Contemporary Summer: Top Contemp Books (as nominated by you guys!)

We've come to the end of Contemporary Summer! I hope you've enjoyed our month of contemporary posts, I've certainly enjoyed reading more contemp and celebrating all things to do with this genre.

We asked you all to nominate your favourite Contemp YA reads so we could do a tally of them at the end of the month, so without further ado, here is that list...

1. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins 

2.The Fault in Our Stars by John Green + Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

3.Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

4.Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

5.The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E.Smith + Grafitti Moon by Cath Crowley

And then, because we had SO MANY ties, a list of honourable mentions who all ranked highly

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

If I Stay + Where She Went by Gayle Foreman

Saving June by Hannah Harrington

Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols

Something Like Normal by Trish Doller

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

I think this is such a diverse mix, and we definitely had a lot of eclectic votes (including, interestingly, one for Fifty Shades of Grey...) thanks to EVERYONE who nominated, what do you all think of the rankings?

We also have some winners to announce!

The winner of our complete set of Ally Carter books is...Cicely!
The winner of the contemp book of choice is Kristia M!
The winner of the complete set of Keris books + Grafitti Moon is Jade!
The winner of Shooting Stars is Emma J!
The winner of Pushing the Limits is AlexSarahLouise!
The winner of Kiss Date Love Hate is Sharvy!
The winner of the Julia Green books is Pruedence! 

Congrats to all the winners...we will be emailing you in short order regarding your prizes =)

Huge thanks to everyone who took part in our event, everyone who wrote posts or recommended books or nominated or just generally read what everyone had to say! We  hope you've enjoyed the event and that you've been encouraged to slip some contemp books in amongst all the paranormal and dystopian reads ;)

Contemporary Summer: Current Top Ten YA Contemps

At the start of this event, I posted my top ten favourite contemps of my teen years, the last time before I started blogging that I really read contemp books. Now, at the end of our event, I'm going to post my top ten list of the books I've discovered since I started blogging and as a direct result of this event.

1. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Do I even need to tell you? Senior moves to exclusive Parisian boarding school. Wit, sightseeing and love-issues ensue.This book is actually perfect in my opinion. When I finished reading it, I hugged it. I'm not even kidding.

2. Saving June by Hannah Harrington

Harper goes on a road trip to California following her perfect sister June’s suicide. Lots of music and self-discovery and one very hot boy.It's rare for a book to get me all emotional, but I choked up reading this one. On a side note, this is currently £1.09 in the Amazon UK Kindle Summer Sale, you need to get it ;)

 

3. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Owned for ages, but after Kapri recommended it in this post, I decided to take the plunge and finally read it. Marchetta is the author of one of my favourite books of all time, Saving Francesca, and this offering from her really didn't disappoint. Beautiful, heart-breaking yet full of hope, it totally earned a spot in this list

4. All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin

Whilst this is set in a vaguely dystopian world, it definitely has more of a contemporary coming of age feel. Anya is one of the strongest female characters I've read ever. The way she holds everything in her life together is so admirable and the ending just about killed me.  

5. HeistSociety/Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter

You might have gathered by now that I am a HUGE fan of Ally Carter. I read the first Gallagher Girls on a whim several months ago when it was put back on Netgalley and I have stormed through everything else since then. This series is definitely my favourite of hers; with complicated, twisty plots, punchy writing and of course, Hale.

6. Graffiti Moon by CathCrowley

One I read for this event and loved. The story focuses on Lucy, who's searching for Shadow, and Shadow who's searching for something to give his life more meaning. Poignant and poetic, this will make you long for warm summer nights, romance and adventure.

7.Gallagher Girls by Ally Carter

Another entry for Ally Carter. The early books in this series are super cute and lighthearted with lots of humour, but the later books get darker and more plot-centric. The whole series works fantastically however, half contemp half thriller. 

8. Amy and Roger's Epic Detour

 Another road trip book on my list. I loved the relationship development between the two main characters, who go on a road trip halfway across the country despite barely knowing each other. It's an almost perfect road trip book

9. AndThen Things Fall Apart by Arlaina Tibensky

Really unusual story surrounding Keek, who gets the chicken pox and has to spend several weeks in bed recovering with just a typewriter. Having gone through quite a severe life upheaval and been heavily influenced by Sylvia Plath, this results in a book that’s both deep and philosophical whilst still retaining some teenage authenticity. It’s how I wish John Green’s books were.

10. Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

  So much more than a typical good girl/bad boy story, the depth of the development of the main characters Echo and Noah is fantastic, as is the development of the relationship between them.