Lisa also recently launched a young adult book subscription box service called Uppercase and is offering a giveaway to PBF readers at the end of this post. And be sure to check out her awesome blog, Read.Breathe.Relax for even more recommendations for must-read young adult books! Enjoy and happy reading!
Guest Post: Read.Breathe.Relax
I’m constantly in search of my next favorite book. Although I read a lot (61 books so far this year!) for my YA book blog, I still find that truly excellent books are hard to find.
I’m all about avoiding this situation…
(That gif never gets old…)
…because no one wants to waste their time, energy and money on a book that you want to throw out a window.
So, I’m here to share with you some of my favorites books so far this year. Note: These are all young adult books because that’s my area of expertise. I promise they’re just as sophisticated, fun and interesting as adult literature. 🙂
Contemporary Romance
- On the Fence by Kasie West
If you’re looking for an end-of-the-summer read, then look no further. One the Fence is sweet and lovely – it’s about feeling comfortable in your own skin and not conforming to who everyone thinks you are vs. the real you.
Even though it’s a romance, this book has some serious heart. Plus, it’s laugh-out-loud funny.
Great For Book Clubs
- Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
If you loved John Green’s books, then you’ll adore Rowell’s work. Eleanor and Park is about first love and so much more – it’s heart-wrenching and beautifully written. The story deals with tough issues while making them relatable and light when it could be so dark.
I’ve recommended this book to everyone this year to the point of being pushy. Yes, I’m totally that person.
Surprise Factor
- We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
This book is getting some serious buzz, and for a good reason. It’s suspenseful with a writing style I’ve never experienced before.
Do yourself a favor, and read this book without scanning the description or any book reviews. This is a book best experienced without too much outside information.
The only other thing I’ll say is – We Were Liars is a book you won’t soon forget…
The Next Book-to-Movie
- If I Stay by Gayle Forman
I’m also one of those people who thinks books are always better than the movies (with some exceptions. The Host, I’m looking at you…). If I Stay will be in theaters August 22, and I highly recommend you read the novel first.
It’s definitely a tear-jerker, but the story is told so clearly and in such simple language that you’ll be sure to zoom through the pages.
Thrilling Fantasy
- The Grisha Series by Leigh Bardugo
I love a great fantasy read (Game of Thrones, anyone?), and The Grisha series is seriously one of my all-time favorite YA fantasy series. The final book, Ruin and Rising, was released in June, so it’s a great time to read all the books without having to wait years for the next one.
Shadow and Bone is the first book, followed by Siege and Storm, then Ruin and Rising. The world-building is phenomenal, plus there’s some epic romance to boot.
***
If these type of book recommendations are something you’d like regularly, then I’d love for you to check out something I’ve been working on.
I’ve started a young adult book subscription box service called Uppercase. Subscribers receive a hand-picked book by me every month, along with a cute bookish accessory AND access to an online book forum with exclusive content and videos about that month’s book.
And thanks to Julie, one of you will win a free month of Uppercase!
To enter this giveaway, simply comment on this post with the name of one of the last great books you read!
Julie will randomly select a winner on Friday!
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-1e3-7hOJ_U8Bg.gif\")
Just finished New York Times Best Seller Big Little Lies. So good!
Can’t wait to read some of these!
If you liked the Grisha Trilogy, I highly recommend the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy.
The last great book I read was The Light Between Oceans
The Fault in about Stars is the best book I’ve read lately. I’ve been picking a lot of duds 🙁
Is there anything better than a good book? As a lover of the young adult genre Uppercase sounds right up my alley! I just finished Eleanor and Park which I enjoyed, Sharp Objects that I really didn’t like so much, and I am currently reading the Queen of Tearlling, which is so far so good!
I finally read Capital, not a beach read but really worth it
I love the Grisha series and didn’t even realize the third book had been released. I read Paper Towns a few months back and loved it. Great, quick vacation read
i recently read “the fault in our stars” and LOVED it! i just purchased “if i stay” and am excited to read it, as well.
Cool idea! I last read “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” and LOVED IT.
I loved The Book Thief!
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Just finished The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly. I loved it!
I am a closeted YA fan, so this post kind of rocked my world. Also check out Every Day by David Levithan.
I loves If I Stay! And I just retread the Harry P. Series … Just the best!
