Why I can no Longer List my Top Ten Books of the Year (and a Giveaway)

For the past few Januarys, I’ve posted my ten favorite books of the previous year on my blog. Some of you have been asking me when I’d be posting my list for 2013 and I promised it would be “soon”. However, as I sat down to work on my list, I realized I can’t do it. Here’s why.

I have too many friends who are wonderful writers and who had great books published in 2013. That gives me a couple of dilemmas. Could listing the book of a friend appear to be promotion rather than a true statement of my love for the book? Worse, how do I list one friend’s book and not another’s?

I live in a geographic area rife with writers, and I connect with dozens of other writers at conferences, author events and through social media. After nearly thirty years in this business, I’m honored to say that I’m surrounded by friends and acquaintances who also happen to be phenomenal writers. And how I love their books!

So then I thought I would simply leave out the books of my closest friends. Have you tried sorting your friends by degree of closeness? Most challenging! ‘Is this person a friend or an acquaintance?’ Arggh. I finally realized the only way out of this conundrum was to skip making a list altogether.

This is where you can help. In your comments, I hope you’ll list your favorite books of 2013. Two, five, ten. It doesn’t matter how many. Please share them. On Wednesday at 9pm EST, I’ll use my random number generator to pick a commenter who will receive a hundred dollar gift certificate to his or her favorite bookstore, online or bricks and mortar, anywhere in the world.

I can’t wait to see your favorites!

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