Saturday, August 28, 2010

Top YA Novels of 2010

Shout-out to the awesome Monica at The Ramblings of a Book Addict for bringing this to my attention. The list was originally compiled by Persnickety Snark: Young Adult Literature Reviews.
Monica did her list in orange, and I'm going to do mine in blue! Italicized titles are ones I have on my TBR but have yet to actually read.

OKAY, and here is where I need YOUR help! Because most of you are better in the loop on YA lit than me, I want to know which titles you have read and would recommend! Please?

1. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

2. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's (Sorceror's) Stone - J.K. Rowling

3. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

4. Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson

5. Northern Lights (The Golden Compass)- Philip Pullman

(Read passages from this for my C&L class, that's why it's partially highlighted!)

6. The Truth About Forever - Sarah Dessen

7. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

8. The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton

9. Twilight - Stephenie Meyer

10. This Lullaby - Sarah Dessen

11. Looking for Alaska - John Green

(Partially highlighted because I read about 100 pages and had to quit. Can't freaking stand this book)

12. Just Listen - Sarah Dessen

13. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling

14. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott

15. City of Bones - Cassandra Clare

16. On the (Jellicoe Road) - Melina Marchetta

17. The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

18. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling

19. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

(Mom found this in my room. Freaked out. Never have gotten around to reading it again)

20. Along for the Ride - Sarah Dessen

21. Shiver - Maggie Stiefvater

22. Vampire Academy - Richelle Mead

23. Graceling - Kristin Cashore

24. Thirteen Reasons Why - Jay Asher

(Know what it's about but will not read)

25. Sloppy Firsts - Megan McCafferty

26. The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien

27. Alanna: The First Adventure - Tamora Pierce

(Ditto #24)

28. Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card

29. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling

30. Uglies - Scott Westerfeld

31. A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray

32. Tomorrow, When the War Began - John Marsden

33. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks - E. Lockhart

34. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

35. The Westing Game - Ellen Raskin

36. Paper Towns - John Green

37. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling

38. Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins

39. A Tree Grows In Brooklyn - Betty Smith

40. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Sherman Alexie

41. Lock and Key - Sarah Dessen

42. The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman

43. Evernight - Claudia Gray

44. Sabriel - Garth Nix

45. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling

46. Beautiful Creatures - Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl

47. Forever - Judy Blume

(Hey whadaya know! It's the "Worst Freaking Book in the History of YA Lit" Nice to meet you!)

48. I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith

49. Ella Enchanted - Gail Carson Levine

50. The Princess Diaries - Meg Cabot

51. Stargirl - Jerry Spinelli

52. Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones

53. The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper

54. Hush, Hush - Becca Fitzpatrick

55. Saving Francesca - Melina Marchetta

56. Second Helpings - Megan McCafferty

57. Dreamland - Sarah Dessen

58. Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer

59. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist - Rachel Cohn, David Levithan

60. Fire - Kristin Cashore

(Known on this blog by it's subtitle: No Freaking Way, You Had Your Chance, Cashore)

61. The Chocolate War - Robert Cormier

62. Weetzie Bat - Francesca Lia Block

63. The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank

64. Looking for Alibrandi - Melina Marchetta

65. How I Live Now - Meg Rosoff

66. City of Glass - Cassandra Clare

67. Keeping the Moon - Sarah Dessen

68. Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer

69. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging - Louise Rennison

70. If I Stay - Gayle Forman

(Ditto #24)

71. The King of Attolia - Megan Whalen Turner

72. Wintergirls - Laurie Halse Anderson

73. Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast - Robin McKinley

74. The Blue Sword - Robin McKinley

75. Feed - M.T. Anderson

76. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants - Ann Brashares

77. Go Ask Alice - Anonymous

78. Wicked Lovely - Melissa Marr

79. Lord of the Flies - William Golding

80. Someone Like You - Sarah Dessen

81. The Forest of Hands and Teeth - Carrie Ryan

82. Jacob Have I Loved - Katherine Paterson

83. The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness

84. Poison Study - Maria V. Snyder

85. Shadow Kiss - Richelle Mead

86. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle - Avi

87. An Abundance of Katherines - John Green

88. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

(Woo-hoo! This book is the bees knees!)

