The Optimized Cookie

Howdy ya’ll! It’s time for yet another Top Ten Tuesday! This meme is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish and every week there is a different bookish topic you rank your top tens on. For this week, the topic is Top Ten Best Books I’ve Read in 2015.

If you have been following me on twitter, or even here on WordPress, I have gushed about most, if not all, of the books that will be on this list today. And as you know, I’ve committed to reading just about a year ago and what an amazing year this has been! I have read so many amazing books – even the ones I would somehow painfully forget to include in this list – and thanks to people who have recommended me amazing books I have never heard of before which ended up being the books I loved the most.

So here goes:

10. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

This is admittingly the only contemporary in this list so I think this is saying a lot. I read contemporary for the first few months this year and this book definitely stood out. This book is so cute and cheesy, it works! I LOVE the characters here, how memorable they are and how dreamy Etienne is. This is my go-to-book on a rainy day because its a really happy and light read, you can’t help but smile while reading.

9. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

I have wanted to read the Grisha trilogy ever since I heard about it and what made me pick it up even more is when Six Of Crows was released and I heard nothing but praises and positive feedbacks! While I was reading this, I kept chastising myself why haven’t I read this until now? Nevertheless, I’m really glad I picked this up and I swear, this is one of the worlds I really hope I would be in. The world is very interesting as well as what the people can do here. So many feels here, you guys. This is a book of epic kick-ass Grisha adventure.

8. Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Again, this is a book I have been gushing about forever. I commonly regard this to the book that I wasn’t even halfway done yet but I already had so many notes. I heard great reviews about it and the physical appearance of the book made me want it even more. *For those of you who don’t know, the jacket of the hardcover has a secret message*. I was awake at dawn every single night while I read it because it was that hard to put this down.

7. Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

AARON WARNER. *fans self*. Obviously, this is my favorite book in the whole trilogy, not just because its the final installment, but also because how beautifully Tahereh wrote how this ended. If you have read about my previous TTT post, you may have read how much I love Tahereh’s writing style. This makes the book even better, if that was still possible. I could say this was 50% romance, 50% action/dystopia-ness of the book but all the more a great read! (I also had one of the worst book hangovers when I finished this.)

6. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Carry On is one of the books I think I wouldn’t get over gushing about. Its just Simon and Baz and Penny, and that bloody humdrum. Gah, looking back to it just makes you want to reread it. I found this world easy to visualize especially because it gives off this Harry Potter-ish vibe to it. There are a lot of funny scenes, lots of magic, lots of spells, lots of fangirling – yes, a handful of that- and many more. The ending in this is just so obvious, you wouldn’t even notice it! (Well, in my case, that is.) It was really fun reading this book.

5. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Oh, how I love Sarah J. Maas’s books. I stopped myself from including all of her books in this list because I love them all so much it’s so hard to choose. But, here it is. ACOTAR was definitely one of the best books this year, hands down. It’s a spin-off of Beauty and the Beast but it works. I didn’t find it cheesy, I actually found it romantic. Here is one quote from the book that always breaks my heart and makes my heart flutter at the same time every time I remember it.

“I love you. Thorns and all.”

4. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

I remember mentioning in my previous post that the movie bore me to sleep but the books definitely didn’t! Although this is technically a middle grade book, its absolutely enjoyable by everyone. Do you love Greek Mythology? wh—No? Well, try reading this and you’ll surely change your mind about it *wink*. I don’t know how many times I chuckled in this book as much as I also don’t know how many friends I have recommended this to because its just one of those books that needs to be read by everyone 😛

3. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

I first heard about this when I was watching Christine’s (polandbananasBOOKS on youtube) Noobs’ guide to Fantasy reads. I was immediately captured with the fact that this stars a kick-ass female protag which I absolutely love and appreciate. The action is spot-on in this book and I found it easy to get lost into this world. I just wanted to stay in Erilea, to watch Chaol jog every morning to stay with Celaena, or at least feel like I was with her. I don’t know how I’m doing this book justice by babbling about this, but for all my fellow Chaolaena shippers out there, the scene I love the most is when Celaena was down for the count and she was lying by the ring and Chaol reached his hand to her and Dorian didn’t do anything. A lot of things *and changes* happen in the next books so I suggest you sink your teeth on this fine piece of literary genius soon, if not now.

2. Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Thank you, Jennifer Armentrout for creating Daemon Black. My gratitude extends to you more than just words can allow me to tell you. This book is one of the books that held me tight and didn’t want to let me go as much as I wanted to hold on to it. This is the perfect blend of sci-fi, action, and romance, as far as I’m concerned. It was really hard to stop reading this and it was equally heartbreaking how quickly you could finish it. I wasn’t ready to end it yet. So I reread the last chapters still. And I read the rest of the books. Then I read the sequel of the series on Jen’s wattpad. Then I dreamed about Daemon for two weeks straight. Then I reread some of my notes about it and I still read them now. IT WAS THAT GOOD.

1. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Before I talk about this, can I just say I am one of the ugliest book criers you would hear about. When the book really sticks to me, it’ll be mega ugly cries for me, and it wouldn’t be for just ten minutes or so. Oh no. Books like Clockwork Princess broke me and made me cry for about thirty minutes or so and my face towel and shirt were wet with tears (I can imagine you laughing at me lol) and I was sobbing. Like S O B B I N G. That is exactly what happened to me while I read this. But aside from this being the reason why I bawl my eyes out every time I read this, it’s the perfect-est-est-est ending to a trilogy ever. I have no words for it other than perfect. It was perfect and more.

Thanks so much for reading! What are YOUR top ten best reads? I’d love to hear about them! 😀