My 10 Top Reads of 2014.

2014 was an awesome year for me as far as books are concerned. I read so many great books that have been on my to-read list for so long. I've also learned to appreciate the art of audio books. While traditional reading is my reading method of choice, I still love to enjoy audio books on my commute to work, while I'm in the shower (okay, I'm weird), and before I go to bed.
I set a Goodreads goal for myself to read 40 books this year, and I ended up reading well over 50, which I'm super pumped about. I did a lot of YA reading, particularly ones with a dystopian theme. I didn't realize that until I was putting this list together. I didn't get the chance to write a review for every single book that I read this year, but you can still check out my book ratings on my Goodreads account and view all of the books I did review on the blog here. 
These were my favorite reads from this year:
10. Matched by Ally Condie I was enticed by the plot of this book - a world ruled by the Society who tells you what you can do and when you can do it. I'm a sucker for a book with a great heroine, and Cassia fit the bill. She was curious, intelligent, and brave. She also wasn't afraid to ask questions and believe in herself.

9. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher I still can't believe it took me so long to read this book. I loved everything about it. I was so intrigued by Hannah's story and the patience she took in recording all of these tapes before she killed herself. I also adored Clay, and, of course, I also felt sorry for the poor guy. 

8. Delirium by Lauren Oliver I just finished reading this book last week, and holy cow! It was incredible. While the second book fell off for me (as they always seem to do when I'm reading a trilogy), I'm currently in the middle of Requiem, and I'm still excited to see how Lena's story ends. What makes me love this book even more was the fact that I was able to meet Lauren Oliver and hear about her journey in making this book well before I actually picked the book up. Now I have a beautiful signed copy sitting on my bookshelf, and the most awkward picture with an author that I've ever taken. 

7. Cress by Marissa Meyer Marissa Meyer inspires me in so many ways: 1) Her novels started out as NaNoWriMo projects, 2) she adores her fans and responds frequently to my tweets, and 3) her books are absolutely incredible. Cress is the third book in her Lunar Chronicles series, and I feel like I'm always talking about her on my blog. This book follows the story of Cress, which is a futuristic Rapunzel. Instead of being trapped in a tower, she's trapped in a satellite. Brilliance all around. I loved this book so much. 

6. The Program by Suzanne Young The only reason I heard about this book was because Suzanne Young was at the Austin Teen Book Festival two years ago. I'm kicking myself because I hadn't read her book, so I didn't take the time to meet her, and now I'm really sad about it. The Program was such a quick read for me, and Suzanne is absolutely brilliant and adorable.

5. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart I've pretty much shared my love for this book on all possible avenues. I still can't believe the brilliant ending the author left us with. I really didn't see that coming. 

4. Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult Speaking of surprise endings... I follow Jodi Picoult on Twitter, and I see her retweet all of these things that fans have said about Leaving Time, a lot of them being a surprise ending. I went into the book trying to guess what the surprise ending would be, and I still didn't see that one coming. This book also made me unhealthily obsessed with elephants. It's making me want to hop on a plane to Thailand so I can be BFFs with some elephants or just adopt an elephant online because they're brilliant and loving animals, and I need an elephant pal. 

3. The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas Being a marshmallow, I knew that I was going to like this book, but I didn't think I was going to love it as much as I did. It picked up right where the new Veronica Mars movie left off, and it takes you on another crazy mystery. I loved experiencing Veronica Mars through a book rather than watching it on TV. I love both mediums, obviously, but reading it just brought a little something extra for me. 

2. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell The question of the year: Why did I wait so long to read this book!? Rainbow Rowell is such an amazing author (even though I've only read two books by her, I can already tell). I loved this book to pieces, and I really just wanted to jump in the book and be Cath's best friend (and also strangle her sister in some parts, but that's beside the point). 

1. The Selection by Kiera Cass I still can't get over how amazing this entire series is. Like I mentioned before, usually when I read a trilogy, the second one just tapers off for me. With this series, the second book was my least favorite book, but I still loveloveloved it. The first book in the series was my absolute favorite, and I really just want them to make this into a movie or a TV series or something just so I can see all the pretty dresses and watch (*spoiler alert*) America and Maxon fall in love.

Honorable Mentions These books weren't in my top 10, but they still all got 5 stars from me, and I loved them. 11. The 100 by Kass Morgan 12. Panic by Lauren Oliver 13. Uninvited by Sophie Jordan 14. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
What were your favorite books that you read this year?
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