Top Ten Books I've read so far this year

I don't know about you guys, but I certainly cannot believe half of the year is already over. So much has happened, but the time flew by like nothing!!!

I decided to make this Top Ten Tuesday a bit more personal by reminiscing over everything that happened as I was reading these new absolute favorites of mine:

This was towards the end of my Christmas vacation and while I didn't really get all Christmas-y as I was reading it, it certainly has a very special place in my heart, because it featured such unique and amazing characters who I probably won't ever forget...

Tempest and Vortex will probably always remind me of those last few quiet days of my Christmas vacation. I literally spend hours on my bed without moving an inch, as I was immersing myself into the story. Both of them were fast reads, but the second book was one of the most entertaining books I've ever read.

This one I started as school started again in January. Rossi's world and characters never ceased to keep me entertained during the long and harsh days of school and winter :)

Just like Veronica Rossi's books, the Lunar Chronicles are fantastical and mind blowing. The kinds of stories you do. not. want. to. put. down. Exactly what I needed at the time! Something that lets you completely forget the world you live in!

We had a looong winter this year. It was still snowing in April - and that lead me spiral into a seriously depressing mood. To accompany that, this was also my last year of school and during those cold month, the pressure to do well one last time and secure the grades that would let me into Uni, had me doubting myself and made for the most terrible time of my school -life (so far). Geek Girl was the perfect book to help me out of that depressed state of mind. Funny, witty and full of enthusiasm for life, it had me laughing even when I thought I couldn't do it anymore.

This was one of the first books I read after I had finished all of my final exams - and it was perfect! Though dealing with loss and grief a whole lot, How To Save a Life really also had  an aspect to it that applied to my situation and state of mind at that time.

History was one of my core subjects during the previous two years so I highly doubted that, after I'd taken my exam, that I would pick a historical fiction book ever again. I didn't really want to, either, but this one was still sitting on my shelf. Apart from it turning out to be mind blowing in the end, it also came to the most perfect of all times. Now I know how much I still enjoy history - when I don't have to study it :)

With Dare You To, I saw a change in me happening for the first time. I think it's been going on for a while, but as I was reading this book I realized that now, about 15 months since I started blogging and so close to my 18th Birthday, I am losing interest in the kinds of books I used to read.

It's not about abandoning YA or something. It's more that I loved fluffy and happy high school stories before, but now, I really crave something deeper, something more mature. Not that I myself matured. It's just that not going to school anymore and looking at all the perspectives in front of me, I realize now how small high school and my horizon still is. And how much more there is to explore.

Actually, there is no real story to the rules. It was just an amazing read that I completely underestimated in the beginning. I guess I'll see what my personal story to it is in a few months, though....