In my literary endeavor to read 52 books this year, I’ve made quite a stunning start – if I do say so myself – by having already finished 13 books this year. This means that I’m a fourth of the way done with my goal and am excited to share with you my favorites (so you can read them too!!) and my disappointments (so you can’t say you haven’t been warned).

Favorites:

• The Aviator’s Wife by Melanie Benjamin. Both a fictional and historical account on the wife of Anne Morrow, the wife of the famous aviator Charles Lindbergh. I loved this book because of all the historical details weaved in – I felt like I learned just as much about the decades in which they lived as I did about the Lindberghs themselves. A bit heartbreaking, yet very intriguing as you follow Ann through the happy times – their marriage, the birth of their children – and the bad times – their newborn being abducted and murdered, their failing marriage. A great read, and it may be my #1 book of the year so far.
• The Girl of Fire & Thorns Trilogy by Rae Carson. Another action-packed novel with a strong female protagonist leading them all. In some ways, this seems like an epic, starting so small with a young, naive girl, who then manages to get into more adventures than I can describe. It has a new and realistic spin on romance, while that not being the focus of the series at all. The world-building was fantastic, and it was refreshing to read about the religion that was weaved so intricately into the plot line. Very realistic and very entertaining. I would recommend to any who like fantasy, adventures, monarchs, and romance. It’s got it all, y’all.
• The Young Elites by Marie Lu. Having previously read her Legend trilogy (which I loved, by the way), I had to pick up her new fantasy, post-apocalyptic novel and I was not disappointed. The novel follows Adelina (a great name, yes?), a young girl with mysterious powers who is saved and then welcomed into the ranks of a secret society trying to overthrow the government. There’s princes and romance, blackmail and betrayal, swordfights and much, much more. The story felt very original, as did the characters, and I couldn’t read it fast enough. I was rueful when the end came only because now I have to wait until October for the sequel.

Disappointments:

• The End by Lemony Snicket. There is nothing I hate more than reading a series of novels and when everything comes to a close, no questions are answered, the end isn’t an end, and you felt like you just wasted your time. The End was a culmination of all of these for the Series of Unfortunate events. The last five or so novels had been tedious for me to get through, but man, I was going to find out what happened to those poor Baudelaires. Well if you’re wondering that too, don’t bother reading The End because even though it’s supposed to be the end, it’s nothing but a cop out.
• If I Stay by Gayle Forman. If I’m being fair, this book really shouldn’t be in this category. I actually really liked this book, about a girl who is in a fatal car accident with her family and must make the decision whether or not she will stay on earth or join her family. It was a quick and easy read with fun characters, so the reason I’m putting this in the disappointment category was because of the hype and media surrounding it. I was expecting that when I shut the cover of the novel, I would be left with more. So despite its category on this blog post, I would still recommend it.

These are just my favorites (and not so much) of the year so far. You can view all of the books I’ve read so far here. What books have you read this year?