TTT: My Favorite Books From the Last Ten Years

Hello lovelies! How are you? Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Artsy Girl and the topic this week is: Favorite Books Released in the Last Ten Years. I love this theme and I’m so excited to talk about some books I don’t feature as often (and a few I never shut up about), so let’s get into it!

2019 – The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

I’m putting this one on the list over The Bear and the Nightingale, even though I love both, since I have fewer 2019 releases to choose from. And I talk about this one less often, despite it probably being my favorite book in the series. It’s got even more fairytale elements and magical creatures than the first books and I’m so grateful to Katherine Arden for bringing Vasya’s arc to such a truly satisfying conclusion.

2018 – The Book of M by Peng Shepherd

I usually have a really hard time picking my favorite book of the year, but I’ve been telling everyone, their mother and their pets that The Book of M was the best thing I read in 2018 and I stand by it. It’s got the most original world building, an amazing cast of characters and an ending I still haven’t gotten over.

2017- Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore 

I knew I had to put at least one Anna-Marie McLemore novel on this list and after debating it with myself for a long time (like, a really long time) I’ve decided that Wild Beauty’s still my favorite. There’s just something about the lush, garden setting and all the fierce Nomeolvides women that nothing else can compare too. And I’m in love with McLemore’s writing style. It’s so beautiful and visceral in a way that evokes all the senses.

2016 – The Lesser Bohemians by Eimear McBride

I know Eimear McBride’s fragmented stream of consciousness style isn’t for everyone, but I love the frenetic pulse of it. It’s the kind of writing that feels unpredictable and untamed. I was also utterly swept up in this dark, intense love story between a young actress and an older, more successful actor.

2015 – Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente 

A book I loved so much I actually wrote a review for once: “Radiance is a alt-history space opera noir set in a solar-system where every planet has been colonized by mankind. The moon is home to a silent-film industry. Uranus has cities of towers grown from pink and green and yellow anemones. Pluto is covered in fields of infanta flowers and connected to it’s moon by a bridge of blooms. The universe Valente creates is so wildly imaginative and vividly brought to life – I wouldn’t have minded one bit if the whole novel was just a guided tour of the cosmos, describing each planet in rich, glorious detail.”

2014 – I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson 

I reread this book earlier this year and I loved it just as much, or even more the second time around. It’s a beautiful and heartbreaking portrait of sibling love and rivalry, infused with art and grief. There’s an emotional complexity to it that I think is pretty rare in contemporaries and that, along with the gorgeous writing makes it one of my all time favorites.

2013 – Fairytales for Wilde Girls by Allyse Near 

I remember reading this book for the first time with cartoon hearts in my eyes because I couldn’t believe it was real. I couldn’t believe a story could be so aesthetic and pink and dark and poetic and weird and full of fairies and unicorns, but it is. It’s my whole aesthetic in book form and I love it a lot.

2012 – Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

This lyrical and atmospheric Peter Pan retelling is one of the few books on this list I haven’t re-read yet, because it broke my heart and crushed my soul. I know I’ll want to go back to it someday though, it’s too hauntingly beautiful not to.

2011 – Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

My mom bought me the Norwegian translation of this book and I nearly didn’t read it, cause I found the name Karou too stupid for words. I almost didn’t read my favorite book, by my favorite author, because of a name. I wish I could tell you that taught me my lesson about being petty, but nah.

2010 – Just Kids by Patti Smith

Here’s a book I don’t mention a lot! Patti Smith’s memoir about her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe is a beautiful exploration of friendship, art and creativity. It’s been ages since I read it, so my memory of it is pretty hazy. But I remember carrying it around in my bag for weeks after I finished it, cause I wasn’t ready to let it go.

Have you read any of these boks? What did you think of them?
What’s your favorite 2019 release so far? I want to add more to my TBR!

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