Miss Print’s Top Ten: 2021

Better late, than never when it comes to sharing favorite books right?

After much deliberation, and a few detours, here are my top reads from 2021 (click the title to read my review):

• The Cousins by Karen M. McManus
• Kaleidoscope by Brian Selznick
• Sunny Song Will Never Be Famous by Suzanne Park
• Lore by Alexandra Bracken
• The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He
• A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee
• The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin
• Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber
• An Emotion of Great Delight by Tahereh Mafi
• Little Thieves by Margaret Owen
• The Heartbreak Bakery by AR Capetta
• Gilded by Marissa Meyer

You can shop the list on Amazon or Bookshop.

*backdated as I post content I missed in December (details why here: See you in 2022).

Miss Print’s Top Ten: 2020

What a strange year this has been. Despite a personally promising start, I know I’m not the only who will be happy to see the other side of this long and tedious year. One thing that helped get me through this year were the books I was able to read, the authors I was able to connect with, and the stories I was able to recommend to friends.

When I sat down to put together this post, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to remember–or even choose–my ten favorite reads of the year. But as I began looking back on all of the books I read and listened to, I realized most of the choices were obvious.

This year I’m giving you a top eleven and some honorable mentions because it was impossible to narrow it down more.

You can also shop this list on Bookshop or Amazon.

• Harley in the Sky by Akemi Dawn Bowman
• The Voting Booth by Brandy Colbert
• Race the Sands by Sarah Beth Durst
• Now That I’ve Found You by Kristina Forest
• You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
• Tweet Cute by Emma Lord
• Tigers, Not Daughters by Samantha Mabry
• The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix
• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab
• Recommended For You by Laura Silverman
• Fable by Adrienne Young

Honorable Mention: The Backlist

The books I read and loved this year that were published before 2020.

• Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey
• An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard
• Od Magic by Patricia A. McKillip
• Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio

Honorable Mention: The Sequels

The sequels I read and loved this year in two of my favorite series. (Start with book one to avoid spoilers.)

• The Silvered Serpents by Roshani Chokshi
• Return of the Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

Top Ten: 2019

Sometimes it’s really hard to look back on a year and figure out which books are my favorites–even when I’m only looking at books I reviewed here on the blog instead of all of the books I read. 2019 wasn’t like that. Instead, it turned out to relatively easy to choose my standout favorites. These are books that made my world bigger and my heart more full; they’re books that took my completely by surprise in the best possible ways:

• With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo
• The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi
• 10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston
• Last of Her Name by Jessica Khoury
• Butterfly Yellow by Thanhha Lai
• Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• Field Notes on Love by Jennifer E. Smith
• Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente
• The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White
• Rayne and Delilah’s Midnite Matinee by Jeff Zentner

You can click the titles above to find my reviews or shop the titles over on my Amazon page.

Honorable Mention: The Backlist

I have been playing catch up with review writing for the better part of two years so here are some backlist titles I could have mentioned last year (or earlier) but didn’t get written up on the blog in time to be properly featured on a best of list:

• Devils Unto Dust by Emma Berquist
• The City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty
• Save the Date by Morgan Matson
• City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab
• Sadie by Courtney Summers
• Stay Sweet by Siobhan Vivian

Top Ten: 2018

This is my annual list of favorite books that I read and reviewed this year. Some of my favorite reads didn’t make the cut because I haven’t had time to write and post reviews BUT that just means I’ll have even more books to talk about next December.

• The Opposite of Here by Tara Altebrando
• Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett
• Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter
• Emergency Contact by Mary H. K. Choi
• The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco
• Little and Lion by Brandy Colbert
• Unclaimed Baggage by Jen Doll
• Royals by Rachel Hawkins
• Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough
• The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X. R. Pan

You can click the titles above to find my reviews. This list can also be found on my Amazon Influencer page here: https://www.amazon.com/shop/miss_print?listId=2AR8ZNAELYUMP&ref=idea_share_inf

Honorable Mention: The Sequels

Sequels are a strange thing because citing them as a favorite isn’t always about one book so much as the series that comes before. Some of these (The Darkest Legacy and Dramatically Ever After) can definitely be read on their own but if you’re intrigued I’d still say start at the beginning.

• Dramatically Ever After by Isabel Bandeira
• The Wicked King by Holly Black (a total cheat since this one won’t release until next month!)
• The Darkest Legacy by Alexandra Bracken
• The Queen of Sorrow by Sarah Beth Durst
• Legendary by Stephanie Garber
• Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor

Top Ten: 2017

This is my annual list of favorite books that I read and reviewed this year.

This year was filled with marvelous bookish surprises. I didn’t know what to expect from so many of these books and they almost universally left me dazzled and delighted.

Jane, Unlimited and Where Futures End pushed and pulled at the limits of how a story can be told.

In a Perfect World, I Believe in a Thing Called Love, Lucky in Love and The Keeper of the Mist were unapologetic love stories filled with optimism.

Words in Deep Blue, Speak Easy, Speak Love, and The Fashion Committee inspired and moved me while surprising me with inventive twists.

