So, as promised, I took a stab at YALSA's best of the best challenge. And as predicted, I failed. You know, at least according to their rules (which, yes, were the rules in play here).
My excuses are:
I read lots and lots of books during the time frame, they just weren't all YA or all YA from that list.
I was busy, you know with work and knitting and social stuff. (Yeah, those other books I read sort of belie this point a bit.)
I had to (no really, had to) read some books for my book clubs, and none of them were on this list. (Except the ones from prior meetings which I had already read.)
I like to genre hop - read a contemp YA then a adult historical then a romantic suspense then a something else.
I also participated in something called revision hell.
Did I mention I have a job?
Oh, and the other thing I hadn't quite realized - some of the books on this list are a trap. Because, for example I wanted to read Holly Black's Red Glove but first I wanted to read White Cat. (I'm sure they stand alone fine. But White Cat was really good so I am happy to have read it.) And so, basically I determined that some of these secretly (or perhaps not secretly since technically I am often the first to tell you that good books read well out of order to) required pre-work. And sure, you could ask when I read White Cat or when I got Red Glove and note that, just perhaps, I could have gotten that taken care of but that is not the point. (I might be saving Red Glove for a reward. Also not the point.)
I also read Gayle Forman's If I Stay (which was heart wrenching) in preparation for reading Where She Went, but didn't quite get there yet.
So, here's how many from this list I actually read in the time frame.
Six. I know. I mean, they were all good, so there was that.
The six were:
Veronica Roth's Divergent (first in the series) - a YA dystopian which I started on my way back from Chicago which was funny since it takes place there.
Moira Young's Blood Red Road (you may begin to see why I needed to break these up) - also YA dystopian, written in present tense with dialect which I usually hate, but just did not put this down. (Also, first in series.)
Marie Lu's Legend - YA dystopian (although we could probably have a discussion about where on the line some of these fall between dystopian and post-apocalyptic) which had an interesting conflict. (Also first in series.)
Tara Altebrando's Dreamland Social Club - YA contemporary about a girl who's family has moved to where her mom grew up, Coney Island.
Sarah Dessen's What Happened to Goodbye - YA contemporary about a girl who has landed at her second high school this year.
Ruta Sepetys' Between Shades of Grey - YA historical about a family sent to a Siberian work camp during World War II.
And not that it counts at all, but I did also read other books by authors on the list - in addition to A. S. King, Malindo Lo, . Just haven't made it to this lists two.
So, gosh darnit, this means I have to do more reading.
Rants About New (and old) Things
