Best of 2014

Happy Holidays, friends! I'm just popping in with my favorite reads of the year - and I've happily dragged Jackie along to chime in with her top reads of 2014 as well. This was a bit of a tough list to pick out because I honestly was a tough reader to please these last few months. But I came up with a few that were actually spectacular and Jackie had some fantastic reading this year as well.

Hannah's Best Of

Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

This book is a Taylor Swift song and I loved every minute of it. It was really easy to let Emery Lord onto my shelves and into my heart. Keep an eye out for The Start of Me and You coming this spring - it's another amazing, amazing contemporary from an author who's become an insta-read for me. 

My True Love Gave To Me edited by Stephanie Perkins

Reading MTLGTM has become a new (planned) tradition for me. I'm definitely going to return to this book in the holiday season to pull me into the excitement and magic that comes with this time of year. And you get a bundle of fabulous authors all in one go - Rainbow Rowell made me cry (yet again, because she's perfect), Myra McEntire made me laugh, and don't even get me started on how Laini Taylor proves again how she's one of the most skilled storytellers out there. 

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

I didn't know if she could top Etienne St. Clair or Cricket Bell, but Josh certainly belongs in the wonderful pool of Perkins' boys who aren't perfect, but perfect for who they end up with. And of all the Perkins' girls, I think I'd most like to be Isla. This one was well worth the wait. 

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

Another fantastic addition to an epic, epic fantasy. I'm not a fan of faeries, honestly, but for Sarah Maas and Celaena, I'm all in. I so can't wait to see where this series leads. 

Jackie's Best Of

Scan by Walter Jury and Sarah Fine

This book blew me away. I was so surprised by how much I loved this one. The relationship in the story hooked me immediately, and the plot was so different from everything I've read. Loved it. 

Love and Other Theories by Alexis Bass

 

I cannot gush enough about this book. NO OTHER book has made me feel the emotions that this one has. Alexis Bass nails life as a girl in high school...or at least what mine felt like. Incredible. It's a must read. 

A Death-Struck Year by Makiia Lucier

I got my history on with this book and was absolutely blown away by the authenticity. The world is spot on incredible. 

The Treatment by Suzanne Young

This was an excellent sequel to a book I loved. Suzanne Young just gets me. The action and tension are awesome.

I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson

It's such a touching story and the writing is stand-out beautiful. This is such an important book
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Hannah here: I had to throw in a few words on this one as well. It's a book I'm adding to my list of best of the year, too. Jackie and I so rarely like the same book - it's shocking really, considering how good of friends we are that we can never agree on things like best books (although she does have a fantastic list this year...) or even whether a book is good or not. But this one - we are totally on the same page. It's so, so beautiful, I'm highlighting practically every other sentence. If you haven't picked up this one yet, Jackie and I both recommend you do. 

Jackie and I would love to hear what your top reads were!

Why I Haven't Let Go

You've probably noticed it's been pretty quiet around these parts for a few months now. It's because really cool, exciting, and sometimes scary things are happening in my life. My job has changed, my time has changed and my reading has changed.

I've had to come to terms with the fact that my blog was the sacrifice. It was the piece I had to set to the side to let myself grow. And just last week, as Best of 2014 lists started showing up and I had the feeling that I didn't deserve to post my own since I've been silent on this front since March, I thought - It's time to write a farewell post and let the blog be a completed chapter of my life.

I've thought about writing this post - a goodbye post - for months now. Ever since I got my new job, which is so demanding but kind of awesome in a way that makes me feel like I've found my calling, there just hasn't been time for much personal reading, let alone blogging. But I haven't been able to pull this post together. I was serious last week - it's been long enough, and it's time. But today, I'm just not able to do it.

I just can't let go to this piece of my life, because it's a big, important part of why I am where I am today. I'm fairly confident in saying this blog changed my life and pushed me where I needed to go. I started in grad school, when I was unhappy and misplaced. YA was my comfort, my saving grace, my happy place. And I started the blog as a simple way of tracking what I was reading and just having a place to talk about the books I loved. And in 2 years, I grew a body of work that I'm really proud of.

I am so proud of this blog. And I'm not afraid to say that.

Because it became more than the books. It was a way of dedicating myself to something I was passionate about, a way of growing an expertise and indulging in a love. It showed me that I wanted to be working with books, it brought me back to an old dream and into publishing. And this blog was brought up in every interview I've been on since I set foot in the publishing world. I'm fairly certain the fact that I knew how to write about books, that I obviously loved reading, that I was dedicated to this world to the point that I posted nearly 5 times a week for 2 years - was a selling point to my interviewers. It gave me a portfolio, in a sense - and one that I created because of love and not obligation. I want to contribute a good deal of my career to this blogging foundation. 

The other reason I can't let go is because I still want to feel some kind of connection to the amazing book blogger community. I have blogger friends, who I haven't been so connected with since I've let the blog slip to the wayside. I miss them. I miss talking books - I miss having go-to people who's recommendations I trust implicitly. I know they're still there, and I do occasionally check in or run into them at book events, but I'm a faded part of this world and it's harder to connect. Twitter is a big part of this. In restructuring my tweets to be more personal and less about books, I fear I've lost that platform, and it feels a little like standing outside the circle. But with this blog, still somewhere in my periphery, there's a hint of that connection back into this group - this warm, loving, community that is something truly spectacular. 

So, today, I'm not saying goodbye. I'm saying, this blog isn't what it was, but it's still here and it's still a piece of me. I might post my Top Books of 2014 tomorrow, but I can't make promises. I might throw up a review now and then, but I have no idea when I'll have time. But I'm still around, and maybe no one else is. And that's okay. Maybe I just needed to write a little love letter to my blog for being so important. 

So this isn't goodbye, quite yet.