The year 2013 will be for readers what '47 is for wine people. Which is to say, this was a really good year for books — particularly books by women. A happy change from years past, 2013's best books lists trend toward female authors. Really, the only thing that would make this year better for women writers is if Alice Munro won the Nobel Prize for Literature — OH WAIT, SHE DID — and everything about how it went down was perfect.

Not that dudes didn't write some good stuff. I vacillated between tears and belly-laughter while reading George Saunders' Tenth of December.My boyfriend and I were so fascinated by Lawrence Wright's Going Clear, an investigation of the true-life sci-fi story that is Scientology, that we read it out loud to each other. James McBride's The Good Lord Bird is narrated by a boy nicknamed "Onion" who is taken for a girl, which is just as funny as it sounds. I also adored Charles Palliser's spooky Rustication and Bob Kolker's chilling true-crime story Lost Girls.

But for the purposes of this best of 2013 list, I'll set the men aside and spend some time unabashedly raving about my favorite titles written by women.

Fiction:

1. The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. by Adelle Waldman

Raise your hand if you live in Brooklyn and/or you've dated guys who live in Brooklyn. If your hand's up, read this book for its on-point descriptions of a "scene." And if your hand's not raised I'm willing to bet you'll still love Waldman for nailing the mental landscape of Nate Piven, your typical twenty-something self-proclaimed sensitive dude, who's really not all that sensitive when it comes to women. I finished the book a year ago, but still find myself thinking of guys who cluelessly fuck with my girlfriends as "Nates."

2. The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner

Protagonist Reno follows her two passions — speed and motorcycles — through the New York City art world and the Italian underground. A risk-taker, Reno's energy leaps off the page. "I walked out of the sun, unfastening my chin strap," Kusher writes. "Sweat was pooling along my collarbone, trickling down my back and into my nylon underwear, running down my legs under the leather racing suit."

3. Isle of Youth by Laura Van Den Berg

This one offers child bank robbers, a teenage magician, lots of vanished dads/parents, and Antarctica. This weird, wonderful, moving book rivals The Tenth of December for best short story collection of the year. Tuck it into your purse because these stories are the perfect length for for your daily commute. Just make sure you don't get too sucked in and miss your stop.

4. The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara

Hanya Yanagihara's debut was over a decade in the making, which perhaps explains how a first-timer pulls off a narrative structure so complicated that Nabokov would be impressed. The novel is disguised as the memoirs of Dr. Norton Perina, who is credited with discovering a cure for death. From the opening, we know Dr. Perina is in jail for a terrible crime — a crime Dr. Perina's sycophantic editor Ronald Kubodera leaves out until the very last pages.

5. Night Film by Marisha Pessl

At Night Film's center are the films of legendary director Stanislas Cordova, whose fans have created a web of online forums to swap theories about his life and work. When Cordova's enigmatic daughter Ashley commits suicide, reporter Scott McGrath gets sucked into Cordova's twisted universe, at one point finding himself literally trapped in an endless network of past film sets. Pessl's the first novelist I've encountered who works the labyrinthian world of internet fan bases into a plot.

6. Schroder by Amity Gaige

My personal copy of Schroder is a mess of underlined sentences and folded pages and exclamation points in the margins. No description I can give you will do this book — my personal favorite of the year — justice. Just read it.

7. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

On her excellent best-of list, the hilarious and lovely Maris Kreizman aptly re-titles The Goldfinch, "Harry Potter and The Priceless Work of Art." The Goldfinch has all of Harry Potter's momentum — plus, Tartt's New York City is as immersive as Rowling's Hogwarts. It took me three days to finish this 800+ page novel. And while I sometimes found the prose unwieldy, I won't argue that the book has more heart than anything I've read in ages. Donna Tartt is a reader's writer, and with The Goldfinch she performs the miracle of making you wish a two-pound hardcover would never end.

8. Cartwheel by Jennifer DuBois

Jennifer DuBois is destined for great things. In Cartwheel, DuBois reimagines the Amanda Knox story, deftly slipping into the mind of a girl in impossible trouble, a father at his wit's end, and a lovesick, lonely young man. DuBois is interested in the chaos and danger women face when their actions don't conform to so-called acceptable standards.

