The Books I Read in 2013

I really should review the books I read more often, because doing the whole year review is a daunting task;  probably why it's almost February and I'm just getting around to it, but I really think this is an important part of my journal (which this blog has become). I don't have a lot of interesting hobbies, but I love reading and these books are how I filled up a lot of my spare time in 2013. So here are the books I read. Did I get around to the book goals from 2012, like reading Gone With the Wind? No. I'm going to just stop making those reading goals because I never know what kind of books I'll be in the mood for a year ahead. Instead I'm just going to let my reading be organic. It's more enjoyable that way and guilt free. Guilt free is good. We'll see what happens in 2014.

1. Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt
I really liked this book. Loved Doug the main character and the colorful and interesting people who take him under wing. Did it hurt that art and Jane Eyre played a major role in the story? No! I loved how Schmidt helps you to care about characters that are at first hard to like. The voice really reminded me a gentler Holden from The Catcher in the Rye, which is a huge compliment from me.

2. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
This book was fascinating! It's the story of the woman behind the HeLa cells which have been so important to many medical/scientific advancements. I really like everything about Henrietta and all the research that followed after her. Good stuff. But then at the end I felt the focus was lost a little in everything about the surviving Lacks family members. Some information on the Lacks family living today would have been great, but I felt like the portrayal of their ignorance and mental problems was a little insensitive. So in all I really like about 3/4 of the book.

3. Good Enough to Eat by Stacey Ballis
This is a chick-lit about Melanie, a woman who recently lost 145 lbs and left her law career to open a healthy, gourmet, take-out restaurant, only to be left by her husband for a woman twice her size. The story had a interesting group of characters which make up Melanie's friends, boyfriend, and roommate, but in truth the author did a bad job of making me care about any of them. It was a bit boring and PC. The relationships seemed one-sided and selfish and as in a lot of contemporary fiction the idea of a happy family with children was almost laughed at. I hate that. And the ending was awful. Guess it was a stinker.

4. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The last time I read this was in college, not in a class, but in my free time when I was working as a bank teller. I still has a $1000 twenties wrapper stuck in the pages that I had used as a book mark. That was fun to find! This book has never been a favorite, but I do love the descriptive writing style and symbolism. It's a masterful work in that way. I love the image of Gatsby reaching his hands out towards the green light at the end of the dock at Daisy's house. I was surprised by how much it is not a love story. I had held on to some romantic notion from previous readings when I was younger, but no it's not a love story. The characters (with the exception of the narrator Nick) are horrible, selfish creatures that do really bad things with tragic consequences. I read this before going to see the movie, which I thought was a great adaptation, but I have always loved Baz Lurman's style.

5. Maisie Dobbs by Jaqueline Winspeare
This was a great mystery novel, one of my favorite genres. It's the first in the Maisie Dobbs series, set just after WWI with flashbacks to the war. In this book you see how Maisie gets her start as a PI. The story kept my attention and the writing was beautiful. I really enjoyed it and I want to read more of the series now. *Gasp* that I actually want to read a series, but to me mystery series are fine, I like them actually. It's the non-ending, no-real-ending-planned-so-that-they-can-publish-another-book, young adult fiction series that drive me batty. Sorry about that. End of rant.

6. Half Broke Horses by Jeanette Wall
I read The Glass Castle as couple of years ago and I really liked it. This is a sort of follow up to that book about Jeanette Wall's grandmother Lily. Though it was an interesting and fast read, I didn't find it as compelling as The Glass Castle; probably because it didn't seem as personal. I did love Lily, Jeanette's amazing, no-nonsense grandmother. I loved that Lily was apologetically who she was at all times. Though I didn't always agree with Lily's choices, I found her life to be inspiring. She was one tough lady.

7. The Magic of Ordinary Days by Ann Howard Creel
This is another book I really enjoyed. The language and storytelling were so great. It's the story of Livvy, an unwed pregnant woman in Denver during WWII who agrees to an arranged marriage with a rural Colorado farmer. On her new husbands farm she meets two Japanese American sisters who are internees at Camp Amache, a Japanese Internment camp. It's an engaging story with great and memorable characters. BTW, you might have seen this book turn Hallmark movie with Kerri Russell. Confession: It's one of my favorite Hallmark movies. On occasion, like during laundry folding, I love a romantic Hallmark movie.

8. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
This was a great book. It surprised me. I normally am not a self-help book reader, but this one was very applicable to my life and read very much like a novel. It's the story of how Gretchen Rubin took a year to become happier through monthly goals. Kind of like an actual person's Eat, Pray, Love were you stay where you are and try to become happier in your own life without huge changes. (I know Eat, Pray, Love was written by an actual person too, but it's kind of crazy how she up and traveled around the world and all that - there had to be some independent wealth in that equation, and of course the lack of parental responsibilities.) I did find the idea of doing everything that Gretchen did overwhelming, but in small bites I though the ideas from this book were great.

9. Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
A favorite. Always.

10. Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella
I have a habit of reading Kinsella books in succession. Like potato chips, or fun size Snickers... Anywho, what should I say about this book?? It was hilarious!! Made me laugh so hard, but he subject of the book was well, a bit... naughty. It seemed much more like a Madeleine Wickham book (the other nom de plume of Sophie Kinsella, which she writes her edgier books under - I wonder what her real name is??). That said,  I laughed and laughed until I had real tears. Judge me if you wish (please don't :)). So not for everyone, but FUNNY. I hope there's another Shopaholic soon!

11. Not Your Mother's Food Storage by Kathy Bray and Jan Barker
What a switch from #9. I read this book for a meal planning class I was asked to teach. Not exactly a page turner, but a pretty good, if not kind of obvious, book on planning for and purchasing 3 months of food you family will eat. I did not love that most of the recipes relied on heavily processed food like Velveeta and canned soups, but alas those are shelf stable foods so I understand why the recipes were like that.

12. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
I read this one again for book club. I think I enjoyed it just as much and maybe more the second time around. It's just a breath of fresh air and the characters are so funny. I really love this one.

13. Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson
I also read this one again for a book club. It is still a lovely little regency romance. Escapist and totally fun.

14. Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella
See, I just can't get enough of those fun size Snickers darn it! I guess I needed even more escapism. I'm trying to think what was happening around when I read this, and I'm guessing I was still waking up in the middle of the night with Clara. Sleep deprivation. That's what sometimes spurs me to fluffy books. Again this one is laugh out loud funny in parts, but on the whole not my favorite Kinsella, just the one I hadn't read in a while. At least it wasn't Twilight, right?

15. Inferno by Dan Brown
Robert Langdon is to art history what Indiana Jones is to archeology. The fact this art history and symbology (is that even a thing?) professor gets involved in all these crazy adventures is ludicrous, I know that, really I do, but it's super fun anyway. I got this book as soon as I could and gobbled it up in 4 days (pre-baby-waking-me-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night it would have been faster, but I valued sleep a little more at the time I read this). The overall premise of this book is in fact horrible. The Transhumanist agenda is not awesome, but I loved dashing from important painting to historical landmark with Langdon. THAT is fun times for the art history lover in me. OK, so maybe it was a little formulaic but the twists in this one did throw me so that was refreshing. If you are offended by Dan Brown's obvious disdain for organized religion you might not like this one, but since I don't actually value Dan Brown's opinion and I read these for fun, it didn't offend me.

16. Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times by Jennifer Worth
I am a fan of the PBS series Call the Midwife. So, it was great to read the memoir that the series is based on. It is a look at the work of the Nonnatus House midwives working in the Docklands of London in the 1950's. It was such an interesting and at times shocking read. Such poverty and the conditions that the people lived in was at times so disgusting that it was hard to read. In spite of that I found it to be a great book and after reading it I felt more informed about a time and place I knew nothing about (well other than watching the show, but the soft lighting and beauty of the cinematography on that show does make the conditions look a bit better than described in the book).

