Girl with thoughts, beware.

Think. Write. Repeat.

2013 Reading Challenge- Done and Done!

So I didn’t make my goal. I still read 41 books out the 55 projected and funnily enough, 40 books was my original estimate, which I technically completed considering “The Adventures of Augie March” was a partial read.

I read several great books this year and only a few duds. For 2014, I have already signed up to read 45 books. I can’t wait!

Lessons from 2013:

  • I will not pre-fill my list with must-reads before I can add more books to the list. This idea was just plain crazy and too limiting. So many new books came out that I was dying to add to my “To-read” list and now I’ve forgotten what they were!
  • I will be more selective about what goes on my “To-read” list. Many books ended up being hard to get from the library, or missing altogether. A few books were so obscure that I would have to order them from Amazon and I didn’t want to spend $15 plus on a book.
  • I will use the Goodreads Recommendations function a bit more judiciously. Granted, none of the recommendations were awful, but more than a few ended up being quite dull or just too hard to find.
  • Cookbooks do not make great reading material.
  • If I’m not into a book, I shouldn’t feel the need to finish it. Life is too short.

Below are all of the books I read in 2013. Asterisks (*) indicate I reviewed the book on this blog. Any books highlighted in bold I considered to be particular stand outs.

Enjoy the list- I certainly did!

1.  The Women– T.C. Boyle

2. Gone Girl– Gillian Flynn

3. The Alienist- Caleb Carr

4. A Spot of Bother- Mark Haddon

5. Flight Behavior- Barbara Kingsolver

6. The Last Days of Dog Town- Anita Diamant

7. Bossy Pants- Tina Fey

8. Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly- Anthony Bourdain

9. Let the Great World Spin– Colum McCann *

10. Wolf Hall– Hilary Mantel *

11. The Red House- Mark Haddon

12. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter- Seth Grahame-Smith *

13. Starting Now- Debbie Macomber

14. Girl Walks into a Bar…- Rachel Dratch *

15. Started Early, Took My Dog- Kate Atkinson *

16. On Writing– Stephen King *

17. A Ticket to Ride- Paula McLain

18. Bright Lights, Big City- Jay McInerney *

19. 11/22/63– Stephen King

20. The Partly Cloudy Patriot- Sarah Vowell *

21. Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant: Confessions on cooking for one- Jenni Ferrari-Adler

22. Murder Below Montparnasse- Cara Black

23. One Thousand White Women- Jim Fergus * (under post “The Discerning Reader”)

24. Bohemian Paris- Dan Franck

25. Restless– William Boyd *

26. Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth- Reza Aslan

27. City of Thieves– David Benioff

28. Human Croquet- Kate Atkinson

29. The Night Circus- Erin Morgenstern

30. Lies That Chelsea Handler Told me- Chelsea Handler

31. River of Darkness– Rennie Airth

32. A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire #1)– George R. R. Martin

33. Time and Again- Jack Finney

34. Water Music- T.C. Boyle

35. The Drunken Botanist– Amy Stewart

36. Great Tales from English History– Robert Lacey*

37. The Adventures of Augie March (a partial read)- Saul Bellow

38. Among Wolves- Scott O’Connor

39. Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald- Therese Anne Fowler*

40. Fraud- David Rakoff

41. Boom!- Mark Haddon

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2 thoughts on “2013 Reading Challenge- Done and Done!

  1. What a great, reasonable, and constructive goal. I think I will attempt this great feat, using your list as a template. Thanks for the inspiration. I am currently reading a Diana Gabaldon Novel. I can only seem to get through two to three chapters at a time, but I feel the need to keep reading. Have you read her, and what are your thoughts??? 🙂 HNY!!!!!

    • Thanks Karen! I highly recommend reading challenges and joining a book club with like-minded readers and book lovers, if possible. So many of the books on my challenge list were by completely new authors to me- I’m always on the look out for unfamiliar material. I love expanding my reading list and will check out Diana Gabaldon. Thanks for the suggestion!

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