Day 08/30: Books
Thank goodness for books. I've always been a bit of a book worm. After my Dad bought me a Kindle for Christmas last year (I call it my Kiki) I've been burning through books at an unprecedented pace. I thought it might be fun to try and remember everything I've read this year, then I realized how many there were. Holy moly. I read at least sixty books in 2013. (I couldn't find a record of the physical and digital books I've loaned out from Austin Public Library, so I bet I am missing a few.) That's a little over a book a week, and technically, the year isn't even over yet.
Oh, and that doesn't count cookbooks. To make this list a little more useful, I'll point out my favorites before smacking you over the head with the lot.
My Favorites From 2013
(Excluding books I've read previously)
New Author: Malinda Lo
I discovered her books while knee-deep in a sea of post-apolocolyptic teenagers. I'd read The Hunger Games, of course, and that led me to so many other books in the same genre, the Divergent series, the Legend series, and The Dust Chronicles, to name a few. They weren't all gems, but I devoured them all never-the-less. Malinda Lo's stories stood out. She reminds me a little of Niel Gaiman as she has a way of getting a story under my skin. Ash
and Huntress
were especially good. It's rare to stumble upon fantasy stories that aren't overly hoaky. Malinda Lo's books are creepy enough to make room for things like fairies and romance without seeming cheesy. I look forward to reading many more of her books. Hopefully they will come out soon!
New Series: The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potszch
Imagine the Undertaker solving Scooby-Doo-like murder mysteries in old timey Bavaria. These books are really fun to read. There is nothing incredibly deep going on, but the charchters are lovable and well developed, the setting is creepy and intriguing, and the mysteries keep you interested up to the big reveal in every book.
The Book I Couldn't Put Down: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Niel Gaiman
Gaiman is one of my all-time favorite authors. Something about the way that he writes gets right into my head every time. I know he's well-loved by a great many readers, but for me, I feel like it's something more, as if his style of writing mimics my own dreams so easily that I can instantly be absorbed into the worlds that he creates in his books. This particular novel took that feeling and ran with it, reading like the kind of dream you just can't quite shake, from beginning to end. I loved it.
The Book That Disturbed Me the Most: Feed by M.T. Aderson
What if the internet was inside your head, tracking your preferences, following your every move, and then advertising to you as it predicted your every desire? It's enough to make you want to chuck your Iphone off of the nearest bridge. This short story was a bit challenging to read, written in first-person from the perspective of a feed-addicted future teenager. It takes a while to get used to the weird slang and choppy writing, but the story is too good to miss.
The Series I Wish I Could Stop Reading But I Can't: Outlander by Diane Gabaldon
So I started reading these books thinking they were just normal books. I discovered after the first few chapters that these books weren't just your run-of-the-mill historical fiction meets romance. They were DIRTY. I was hooked. Book two dragged a bit, but the sexy times came back in book three, which inspired me to go ahead and read book four. Now I'm on book five, and I really have no choice but to go ahead and finish the seven book series. I like it and all, but I'll be glad when it's over.
Other Books I Loved This Year (Also read these!)
- The Night Circus | Erin Morgenstern
- Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
| Susanna Clarke
- The Woodcutter
| Kate Danley
All the Books I Read in 2013 (In no particular order)
- The Hunger Games
| Suzanne Collins (third time)
- Catching Fire
| Suzanne Collins (third time)
- Mockingjay
| Suzanne Collins (third time)
- Ender's Game
| Orson Scott Card
- Divergent
| Veronica Roth
- Insurgent
| Veronica Roth
- Ash
| Malinda Lo
- Adaptation
| Malinda Lo
- Huntress
| Malinda Lo
- The Night Circus
| Erin Morgenstern
- The Host
| Stephanie Meyers
- Love and Freindship
| Jane Austen
- On a Pale Horse
| Piers Anthony
- Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
- When You Are Engulfed in Flames
| David Sedaris
- Cloud Atlas
| David Mitchell
- Life of Pi
| Yann Martel (second time)
- The Ocean at the End of the Lane
| Neil Gaiman
- Outlander
| Diana Gabaldon
- Dragonfly in Amber
| Diana Gabaldon
- Voyager
| Diana Gabaldon
- The Fiery Cross
| Diana Gabaldon
- A Breath of Snow and Ashes
| Diana Gabaldon
- Exceptional
| Jess Petosa
- Rogue
| Jess Petosa
- Feed
| M. T. Anderson
- Deviants (The Dust Chronicles)
| Maureen McGowan
- Compliance (The Dust Chronicles)
| Maureen McGowan
- The Wind in the Willows
| Kenneth Grahame
- Wielder's Awakening (Wielder Trilogy: Book One)
| T.B. Christensen
- Wielder's Rising (Wielder Trilogy: Book Two)
| T.B. Christensen
- Wielder's Fate (Wielder Trilogy: Book Three)
| T.B. Christensen
- Forever After
| David Jester
- The Art of Happiness
| Dalai Lama
- InterWorld
| Neil Gaiman, Michael Reaves
- The Silver Dream: An InterWorld Novel
| Neil Gaiman, Michael Reaves, Mallory Reaves
- How to Talk to Girls at Parties (eBook Original) | Neil Gaiman
- M Is for Magic
| Niel Gaiman
- The Halo Chronicles: The Guardian
| Carey Corp
- The Way Life Was Forever
| Carey Corp
- The Unfinished Song – Book 6: Blood
| Tara Maya
- The Unfinished Song – Book 5: Wing
- The Unfinished Song – Book 4: Root
| Tara Maya
- The Unfinished Song – Book 3: Sacrifice
| Tara Maya
- The Unfinished Song – Book 2: Taboo
| Tara Maya
- The Unfinished Song – Book 1: Initiate
| Tara Maya
- Robinson Crusoe
| Daniel Defoe
- The Man Who Would Be King
| Rudyard Kipling
- The Underland Chronicles #1: Gregor the Overlander (The Underland Chorni)
| Suzanne Collins
- The Woodcutter
- The Underland Chronicles #2: Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane: Gregor The Overlander And The Prophecy Of Bane
| Suzanne Collins
- The Underland Chronicles #3: Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods
| Suzanne Collins
- The Underland Chronicles #4: Gregor and the Marks of Secret
| Suzanne Collins
- The Underland Chronicles #5: Gregor and the Code of Claw
| Suzanne Collins
- The Hangman's Daughter
| Oliver Potzsch
- The Dark Monk: A Hangman's Daughter Tale (US Edition)
| Oliver Potzsch
- The Poisoned Pilgrim: A Hangman's Daughter Tale: Volume 4
| Oliver Potzch
- The Beggar King: A Hangman's Daughter Tale (US Edition)
| Oliver Potzch
- Legend
| Marie Lu
- Prodigy: A Legend Novel
| Marie Lu
P.S. This post is part of my 30 Days With a Grateful Heart series. You can see my other posts in this series on Mary Makes Dinner, and check out Bless Her Heart to find other bloggers participating in this series.