Books I Read in 2013

(symptom: being excessively engaged in tasks that require exquisite attention to detail, such as list-making)

Summary

85 books by 66 different authors (having read 6 by Sue Grafton; 4 by Lawrence Block; 3 each by Stephen King, Charles Todd, and J. D. Robb; and 2 each by Colin Cotterill, Neil Gaiman, Robert B. Parker, Rick Riordan, and Iain M. Banks) from 13 countries (including the Netherlands, Mexico, Pakistan, Spain, Germany, Scotland, New Zealand, and the Dominican Republic).

Genres

Young adult, 2%

Alternate history, 4%

General and literary fiction, 4%

Action & adventure, 5%

Humor, 7%

Nonfiction, 7%

Romance, 8%

Thriller/ suspense, 8%

Horror, 8%
Fantasy, 9%

Scifi, 14%

Historical fiction, 18%

Mystery & detective, 41%

(total greater than 100 due to some books fitting multiple categories)

50 out of the 85 (59%) won a major award or were named to a Best Of list in the year of their publication.

Top 10 Reads of 2013

1. Life After Life, by Kate Atkinson (2013 - recursive lifetimes through both world wars) 
2. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, by Louis de Bernières (1997 - family, friendship, war, and romance on a Greek island)
3. The Beekeeper's Apprentice, by Laura R. King (1994 - Holmes and protege just after WWI)
4. Thirty-Three Teeth, by Colin Cotterill (2005 - Laotian coroner sees dead people, solves crimes)
5. A Case of Exploding Mangoes, by Mohammed Hanif (2008 - satirical send-up of Pakistani military and intelligence bureaucracies)
6. Saturday, by Ian McEwan (2005 - post-9/11 anxieties and the delicate balance of an ordered life)
7. Tinkers, by Paul Harding (2008 - from the mind of a dying man)
8. The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman (2013 - the darkest of fairy tales)
9. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman (1999 - a perfect fairy tale) 
10. The Remains of the Day, by Kazuo Ishiguro (1989 - societal change through the eyes of an English butler)

Least Favorite Books of 2013

1. 13 Is the New 18: And Other Things My Children Taught Me--While I Was Having a Nervous Breakdown Being Their Mother, by Beth J. Harpaz (2009 - nonfiction, parenting humor) 
2. Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?: A Rock 'n' Roll Memoir, by Steven Tyler (2011 - nonfiction, narcissistic celebrity memoir)
3. Immortal in Death, by J. D. Robb (1996 - romantic scifi mystery)
4. Vengeance in Death, by J. D. Robb (1997 - romantic scifi mystery)
5. Witness in Death, by J. D. Robb (2000 - romantic scifi mystery)
6. City at the End of Time, by Greg Bear (2008 - time traveling psychedelic scifi) 
7. This Is the Way the World Ends, by James Morrow (1986 - satiric apocalyptic scifi) 
8. Under the Dome, by Stephen King (2009 - horror / scifi)
9. Angelology, by Danielle Trussoni (2010 - fantastical creatures, secret societies)
10. Fire and Ice, by Dana Stabenow (1998 - mystery & race relations in Alaska)

The Chronological List

January

Q Is for Quarry, by Sue Grafton

R Is for Ricochet, by Sue Grafton

S Is for Silence, by Sue Grafton

T Is for Trespass, by Sue Grafton

U Is for Undertow, by Sue Grafton

Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime, by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin

The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch

February

V Is for Vengeance, by Sue Grafton

Immortal in Death, by J. D. Robb

Under the Dome, by Stephen King

Vengeance in Death, by J. D. Robb

March

The Brief History of the Dead, by Kevin Brockmeier

This Is the Way the World Ends, by John Frostig

Witness in Death, by J. D. Robb

Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?: A Rock 'n' Roll Memoir, by Steven Tyler

Eating the Dinosaur, by Chuck Klosterman

The Gun Seller, by Hugh Laurie

Stories I Only Tell My Friends: The Autobiography, by Rob Lowe

Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities, by Amy Stewart

April

Starfarers, by Poul Anderson

The Twelve, by Justin Cronin

The Beekeeper's Apprentice, by Laurie R. King

Thirty-Three Teeth, by Colin Cotterill

May

Excession, by Iain M. Banks

The Coroner's Lunch, by Colin Cotterill

13 Is the New 18: And Other Things My Children Taught Me While I Was Having a Nervous Breakdown Being Their Mother, by Beth J. Harpaz

June

Quicksilver, by Neal Stephenson

City at the End of Time, by Greg Bear

July

The Drop, by Michael Connelly

Helliconia Winter, by Brian W. Aldiss

Search the Dark, by Charles Todd

A Dance at the Slaughterhouse, by Lawrence Block

Out on the Cutting Edge, by Lawrence Block

When the Sacred Ginmill Closes, by Lawrence Block

Fire and Ice, by Dana Stabenow

The First Rule, by Robert Crais

The Robots of Dawn, by Isaac Asimov

Wings of Fire, by Charles Todd

August

Angelology, by Danielle Trussoni

Bridget Jones's Diary, by Helen Fielding

The Enemy, by Lee Child

The Little Country, by Charles De Lint

One for the Money, by Janet Evanovich

A Scanner Darkly, by Philip K. Dick

The Stone Monkey, by Jeffrey Deaver

The Vampire Tapestry, by Suzy McKee Charnas

Big Red Tequila, by Rick Riordan

Eight Million Ways to Die, by Lawrence Block

Captain Corelli's Mandolin, by Louis de Bernières 

Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn

September

Legacy of the Dead, by Charles Todd

The Hangman's Daughter, by Oliver Pötzsch

Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War, by Karl Malantes

Inversions, by Iain M. Banks

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz

Count Zero, by William Gibson

The Nautical Chart, by Arturo Pérez-Reverte

The Zebra-Striped Hearse, by Ross Macdonald

October

In the Shadow of Gotham, Stefanie Pintoff

Stardust, by Neil Gaiman

Firefly Lane, by Kristin Hannah

Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison

The Remains of the Day, by Kazuo Ishiguro

The Devil Went Down to Austin, by Rick Riordan

Promised Land, by Robert B. Parker

Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Equivel

Pyramids, by Terry Pratchett

Audrey's Door, by Sarah Langan

A Case of Exploding Mangoes, by Mohammed Hanif

Ceremony, by Robert B. Parker

November

Queen of Sorcery, by David Eddings

The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror, by Christopher Moore

Tinkers, by Paul Harding

11/22/63, by Stephen King

December 6, by Martin Cruz Smith

Saturday, by Ian McEwan

The Children of Hurin, by J. R. R. Tolkien

A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole

December

Spirit of Steamboat, by Craig Johnson

The Luminaries, by Eleanor Catton

Lexicon, by Max Berry

The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman

Life After Life, by Kate Atkinson

Doctor Sleep, by Stephen King