My Favorite Books of 2013
1. LIFE AFTER LIFE, Kate Atkinson
2. LET HIM GO, Larry Watson
3. SHACKLES, Bill Pronzini
4. THE HOURS BEFORE DAWN, Celia Fremlin
5. THE BLACK HOUSE, Peter May
6. THE SEARCHERS: THE STORY OF AN AMERICAN LEGEND, Glenn Frankel
7. AFTER VISITING FRIENDS, Michael Hainey
8. BURIAL RITES, Hannah Kent
9. THE WOMAN UPSTAIRS, Claire Messud
10. BLANK WALL, Elizabeth Sanxay HoldingHow about your top reads?
19 comments:
Patti - I like the mix of books you've got there. And you've reminded me that I want to read Burial Rites. Thanks
THE WAR THAT ENDED THE PEACH by Margaret MacMillan was the last book I read in 2013. Terrific history! I want to read more Margaret MacMillan in 2014.
I'd say Edith Wharton's THE HOUSE OF MIRTH and a couple of westerns that I never tire of reading.
Obviously George meant PEACE rather than PEACH. I do that all the time.
I'd definitely put the Atkinson on my list too. I haven't done a Best list.
Non fiction - Andre Dubus III - Townie: A Memoir
Short stories -
Brendan DuBois - Death of a Gemini
Allen Steele - All-American Alien Boy
Jess Walter - We Live in Water
Mysteries & Other Fiction -
Kate Atkinson - Life After Life
John Kaye - The Dead Circus
Walker Percy - The Moviegoer
Ben H. Winters - The Last Policeman
Duane Swierczynski - Point & Shoot
Dan Simmons - Darwin's Blade
Lesley Kagan - Whistling in the Dark
Joe R. Lansdale - The Thicket
Stephen King - Doctor Sleep
Chris Knopf - Dead Anyway
Jeff M.
Only read Shackles, The Searchers and Black House on your list.
My favorites-limiting myself to books published in 2013.
The Thicket-Joe Lansdale
Standing On Another Mans Grave-Ian Rankin
The Drop-George Pelecanos
Gods of Guilt-Michael Connelly
Light of the World-James Lee Burke
Ostland-David Thomas
The Adjacent-Christoper Priest
Night Film-Marisha Pessl
Ocean at the End of the World-Neil Gaiman
Dr. Sleep-Stephen King
NOS4A2-Joe Hill
The Cuckoos Calling-Robert Galbraith(read it before it was revealed to be JK Rowling)
The 3 Junior Bender bks by Timothy Hallinan-Crash, The Fame Thief and Little Elvises
Favorite short story collection
North American Lake Monsters by Nathan Ballingrud.
Forgot one of my favorites.
Donnybrook by Frank Bill
A lot of reading I need to get too. I'll have to have a look through mine to see.
My New Year's Resolution is to check my work. Thanks, Jeff!
Yes, George. Phil wants to read that too.
Love HOUSE OF MIRTH. Lily Bart is one of the tragic figures in literature.
THE MOVIEGOER would be on my all-time favorite list, Jeff. ALso loved the Winters book.
Have to read THE THICKET.
I think you are allowed a lot of typos online, don't you?
I usually don't pick top reads but did so and sent to an email list in December.
THE BADDEST ASS by Anthony Neil Smith.
RAKE by Scott Phillips.
NIGHT FILM by Marissa Peshl.
WRONG QUARRY by Max Allan Collins (I lucked out and received an ARC).
I read or listened to 94 books this year. Not as many as I thought but about the same as every year.
Gotta read that Pessoa book!
Elisabeth Sanxay Holding must have been the revival of the year. Totally deserved, I'd say.
My top reads:
Gil Brewer - Wild to Possess
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird (now I finally see what the fuss is about)
Patricia Highsmith - This Sweet Sickness
Charles Willeford - The Woman Chaser
Elmore Leonard - When the Women Come Out to Dance (story collection)
And then there were the Phantagraphics collections of Floyd Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse strips and Carl Bark's duck comics. Eternal classics.
Ed has been talking about her for years but I just got a hold of a couple lately.
Started that Peschl book on audio but it didn't work for me in that format. Have to try it in print.
I need to get my own year-end list going. I'm behind on everything!
Thrilled to see you on Rob Kitchin's Best Reads of 2013, Patti. You made it! http://theviewfromthebluehouse.blogspot.com/2014/01/best-reads-of-2013.html
Anonymous-9
And you too, Elaine!
Fiction: The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty (which is, unfortunately, being marketed as "chick lit," but don't believe it--it's a study of different types of loss, all of which profoundly change the person who suffers the loss) and We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler.
The best non-fiction I read this year was Robert Kolker's Lost Girls, which examines the lives of five women whose bodies were discovered on a secluded Long Island beach. Broken families, limited educational and employment opportunities, teenage motherhood, drug and alcohol abuse all played a role in the lives of these women, making the "easy money" they could make advertising as escorts on Craig's List seem a viable and preferable option. An incredibly sad look at how cheaply our society values those on the lower rungs.
As I am a poor supporter of new fiction, it's good to know you've got this base covered.
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