Caraval, The Diabolic and All the Crooked Saints introduced me to new worlds while Wayfarer, The Reluctant Queen, Thick as Thieves, and Always and Forever, Lara Jean gave me the chance to revisit familiar characters and places.

Not a day has gone by that I haven’t been thinking about Vincent and Theo: The Van Go Brothers or The Careful Undressing of Love.

You couldn’t find two books that were more different than Moxie and Places No One Knows. And yet if I had to pick two defining books for 2017, these would be my choices. Moxie is everything I want to see happen on a large scale–empowered young women, solidarity, and positive change–while Places No One Knows is a quiet reminder to speak up for what matters and to take care of yourself.

You can click the cover photos to read my reviews.

Top Ten:

(Actually top twelve but I do what I want.)

• • Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore
  • Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley
  • In a Perfect World by Trish Doller

• • • Caraval by Stephanie Garber
    • Speak Easy, Speak Love by McKelle George
    • I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo

• • The Careful Undress of Love by Corey Ann Haydu
  • Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers by Deborah Heiligman
  • The Fashion Committee by Susan Juby

• • Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu
  • All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater
  • Lucky in Love by Kasie West

Honorable Mentions: Books Published in 2016

• • • The Keeper of the Mist by Rachel Neumeier
    • Where Futures End by Parker Peeveyhouse
    • Places No One Knows by Brenna Yovanoff

Honorable Mentions: Sequels

I don’t like listing sequels in my top ten because usually you have to read the preceding books first. These are no exception but they are still fantastic and were definitely favorites of the year.

• • • Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken
    • The  Reluctant Queen by Sarah Beth Durst
    • Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han
    • The Empress by S. J. Kincaid (I haven’t reviewed this one yet so I am sneakily directing you to my review of the first book)
    • Thick as Thieves by Megan Whalen Turner

Top Ten: 2016

This is my annual list of favorite books that I read and reviewed this year.

Break Me Like a Promise and This Raging Light were the two books that were most impactful to me and the two I most desperately needed to read this year. I haven’t stopped thinking about The Star-Touched Queen and In Some Other World, Maybe since I finished them. Passenger has become a defining book of key moments of this year and last (which is why I have three copies of it). Bookishly Ever After, Iron Cast, Tell Me Three Things, Three Dark Crowns, My Lady Jane, and The Museum of Heartbreak were all delightful surprises this year. Hands down, The Anatomy of Curiosity is one of the most inspiring books I have read. Ever.

You can click the cover photos to read my reviews. Since it’s 2016, I’m giving myself ten slots plus up to six honorable mentions. Alphabetical by author because picking favorites any more specifically is too hard.

Top Ten:

• Bookishly Ever After by Isabel Bandeira
• Passenger by Alexandra Bracken
• Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum
• The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi
• In Some Other World, Maybe by Shari Goldhagen

• This Raging Light by Estelle Laure
• The Square Root of Summer by Harriet Reuter Hapgood
• Break Me Like a Promise by Tiffany Schmidt
• Iron Cast by Destiny Soria
• The Anatomy of Curiosity by Maggie Stiefvater, Tessa Gratton, Brenna Yovanoff

Honorable Mentions:

• Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
• Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
• My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows

• The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig
• The Museum of Heartbreak by Meg Leder
• This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

 

This list is also a Pinterest board.

Top Ten: 2015

Here’s my list of favorite books reviewed here on the blog in 2015. You can click the cover photos to read my reviews. Since it’s 2015, I’m giving myself 15 slots plus a few honorable mentions. Alphabetical by author because picking favorites any more specifically is too hard.

Top Ten:

• The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
• The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black
• The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow
• Love and Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo
• The Truth Commission by Susan Juby

• Winterspell by Claire Legrand
• The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord
• Lock & Mori by Heather W. Petty
• I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest
• Tonight the Streets Are Ours by Leila Sales

• Hold Me Like a Breath by Tiffany Schmidt
• The Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgwick
• A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab
• Rebel Mechanics by Shanna Swendson
• Black Dove, White Raven by Elizabeth Wein

Honorable Mentions:

• The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough
• Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson
• Blackfin Sky by Kat Ellis
• The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle

This list is also a Pinterest board.

14 for 2014

Here’s my list of favorite books from 2014.

(I’m limiting myself here to books that I’ve reviewed on the blog this year. For more favorites, check out this year’s End of Year Survey.)

Top Ten:

 

1. The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski
2. In the Age of Love and Chocolate by Gabrielle Zevin
3. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
4. All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill
5. And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard
6. The Unbound by Victoria Schwab
7. The Strange Maid by Tessa Gratton
8. The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud
9. Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White
10. The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Honorable Mentions:

1. Bad Luck Girl by Sarah Zettel
2. Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
3. Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers
4. This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

Shout out to Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld and Clariel by Garth Nix which were both very close to making the final cut! (And to Love and Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo–I don’t think I’m getting my review of it written by the end of 2014 so watch for it on my 2015 list!)

This list is also a Pinterest board.