Top Ten Tuesday - Faves from Last 2 - 3 Years

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by Broke and Bookish. This week's theme is: "Top Ten Books You Would Classify As ALL TIME FAVORITE BOOKS from the past 3 years (you can extend it to 5 if you need to)."

YA: Alphabetically by title:

All the Truth That's In Me by Julie Berry. Many scenes from this provocative book are seared into my memory.

Blood Red Road by Moira Young. I read this with my ears and found the performance especially riveting.

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles) by Marissa Meyer. This Cinderella tale with a sci/ fi twist is so interesting! There's suspense. There's the potential for romance. There's great world-building.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. Totally confusing until suddenly, it's not. Then, gut-wrenching.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone (trilogy) by Laini Taylor. This is one trilogy where the heroine didn't lose her kick-ass quality in book 2. Days of Blood and Starlight shook me up in the best possible way. The third book, Dreams of Gods and Monsters was a phenomenal ending.

I Pledge Allegiance (Vietnam series) by Chris Lynch. I recently finished the fifth and final (?) book in this series. I needed to read every single one. Four friends take a pledge that if one gets drafted to fight in Vietnam, they all go. And they did, each into a different branch of the service. Each got a book told from his own POV. In the fifth book, all four weigh in. 

Legend Book 1 in the Legend series by Marie Lu. Another trilogy where there's no second book slump and the kick-ass heroine stays kick-ass. Also has the perfect ending.

Lockwood & Co: the screaming staircase by Jonathan Stroud. I did something very rare. I reread this rip-roaring yarn twice - once with my eyes and again with my ears. Book two, The Whispering Skull is out and I can't wait to read it!

Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner. This was another rare reread for me. This alternate history universe was terrifyingly real. 

Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy. This supernatural tale about a skeleton detective and his human sidekick is hysterically funny and quite suspenseful. I believe that I've read five of them with my ears. I recently learned that many more installments have been published. Must check into that soon.



As I was perusing my reading lists from the last few years, I jotted down middle grade titles as well. I had intended to split the list 50/ 50 as I usually do. Unfortunately, I came up with more than ten for each level. So, I'm begging forgiveness instead of asking for permission and making a list of 10 middle grade favorites as well.

Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle and its sequel, Five, Six, Seven, Nate! I absolutely adore Nate and Tim Federle for writing these books about pursuing one's dream and being one's self no matter what.

Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan. I fell in love with Willow Chance on page 1 in this intensely moving story of loss and belonging.

Gone Fishing by Tamera Will Wissinger. Such an adorable story in many different kinds of verse. Perfect for the LA teachers doing a poetry unit because, not only is the verse engaging, there's a section at the end explaining the rules of each variety of poem! But wait! There's more! A sequel, Gone Camping, is in the works and set to publish in 2017!

Hero's Guide to Saving the Kingdom (...Storming the Castle & ...Being an Outlaw) by Christopher Healy. These fractured fairy tales are such a hoot!  Not only are they laugh-out-loud funny, they are smartly written. They are quite popular at my school among both boys and girls.

One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. My heart belongs to Ivan. I was so pleased when it won the Newbery Award! Such a memorable voice.

P.S. Be Eleven by Rita Williams-Garcia. This sequel to One Crazy Summer picks right up when the girls return to Brooklyn. There are big changes awaiting them. The final book in the trilogy, Gone Crazy in Alabama is due April 21.

Secret Hum of a Daisy by Tracy Holczer. This lovely debut nestled deep in my heart and is perfect for my girls who love weepies.

Sure Signs of Crazy by Karen Harrington. Another (children's) debut, another wonderful weepie. I recommended this to one of the seventh grade LA teachers. She loved it so much, she returned it with a present - my very own plant that she named Plant. (It's a Christmas cactus and it's still alive though I haven't gotten it to bloom yet.)

Texting the Underworld by Ellen Booream. Oh my, how I loved and laughed my way through this book! Every kid I have gotten to read it returns it with a big smile. 

Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage. Of course, it's sequel, Ghosts of Tupelo Landing is as charming and hilarious. I hear there's a third book, due in October called, The Odds of Getting Even. Can't wait for that one. I'll be featuring it in a WoW post on April 22.

Thanks for hanging in there! Leave a link to your top ten in the comments.