Zombie-fighting ninja-librarian: Top Ten Books I Read In 2013

Alright. I didn’t do one last week, because in Norway we celebrate Christmas on the 24^th and honestly I’m extremely lazy. Anyway, I’m writing this on the 30^th so it’ll be done hopefully and I can just pop it in. This week’s topic was top ten books I read in 2013 (not that were published in 2013, but read in 2013). I am a cheater though, so there are 13 books. Yeah. Sue me. Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the Broke and the bookish.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone & Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor. They are the first two books in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy and oh my fucking God. They are so beautiful. I think the first came out in 2012, but I read it this year, so there. It’s about a young woman named Karou who lives in two worlds, Prague in the 21^st century, and the world of Chimera where she brings teeth to a big monster named Brimstone. Then an angel steps into her life and he shares a history with her that Karou doesn’t remember. In the second book she has her memories back basically and she’s gearing for war. The story is gorgeous, the characters are amazing and the language is amazing, gorgeous, beautiful. I cannot wait for the last book. They are too awesome to be separated.

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. It was amazing basically. The book is about a young boy named Todd who lives in Prentisstown, and he is the last boy, the others are all men. The women all died from a weird disease. In Prentisstown, as in the rest of New World, people can hear each other’s thoughts and there is never quiet. Then Todd finds a hole in the noise and it is delightful. My aim for 2014 is to finish the trilogy.

The Troupe by Robert Jackson Bennett. He is a magician of language, and awesome. I am going to read more of his books. The Troupe is set in the early 1900s and is about a pianist, George, looking for his dad. He joins a vaudeville troupe led by Hieronomo Silenus. And it’s just amazing. I couldn’t stop reading it. It was awesomeness.

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. He is amazing. Kurt Vonnegut it cool, and awesome. Slaughterhouse-Five is about a soldier in World War 2, leading up to the bombing of Dresden. He is travelling in time, but it’s very hard to explain it to other people. And it seems a bit like Vonnegut just wrote it sort of randomly. He just thought of a new scene he wanted in it, and just thought, yeah, I’ll put it there. It probably wasn’t like that, but it’s awesome.

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by Jennifer Lawson. It is broadly what it says on the tin; a memoir. It is interesting because Jennifer Lawson has lived a sort of interesting life with trials and trouble, and her way of writing and getting over it, is just amazing. She is hilarious, she has the ability to laugh at herself, she is serious when she needs to be, she is laugh-out-loud funny. I loved it, yes.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. Neil Gaiman is awesome. I think I’d sort of forgotten a little, and then I read three Gaiman books this year, and Neverwhere is delightful. Well, delightful might not be the word, awesome, maybe. It’s about Richard Mayhew, who lives in London and meets a young girl named Door, who is from London below. He then sort of disappears in the normal London and goes to London below so he can get his life back. It’s amazing, and spooky, the characters are amazing.

The Hero’s guide to saving your kingdom and the Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle by Christopher Healy. They cannot be separated. They are hilarious. They are middle grade and they are amazing. They are about the princes Charming. The princes are funny, the book is slapstick, the princesses are badass and cool, and I’m looking forward to the third book, yay.

The Handmaid’s tale by Margaret Atwood. It’s one of those books you’re supposed to read, and I’m really glad I did. It has to do a little with the fact that the content matter made me feel sorta sick, the way they treat women. A lot of it has to do with Atwood’s writing. She’s a wonderful writer and I’m gonna make it an aim to read more Atwood.

Pride and prejudice by Jane Austen. I’m not sure I have anything to say about Pride and Prejudice. It is amazing. The love story is beautiful. Lizzie is amazing. She’s proud and sort of prejudiced. Austen is wonderful, and funny and hilarious and I love her.

Slated and Fractured by Teri Terry. Again, we can’t split these bad boys up. Slated and Fractured are about Kyla who has had her memory wiped. She has done something horrible, and instead of sending her to prison they slate her (wipe her memory) and she can start over. It’s really interesting though. I’m looking forward to the last one. Whoop whoop.