Following my report of how I read by the numbers, here’s looking at a different set of numbers – the books that I rated 9 or 10. It’s always fun to look back at the books I loved over the past year! Even if I wonder at myself for the ratings I gave at times – why, for example, did I rate only one book in a trilogy a 9, when I now have overwhelmingly positive memories about all the books? Nevertheless, giving you all the books I loved would officially be Way Too Many, so for the most part, I stuck with my original ratings to put this list together.
This is the first year that there are no picture books on this list. My picture book reading has gone way down since my own children rarely read them. While I still read a few dozen picture books over the year, I didn’t write reviews of them because of trying to focus on keeping up with the reviews of my other reading, and I traditionally only log them if I’m writing reviews of them. Now I’m realizing that that makes it hard to go back and find the picture books I loved when I need them, so I may need to reconsider that policy! And (as I drafted this post last week and am now posting it after watching the ALA Youth Media awards), I am super excited that one of the two picture books I bought for myself this year, We Are Water Protectors, won the Caldecott Award!
Here is my standard disclaimer about rating books:
“I have never liked doing a public scale rating of books – the librarian in me would rather describe what’s in the book and let you decide if it sounds good for you. But I do give books number ratings on my own private spreadsheet. I shamelessly borrowed the Book Smugglers’ 10-point rating system for this, where 0 is “I want my time and my money back”, 5 is “meh” and so on. For my purposes, 7 is a book I enjoyed, 8 is one I loved and 9 is one I really, really loved. 10 only gets given out retrospectively to books I find myself re-reading and thinking about a lot – a true personal classic.”
Not Quite Middle Grade
- Skunk and Badger by Amy Timberlake. Illustrated by Jon Klassen. Read by Michael Boatman
Middle Grade
- Astronauts by Jim Ottaviani and Maris Wicks
- Best Friends by Shannon Hale
- Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes
- Bromeliad Trilogy by Terry Pratchett
- Clockwork Crow by Catherine Fisher
- Daring Darleen, Queen of the Screen by Anne Nesbet
- Dark Lord Clementine by Sarah Jean Horwitz
- Dumpling Days by Grace Lin
- Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch by Julie Abe
- Go with the Flow by Karen Schneemann & Lily Williams
- Guts by Raina Telgemeier
- Indian No More by Charlene Willing Mcmanis and Traci Sorell
- Iron Hearted Violet by Kelly Barnhill
- Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy by Rey Teciero, Bre Indigo
- Midwinter Witch by Molly Knox Ostertag
- Mixture of Mischief by Anna Meriano
- Mulan: Before the Sword by Grace Lin
- Operatic by Kyo Maclear and Byron Eggenschweiler
- Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park
- Princess Who Flew with Dragons by Stephanie Burgis
- Sal and Gabi Fix the Universe by Carlos Hernandez
- Show Me a Sign by Ann Clare LeZotte
- Thief Knot by Kate Milford
- Time of Green Magic by Hilary McKay
- Ways to Make Sunshine by Renée Watson
- When Stars are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed
- When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller
- Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat
Teen
- Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater
- Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang
- Emergency Contact by Mary H. K. Choi
- Rise of Kyoshi by F.C. Yee
- SLAY by Brittney Morris
- Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism and You by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds
- This is my Brain in Love by I.W. Gregorio
- Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell
Adult
- Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin. Narrated by Cassaundra Freeman
- Bryony and Roses by T. Kingfisher
- The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin. Narrated by Cassaundra Freeman
- Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher
- The Self-Driven Child by Ned Johnson and William Stixrud
- “Why are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” by Beverly Tatum
Rereads
All but the first of these are books that I had previously read to myself and then read aloud or listened to with one of my kids. I also read bits and pieces of two other books without finishing them: Ghosts of Greenglass House by Kate Milford, and Home Comforts by Cheryl Mendelsson – because somehow reading about how to keep one’s home in perfect order is enormously comforting during global chaos.
- Beauty by Robin McKinley
- Moontangled by Stephanie Burgis
- Dragon with a Chocolate Heart by Stephanie Burgis – read to my daughter
- Girl with the Dragon Heart by Stephanie Burgis – read to my daughter
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling – listened with my daughter
- Left-Handed Fate by Kate Milford – read to my son
- Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism and You by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds – listened with my son and husband
- Exit Strategy by Martha Wells – read to my son
- Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells – read to my son
alibrarymama 
Loved seeing your list. I can’t wait to get Eva Evergreen from the library. I also read and enjoyed Ways to Make Sunshine and Sal and Gabi Fix the Universe.
You’ve been waiting for Eva Evergreen for a while! I hope you get it soon!
What a great list! So many good ones, and you’ve added more to my TBR now!
Aww, thank you!
I’m just going to permanently bookmark this post and keep going back to it when I don’t know what to read next!
That’s super sweet, Kim! Thank you! And I hope you enjoy what you read.
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