Halfway mark for 2013- How's your reading year been so far?

[Callie]

I've been looking at what I've read this year, and I can't believe how many really great books I've enjoyed so far. My favorites to date are:

Defending Jacob
The Secret History
Tampa
Birds of a Lesser Paradise: Stories
When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald
The Movement of Stars
Inferno (by Dante, not Dan)
The Paris Wife
Ready Player One
Sailor Twain
The Realm of Last Chances
The End of Your Life Book Club
Cathedral
Divergent

I'd love to know if other people are having the same reading experience I've had in 2013!

[Sally]

My favorites so far:
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
And The Mountains Echoed
The Son
The Golem and the Jinni
Eleanor and Park
Jane Eyre
A Monster Calls
We Are Completely Beside Ourselves
Heft

Two books I wish I had not read:
Flight Behavior
Palisades Park

[Amy]

Callie wrote: "I've been looking at what I've read this year, and I can't believe how many really great books I've enjoyed so far. My favorites to date are:

Defending Jacob
The Secret History
Tampa
Birds of a Le..."

Great list!!

[Linda]

My 4 and 5 star reads so far this year:

The End of Your Life Book Club

The Arrival

84, Charing Cross Road

Canada

Speaking from Among the Bones

Murder Below Montparnasse

The Paris Wife

Bridge of Sighs

The Round House

The Realm of Last Chances

The Dinner

And the Mountains Echoed

I Remember Nothing: and Other Reflections

Under the Tuscan Sun

The Oath: The Obama White House and the Supreme Court

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats

[Jane]

I started the year strong, but I have slowed way down. My real life is taking away my reading time. I am hopeful that this summer I can catch up. My favorite books so far are:

Wonder
Seraphina
The Aviator's Wife

[Maureen]

So far this year, I've read 12 books. Last year, I read 11 books the *entire year*. To me, this means I'm finally getting my reading mojo back after the birth of my now-nineteen-months-old adorable daughter! Yay!

My faves so far are: Where'd You Go, Bernadette
Broken Harbor
Beautiful Ruins
NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children

[[deleted user]]

First, my overall progress: I've read 77 books and I'm in the middle of an audiobook. I'm about four or five books out of pace to reach my goal of 150 or more by the end of the year; but I'm hoping to make it up in the last part of July when I'm on vacation :-)

I've had a few surprises both good and bad: I loved The Art of Hearing Heartbeats (by Jan-Philip Sendker), Sin City: The Hard Goodbye (by Frank Miller) and A View from the Bridge (by Arthur Miller; performed by a full cast starring Ed O'Neill) and; liked way better then I thought I would The Little Book (by Selden Edwards) and The Time Traveller's Wife (by Audrey Niffenegger); but was disappointed in Moonlight Mile (by Dennis Lehane and Wonder (by R.J. Palacio; narrated by Nick Podehl, Kate Rudd and, Diana Steele) - though I should mention that I loved the story. It was the audio production that I didn't care for :-/

I'm reading "All the Dennis Lehane" this year and just wrapped the Kenzie/Genaro series and am about to start his stand-alones, starting with Mystic River. I'm also reading more (though not all) of Edith Wharton's novels and have just pulled The Children from the stacks. I'm also reading more John LeCarre and am packing three more Circus novels starting with Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy for my trip to Maine. In audio, I'm listening to three more titles in the Dresden Files Series (by Jim Butcher; narrated by James Masters), starting with Dead Beat and a couple more of the Andy Carpenter titles (by David Rosenfelt; narrated by Grover Gardner) starting with New Tricks.

I've been focusing more on my TBR stacks this year so almost everything I've read on my own time has been backlist titles. I'm making room though for Ex-Communication (by Peter Clines), Night Film (by Marisha Pessl) and, MaddAddam (by Margaret Atwood :-)

[Readnponder]

Sally wrote: "My favorites so far:
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
And The Mountains Echoed
The Son
The Golem and the Jinni
Eleanor and Park
Jane Eyre
A Monster Calls
We Are Completely Beside Ourselves
Heft
..."
Love your comment about the books you wish you'd left unread. That's helpful to people like me with limited time. Could be a tie breaker when I can't make up my mind which book to pick up next.

