Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature that was created by The Broke and the Bookish and hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Born from a love of lists and a love of books each week there’s a new topic for bloggers to list their ‘top ten’.
Top Ten Favourite Books from the Past Ten Years
I can barely remember what I had for dinner last week, so trying to remember what my favourite book was back in 2010, or even just back last year, was a challenge. And that’s saying nothing of the fact that I could only pick one per year. I managed to narrow it down in the end, but I had to make some tough choices but I did stick to just ten. I doubt many of the books on my list this week will be a surprise, because it wouldn’t be a list of my favourite books if I didn’t include some of these.
2010
The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
Of the two books she’s released so far (I’m hoping there another from her in the works, maybe one day) The Sky is Everywhere is my favourite by Jandy Nelson. I didn’t read pick this one up until 2016, but it was worth the wait in my opinion.
Honourable Mention:
2011
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Literally no one should be surprised to see The Night Circus here, I think the surprise would be if I hadn’t included it on my list this week. The first time I read this book was back in 2013, and every time I re-read it I love it more and more.
Honourable Mentions:
2012
Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson
This was the latest book by Morgan Matson I picked up (I needed to be in the mood to read something this sad) so I only got around to it last June but it became my favourite release by Morgan Matson (tied with Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour for first place).
2013
The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
I discovered this book thanks to a review I saw on WordPress (I can’t remember whose). It quickly became a favourite series of mine, I even brought the second book for my Kindle while on my lunch break at work because I couldn’t wait until I got home to carry on reading the series.
Honourable Mentions:
2014
Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor
There had to be a Laini Taylor book on this list somewhere, and when it comes to her releases the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy beats out the Strange the Dreamer duology. I picked up this series after seeing a glowing review from my best friend, and I was in love from the first page.
Honourable Mention:
2015
Winter by Marissa Meyer
This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2018, and in my opinion the perfect ending to The Lunar Chronicles series. What I remember about reading this book was that I had to travel to Manchester for work, so adding in my daily commute I had about eight hours to read Winter the day I finally started it.
Honourable Mention:
2016
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
The Six of Crows duology is my favourite series by Leigh Bardugo and after the way Six of Crows ended I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Crooked Kingdom. I was a little unsure how Bardugo could top everything that happened in the first book but I ended up being completely blown away.
Honourable Mentions:
2017
A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab
The cliffhanger ending V.E. Schwab left A Gathering of Shadows on was just cruel. A Conjuring of Light was my most anticipated release of 2017, and the worst part was that even after it had been released I had to wait for my copy to be shipped and delivered before I could start reading it.
Honourable Mention:
2018
Circe by Madeline Miller
I brought this book during a bad month, in fact a couple of days before I brought Circe I got some bad news which kind of broke me. Buying this book didn’t turn everything around, but I wanted to treat myself so I got a book which I’d heard amazing things about and which had a gorgeous cover.
2019 (So Far)
The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden
There haven’t been many books released in 2019 that I’ve read but so far The Winter of the Witch is a standout favourite. The hype for The Bear and the Nightingale is more than accurate, and this book is an incredibly beautiful and moving ending to the trilogy.
Honourable Mention:
Did you take part in this week’s Top Ten Tuesday?
What’s the best book you’ve read that was published back in 2010, and so far what’s your favourite book that was published this year?
Have you read any of the books I included on my list this week? Would you say any of them were favourites of yours, or is there another book published in that same year that you enjoyed more?
Such a great list!! I agree with so many of these- circe, winter of the witch, dreams of gods and monsters and crooked kingdom are particularly brilliant! 😀 ❤
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Some really great choices here, Beth! Not surprised to see your beloved The Night Circus here (I still need to read iiiiit) and of course, our beloved Laini Taylor ❤ Goddess of all goddesses.