9. The Last Summer of the Camperdowns by Elizabeth Kelly

A novel for the awkward kid in all of us. Thirteen-year-old Riddle Camperdown, with her noisy red hair and retired movie star mother, is on the cusp of her whole life. When Riddle finds herself in possession of a terrible secret, the novel acquires a crackling tension that doesn't ease until you've turned the final page. A pure pleasure read, The Last Summer of the Camperdowns will remind you of sweating glasses of ice tea, fireflies in the backyard, and lost innocence.

10. We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

With the first lines of this goose bump-inducing debut, NoViolet Bulawayo establishes herself as prize-worthy author: "We are on our way to Budapest: Bastard and Chipo and Godknows and Sbho and Stina and me. We are going even though we are not allowed to cross Mzilikazi Road, even though Bastard is supposed to be watching his little sister Fraction, even though Mother would kill me dead if she found out; we are going."

Young Adult Crossover

11. Allegiant (Book 3, Divergent series) by Veronica Roth

I barely remember Thanksgiving with my boyfriend's family because I was midway through the Divergent trilogy and obsessed with whether or not Tobias and Tris were going to OMG FINALLY DO THE SEX. It's The Hunger Games of 2013. Except (feel free to murder me in the comments) I'd argue that Roth is a sharper writer than Collins, and Tris is a little more complicated (*cough* a better heroine *cough*) than Katniss.

12. The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

The story of how Samantha Shannon's book came to be is almost as good as the book itself. After her first novel was rejected by over 10 agents, Shannon tried again. She wrote The Bone Season, the story of 19-year old clairvoyant Paige, while she was a student at Oxford University, and sold the novel in a seven-book deal to Harry Potter's publishers. Get it girl.

13. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Remember the first time you held hands with a crush? The agonizing moments leading up to your fingers clasping, the feeling of your sweat prickling against another palm, the terrible relief? Rainbow Rowell remembers. Eleanor and Park isn't just for YA readers — it's for anyone who was transformed by their first love.

Illustrated/Graphic Books

14. Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

About a year ago an email chain in my inbox grew to epic length as my friends swapped links from Allie Brosh's blog, Hyperbole and a Half, which features illustrations of a stick-figurish creature meditating on topics that range from the serious (Allie's crippling depression) to the funny and adorable (her dog going on a joyride). Blogs like Hyperbole and a Half make the internet worth all the time it steals from your real life.

15. Bough Down by Karen Green

Visual artist Karen Green is the widow of legendary writer David Foster Wallace. Bough Down is perhaps best described as a lyric elegy, composed as a collage of text and drawings and poetically fragmented memories. A unique and heartrending window into an artist's pain.

Nonfiction

16. Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg

Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In tells the story of her rise through the corporate world (she's now the CEO of Facebook). It also gives women a new anthem. Sandberg will inspire you. Lean in, ladies. It's our time.

17. Meaty by Samantha Irby

Samantha Irby, best known for her crass and addictive blog bitchesgottaeat.com delivers with her first collection. Her blog's tagline is: tacos, hot dudes, diarrhea, jams. Which pretty much sums up the glory of this disgusting, perfect, and LOL must read.

18. Her by Christa Parravani

When Christa Parravani's identical twin sister overdosed, Christa also lost her own identity. Her handles difficult subjects — substance abuse, rape, divorce — with grace, love, and even humor. It had me in nonstop tears.

19. The Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward

The Men We Reaped is a powerful ode to five men Ward lost to drugs, suicide, bad luck, and violence. The force of Ward's astonishing voice enacts a resurrection —you'll mourn these men as if they're your brothers. An important, unflinching look at the repercussions of economic hardship and racism in rural Mississippi.

20. Drink by Ann Dowsett Johnston

Women and alcohol have long had a problematic relationship. This brave book, half memoir and half meticulous research, is one woman's story of her spiraling alcohol dependency and her fearless look at a growing and destructive trend afflicting women of all demographics.

Poetry

21. Our Andromeda by Brenda Shaughnessy

Brenda Shaughnessy's work is a good place to start for any passionate woman feeling daunted by poetry. This book explores love and motherhood and the turbulent terrain of grief. "Heart, what art you?" Shaughnessy asks. "War, star, part? Or less: / playing a part, staying apart / from the one who loves / loveless."

Cooking

22. Balaboosta by Einat Admony

Middle Eastern and Mediterranean flavors collide in famous restauranteur Einat Admony's first cookbook. Blah, blah, blah — here are the real reasons to trust me on this one: Coconut Milk French Toast, Spicy Chicken Tagine, and Truffle Threesome. You're welcome.

What Do You Think?
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