[Sally]

I loved Molokai and Honolulu so I was so excited but.. I hate to bash a book because we all like different things but those two were just so disappointing (to me).

[[deleted user]]

The Paris Wife
The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D.
The Shadow Box
Kings of the Earth
City of Angels
Passionate Minds
Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief
The Nerd
A Cold and Lonely Place
The Thief of Auschwitz
The End of California
Cloud Atlas
The Dinner
The Interestings
NOS4A2
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
One for Sorrow
The Sword of the Lictor
The Citadel of the Autarch
The Path to Power
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Joyland
A Wanted Man

[Janet]

I was shocked to see how many books I have given 4 or 5 star reviews. Here are just the 5 star ones.
Elsewhere
Catching Fire
Mockingjay
Heads in Beds: A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality
Where'd You Go, Bernadette
Me Before You
Bring Up the Bodies
The End of Your Life Book Club
Vampires in the Lemon Grove: Stories
And the Mountains Echoed
The Kitchen House
My Beloved World

Looking at all the lists, I have quite a few of the books so am happy to know I have lots to look forward to in the second half.

[Kalen]

I've been in a bit of a slump lately. It's not that I can't find a good book but that I am overwhelmed by my TBR list. A good problem to have, I suppose?

My favorites so far:

All About Lulu
You Are One of Them
The Round House
Z
The Lemon Tree

Curiously, these aren't even most of the ones I rated 4 or 5 stars after reading but instead the ones that have stuck with me and that I've talked about and recommended the most. I've only read 36 so far this year, which puts me a bit off-pace compared to the last few years.

[Jen]

I started off the year re-reading the first five, and then reading the last 6 books of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, so that was a fairly intense January/early Feb. I'm not really sorry that's done with.

Some of the books that I've really enjoyed this year are
Who I Am,
Dare Me,
The Chaperone
City of Thieves
The Real Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II,
Out of the Easy
Belle,
Queen of the Air: A True Story of Love and Tragedy at the Circus,
Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World,
Serving Victoria: Life in the Royal Household
The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls,
Restoration
The Circus Fire: A True Story of an American Tragedy
Monument 14,
The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn


A few books that I really didn't enjoy at all were Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns. It's just such an unpleasant book- the main character is quite irrational and not someone I'd want to be in a room with for 10 minutes, the plotting is all over the place (she'll spend 50 pages building up to a conclusion to a problem, and then bang- you're 3 months down the road and nothing has changed), and it didn't make any sense at all as a sequel to The Devil Wears Prada. I'm fine with fluff books and chick lit, but damn, that was one depressing book.

I powered my way through Susan Wigg's Summer At Willow Lake (The Lakeshore Chronicles), and while I generally find her books pretty easy-reading, after the 3rd or 4th 'accidental pregnancy/let's not tell the father' storyline, I was pretty much left with the impression that sex ed in that community is woefully lacking. I've also noticed in the past year or so that in some 'contemporary women' or 'romance' books, the 'accidentally get pregnant and not tell the father' storyline seems to be becoming more popular, and I find it very hard to like characters that will keep a child and its father apart for no better reason than "I'm heartbroken because we broke up". Off my soapbox now :-)

But overall it's been a fantastic reading year so far, and there are so many new books coming down the pipe that it looks like that's going to continue.

[Becky]

I have read 29 books so far this year, 20 of which were previously owned prior to 2013!

My 5 Star Books so far...






& I have read some good solid 4 star books...

& I squeezed in a classic- ....

[Mary Fran]

So far:

Ocean at the End of the Lane (FAVORITE)
Tuesday's Gone
Last Summer of the Camperdowns
TransAtlantic
Lost
Raven Girl
The Caretaker
The 5th Wave
Bookman's Tale
Wonderland
Night Bookmobile
Miniature Wife and Other Stories
Nothing Gold Can Stay
The Hit
Ghostman
Blue Monday
Barefoot Season
Unintended Consequences
Life After Life
Six Years
Ordinary Grace
Hangmans Daughter
Haunted Ground
A Dying Fall
We Others
A Cold and Lonely Place
Anatomist's Apprentice
Blood Line
Collateral Damage
Foreign Country
Anthem
Gingerbread Woman
Running From The Devil

