The Most Popular Books of the Month: January 2014
This feature is sponsored by Kobo. Check out their line-up of ereaders and tablets or download their iOS or Android app to read on your device of choice. And remember, purchases through Kobo can support your local independent bookstore. 
We love to geek out with stats, and what could be better than using them to see which books Book Riot readers were most interested in? Below are the five most-clicked-on titles from the previous month.
#1. Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
A new twist on the classic Beauty & The Beast.
-Kelly Jensen, 2014 YA Fiction Preview
#2. The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson
A new title from the author of Speak and Wintergirls is always a bookish event, but this title is very special: Halse Anderson turns her empathetic and thoughtful pen to the world of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. We follow the compelling and sometimes devastating Hayley as witnesses her Iraq veteran father’s struggle with the memories that haunt him.
-Brenna Clarke Gray, 5 Books to Watch for in January
#3. The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
If one of the reasons you read is to totally lose yourself in a story, then this year’s massive, challenging Booker Prize-winning novel is for you. Set in 1866 New Zealand, the story is about a dead hermit named Crosbie Wells, a supposedly drug-addled suicidal whore named Anna Wetherell, and the machinations and whims of more than dozen characters all connected to these first two – often in increasingly surprising ways. This novel is an awe-inspiring feat of storytelling, as you follow Catton the plot through several perspectives, trying to guess along with the characters about what really happened. It’s complicated, and infuriating, but infinitely rewarding if you stick with it and figure it out. (If you need a little nudge, I took a bunch of notes on the book as I read, which you’re welcome to. They’re here.)
-Greg Zimmerman, The Best Books We Read in January
#4. Defy by Sara B. Larson
To serve in the king’s army, Alex must disguise herself as a boy. Then she’s taken captive.
-Kelly Jensen, 2014 YA Fiction Preview
#5. Blood Red Road by Moira Young
This dystopian features a strong-willed female main character who must make major life choices that impact not just her future, but the lives of those in her own family, as well. This series is fast paced, features a romantic subplot, and the setting is as bleakly memorable as Roth’s future Chicago. Bonus points: cage fighting.
-Kelly Jensen, Beyond the Bestsellers: So You’ve Read Divergent
_________________________
Sign up for our newsletter to have the best of Book Riot delivered straight to your inbox every week. No spam. We promise.
To keep up with Book Riot on a daily basis, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, , and subscribe to the Book Riot podcast in iTunes or via RSS. So much bookish goodness–all day, every day.
