2013 - Your Year in Reading

[Gemma]

Alannah. I LOVED before I go to sleep. Great book. I often recommend that one to people.

[Cheryl]

Gemma wrote: "Alannah. I LOVED before I go to sleep. Great book. I often recommend that one to people."

I just saw your post and looked up the book, it sounded right up my alley so I bought a Kindle edition.

[Laurel]

1.Which were your favourite books of the year?
Random Reads:
Mr. Timothy
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pieand sequels
The Knights' Tales Collection: Book 1: Sir Lancelot the Great; Book 2: Sir Givret the Short; Book 3: Sir Gawain the True; Book 4: Sir Balin the Ill-Fated
Wild Ride
Mrs. Queen Takes the Train
Cathedral of the Sea

In my "Moby Dick" challenge:
Dive Deeper: Journeys with Moby-Dick
Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them

In my Tudor challenge:
The Queen's Secret
Queen's Gambit
Her Highness' First Murder
The Boleyn King

Daytimers bookclub:
Loving Frank
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Life of Pi
Little Bee

Pride and Prejudice:
Austenland
Death Comes to Pemberley

2.Which were your least favourite books of the year?
Moby Clique
Bridget Jones's Diary - loved the movies though!
Tigers in Red Weather
The Reincarnationist

3. What was your most pleasant literary discovery of the year?/biggest literary surprise of the year?
I had a lot of fun reading Moby Dick related books. Also, the Tudor challenge. I was surprised how many of the titles were actually very good. Most pleasant surprises:
Mr. Timothy
Wild Ride - goofy, silly, but I loved it
Cathedral of the Sea

[Leslie]

Laurel wrote: "1.Which were your favourite books of the year?
Random Reads:
Mr. Timothy
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pieand sequels
[book:The Knights' Tales Collection: Book 1: ..."

Laurel, it looks like you had some fascinating challenges in 2013! We have a section for personal challenges, if you care to share your plans for 2014:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

I, for one, would love to see them!

[Alannah]

Cheryl wrote: "Gemma wrote: "Alannah. I LOVED before I go to sleep. Great book. I often recommend that one to people."

I just saw your post and looked up the book, it sounded right up my alley so I bought a Kind..."

That's good, can't wait to see what you think of it.

[Holly]

1.Which were your favourite books of the year?
I'll do my top 5:
To Kill a Mockingbird - Finally got round to reading this!
The Scarlet Letter
Crime and Punishment
Rebecca
The Book Thief


2.Which were your least favourite books of the year?
Surprisingly, I had none that I really hated. A Streetcar Named Desire and Mockingjay both disappointed me though.

3. What was your most pleasant literary discovery of the year?/biggest literary surprise of the year?
Hands down Paradise Lost. By far, it's been my most challenging read so far, and I'm so glad I managed to get through it. I found it seriously daunting, but I was pleasantly surprised with the beautiful writing, and you did eventually get used to the way it was written.
Another notable mention is Crime and Punishment. It was my 'introduction' to Russian Literature, an alley I've been meaning to delve deep into for the last few years. It completely blew me away, something that I find rarely happens with novels. It's definitely given me a lot of motivation to explore more Russian literature. War and Peace anyone? :D

[Leslie]

Holly wrote: "1.Which were your favourite books of the year?
I'll do my top 5:
To Kill a Mockingbird - Finally got round to reading this!
The Scarlet Letter..."

Nice list! And I find that Crime and Punishment being on your list a hopeful sign!

I would invite you to join me in War and Peace but I am already halfway through (after 3 weeks!).

[Holly]

Crime and Punishment was my big 'shocker' really, along with my enjoyment of Paradise Lost. I was, for some reason, expecting it to be far more complicated and a harder read than it was. I admit, it was tough, but not impossible. And the way it is written literally blew me away. I've never got so emotionally involved with a book character before!

How are you finding War and Peace? I'm so tempted just to go for it, but I am weary that I want to make a really good go of it, so I might wait until the summer where I can sit down and really focus on it.

[Leslie]

Holly wrote: "How are you finding War and Peace? ..."

