Best in Books 2013


I’m not doing a top ten Tuesday this week, because the topic is debuts of 2014, and I don’t pay attention to books coming out, because I’m… I don’t know what I am, I don’t pay attention. I just find things and read them. Therefore I will do something else. Pricilla from the Readables did a list called Best in Books 2013, and it looked like a lot of fun, so I am doing it. It’ll be fun. Some books will repeat ad nauseam, because they’re awesome. And I didn’t really do a wrap-up, so you know. Anyways, off we go.

1. What’s the best book you read in 2013?
This is really hard. I think Daughter of Smoke and Bone or the Troupe. They were both beautifully written, and they were the kind of books I couldn’t put down, the stories were amazing and the characters were lovely. I loved everything about both of them.

2. What was the most surprising book of 2013?
I think Pride and Prejudice. It’s not that I thought it would be bad, I just wasn’t very used to the whole classics genre, because I’m you know, me. And obviously I loved this, because it was hilarious. I didn’t know it was going to be so funny. Jane Austen is so snarky and funny, and she was a great writer.

3. What book did you read in 2013 and recommend to people most in 2013?
Probably again Daughter of Smoke and Bone, this book will repeat a lot. I just read it and then thought: I need to tell everyone I know about this book. I gave it to a friend of mine for her birthday and she read it basically in a day, so that’s a success. The third book comes out this year, and I’m so excited.

4. What was the best series discovered in 2013?
I discovered a lot of series in 2013, I even finished one, in one year, which is new. I think the two I liked the most are the League of Princes series, and the Necromancer series. They are both good, well written and hilarious.

5. Who is your favourite new author you discovered in 2013?
I discovered Kurt Vonnegut this year. And that is pretty exciting. I read three of his books, and I am planning to work through more of his catalogue this year.

6. What was the best book that was out of your comfort zone?
I think probably the Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco. I really like fantasy and sci-fi, and I don’t read a lot of “grown-up” books. The Prague Cemetery is a historical fiction and it took me a while to get into it, but when I sort of got used to reading the style and the writing I got really into it, it was really cool.

7. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2013?
I’m going to say Slated. It’s just amazing, and I kept reading and reading because I had to know what happened. I also read the second book in the series, Fractured, and the last one comes out this year, so that’s cool.

8. What book that you read in 2013 will you most likely re-read?
I think I’ll probably reread quite a few, for example Slated, because I devoured it when I read it, and when I read Fractured I got a bit confused. I think I’ll definitely reread Slaughterhouse-five, Let’s Pretend this Never Happened, and A Memory of Light. The last one partially because I seem to hate myself, and because I want to reread the whole series.

9. What book were you excited about and thought you’d love but didn’t?
I read Alice in Zombieland this year, and I thought I’d love it, I don’t remember why I didn’t like it, I just, it annoyed me. I also thought I would love Elantris, because Brandon Sanderson finished up the Wheel of Time series, and while I know he based a lot of it on Robert Jordan, I thought I would like his work too, and I didn’t. I am however willing to give him another chance and read something else of his, maybe something newer.

10. What was your favourite cover of a book you read in 2013?
I really like the Girl of Nightmares cover, I think it’s bold and cool. Drink, Slay, Love has an amazing cover, but I think my favorite has to be Let’s Pretend this Never Happened, because it’s just so weird.

11. Who was the most memorable character in 2013?
My most memorable character this year was Karou from the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy. She is just so interesting, and so cool, and she’s so hurt, and damaged and so angry, and beautiful and I love her!

12. What was the most beautifully written book read in 2013?
The most beautifully written book I read this year was Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Repetition is key. It’s so lyrical and beautiful and I loved it. It’s gorgeous.

13. What book that had the greatest impact on you in 2013?
The Handmaid’s Tale or 1984, or Animal Farm, had the greatest impact on me I think. Just to see in the Handmaid’s Tale and 1984 how the world develops in their vision, and it was just really interesting. I loved them. They were so interesting and it made me think more about how people treat women, and also how scarily accurate Orwell was in the 1940s. Also Animal Farm was just really, really interesting.

14. What book you can’t believe you waited until 2013 to finally read?
The Knife of Never Letting Go. I feel like people have told me in person, and through the wonder of the Internet, that this book is amazing, and I’ve had it for a while. And I finally read it, and OH MY GOD! It was so good, and the plan is to finish the trilogy this year.

15. What was your favourite passage or quote from a book you read in 2013?
I am really horrible at remembering quotes, but obviously I remember the wonderfulness of 1984: War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery and Ignorance is Strength. I don’t know if it’s the right order, but I really liked it. I am so bad at remembering quotes.

16. What are the shortest and longest book you read in 2013?
The shortest books I read were Nefarious by Emmanuel Xavier and God Bless You, Doctor Kevorkian by Vonnegut, which were both 80 pages. The longest was A Memory of Light, which was 909 pages long. It also had a chapter that was like 190 pages long.

17. What book had a scene in it that had been dying to talk to somebody about?
I think most of A Memory of Light sort of fits into this category. I had waited for so long, and when I finished it I sort of wanted to call my sister

18. What was your favourite relationship from a book you read in 2013?
I’d say my favorite romantic relationship is Karou and Akiva from Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I think their relationship is interesting and it’s so fraught with pain and despair and I’m so excited about it developing. I also really like the relationship between all the princes in the League of Princes series. They’re so weird and so hilarious, and I love their friendship.

19. What was your favourite book you read in 2013 from an author you’ve previously read?
Neverwhere was amazing. It was interesting and cool, and dark and it was so Gaiman-y, and oh my, I loved it.

20. What was the best book you read based on a recommendation from someone else in 2013?
I read Rivers of London, which was recommended to me by my best friend and I really liked it.

21. What genre did you read the most from in 2013?
Fantasy. I’m not good at branching out.

22. Who’s your fictional crush from a book you read in 2013?
Definitely Akiva from Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Oh my God, he seems so tortured and gorgeous. I also have something of a crush of the whole League of Princes.

23. What was the best 2013 debut you read?
I didn’t actually read any 2013 debuts.

24. What book had the most vivid world or imagery that you read in 2013?
I think I’ll say the Troupe here. It feels so cold and close and the darkness and the awesomeness.

25. What book was the most fun to read in 2013?
The League of Princes books are friggin’ hilarious. They are both amazing, laugh out loud funny.

26. What book made you cry in 2013?
I cry at pretty much anything. It takes nothing for me to cry, seriously. I cried at The Book Thief, I cried like a baby. I cried at A Memory of Light, Days of Blood and Starlight, pretty sure I cried at Girl of Nightmares, and The Diary of a Young Girl.

27. What book that you read in 2013 got overlooked?
I can’t really think of one. I don’t pay attention to stuff like that. Although I’ve never heard anyone talk about the Troupe. And by anyone I mean none of the booktube people I follow have talked about it. And my worldview is apparently very narrow.

That was my wrap up of 2013 and the books I liked in 2013. They were awesome, I liked them, looking forward to the rest of 2014.