Top Ten of 2013 - Nat's Picks

I can't believe that another year has passed.  Another year of bookish and non-bookish fun.   Another year of Shel and Bel putting up with my ridiculous obsessions and total nonsense - book related and not.  And another of year of struggling to create a Top Ten post.  It took some time but I did it.  I narrowed down my favorites for 2013.   Here there are.  Other than the first, there is no particular order to this list...

Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg - This was by far my FAVORITE book of the year.  I want everyone to read this.  EVERYONE.  Not matter age, orientation or gender, I think everyone will be able to relate to Rafe.  This is a beautifully awkward and funny story about acceptance and celebrating who we are.










Just One Day by Gayle Forman - I loved both books in this duology but Just One Day struck a cord with me.  Growing up as an only child, I really identified with Allyson Healey and her struggles.  Gayle Forman doesn't hold back in telling the story of an insecure girl that travels both figuratively and literally in order to discover who she is and become an independent young woman.









Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein -  This was an engrossing story about best friends (one a spy; the other a transit pilot) meeting and experiencing the horrors of WWII England and France.  This book had one hell of a climax that still makes my heart stop to think about it.









Glitterland by Alexis Hall -  This is easily one of the best m/m romances I have ever read (review to post the first week of the New Year).  Hall's use of the first person narrative provides the reader with understanding as to how Ash is affected by his depression as well as serves to show the contrast between Ash and Darian's personalities.  And what I loved most was seeing how beautiful and sparkling Darian becomes in Ash's eyes.







The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater - I have enjoyed both books in this unfinished trilogy but The Dream Thieves left me utterly confused and thoroughly enchanted.  Confused because, as Shel said, I had no idea what was going on yet I couldn't stop reading.  Enchanted because The Gray Man might be one of the most psychotically amusing characters I've ever encountered.  Don't let my comments put you off.  You will learn what's going on before the book is finished.  Stiefvater just does what she does best.  Take you on the most adventurous and entertaining path to the destination she intends.

Christmas Kitsch by Amy Lane - Out of Amy's many wonderful releases this year,  Christmas Kitsch was the one that grabbed me the most.   Partially because Rusty was so adorably clueless and awkward.  And partially because it was a heartwarming love story about making a home.  This one gave me a nudge (that I desperately needed) right into the holiday spirit.








Dare You To by Katie McGarry -  No surprise I picked this one for my Top Ten.  Although I love McGarry's bad boys (Noah of Pushing the Limits and Isaiah of Crash Into You), my heart will always belong to the forever boys. And Ryan Stone is the perfect forever boy.  He's spontaneously romantic and he's protective while never attempting to take away Beth's independence.  And did I mention he plays baseball?  Yeah.  Forever boy.







Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare - I can't say much about this because Shel is saving up most of her TMI and ID books for this coming spring and we don't want to spoil anything for her.  All I can say is OMG. Cassie Clare sure knows how to pull at those heartstrings.  Seriously.  I was sitting at the kitchen table at 2am sobbing my poor little heart out.








The Sum of All Kisses by Julia Quinn - I thought this was Julia Quinn at her finest.  The shockingly rude and smart conversations that Lady Sarah and Lord Hugh have are hilarious.  Lord Hugh might be my favorite Julia Quinn hero yet.  And that's saying a lot considering how much I love Colin Bridgerton.  And Simon Basset.  And Michael Stirling. And Thomas Cavendish. And....oh sod it.  I love them all.  And now I can add Hugh Prentice to my historical romance harem.







Cherish by Tere Michaels - Cherish (a novella) is the 4th book in the Faith, Love and Devotion Series. I enjoyed the entire series immensely but what made Cherish stand out for me was that we got that peek we always crave when wondering about a couples Happy Ever After.  On top of that, it contained the perfect mix of romance and the wicked Tere Michaels' humor Bel and I witnessed at RT.








I did it!  I figured out my favorites of the year.  But there are still 6 more days of the year.  I reserve my right to edit this list on the off chance I find another favorite before 2014 begins.

Nat

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein

* * * *

While flying an Allied fighter plane from Paris to England, American ATA pilot and amateur poet, Rose Justice, is captured by the Nazis and sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious women's concentration camp. Trapped in horrific circumstances, Rose finds hope in the impossible through the loyalty, bravery and friendship of her fellow prisoners. But will that be enough to endure the fate that’s in store for her?

