Top Ten Tuesday: Top 10 Books on My Fall 2013 TBR List

Guys. There is seriously SO MUCH good YA to be released this fall. That’s why I compiled this list of my top ten books to be read this fall out of ALL NEW RELEASES! Here they are, helpfully organized for you (and me) according to release date so that you can mark your calendars!

(As always, TTT is a weekly feature of The Broke and the Bookish)

1. Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan

Release date: August 27, 2013

After loving Will Grayson, Will Grayson (a collaboration between Levithan and John Green) and Boy Meets Boy, I decided to try some of Levithan’s other stuff. I couldn’t quite push through Every Day, although I plan to pick it up again soon. Two Boys Kissing tells the story of two high school age boys who try to break a Guinness World Record by taking part in a 32 hour kissing marathon while trying to figure out how they feel about each other.

2. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Release date: September 3, 2013

This summer I also rediscovered the work of Holly Black (I was a big fan of The Spiderwick Chronicles a few years ago) in her Modern Faerie Tales. I stumbled upon this upcoming book by her on Amazon, and now I am SO excited for it. From Goodreads: “Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown’s gates, you can never leave.

One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.”

3. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Release date: September 10, 2013

Another chance find, this time from my local library. This new book is from the author of YA hit Eleanor & Park and sounds similarly adorable! It follows sisters Cath and Wren, who are huuuge Simon Snow fangirls (HP, anyone?) but as they grow up, Wren tries to build a different life for herself, and Cath is left wondering if there’s life outside of the fandom. (Um, there’s not, in case you were wondering.)

4. The Dream Thieves (Raven Cycle #2) by Maggie Stiefvater

Release date: September 17, 2013

First I should probably finish The Raven Boys, in which my attention was really at the top of the novel, but flagged halfway through. I’ll definitely come back for more, though, as I’m dying to know what will become of firecracker heroine Blue and the Raven Boys themselves, Gansey, the leader, fierce and bitter Ronan, and sweet, bashful Adam.

5. Battle Magic by Tamora Pierce

Release date: September 24, 2013

It is a well-established fact on this blog that Sam and I will read any book Tamora Pierce publishes, forever (don't believe me? Here's an experiment: search "Tamora Pierce" to see how many times we talk about her. Or don't, cause maybe it's embarrassing). She is quite simply a goddess of girl-centric YA fantasy. I must admit, I’m a little behind on this Circle series business, since I’ve been involved in the Beka Cooper series for awhile now, but this September 24^th release date is the perfect opportunity to get caught up!

6. Atlantis Rising by T.A. Barron

Release date: September 26, 2013

I already expressed my love of T.A. Barron to the world a few months ago; I’ve been eagerly anticipating this Atlantis origin story (genius idea!) by the author of The Lost Years of Merlin series. If there’s anyone who knows how to build a magical world, it’s this guy.

7. Ghost Hold (The PSS Chronicles #2) by Ripley Patton
Release date: September 30, 2013

Coming out just in time for you to read it on a chilly fall night, at home, alone, and creep the heck out of yourself. I read the first book in this series, Ghost Hand, over the summer and was pretty darn impressed by up-and-coming YA author Ripley Patton’s darkly funny style. If you’re a fan of Holly Black, Cassie Clare, or Libba Bray, give this series a try (and read our upcoming long review, too!)

8. The House of Hades (The Heroes of Olympus #4) by Rick Riordan

Release date: October 8, 2013

Another author I’m obsessed with (and have met in person!). I’ve been desperately waiting for this 4^th book in The Heroes of Olympus series since Riordan published The Mark of Athena last spring. You don’t have to have read the Percy Jackson series to jump right into this one, although it might help. If you love Greek or Roman mythology, this series has BOTH! As well as a seriously goofy sense of humor and a great cast of characters.

9. Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Release date: October 22, 2013

I’ll come clean: I didn’t love Divergent as much as the rest of the world. In fact, in some ways I found it kind of silly. But I’ll still jump on the Veronica Roth bandwagon to see how the series ends… boy, do I read a lot of series.

10. The Retribution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #3) by Michelle Hodkin
Release date: June 3, 2014

This one’s mostly on here because it was ORIGINALLY supposed to be released in November 2013, and then the publisher decided to torture us and make a wait an extra SIX MONTHS. I am so not okay with this and am protesting by including it on my fall 2013 TBR list, anyway. I don’t hear much talk about this series except among my dedicated group of fangirls (ahem, friends), but it is smart and spooky and surprising!

Now tell me, what books are YOU looking forward to reading this fall? Tell me all about them so I can steal them from you and add them to my Goodreads, mwahahaha…

-Meg

Snips & Specs & the Multiplex

In which Sam rants about single books being split into two movies, raves about Divergent, and throws in some photos of the new Divergent movie for your viewing pleasure :)

Inspired by next week's Top Ten Tuesday feature on YA film adaptations (check out the original feature here), let's talk about an upcoming film adaptation I'm pretty excited about: Veronica Roth's Divergent. Starring Shailene Woodley of The Secret Life of the American Teenager, this should be a fast-paced thriller, following protagonist Tris as she navigates her dystopian world, comes of age, and joins the Dauntless faction, known for their bravery and fighting prowess.

... vaguely familiar.

Something looks ...

It was a quick, exciting read, and I devoured it overnight. My dad and I both read it, actually, and like everyone else, compared it to Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy. (We both have a soft spot for dystopian fiction, like The Giver - although can a preference for reading about those hard, unforgiving worlds really be called 'soft'?!?)

Probably not.

Though in Divergent there aren't "games," per se, Tris does face several "trials" in her quest to become Dauntless - one such trial left my dad wincing and me skipping the page and trying not to faint, so it will be interesting to see how some of those violent scenes translate on-screen. 

"I'll just punch this punching bag instead"

It's been interesting to watch mega-violent YA novels attempt to become PG-13 friendly movies, since the standards seem quite different. I've always felt books can get away with more than movies, which is why I thought The Mortal Instruments, with its central romance taking a turn toward the taboo in the second novel (though it all turns out not-taboo in the end?), would never make it to screen. (Obviously, I was wrong.)

But movies also get away with splitting books into two (yeah...as if The Hobbit wasn't bad enough, did you hear they're splitting up Mockingjay into two films?) I have a lot of feelings about this. Perhaps I will reserve them for Tuesday.

For now, I will leave you with this: Shailene Woodley will also apparently be starring in the film adaptation of The Fault in Our Stars. Because every YA movie in the next five years will star Shailene Woodley. And also be in two parts.

What film adaptations are you excited about? Will you go see Divergent? What about both Mockingjays?

-Sam