And numerous wonderful short stories

[Angie]

2013 has been a great year for reading for me. So far I've read 26 books. That's 10 more than any whole year of my life. The best part is that there are so many 4-5 star reads in the bunch. Here's my top 10 for 2013 so far:

1. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena - the best thing I've read in years!
2. The Book Thief - Characters I'll never forget!
3. The Blood of Flowers - listened to the audiobook version of this and it was fantastic!
4. Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
5. The Passage - looking forward to reading the 2nd book in the trilogy.
6. Ready Player One
7. Pride and Prejudice
8. Tell the Wolves I'm Home
9. Attachments
10. The Bookstore - 1st ARC I received for review. It comes out next month.

Biggest disappointments:
Where'd You Go, Bernadette- satire is not my thing.
Someone Knows My Name - still looking for a book about the slavery experience with fully realized characters.

[Janet]

Angie wrote: "2013 has been a great year for reading for me. So far I've read 26 books. That's 10 more than any whole year of my life. The best part is that there are so many 4-5 star reads in the bunch. Her..."

Try The Kitchen Housefor a book about slavery with fully realized characters....awesome read.
I also loved The Blood of Flowers but read it in paper. I'll have to look for the audio as I'm sure it would translate well to audio.

[Gerald]

I am too embarrassed to say but have probably read more than most people.

[Angie]

Janet wrote: "Try The Kitchen House for a book about slavery with fully realized characters....awesome read.
I also loved The Blood of Flowers but read it in paper. I'll have to look for the audio as I'm sure it would translate well to audio."

@Janet - I was going to ask for recommendations, except for The Kitchen House, which was also a 2** read for me. I found the characters too naive and passive to reflect adult behavior. Thanks so much for responding though.

Also, do you plan to read Anita Amirrezvani, author of The Blood of Flowers, new book Equal of the Sun: A Novel? It's on my TBR shelf, but other books keep taking precedence.

[Becky]

Gerald wrote: "I am too embarrassed to say but have probably read more than most people."

why would you be embarrassed?

[Janet]

Angie wrote: "Janet wrote: "Try The Kitchen House for a book about slavery with fully realized characters....awesome read.
I also loved The Blood of Flowers but read it in paper. I'll have to look for the audio ..."

I don't have Equal of the Sun: A Novelbut now that you've mentioned it, it will probably find me. Books have a way of doing that.

Sorry you didn't like The Kitchen House...I started out convinced I would hate it but was converted by the end. Maybe Kindred would be more to your liking.

[Chris]

I had thought I haven't had a great reading year so far, but with 27 read books, I have 10 that are 4 stars! And I'm a tough audience! Hopefully I will have at least one 5 star read that totally consumes me by the end of the year! :-)

Here were my 4 star reads so far this year:

Buddha in the Attic-Otsuka
Wonder-Palacio
We The Animals-Torres
The Last Summer of the Camperdowns-Kelly
When it Happens to You-Ringwald
The Dinner-Koch
Safe from the Neighbors-Yarbrough
The Round House-Erdrich
The Realm of Last Chances-Yarbrough
The Reluctant Fundamentalist-Mohsin

[Tracey]

I've read 43 books so far. This is a great year for books and reading!

Here are some of my favorites:

Wonder
Fellow Mortals
Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II
Gun Guys: A Road Trip
Scarlet
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
The Curiosity: A Novel
Neverwhere
Strangers on a Train
Feed
Eternity Road
The Last Summer of the Camperdowns
A Cold and Lonely Place
The Moon and More
Reconstructing Amelia
Red Rain
Beautiful Ruins
The Age of Miracles
Cinder
Bringing Adam Home: The Abduction That Changed America
Tethered

[Kathy]

Angie wrote: "still looking for a book about the slavery experience with fully realized characters. "

Angie, may I recommend A Chain Of Voices by André Brink? It's set in South Africa in the 1820s and tells the story of a slave rebellion from multiple points of view. I found every character three-dimensional and believable, and there are no absolutes of good or evil, just human frailties.

