Books allow us an escape. A way out of our lives into someone else’s problems and worries. After all, it’s what they’re for. To distract. Some of the best books offer the best distractions. So, which books distracted everyone the most in 2013?
Light by Michael Grant, is the sixth installment in the Gone series. In the final throes of the war against Gia, Sam and Caine must work together to prevent the FAYZ from breaking open and unleashing the destructive powers of the fast growing little girl onto the world. Each person in the FAYZ will face death and sacrifice, two things almost too harsh to bear. All this occours under the looming threat that the dome will break and life will go back to normal, which is something even the most hardened children fear.
House of Hades by Rick Riordan is the fourth book in the Heros of Olympus series. While Jason, Leo, Piper, Frank, Hazel, and Nico are on a quest to reach the Doors of Death, Annabeth and Percy are doing the same thing–from Tartarus. In order to survive, Percy and Annabeth must find unlikely allies, while Nico and the others learn to face unpleasant truths, with each group wondering how they will face the impossible task of stopping Gaea and saving the world.
13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher shows the world after a girl, Hannah Baker, commits suicide, but leaves 13 strange tapes behind, with names of every person she felt wronged her in them. Clay Jensen, Hannah’s friend and crush, receives one set of these tapes, and listens to the things, and the people, that made Hannah do what she did. As he listens, Clay starts to understand the dirty depths of his home, and sees everyone’s horrible secrets as clearly as day.
Matched by Allie Conde also shows good story is all the difference. Cassia trusts the Society to make the right decisions for her, until her matching day. Of course, her best friend’s face comes up as her ideal mate, but a stranger’s–Ky, flashes right after, leaving Cassia to wonder if she should take the friend she’s had all her life, or the risky chance she’s not sure she should take.
So there we have it. Four of the books that distracted us the most from our daily lives and pushed us into a new one. And next year, there’s going to be a whole new world of writing to explore.