Favorite Books Read in 2013?

It's that time of year again, what were your favorite reads of the year?

After looking over my reads for the year I found that I tend to rate many books with four stars, why I don't know, everything can't be excellent can it?

Here are a few that I found memorable:

Defending Jacob
The Given Day
11/22/63
The Big Rock Candy Mountain
The Count of Monte Cristo
Beautiful Ruins

Also I'm glad that I discovered Kate Morton this year, I enjoyed The Forgotten Garden, The Secret Keeper, and The House at Riverton.

> 1 - I am looking forward to reading more Kate Morton stories!

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I had a great reading year in 2013. My favorite and most memorable reads were:

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - Book three of the Millennium trilogy was the best one of the three, IMO!
84, Charing Cross Road - was re-read for me and just as amazing as the first time I read it.
Crow Lake - Stunning poignant story of place and time.
His Majesty's Dragon - Napoleonic wars have never been so interesting and loved the characters!
The Count of Monte Cristo - a stunning classic that even lives up to a re-read.
Lonesome Dove - the best way to experience the American West, IMO.
Ready Player One - Great dystopian story and a wonderful nostalgic 80's journey.

My favorites:

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - This was a reread before seeing the movie.

The Round House by Louise Edrich - I fully intend to read more by this author!

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson - This took me to a totally unfamiliar country and culture.

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa - This was a charming book which brought together some disparate characters.

How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny - A resounding continuation for an astounding series!

My favorites for the year are:

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson - I agree with Lori - best of the trilogy

Love Anthony by Lisa Genova - her writing draws me into the story every time

American Gods by Neil Gaiman - although not a genre I read a lot of, I can see why he has the reputation he does.

Riding the Bus with My Sister by Rachel Simon - a sensitively written book of a year that the author spent riding the buses with her mentally challenged sister.

My favorites for the year:

How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny
The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat (read for American Book Award AwardsCAT)
The Last Child by John Hart (read for Edgar AwardsCAT)
Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope
The Tenth Witness by Leonard Rosen
A Secret Gift by Ted Gup

ETA: I should have waited longer to post my favorites. One of my holiday reads squeezed its way into my top five for the year.

My best books of 2013:

The Sandman Series: Volume One - Ten by Neil Gaiman **
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
Let Him Go by Larry Watson
Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne
Plainsong by Kent Haruf
Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
An Ice Cream War by Wiiiam Boyd

** I know this is cheating a little, but this series is such a great body of work, I didn't want to separate it into individual issues.

This year, I'm so glad I finally read The Dresden Files and discovered The Iron Druid Chronicles. For YA, I'm glad I finally gave Graceling a try, and read Grave Mercy and listened to The Fault in Our Stars. Best romance series was The Hathaways. Best Book Bullets: Where'd You Go, Bernadette? and Ready Player One.

Best NEW Reads of 2013 (* = non-fiction)

#1 is Bella Poldark by Winston Graham

Doc by Mary Doria Russell
Exodus by Leon Uris
*On the Road with Charles Kuralt
The War Within These Walls by Aline Sax (Early Reviewer book)
*Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand
*For His Pleasure by Samuel Gipp
Longbourn by Jo Baker
Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy
*Homer's Odyssey by Gwen Cooper
*More Anti-Inflammation Diet Tips and Recipes: by Jessica K. Black (Early Reviewer book)
The Faded Sun: Kutath by CJ Cherryh
Escape From Berlin by Irene N. Watts (Early Reviewer book)

I reread my favorite books, a lot. I left them off this list for brevity's sake.

Best GN (apart from re-read of Sandman): Lighter than my shadow
Best audio: the poets corner
Best ebook:Jagannath
Top 3 Best non-fiction (in reading order): on writing, unbuilt bristol, wonderbook
Top 5 Best Fiction (in reading order): Roadside picnic, The orphan master's son, Mechanique, the rise of ransom city and The crystal mirror

see you all in 2014...

Tied for #5: Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
Tied for #5: Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
#4: We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
#3: Solitaire by Kelley Eskridge
#2: Beauty by Sheri S. Tepper

AND

#1: American Gods by Neil Gaiman

My biggest surprise was enjoying Pride, Prejudice and Zombies as well as Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter I was never a big paranormal fan but these two books were well written and really kept my interest.

My top 12 (my favourite of each month):

Year of the Flood, by Margaret Atwood
Packing for Mars, by Mary Roach
Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
Starter for Ten, by David Nicholls
Trust Your Eyes, by Linwood Barclay
Stuart: A Life Backwards, by Alexander Masters
How to Be a Woman, by Caitlin Moran
Speaking from Among the Bones, by Alan Bradley
Rites of Passage, by William Golding
Twelve Years a Slave, by Solomon Northup
Redshirts, by John Scalzi
One Day, by David Nicholls

I also got hooked on Scottish mystery novels. Although they don't appear in this best-of list, I read a LOT of them this year and look forward to more in 2014.

My top 5 for 2013:

#1 - How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny
#2 - Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
#3 - Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier
#4 - The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat
#5 - The Path Between the Seas by David G. McCullough

I rounded out the top 10 on my thread.

My 4.5 and 5 star books:

Dancers Among Us: A Celebration of Joy in the Everyday - Jordan Matter (photography)
Earth Works: Selected Essays - Scott Russell Sanders
The Bridge of Birds: A Novel of Ancient China That Never Was - Barry Hughart
Parable of The Sower - Octavia Butler
Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away - Christie Watson
All Quiet on the Western Front - Remarque

and one great 4 star read:
Translation is a Love Affair - Jacques Poulin

So hard to choose, but my top favorites from this year were:

Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick
How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny
Me Before You by JoJo Moyes
A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas

My top 5 for 2013 are:

1. Doc by Mary Doria Russell
2. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
3. Operation Mincemeat by Ben Macintyre
4. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
5. Luckiest Man by Jonathan Eig

Here are my 5 and 4.5 stars in 2013:

Fiction:
The diaries of Jane Somers
Parable of the sower
Die Wand (The wall)
The lost garden
The thirteenth tale
The home and the world

Non fiction
The birds of Costa Rica

I'm hoping to read The Thirteenth Tale this year.

I'm seeing lots of love here and on other threads for How The Light Gets In. I know that I was kind of lukewarm about the first book, then the next couple that I read got better. I may want to revisit this series.

I'm reading Doc right now and it's excellent! It will definitely wind up being a 5 star read. I also have Let Him Go on the list for this year.

Lisa> You really should try Penny again. Since the 5th book, I've been unable to put them down for the most part. Consistently great books!

I started out with book 6, Bury Your Dead, and that one is still my favourite. The Quebec City setting is lovely!

I had a great reading year. Here are my 5 star reads.

Favorites of 2013
Possession by A.S. Byatt
The Summer Book by Tove Jannson
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Germinal by Emile Zola

(20) @jonesli, I loved Doc, glad you are enjoying the read. :)

@ 20 -- Yay, Lisa, glad you're liking Doc!