Top 10 Young Adult Books I Want to Read

It’s Tuesday! The day we talk about books with Broke and Bookish. Today I’m sharing the Top 10 Young Adult Books I Want to Read. I mostly read adult fiction and non-fiction, but I was surprised to discover that I quite enjoy young adult books as well…it makes me feel well…young. And what 40-something doesn’t want to feel young again?  

Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Divergent, Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and some others turned the tide for me in the past couple years so here’s my list of 10 Young Adult Books I Want to Read…still. What books make you feel young at heart? 

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links as indicated by an asterisk. Purchases from these links provides a small commission to me at no extra cost to you. 

1. The Cinder Series by Marissa Meyer

 About Cinder (synopsis from Goodreads):

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

I love fairy tale retellings and this one is a dystopian, steampunk mix. I have been really curious about this series for a couple years now so it’s at the top of my list. 

Buy on Amazon* | Barnes & Noble*

 

2. Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Flavia de Luce series) by Alan Bradley

About Sweetness (synopsis from Goodreads):

It is the summer of 1950–and at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, young Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is intrigued by a series of inexplicable events: A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Then, hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath.”

I read Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie with my book club but it’s been long enough that I’d like to re-read it and finish the series. Flavia de Luce was a spunky main character and young detective. Mysteries remind me of my childhood favorites like Nancy Drew and Agatha Christie so this is also a young adult series I would like to finish.

Buy on Amazon* | Barnes & Noble*

 

3. The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare

About City of Bones (synopsis from Goodreads🙂

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder― much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing―not even a smear of blood―to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?”

Another YA series I have heard a lot of hype about and need to check out for myself so I can watch the movie! 

Buy on Amazon*| Barnes & Noble*

 

4. Looking for Alaska by John Green

About Looking for Alaska (synopsis from Goodreads):

Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter’s whole existence has been one big nonevent, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the “Great Perhaps” (François Rabelais, poet) even more. He heads off to the sometimes crazy, possibly unstable, and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart.

After. Nothing is ever the same.

I loved The Fault in Our Stars wholeheartedly. The witty sarcasm, banter and love between Hazel and Gus captivated me. I loved John Green’s writing and actually won Looking for Alaska from Roof Beam Reader during his Banned Books Week giveaway. I want to read all John Green’s books but this will be the first stop.

Buy on Amazon* | Barnes & Noble*

 

5. Truth or Dare by Jacqueline Green

About Truth or Dare (synopsis from Goodreads):

When a simple round of truth or dare spins out of control, three girls find it’s no longer a party game. It’s do or die.

The introvert in me enjoys living vicariously through others’ party stories. Truth or Dare sounds like an interesting one and I’m glad I never experienced a party like this!  It’s another book I won that I have not read yet. 

Buy on Amazon* | Barnes & Noble*

 

6. The Young Elites by Marie Lu

About The Young Elites (synopsis from Goodreads):

I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside.

Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.

I got a free chapter from Barnes & Noble when they were having an in-store event and loved what I read. My oldest son and many book bloggers have raved about this book and the Legend series by the same author and I really want to read this one too.

Buy on Amazon* | Barnes & Noble*

 

7. The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan

About The Lightning Thief (synopsis from Goodreads):

Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can’t seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse-Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy’s mom finds out, she knows it’s time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he’ll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends — one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena — Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.

I was always fascinated by Greek mythology in middle/high school. In fact, of all the required reading we had to do in school, The Odyssey was one of my favorites. I know, weird, right? My oldest son loves this series and rereads all Riordans’ series every year just as the next Riordan book comes out. I think this is the Riordan series I’d enjoy most and well, we have all the books, I just need more time to read it! Our kids have been trying to get our moms/kids book club to read this next, they’ve read it, just the moms haven’t. 🙂

Buy on Amazon* | Barnes & Noble*

 

8. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

 About the Graveyard Book (synopsis from Goodreads):

After the grisly murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as one of their own.

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn’t live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod’s family . . .

I’m a big scaredy cat, but I did read Neil Gaiman’s graphic novel Sandman many, many years ago. It was one of the few graphic novels I read and genuinely enjoyed. I hear such wonderful reviews for his books, I have added this YA book to my list to read.

Buy on Amazon* | Barnes & Noble*

 

9. The Selection by Kiera Cass

About The Selection (synopsis from Goodreads):

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn’t want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she’s made for herself–and realizes that the life she’s always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

Some of the Goodreads reviews say The Selection sounds like a dystopian version of The Bachelor. While I’m not a fan of the show, I am intrigued by this princess version and the gorgeous cover of this series. I have high hopes that the book is better than reality TV, lets hope the princes and princesses behave themselves. 🙂

Buy on Amazon* | Barnes & Noble*

 

10. The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

About The Girl of Fire and Thorns (synopsis from Goodreads):

Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.
Elisa is the chosen one.

But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can’t see how she ever will.

Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.

And he’s not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people’s savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.

I started reading this book and loved the world that Rae Carson built and Princess Elisa’s unlikely princess kind of character. Another one to get my fix of princesses and a series beloved by YA book bloggers.

Buy on Amazon* | Barnes & Noble*

 

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Well there you have it, my list of 10 YA’s to read. Do you read young adult books? What do your young adult kids recommend you read? What are your favorite young adult books? Tell me in the comments, I’d love to hear from you!

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