Elizabeth Wein, author of the critically-acclaimed and best-selling Code Name Verity, delivers another stunning WWII thriller. The unforgettable story of Rose Justice is forged from heart-wrenching courage, resolve, and the slim, bright chance of survival.









Review:

Elizabeth Wein hits another one out of the park with Rose Under Fire.  This is a different type of story than Code Name Verity.  Yes, Rose is an ATA pilot.  And, yes, Maddie and Jamie make an appearance.  But Rose is not an enemy agent being interrogated by the Gestapo.  She is a young American girl that makes a brave and foolish decision.  A decision that leads to her capture and subsequent interment in the women’s concentration camp, Ravensbrük.

Rose Under Fire doesn’t deliver that big shocking bang that we all experienced in Code Name Verity.  Instead it delivers a fictional story of a young unsuspecting woman and how she survives in a camp that later became known for its experiments on women.   Through Rose’s eyes we see the atrocities the women before her endured and how they survive.   Through her poems we get an idea as to how she and her prison companions coped with the inhumanity of their daily life.  Through her experience we learn that the horrors of the things they endured formed the strongest friendships where there otherwise would be none.

This story is both disturbing and educational in its truths.  As with Code Name Verity, Wein backs up her novel’s believability with an Afterward and Bibliography that explains her research and clarifies what is true and what is not.  I would venture to say that Rose Under Fire is one that should be added to school’s required reading list.  Although it is a fictional account, the reader receives an educated and empathetic view of what it was like to be held in a women’s concentration camp during WWII.




Nat

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

* * * * *

I have two weeks. You’ll shoot me at the end no matter what I do.

That’s what you do to enemy agents. It’s what we do to enemy agents. But I look at all the dark and twisted roads ahead and cooperation is the easy way out. Possibly the only way out for a girl caught red-handed doing dirty work like mine — and I will do anything, anything, to avoid SS-Hauptsturmführer von Linden interrogating me again.

He has said that I can have as much paper as I need. All I have to do is cough up everything I can remember about the British War Effort. And I’m going to. But the story of how I came to be here starts with my friend Maddie. She is the pilot who flew me into France — an Allied Invasion of Two.

We are a sensational team.

Review:

Code Name Verity is the confession of a young woman that has been imprisoned by the Gestapo.  In exchange for prolonging her life, Queenie has agreed to write out everything she knows about British planes, airfields, anything that might help Germany invade Great Britain.  Within her confession we learn about her friendship with the young pilot, Maddie and how Queenie had come to be captured by the Germans.  

This story was unbelievably engrossing.  Queenie and Maddie’s burgeoning friendship is beautifully built into Queenie’s confession.  The wonder of it is described when she writes, “It's like being in love, discovering your best friend.”   Through her confession we see them both navigate their intriguing and very realistic roles in the Second World War.  Roles that gradually build and throw them together on one fateful flight to France.  What can I say about the story other than that?  Well, in the words of Maddie, “Careless talk costs lives.”  Or to be less dramatic, I can’t say anymore because I want to avoid giving away all the surprises.  

What I can tell you is that Code Name Verity is a brilliant and intricately woven story that had me smiling, crying, laughing and sobbing.  And the climax of the story….oh my.  By the time I was done reading I found myself going back and re-reading all the pivotal moments that I mistook for as mundane.  

The only negative thing I can say about this book is that I regret not reading it sooner.  It was beautiful.  It was heartbreaking.  It was stunning.  This is one of those stories that will stay with me forever and that I will be recommending to pretty much everyone.  

Nat

Waiting on Wednesday (73)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that highlights future releases that we are excitedly anticipating.

By Elizabeth Wein

Publication Date: September 10, 2013

While flying an Allied fighter plane from Paris to England, American ATA pilot and amateur poet, Rose Justice, is captured by the Nazis and sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious women's concentration camp. Trapped in horrific circumstances, Rose finds hope in the impossible through the loyalty, bravery and friendship of her fellow prisoners. But will that be enough to endure the fate that’s in store for her?

Elizabeth Wein, author of the critically-acclaimed and best-selling Code Name Verity, delivers another stunning WWII thriller. The unforgettable story of Rose Justice is forged from heart-wrenching courage, resolve, and the slim, bright chance of survival.