[EShay]

I just discovered the podcast. My boyfriend recommended it. I noticed a few of you have read Ready Player One, what did you think? I bought it but haven't gotten to it yet. Here are my books so far this year, heavy on the mystery!

The Mysterious Affair at the Styles- Christie
The English Patient - Ondaatje
Everything is Illuminated - Foer
The Geography of Bliss - Weiner
Faceless Killers - Mankell
Call for the Dead - Le Carre
The Murder of Roger Akroyd - Christie
Austenland - Hale
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - Solzhenitsyn (fav!)
Clash of Kings - Martin (yes I'm a nerd)
Live and Let Die - Fleming
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Spark
Murder Must Advertise - Sayers
The Athena Project - Thor
The Hours - Cunningham
The First Commandment - Thor
Selling Water by the River - Hipps
the Looming Tower - Wright (non fiction fav)
Tono Bungay - Wells
The Blithedale Romance - Hawthorne

[Angie]

Kathy wrote: "I recommend A Chain Of Voices by André Brink? It's set in South Africa in the 1820s and tells the story of a slave rebellion from multiple points of view. I found every character three-dimensional and believable, and there are no absolutes of good or evil, just human frailties."

Thanks Kathy! I've added it to my TBR list.

[Gerald]

Becky I think the average is about 40 and I might have 6.

[Kalen]

It's not a race. Read at the pace that works for you!

[Kathy]

I'm not one to inflate book ratings, so I was surprised to see on looking back that I'd awarded 4 stars 25 times in the first half of this year alone! My only 5-star book so far: Robin Sloan's Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. Other titles I especially enjoyed during January to June were:

Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley
Fanny Herself by Edna Ferber
Mine Enemy Grows Older by that classic curmudgeon Alexander King
Warning Shadows: Home Alone with Classic Cinema by Gary Giddens
A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter
Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks
The review collection Shakespeare Wrote for Money by Nick Hornby

[Kathleen]

One of my goals was to read 12 books already on my shelves. Well, I've only read two of those but have added a bunch more so I can work on this goal next year too! I also wanted to read 40 books and I'm a bit ahead of my pace. : )

[Becky]

Gerald wrote: "Becky I think the average is about 40 and I might have 6."

Oh I thought you meant you had read way more than many others LOL

Never be embarrassed!!

[Gerald]

Becky no I meant everyone else besides BOTNS readers.

[Becky]

Gerald wrote: "Becky no I meant everyone else besides BOTNS readers."

gotcha!!

[Karen]

So far this year these are the books I loved:
The Paris Wife
Salvage The Bones
The ExPats
The World We Found
And The Mountains Echoed
Reconstructing Amelia
The End of Your Life Bookclub
The Last Summer of the Camperdowns
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
Hope the second half is as good!!

[Chanda2426]

Books I have read in 2013:

1- Wild by Cheryl Strayed
2- We Sinners by Hanna Pylvainen
3- Running on Empty by Marshall Ulrich
4- Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
5- Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
6- The Love Story of Jonny Valentine by Teddy Wayne
7- The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis
8- The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
9- Choke by Chuck Palahniuk
10-The Snowman by Jo Nesbo
11-Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore
12-The Dinner by Herman Koch
13-Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts
14-The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
15-Ghostman by Roger Hobbs
16-Plainsong by Kent Haruf
17-The Good House by Ann Leary
18-The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
19-Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
20-The Secret Lives of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
21-With or Without You by Domenica Ruta
22-Here I Go Again by Jen Lancaster
23-Maya's Notebook by Isabel Allende
24-Calling Invisible Women by Jeanne Ray
25-Haldol and Hynaciths by Melody Moezzi
26-The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
27-NOS4R2 by Joe Hill
28-Flora by Gail Godwin
29-Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight
30-The Kings and Queens of Roam by Daniel Walker
31-Palisides Park by Allan Breddent
32-Those We Love Most by Lee Woodruff
33-Joyland by Stephen King
34-Shocked by Patricia Volk
35-Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O'Farrell
36-Three Graves Full by Jaime Mason
37-A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines
38-Big Brother by Lionel Shriver
39-Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

My faves have been:

Let the Great World Spin
Instructions for a Heatwave
Joyland
NOS4A2
The Age of Miracles
Ordinary Grace
The Secret Keeper
Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen
Plainsong

[Chanda2426]

Sally wrote: "My favorites so far:
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
And The Mountains Echoed
The Son
The Golem and the Jinni
Eleanor and Park
Jane Eyre
A Monster Calls
We Are Completely Beside Ourselves
Ditto on Pallisades Park - yuck!
Heft
..."