I just finished Wild by Cheryl Strayed that I believe Julie recommended in her blog a couple months back. It was definitely very admirable and I like more non-fiction books so this was a great read for me.!
I just finished We Were Liars.
I love it when someone recommends a book that they love. My coworker recently shared “Garlic and Sapphires” by Ruth Reichl, and I can’t put it down! I love hearing about the life of a food critic, and her recipes are delicious!
Hi Lisa! Great post! There’s nothing I love more than reading – add a rainy day, cup of coffee and some macarons and I may as well be in heaven! The two authors I LOVE are Jonathan Safran Foer & Nicole Krauss (oddly husband & wife!) – but the last good YA book I read was “Learning Not to Drown” by Anna Shinoda. It really caught my off guard by how much I liked it and kept thinking about it long after I finished – I gave it to my mom to read and she loved it too! 🙂
Into the Blue Sky and the rest of the series =)
The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks was the best book I’ve read recently.
I read A Fault in Our Stars, but it really didn’t do it for me like I hoped it would based on how everyone else loved it.
Thanks for the recs in this post though, I haven’t read any of them so they are now pinned to my books board 🙂
I’ve been on such a reading kick this summer, thank you for the recommendations! The last great book I read was The Fault in Our Stars.
I love reading and have often used Julie’s book recommendations on her blog! I just finished gone girl and it was awesome! I also read the giving again to prepare for the movie.
I LOVE the Outlander Series. I just finished the latest book, and it’s heartbreaking to not have another one to look forward to for the time being.. I need a great book to fill the hole in my heart!
The last great book I read was definitely “Gone Girl.” I absolutely can’t wait until the movie comes out on October 3rd…crossing my fingers that it does the book justice! 😉
I’m currently reading The Sea of Tranquility and loving it! I confessed to my book club the other night that I prefer YA to most adult fiction. Can’t wait to check your blog out.
I read “Difficult Conversations” which was good!
Fault in our stars was the last really good one I read.
I just read Beautiful Disaster! Such a good book!
Ah! I love me a good book. I just recently finished The Lion by Nelson DeMille (not really a YA book). HOMYGOSH, suspense novel in its finest form. I love DeMille’s writing.
Thanks for the YA suggestions though, the last good YA I read was One Day by David Nicholls. I’m in need of another sappy love story and On The Fence seems interesting!
I just read a book called Save the Date and loved it!
Gone girl! Any so many YA books too, love them!
The monsters of templeton by Lauren groff. Interesting/good read and she’s from Gainesville where I used to live. 🙂
Wow, the timing of this post was perfect! Just finished a book at the gym this morning. 🙂
I finished Where’d you go Bernadette? and it was Awesome. I also just ready the Nicholas Flamel series which was pretty good.
The last book I read was Attachments by Rainbow Rowell. I was so pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this book, as I’ve never heard of the author before. It’s laugh out loud funny and such a quick, easy read. Your post about Eleanor and Park by the same author has me really interested now!
What a great idea!
I just finished reading A Winters Tale.
Wonderful read, horrible movie!
I recently finished Heart of the matter b Emily Giffin and immediately downloaded another one of her books.
This is an awesome idea! I’ve been reading Elin Hilderbrand books and the latest one was A Summer Affair! Love those summer reads!!
I just finished Runner by Patrick Lee. It was a pageturner! Thanks for the chance to win!
Read Mile Markers by Kristin Armstrong.. very inspiring 🙂
Sadly the last book I read was brown bear brown bear! The suggestions from this post are awesome and I can’t wait to read an adult book again!
The Last great book I read was Gone Girl… Although I have to admit it took my me 3 attempts to read the book the beg. was slow for me… Once I got past the middle I was hooked!
I loved Me Before You by Jojo Moyes – cried my eyes out – but loved it!
The last book that I read is E is for Evidence by Sue Grafton. I love her ABC novels!
What a fun idea! I loved Beautiful Ruins! Perfect summer read.
I loved gone girl by Gillian Flynn
Such a great giveaway! I just finished reading the Magicians by Lev Grossman and am now almost finished with the second book in the series, the Magician’s King. Highly recommend these books for fellow fantasy series lovers!
I am currently reading The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert and it took a while to get into, but now I am really enjoying it!
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
I just finished “Think Like A Freak” – very great non-fiction book that teaches you to think about situations in creative ways!