89. A Ring of Endless Light - Madeleine L'Engle

90. Glass Houses - Rachel Caine

91. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party - M.T. Anderson

92. Walk Two Moons - Sharon Creech

93. Whale Talk - Chris Crutcher

94. Perfect Chemistry - Simone Elkeles

(Ditto #24)

95. Going Too Far - Jennifer Echols

96. The Last Song - Nicholas Sparks

97. Before I Fall - Lauren Oliver

98. Hatchet - Gary Paulsen

99. The Pigman - Paul Zindel

100. The Hero and the Crown - Robin McKinley


That was fun. Surprised Incarceron and Eyes Like Stars didn't make the list, but maybe they're too recent? AND WHAT THE FREAKING BATMOBILE?!?!?! WHERE THE GOSH DARN IS THE LIGHTING THIEF?!?!?! Ohhhh, man! Glad to see Sabriel gettin' some love, though :)

10 shout-outs!:

Christina T said...

I would recommend The Book Thief. It is a truly amazing book.

Monica said...

:o I'm surprised at all the Sarah Dessen books you DIDN'T read! I thought everyone had read those! Although, seeing that you didn't like Forever that kinda makes sense! :P And you won't read Fire? Does that mean you didn't like Graceling?! BLASPHEMY! :P I feel the exact same way about Thirteen Reasons Why though. Just doesn't look all that great. I haven't read Sabriel but it's one on my tbr list! This list has brought me much joy today!

Amelia said...

Hahaha! Yeah I really REALLY did not like GRACELING. And I definitely plan on reading more Sarah Dessen books in the future - I usually stick to fantasy/paranormal because I find contemporary fiction a little on the boring side, but Sarah is a master.

TrueOrFalse said...

Any Harry Potter definitely, Ella Enchanted (The movie was a sham), The Golden Compass + The Subtle Knife + The Amber Spyglass Trilogy (Philip Pullman is a great writer but I have a big problem with his anti-Christian ideas), City of Glass is good. It has its faults but its good. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy is a must-read (you should probably skip the introduction though). Vampire Academy has its merits. Louise Rennison a hilarious genius. So is Meg Cabot. I have an intense dislike for all things Stephenie Meyer.

Natalie said...

Alright, out of ALL of those that you haven't read, here are the ones I'd recommend.

Speak
The Book Thief
Jellicoe Road
Vampire Academy
Alanna: The First Adventure
A Great and Terrible Beauty
Evernight
Beautiful Creatures
Wintergirls
Lord of the Flies
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
A Ring of Endless Light
Walk Two Moons
Before I Fall
City of Glass

I enjoyed all of these at one point or another. Though our reading tastes aren't exactly the same, I think you should give these a shot at least once and see what you think!

Kathy Habel said...

I've read 41 of the list and about that many are on my TBR list.

Unknown said...

I strongly recommend Speak, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Stargirl. Plus, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is my favorite YA book I read when I was actually a young adult, and I think it is awesome!

Anonymous said...

four things

- some of those are NOT YA novels!
- some of those comments in smaller font were hilarious
- If i stay sucks, so dont change your mind
- most people who didnt like katsa and po's err..informal relationship thought fire was better than graceling

and..those Sarah dessen books are fantastic, especially This Lullaby

okay these were 5 things but you probably dont mind ;P

Melissa (i swim for oceans) said...

Where the bloody heck is The Lightning Thief! This is breaking my heart haha I'm also surprised Incarceron isn't on there, but maybe that's because it was a wee bit confusing?

I can't believe Shiver is on the list though *shudder*(blechhh). Anyhoo, City of Glass is brilliant!

Okie said...

What a great list. I need to hop over and check out the criteria since the title is "Top YA of 2010", I was expecting to see only contemporary novels but was excited to see that this list is apparently going "all the way back" to the early days of YA (before YA was even its own genre). It also seems to be quite variant in terms of theme, which is cool.

I'm also curious as to the breaking out of "series" into the individual novels. Granted, in some series there are always certain books I like more and others I like less. There are also some "series" books which are fully stand alone and don't need to be lumped in. But when an entire series goes together to complete the whole, I would think it better to tell somebody to "read the whole series" rather than to break it out into individual books (especially if the ranking may put them out of order...).


As to recommendations, I'm not quite as well read on YA but I'm slowly catching up.

Of those not yet blue, I can recommend Speak, Book Thief, & The Westing Game as enjoyable reads and of strikingly different characteristics one from another.

 
Blog designed by Dreamy Blog Designs using Joifa Designs Birght Night and Cozy kit