Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Loved During My First Year of Blogging

Top Ten Tuesday is an original blog meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and is currently being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is “Books I Enjoyed, but Have Never Mentioned On My Blog.” I feel like I’ve done this topic before and I don’t want to repeat myself, so I am going to approach this topic a little differently. I am going to go back in time to my first full year of book blogging (way back in 2014) and take a look at ten of my five-star reads that year. I probably have mentioned these all on my blog at some point, but it’s been so long, it feels like another time entirely. I am a much different reader and there are several authors that I outgrew or who turned out to be shameless bigots *cough*JKR*cough who I no longer read. Still, there are plenty of books from that year that I remember quite fondly. Covers linked to Goodreads.

1. The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes – Ah, yes, there was a time when I consumed all the YA serial killer books out there. I still love them, but they are few and far between these days. I actually just gifted my niece this book for Christmas because she’s very much into crime novels and she loved it. Yes, I am the perfect aunt.

2. United We Spy by Ally Carter – I finished the final Gallagher Girls novel in 2014. This series was one of my first introductions into Young Adult novels. It was so hard to resist a series of books about an all-girl spy school. I would normally have unhauled this series, but I am a sentimental being.

3. Burn Bright by Bethany Frenette – This was the second novel in a YA series about a girl whose mom is akin to a superhero who fights demons. I think I only ever came across one or two other bloggers who had read this one. I never finished the series either because the final book was only going to be released as an ebook and I kept putting off getting it.

4. These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner – This whole series had the most stunning covers. I confess I kept these books longer than I would otherwise had because of said covers. I actually don’t remember this one very well. I remember it took place in space and at one point I think the characters end up along on another planet. I also never read the last book. Whoops.

5. The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski – I was obsessed with this series back in the day, but I think if I were to read it now, I would probably hate it. I am much more critical of the power imbalance in these kind of romances and oppressor/oppressed romances just aren’t my thing anymore.

6. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han – 2014 was the year of Lara Jean?!?! If I made a list of books that had the most impact on me, this would probably one of the ones at the top of the list. This book still remains one of my all-time favorite novels because I feel such a kinship with Lara Jean.

7. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman – This one is really testing my memory. Literally the only thing I can remember with cetainty is the MC is never given a name.

8. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern – When I think of atmospheric novels, this is still one of the first ones that comes to mind. I also remember being so enchanted by the magic in this story. I always meant to reread it, but never have gotten around to it.

9. Salt & Storm by Kendall Kulper – This witchy novel about the contentious relationship between mothers and daughters never did get the kind of attention it deserved. It still occupies a spot on my shelf almost eight years later.

10. Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes – Rounding out this list is Killer Instinct, the sequel to the first book on my list. I really got into this series that year and I still own all four novels in this series. I just remembered it was one of the first YA novels I read with a stellar ensemble cast as well.

Have you read and/or loved any of these? Do you remember a favorite novel from your first year of blogging? Let me know in the comments and be sure to leave me a link to your own TTT post, so I can visit!