It is easy to read but I did have a little trouble with keeping track of who's who at first (especially if a character is suddenly called by the patronymic (?) name after 25 chapters of being referred to by the Christian name!). And I didn't know that the patronymic was different for daughters which confused me until I figured it out! But you probably got used to all that with the Dostoyevsky :)

[Erica]

My favourite reads of the year had to be The Denniston Rose, author Jenny Pattrick is my new go-to New Zealand author. Also really enjoyed Post Office by Charles Bukowski.

Worst book of the year was Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaason. Didn't find it funny or well-written. I'm sure there must have been some plot in there somewhere!

This year was the year for auto- biographies for me. Read Patrick Swayze's and Ingrid Betancourt's, among many others.

[Leslie]

Erica wrote: "Worst book of the year was Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaason. Didn't find it funny or well-written. I'm sure there must have been some plot in there somewhere!"

Have you read other Hiaason books? I am curious as he is an author who has been recommended to me...

[Erica]

Leslie wrote: "Have you read other Hiaason books? I am curious as he is an author who has been recommended to me..."

No Leslie, this was the first of Carl Hiaason's that I've read and will probably be the last. He was also recommended to me by a friend. However, the book has received some quite high reviews so it might just be a case of his humour not matching mine and your friend might know your tastes better than mine did ;)

[Leslie]

Erica wrote: "Leslie wrote: "Have you read other Hiaason books? I am curious as he is an author who has been recommended to me..."

No Leslie, this was the first of Carl Hiaason's that I've read and will probabl..."

I am getting more particular about my mystery reading as I have started reading lots of non-mystery books, so I am not very motivated to try Hiaaso (especially now!). Thanks for your input :)

[Emma]

The best books I read in 2013 were John Green's "Looking For Alaska" and "Fault In Our Stars" . Also loved Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.

The worse book I read in 2013 was "Manless in Montclair" by Amy Holman Edleman, closely followed by "A spy in the house of love" by Anais Nin.

Biggest literary surprise of the year was JK Rowling's "The casual vacancy" - wasn't sure what to expect but it was wonderful.

[Nicole]

Heather wrote: "I've really got into my reading this year. Managed to get through many more books than usual, probably as for the first time in my life I've not sat an exam in a calender year!

1.Which were your ..."

Finally found other humans who were NOT blown away by The Perks of Being a Wallflower! Yay Heather and Pink!

[Bionic Jean]

Nicole - humans? Did your cats enjoys it then, maybe? LOL Gosh, it must be bad...

In fact I'm beginning to think I wouldn't enjoy this book either for all 3 of you to dislike it so. (And I usually find Heather and Pink pretty much share my taste :) )

[Nicole]

Jean, I strongly disliked it! I read it about 5 years ago after two fellow book people sang it's praises. I gave it one star.

BTW everyone, I just found this thread, and still reading through it. So my comments will be late, ha ha.

[Nicole]

Anastasia: Glad you enjoyed Memoirs of a Geisha! I thought the movie was really good too!

Holly: I didn't care for any of The Hunger Games. Was it just the third that you didn't care for? Also, good to hear that you liked Paradise Lost. That is on the top of my "classics to read" list!

[Bionic Jean]

Nicole - Yes, I really won't bother :) Plenty of other stuff. I too enjoyed Memoirs of a Geisha, though I didn't really expect to.

[Nicole]

Overall, I didn't have a great reading year.

Only two 5 star reads:
MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST - UPDATED by Oswald Chambers
A Place of Healing: Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain, and God's Sovereignty by Joni Eareckson Tada

4 star reads:
At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin

Most fun read: River of Time series by Lisa Tawn Bergren

Worst:
Drown by Junot Díaz
On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Purity by Jackson Pearce

The book that I had a love/hate relationship with:
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

[Leslie]

Nicole wrote: "Overall, I didn't have a great reading year.

Only two 5 star reads:
MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST - UPDATED by Oswald Chambers ..."

I have heard about Junot Díaz but not read any - was Drown your first book by him? Just wondering if I should take him off my TBR...