It’s the enduring question of all readers. What will my next read be? I’ve read some great books this year, but I’ve also read some that I didn’t connect with. When that happens I’m never one to give up on a book, I trudge through to the end because I feel that I owe it to the author. They’ve spent countless hours in bringing their story to life. It’s the least I can do to show my support of their craft. But I’m thinking that I need to change my ways. It’s a fact that not all books will suit my interests. Why keep reading a book that I’m not enjoying when I could spend that time on something that I like? Maybe I’ll have to start a new approach.
I have a TBR list as long as a piece of string and I can never decide which one should be the next ‘must read’. That’s why I regularly refer to the best seller lists on Amazon, Goodreads and the New York Times. I think it’s safe to say that I’m not the only one who has this problem, so I thought it may be useful to publish a best sellers list for this week.
Here are the Top 5 Young Adult books in the New York Times list this week.
1. The Hate U Give
by Angie Thomas | 438 pages
Click or tap the book cover for a sneak peek at the first chapter.
19 weeks on the NYT list.
93% of readers on Goodreads scored this 4 or 5 stars.
Sixteen-year-old Starr lives in two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she was born and raised and her posh high school in the suburbs. The uneasy balance between them is shattered when Starr is the only witness to the fatal shooting of her unarmed best friend, Khalil, by a police officer. Now what Starr says could destroy her community. It could also get her killed.
Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, this is a powerful and gripping YA novel about one girl’s struggle for justice.
2. Lord of Shadows
(The Dark Artifices #2)
by Cassandra Clare | 701 pages
Click or tap the book cover for a sneak peek at the first chapter.
7 weeks on the NYT list.
91% of readers on Goodreads scored this 4 or 5 stars.
Sunny Los Angeles can be a dark place indeed in Cassandra Clare’s Lord of Shadows, the sequel to the #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling Lady Midnight. Lord of Shadows is a Shadowhunters novel.
Emma Carstairs has finally avenged her parents. She thought she’d be at peace. But she is anything but calm. Torn between her desire for her parabatai Julian and her desire to protect him from the brutal consequences of parabatai relationships, she has begun dating his brother, Mark. But Mark has spent the past five years trapped in Faerie; can he ever truly be a Shadowhunter again?
And the faerie courts are not silent. The Unseelie King is tired of the Cold Peace, and will no longer concede to the Shadowhunters’ demands. Caught between the demands of faerie and the laws of the Clave, Emma, Julian, and Mark must find a way to come together to defend everything they hold dear—before it’s too late.
3. One of Us is Lying
by Karen M McManus | 370 pages
Click or tap the book cover for a sneak peek at the first chapter.
3 weeks on the NYT list.
78% of readers on Goodreads scored this 4 or 5 stars.
One of Us Is Lying is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide.
Pay close attention and you might solve this.
On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.
– Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.
– Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.
– Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.
– Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.
– And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app.
Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention Simon’s dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who’s still on the loose?
Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.
4. Once and For All
by Sarah Dessen | 358 pages
Click or tap the book cover for a sneak peek at the first chapter.
5 weeks on the NYT list.
67% of readers on Goodreads scored this 4 or 5 stars.
As bubbly as champagne and delectable as wedding cake, Once and for All, Sarah Dessen’s thirteenth novel is set in the world of wedding planning, where crises are routine.
Louna, daughter of famed wedding planner Natalie Barrett, has seen every sort of wedding: on the beach, at historic mansions, in fancy hotels and clubs. Perhaps that’s why she’s cynical about happily-ever-after endings, especially since her own first love ended tragically. When Louna meets charming, happy-go-lucky serial dater Ambrose, she holds him at arm’s length. But Ambrose isn’t about to be discouraged, now that he’s met the one girl he really wants.
Sarah Dessen’s many, many fans will adore her latest, a richly satisfying, enormously entertaining story that has everything—humor, romance, and an ending both happy and imperfect, just like life itself.
5. Crazy House
by James Patterson | 368 pages
Click or tap the book cover for a sneak peek at the first chapter.
7 weeks on the NYT list.
60% of readers on Goodreads scored this 4 or 5 stars.
No one gets out alive.
Seventeen-year-old Becca Greenfield was snatched from her home and thrown without reason into a hellish prison known as the Crazy House. To avoid execution, she’s told to shut her mouth and keep her head down.
Becca was never really good at either.
Her only hope for survival is for her sister, Cassie, to find her—that the “good twin” will stop following the rules and start breaking them before it’s too late. Because the jailers at Crazy House soon discover they made a mistake that could get both sisters killed…
S.W. Lothian - Author 
I’d love to hear your thoughts about my post … seriously!