I am really curious to try Morgan Matson, I think 'll do it this summer as it's the perfect season for her books in my opinion 🙂
Samantha Shannon is another hyped author I have yet to discover! And your post just reminded me I should get back to Schwab sometime soon before I completely forget she exists (oopsie)
Cassie Clare…. Hmm I'm not sure I'll ever get into her. I think I might try the prequels/spinoffs but having to go through her first novels feels incredibly unappealing. I just KNOW I'll be turned off and not want to read her latest work, which I've heard is much better.
Nora Sakavic is another hyped one I have GOT to try soon. Ditto for Pierce Brown and Kaufman/Kristoff. Can't say I'm a fan of Rowell unfortunately.
Stiefvater is a GEM of a writer. I think I have only one book left in TRC but for some reason have forgotten to pick it up ^^'
Wonderful post as always, Beth ❤ According to GR, my favourite books of 2010 were Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews and Dash & Lily's Book of Dares. My favourite book of 2019 is Captain Marvel: Liberation Run but still plenty of time for something to come along and top it 🙂
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Thanks so much Sophie. Ha, yeah it wouldn’t be much of a favourites list without The Night Circus (you need to read it, it’s incredible) or Laini Taylor. 🙂
Morgan Matson is incredible, one of my top YA contemporary authors, and I’d highly recommend Samantha Shannon. I still have her latest release on my TBR list but I’ve heard incredible things about it.
In my opinion Clare is an author who’s work has gotten better. I’m really excited to get around to The Dark Artifices.
Oh wow that’s a lot of authors to catch up on, but they all made my list for this week so I’m sure you’ll love them all. Also I hope you get around to the last book in TRC soon. 😀
Ohh, I’ve read Magic Bleeds and really enjoyed it myself actually, and yes still plenty of time to pick a favourite of 2019. The only problem will be picking just one! 🙂 ❤
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I’ll definitely try and make some time for all of these, but it’s been hard with all the ARCs I so naively decided to request in a short amount of time xD
I’m so glad you enjoyed Magic Bleeds – I need to continue the series, maybe in October as it really gives me awesome Halloween vibes 😛
I very much relate!
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Ha, yeah I’ve been there. I’ve cut back on the ARCs I’ve requested but I still have a few outstanding I really need to get around to reading and reviewing.
I need to continue the series too, but God knows when I’m going to get around to it. I have so many books on my TBR list. 🙂
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I love The Clockwork Princess. It is one of my favourite books of all time. Who is your favourite character in it? Have you read any other books by Cassandra Clare?
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Probably Will and Jem, I couldn’t chose just one especially when it comes to choosing between them because I loved their relationship as parabatai to.
Yeah, I’ve read the first three in TMI series, just need to get around to the rest, what about you?
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This is a fantastic list Beth, it made me realize how almost all of my favorite reads are from this last decade! I absolutely love TID, The Song of Achilles, Second Chance Summer, Vicious, and the Winternight Trilogy ❤
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Thanks so much Tasya. 🙂 Yeah there have been some brilliant books released haven’t there. It was almost impossible to choose just one for each year. ❤
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Vicious is awesome ❤ It might be my favorite of all the Schawb books I've read. Though A Darker Shade of Magic was the first one I read by her 😀
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I think the first book I read by her was The Archived, but my favourite has to be A Conjuring of Light. That’s one of my all-time favourite trilogy’s full stop! 🙂
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Ah this is a lovely list, Beth! I would have such a hard time remembering my favorites from the past ten years as well, I mean, that’s so long ago and so many books ago haha. I love your picks! I love the sky is everywhere and amy and roger so, so, so much ahh ❤ can't believe they were released so long ago!
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Thanks so much Marie. 🙂 Well Goodreads was a big help when it came to this topic. I have a memory like a sieve so I wouldn’t have been able to remember anything if not for that website. Thanks again, and yeah it’s insane how long ago some of these books were released. They’re still incredible reads though. 😀
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Ah… I love The Kings Men, Crooked Kingdom and Winter. I didn’t read them on their release year because I am late to everything. But they were all really enjoyable books and great finales to their series! 😊 This reminds me I have been really wanting to reread the Six of Crows duology lately!!
