Here is my annual list of books that I rated at 9 or above. I rate most books I really enjoy as 8, but since that list would be over 100 books, I feel the need to limit myself. I do find it very curious that I rated so many more of my adult reads highly than my middle grade reads – maybe I’m just more critical of the middle grade because I read more of it, or because I’m trying to evaluate things for the Cybils even when I’m not reading directly for the awards? And despite this, I reviewed only two of those adult favorites, and none of the teen favorites. In any case, here is a small selection of the books I loved last year.
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.”
Middle Grade
- Juniper Harvey and the Vanishing Kingdom by Nina Varela
- Speculation by Nisi Shawl
- House of the Lost on the Cape by Sachiko Kashiwabe. Translated by Avery Fischer Udagawa. Illustrated by Yukiko Saito.
- Kingdom over the Sea by Zohra Nabi
- The Demon Sword Asperides by Sarah Jean Horwitz
- Little Monarchs by Jonathan Case
- Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson
- Chinese Menu by Grace Lin
- My Head Has a Bellyache by Chris Harris and Andrea Tsurumi
Teen
- Bravely by Maggie Stiefvater
- Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn
- Unraveller by Frances Hardinge
- Messy Roots by Laura Gao
- Across a Field of Starlight by Blue Delliquanti
- Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley
Adult
- Claws & Contrivances by Stephanie Burgis
- Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
- Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune. Read by Kirt Graves
- City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty. Read by Soneela Nankani
- Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty. Read by Soneela Nankani
- Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty. Read by Soneela Nankani
- River of Silver S.A. Chakraborty. Read by Soneela Nankani
- The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik. Read by Anisha Dadia.
- To Shape a Dragon’s Breath: the First Book of Nampeshiweisit by Moniquill Blackgoose
- Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai
- Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher
- Wrapped up in You by Talia Hibbert
- A Sentimental Education by Hannah MacGregor
- Container Victory Garden by Maggie Stuckey
- Knitting Comfortably by Carson Demers
Rereads
- Nevermoor: the Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend
- Wundersmith: the Calling of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend
- Hollowpox: the Hunt for Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend
- Kiki Kallira Conquers a Curse by Sangu Mandanna. Read by Zenia Starr.
- Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale. Read by a full cast.
alibrarymama 
I know what you mean about rating adult reads higher than middle grade. For me, those two factors you mention are definitely part of it. My most common thought after rading a middle grade books is “Wow, I’m so glad this book is available to kids today!”. Only a few select titles ends up being for my own personal enjoyment these days.
UNRAVELLER was a top 2023 read for me as well, thought it wasn’t my favourite of Hardinge’s books. I’m sure I’ll be picking up THORNHEDGE sometime this year! A Nevermoor reread also sounds like a good idea, especially if book four does end up being released this year…
Thank you for your thoughts, Jenna! I’m glad to hear I’m not alone on eating adult titles higher than middle grade.
I would love to hear what your favorite Hardinge books are! And it was great for me to reread Nevermoor, this time with my kid, who’s now also eagerly awaiting book 4! Fingers crossed that it does come out this year!
I’ve read four Hardinge books – my top pick is probably DEEPLIGHT, followed by CUCKOO SONG and then A FACE LIKE GLASS. There was something about the worldbuilding/prose in UNRAVELLER that wasn’t quite up to my tastes like in those other titles. How about you?
After I left that comment, I did a bit of searching and found that Townsend is speaking at a festival in a few weeks, with the event description “In 2024, Jessica Townsend will publish the fourth book in her Nevermoor series. What can we expect from the next instalment? In this session for middle grade readers, Townsend joins chair Clare Sawyer to reveal some of the secrets of her fantastical world.” So that is exciting!!