar Boys by Len Vlahos- friendship, love of music and a band tour.

10. Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein - Rose uses her poetry and storytelling with her concentration camp friends to as a way to remember life.

10. If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch - found living in the woods, how will 2 sisters survive?

10. The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson - PTSD affects a family.

10. The Legend Series by Marie Lu -Legend, Prodigy, Champion- Dystopian Romance

10. Reality Boy by A.S. King -Dysfunctional family

10. The Diviners by Libba Bray - 1920s serial killer on the loose

10. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater- If Blue Sargent kisses a boy, will he really die?