And I really want to read Madeline Miller books so I am glad to hear you enjoyed them!!! 😊
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Oh so many of the books on my list I didn’t read the year they were released. I’m the same a little behind on my TBR list. 🙂
Oh I need to re-read the Six of Crows duology, I’m waiting for my new edition of Crooked Kingdom to arrive though!
Her books are incredible, they’re so richly written and really emotional. I’m sure you’ll love them. 🙂
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Some really powerful books in here! I actually have both Strange the Dreamer and The Daughter of Smoke and Bone in my own TTT.
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Thanks so much. Oh Laini Taylor is such an incredible author. I’ve loved all her books and the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy is an all-time favourite of mine full stop! 🙂
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You have so many amazing books on here. I especially love seeing The Raven King.
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Thanks so much. 🙂 Yeah I had to include The Raven King, it was incredible.
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Ha ha. I agree. I can’t remember ANYTHING. Luckily, I keep lists of the books I read each year, with favorites marked, on my blog so I used that to make my TTT list. If I hadn’t, it would have taken me A LOT longer to write my post. LOL.
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
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This is where Goodreads came in handy for me. 😀 I can’t even say I keep a list of what I’ve read each year and my favourites and everything you keep a list for. I had to rely on my memory which is kind of terrible, so that’s why this post took a while for me too! 🙂
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It’s so great that you can go back all the way to 2010 and name your favorite books! I definitely don’t remember (and was way too young haha) what my favorite book was back then. But Crooked Kingdom was definitely my favorite from 2016 — I wasn’t into the online YA community then but I adored SoC just like everyone else at the time (and now). So far I have to say my favorite book of 2019 is Picture Us in the Light, but it was released in 2017 I think so I still have to find a 2019 favorite. 😅 Great post!! ❤
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Yeah a lot of these books I didn’t read the year they were released but because they were published that year I could still feature them (I’m kind of glad I did it that way if not just choosing one for each year would have been much much harder!)
Oh Crooked Kingdom is an amazing read, I couldn’t not feature that book in this post, and yeah considering we’re not long into 2019 it was so hard coming up with a favourite. How am I know if later I’ll pick up a book even better than Winter of the Witch! 🙂
Thanks May. 🙂 ❤️
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The Night Circus is ending up on a lot of lists! I loved The Hate U Give and I can’t wait to read Winter of the Witch. My TTT is at https://wp.me/pVH00-3wl.
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Ha, yeah I’m not surprised by that. It’s an amazing book and I love that so many people have enjoyed it as much as I did.
Oh I hope you love Winter of the Witch, it’s an incredible read and an incredible ending to the trilogy. 🙂
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Was Carry On really back in 2015? Wow, I can’t believe that was four years ago! Great post – great collection here and I love the honourable mentions (I’d never be able to narrow it down to one either!)
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Yeah it doesn’t seem like it does it? When I was looking on Goodreads at publication years so I could pick the books for each year there were more than a few that surprised me. Ha, I could never choose just one favourite per year! 😀
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I love how you have honorable mentions.
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Yeah, in some cases it was too hard to pick just one favourite for each year. 🙂
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Oh, The Night Circus is such a gorgeous book, isn’t it? I love it, too. I think I’ve read it 10 times now and always find something new. Lovely post!
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It really is. I’ll always says it’s probably my all-time favourite standalone book (if I could only pick one!) and I’m so excited for Erin Morgenstern’s second release too. 🙂
Thanks.
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Me too! It’s been in my Amazon queue for a month. Can’t wait til November!
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Not too much longer to go now is it? 🙂
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I think it’s wonderful that you included honourable mentions on your list. It truly was difficult to narrow each year’s winner down, wasn’t it?!
My TTT.
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Yeah, I read so much and I have so many favourite books that some years it was too hard to pick just one. So I didn’t! 😀
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