Books I Read in 2013

It looks like it’s time for my annual post! Yep, my book list. I was going to skip it, since I track what I read on Pinterest. But I found myself missing the recap of what I liked best and worst and what my general reading trend was for the year. I didn’t end up with as many titles this year as in years past, but I felt more engaged with my reading than I did last year. I also didn’t concern myself with not finishing book club titles if I didn’t feel like it, managing to get through just 5 of the 11. (As usual, I put book club selections in italics.) Red Earth, White Earth was my favorite of these, following two childhood best friends, one Ojibwe and one white, through change and turmoil in northern Minnesota. Only 8 of my books in 2013 were graphic novels, but that still puts me above my average rate of 16.9% per year. Batman: The Court of Owls is a marvelous new addition to the character’s story, filled with a broad range of current and past sidekicks and villains, as well as introducing a formidable new foe.

I read just one audio book and it really stuck with me: The Night Circus. I really want to read it with my eyes and see if I find it as affecting as it did reading it with my ears. Regardless, it was a fascinating way to read a new book. Previously I’ve only done audio for books I’ve actually read before, and just want a new experience while revisiting their worlds (Harry Potter and Harry Dresden). The best YA was The Bone Season. It was unlike your typical strong teenage female heroine finding her place in the world and proving her worth to herself and those around her. Though it was that, too! Yet it was also a dark, creepy and evil Hogwarts and an alternate history. I only read a handful of non-fiction in 2013 but it was all excellent. In the Heart of the Sea was a detailed analysis of the history, culture, and events that went into a terrible sea tragedy that inspired Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted was a detailed analysis of the history, culture, and events that went into the making of the Mary Tyler Moore show.

1 Bone: Eyes of the Storm Jeff Smith
2 Lost in Time Melissa de la Cruz
3 Library Wars: Love & War, Vol. 8 Hiro Arikawa & Kiiro Yumi
4 The Curse of Four Caitlin Kittredge
5 Reached Ally Condie
6 Bone: The Dragonslayer Jeff Smith
7 A Clash of Kings George R.R. Martin
8 Frost Burned Patricia Briggs
9 An Apple for the Creature Edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner
10 The Tragedy of Arthur Arthur Phillips
11 Serpent's Kiss Melissa de la Cruz
12 Bone: Rock Jaw Master of the Eastern Border Jeff Smith
13 The Night Circus Erin Morgenstern
14 Caddie Woodlawn Carol Ryrie Brink
15 Kiss and Spell Shanna Swendson
16 A Fantasy Medley 2 Edited by Yanni Kuznia
17 Batman: The Court of Owls Scott Snyder
18 Dead Ever After Charlaine Harris
19 His Majesty's Dragon Naomi Novik
20 House of Secrets Chris Columbus and Ned Vizzini
21 In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex Nathaniel Philbrick
22 Rose: My Life in Service to Lady Astor Rosina Harrison
23 Rogue Touch Christine Woodward
24 A Hard Day's Knight Simon R. Green
25 Divergent Veronica Roth
26 Batman: The City of Owls Scott Snyder
27 Library Wars: Love & War, Vol. 9 Hiro Arikawa & Kiiro Yumi
28 Winds of Salem Melissa de la Cruz
29 Chimes at Midnight Seanan McGuire
30 Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted: And all the Brilliant Minds Who Made The Mary Tyler Moore Show a Classic Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
31 Red Earth White Earth Will Weaver
32 The Cuckoo's Calling Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)
33 The Wind in the Willows Kenneth Grahame
34 Legends I Edited by Robert Silverberg
35 Insurgent Veronica Roth
36 Inferno Dan Brown
37 Eat More Vegetables: Making the Most of Your Seasonal Produce Tricia Cornell
38 Allegiant Veronica Roth
39 Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic Alison Bechdel
40 After Dead: What Came Next in the World of Sookie Stackhouse Charlaine Harris
41 The Bone Season Samantha Shannon
42 A Kiss of Shadows Laurell K. Hamilton
43 The Case of the Time-Capsule Bandit Octavia Spencer