[Kate]

Angie wrote: "Janet wrote: "Try The Kitchen House for a book about slavery with fully realized characters....awesome read.
I also loved The Blood of Flowers but read it in paper. I'll have to look for the audio ..."

Angie, I felt the same way about The Kitchen House and Someone Knows My Name. A few books that come to mind when reading the responses to this are:

Beloved by Toni Morrison
A Mercy by Toni Morrison
Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley

Best of luck!
-Kate

[Chanda2426]

Becky wrote: "I have read 29 books so far this year, 20 of which were previously owned prior to 2013!

My 5 Star Books so far...



from the library. I am certain that I will enjoy it, as I have loved all the books on your list! LOL! Happy reading!

[Rhonda]

I have read 31 books so far and my standout favorites are:
The Passage
and
The Onion Girl

[EShay]

Kathleen wrote: "One of my goals was to read 12 books already on my shelves."

Kathleen, I have the same problem! There are way too many good books and not enough time in the day.

[Gerald]

Who thinks they can read a 500 page book in 12 hours?

[Sally]

Not without getting a blood clot! :-)

[Gerald]

"I must go back to the book!

[Tracey]

I've read 20 books so far - exactly half of my goal for the year, so that has a nice symmetry!

4 & 5 stars:
The Song of Achilles
Jurassic Park
Ready Player One
Impossible Object
The Nice and the Good
Goddess
Please Look After Mom
Ex-Heroes
Is It Just Me?
Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie

3 stars:
My Dear I Wanted to Tell You
When She Woke
The Paper Menagerie
Bright Young Things
City of Fallen Angels
Lone Wolf
The Public Image
Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception

Only a couple of 1 & 2 star books, which is quite a good ratio

The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity
These Foolish Things

[Jay]

Read about 40 books so far this. Many are comic trades but the favorites are:
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
Beautiful Ruins
The Fault in Our Stars
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Scalped, Vol. 10: Trail's End

[Ann]

I'm running slightly ahead of my self-imposed goal: 32 books completed this year, on top of a short story each day. Besides TAMPA, my favorite books so far haven't been published yet :)

[Shona]

My favorites so far that were published this year are:
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
Tampa
The Woman Upstairs
The Thief of Auschwitz
The Death of Bees

My favorites that weren't published this year:
Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Rebecca
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
The Orphan Master's Son
We Need to Talk About Kevin

[Jan]

I'm aiming for 100 by Dec. 31st. I'm more than half way there but have slowed down because summer (gasp!) offers too many other options. I'll catch up soon, though. Probably have enjoyed A Constellation of Vital Phenomenon most of those published this year. Also really enjoyed Cutting for Stone (not from this year).

[Bill]

I forget all the titles, but so far Life After Life by Kate Atkinson is my favorite. I am about 75 pages away from finishing A Constellation of Vital Phenomena and I am liking it. I finished a long time pledge to myself and read Ana Karenina. I found it a good read and liked the translation by Pevear and Volokhonsky. I also really enjoyed American Gods. Next up will be the mystery story JK Rowling wrote under a pen name.

[Marion]

I wanted to try a different tactic for my reading year in 2013. Instead of reading more books....I wanted to read one book a month in the attempt to absorb more of what I'm reading.

I've read:

The Sparrow (started in Dec 2012 and my favorite read in the last several years)
The Unspeakable
Gilead (my second favorite novel in 2013)
Pirate Freedom
Song of Solomon
The Power and the Glory
Cold Fire

While I'm currently on pace to meet my goal of one book a month, I know I'm going to read more than 12 books by the end of the year. Because I just bought the entire Adam Dalgliesh series by P.D. James and after reading Cover Her Face last year...I know I have to read the rest of the series.

It will be interesting to see how many novels I read by the end of the year.

Marion