It is super hard for me to do top ten favorite book lists for the year because my reading years feel so long. Things that I read way back in January feel eons ago (my perceptions of time have always been a bit strange). I'm going to try, though, by looking at my Goodreads 2013 challenge (which I mad. Tt also included novellas and graphic novels, though... Maybe I should up my challenge goal for each one of those I read this time... We'll see... Anyway I'm not counting graphic novels on my top ten list because I generally don't experience them in the same way that I experience novels.
Anyway, in no particular order...
1. After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn
2. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
3. 14 by Peter Clines
4. Cold Magic by Kate Elliott
5. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
6. Ashfall by Mike Mullin
7. The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd
8. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
9. Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
10. Vodnik by Bryce Moore
Novella special mention: San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats by Mira Grant
Short story collections: Shadow Unit by Emma Bull et al
I kind of wish San Diego 2014 had been a full length novel, though maybe there wouldn't have been enough to sustain it that long. It was a really fun story -- so much so that every time I try to read something from its parent series I think, "Oh, this isn't San Diego 2014... Eh, I'll try to read it later." Now, the Shadow Unit series is really interesting. I've only read the first two volumes, but I keep meaning to read more... They're a creepy, fascinating collection of stories put together by a group of authors who decided to write as if they were doing a tv series so basically every few collections is a "season" with a crazy finale. (or so I presume) You can read them online for free here or buy the cheaply priced Kindle versions and so on. The stories are write by Emma Bull, Will Shetterly, Elizabeth Bear, Sarah Monette, and Amanda Downum, at least as far as I've got. They make it a big experience with the agnts having live journal accounts you can look at and all kinds of stuff if you want to immerse yourself more.
Some of these books come before I started that booklikes site, so I don't have links to my reviews/ramblings about them, but I included them where I could.
P.S. Part of why I decided to do a top ten was seeing others' but part was also this blog entry about how to help authors you love. Hmm... Maybe I should do a post of anticipated reads, soon to be released...