17. In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
This book was very very good. Fascinating and disturbing. I like Erik Larson's very readable style of "novelistic history". This book focuses on William Dodd, ambassador to Germany from 1933-1937 and his family, especially his daughter Martha, and what they experienced in Nazi Germany just as Hitler came into power. It is a frightening account of Hitler's murderous regime and how he and his party destroyed democracy and freedom bit by bit. Very powerful and though the subject matter was rough, I am so glad I read it. It was chilling... I think I liked it even better than Devil in the White City which is another great Erik Larson book.

18. The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley
I had been waiting for this book ever since I read The Winter Sea and found out that Kearsley was planning a sequel of sorts to it. It still follows the same path as pretty much all Kearsley's books with a modern woman going back in time somehow and learning about another woman's life with some kind of time travel, psychic vision, etc. involved and of course there's romance. Sounds stupid I know, but it's so not and I love these books. As a bonus there are not only characters from Winter Sea, but also from Shadowy Horses too. It was great! It's an easy, fast moving read with just the right amount of romance for me. Loved it!

19. War Brides by Lois Battle
Well this book was a misery. I saw it at Costco and it had such a great cover (really, don't judge a book by it's cover) and the subject sounded so interesting. It's all about the lives of three Australian war brides in the US shortly after WWII. It sounded right up my alley. I love books set in another time about relationships and real life... This one just fell short. Every single woman had an awful experience in different circumstances in the US. None of the women loved their husbands and all were misled by their husbands as to how their lives would be in the states. There are affairs, abuse, poverty, selfishness, and one story line that leads to one of the wives having an abortion. It was pretty awful and miserable. It was out of morbid curiosity that I finished this book and I definitely don't recommend it. I wish I could read a better book on the same subject, because it really is a fascinating starting point.

20. One Second After by William Forstchen
Oh this book... It is an apocalyptic book about three EMP bombs striking over the US and the catastrophic events that happen after. All electronics are wiped out, martial law takes over, and 50-80% of the population is killed off in a matter of months due to starvation, disease, and well just killing each other. It's pretty bleak and harsh. Admittedly, I have no idea what would happen in an apocalypse. I'm sure it would be bad, but in this book within two months of being off the grid people are turning into cannibals and George Orwell books are used as how-to guides rather than cautionary tales. The quote, "some animals are more equal than others" from Animal Farm is actually used as justification for giving "less useful people" smaller rations of food to kill them off. I will say it is fascinating and eye-opening about how the author and probably many other people, like the couple on Doomsday Preppers who are never more than 20 feet away from a fire arm, think things would go down. It's a very worst-case-scenario book. Very scary.

21. Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey by Lady Fiona Carnarvon
This book is all about the actual early 20th century inhabitants of Highclere Castle where Downton Abbey is filmed. The life of Lady Almina, the 5th Countess of Carnarvon, was very intriguing. She was the illegitimate child of Alfred de Rothchild, who was able to overcome social prejudice against her birth and become a countess, mostly because of her incredibly wealthy father. Her life was extravagant, but she also did a lot of good, using the castle as a WWI hospital and then founding another two hospitals in her lifetime. Her husband, Lord Carnarvon, was also fascinating as the money man behind Howard Carter's discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb. I must admit the writing was a little dry so sometimes it was slow going.

22. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
This is what reading for entertainment is all about. I love being transported to a different time and place full of unique and engaging characters. I loved the world of 11 year old Flavia, chemist and crime solver, and her quirky family living in a stately home in 1950's England. The murder mystery, all wrapped up in the philatelist (stamp collecting) world, was intriguing with just enough suspects and clues. Flavia is a hoot. SO enjoyable. I totally recommend this book to anyone. This is one of my favorites from 2013.

23. Austenland by Shannon Hale
I love this naughty little nugget of a book. It's not naughty really, but it's just so fun that it feels like it. I read it again right before seeing the movie, which by the way was hilarious! The book is just under 200 pages so it can be gobbled up in a day. Perfect.

24. Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale
I really love this one too. It's the murder mystery sequel to Austenland. It's fun to see some of the characters from Austenland mixed up in this one with new characters. Ms. Charming is always a welcome character to me - I wish I could throw her into a lot of books to lighten the mood. I think she would have made War Brides better.:) Fun fun book.

25. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
I read this again for a book club I hosted. How I love this book. I love the cast of characters and the gorgeous setting in a crumbling castle, moat and all. I love the original situations these people get themselves into. The voice and language of the book is strikingly beautiful as well. Just a wonderful read in every way - a book you can truly get lost in.

26. Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson
So this is the much anticipated (speaking for myself) second book by the author of Edenbrooke. I wanted to like it, really, but I just didn't feel the same fondness for it as I do for Edenbrooke. It just felt a little lost and pointless. The main character wasn't particularly likable and that was hard for me. And there is a misunderstanding that you just want to scream about and make the characters talk it out! I think Donaldson was going for a darker more Bronte-esque tone to this one and she missed the mark. It was definitely not darkly passionate enough to be a light version of Wuthering Heights (honestly, I don't think a light version of Wuthering Heights is possible). Having said that, I did finish this book in 2 days, so it was engaging enough to keep me reading and it was entertaining, but just not as good as I wanted it to be.

27. Frankenstein by Mary Shelly
Well this book was not at all what I expected. I don't think any of our Frankenstein cultural referenced could have prepared me for the actuality of this classic. It was such a weird story! Weird, but very very well written. I must give credit to Mary Shelly who wrote Frankenstein when she was only 19. What a magnificent grasp of language she had. Though the book is quite wordy, it is also eloquent and thoughtful. It really does make you think about what it is to be alive and what every living being wants - friendship, love, society among peers... Interesting stuff to contemplate. It's a horror story, but far more disturbing than scary. I don't want to be a spoiler if you haven't read it, but what I found most fascinating was the character of the monster. All I thought the monster would do was grunt and walk around stiffly. That was not the case. Victor Frankenstein is also quite an interesting character. One might say he's a pompous jerk, but I digress. I would urge anyone to read this and discover what's really at the heart of all our Frankenstein lore.

28. Bridget Jones Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding
I had been anxiously awaiting this third installment of the Bridget Jones series for quite some time (like 10 years). I knew some of the plot because I watched an interview with Helen Fielding about the book before I read it, but I was not prepared for how hard it would be to accept the death of Mark Darcy. How could she do this to us - her loyal fans. It is in actuality killing off Mr. Darcy as Bridget Jones is a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice. It was traumatic. I had to take a few days just to mourn before reading the rest of the book (and you find out on like page 1). Going on, I did like the book. I liked Bridget as a mom and I liked her writing funny tweets on Twitter. Her friends are still fabulously funny and her dating exploits are hilarious. My favorite parts are her interactions with her two kids and the parents and teachers at her kids' school. I related to it and loved that humor. It's a Bridget Jones novel, so of course there's inappropriateness, but if you've enjoyed the first two books you'll probably like this one too, like I did.

29. Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
I read this book because I was needing some fluff. Again. It was nice enough and very escapist, but I found myself having a hard time liking or rooting for any of the characters. I didn't expect it to be a classic and as a beach-read sort of book it was reasonably fun. BTW, I liked the movie a lot better than the book, which might be a first for me... No wait, I liked both Breaking Dawn movies tons better than the book.:)

30. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Now this was a beautiful book. All about a mysterious circus and it's equally mysterious proprietors, performers, and patrons. In the midst of this circus, two magicians are engaged in a dangerous game of skill. I found it is the kind of book you just have to give yourself over to without expecting to know what is happening all the time. There are a lot of flashbacks and flash forwards and you just have to go with it knowing that eventually your questions will be satisfied. Maybe that can be frustrating, but I found the book to be so engaging and beautifully written that I was willing to go with it's unique style. I hope that made sense. I really enjoyed reading it and was sad when it was finished. That's the mark of a good book to me.

31. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
First off, I really really liked this book, but wow it was so much sadder than the cute cover would have you believe (again, I've got to stop judging books by their cover!). It is adult fiction though its main characters are two high school students. Eleanor's home life is beyond awful and she is relentlessly bullied at school. Her life is hellish. As I was reading I never wanted her to go home. Park is a sweet, under-the-radar kind of kid who has a difficult relationship with is father, but for the most part comes from  a stable happy family. Together Eleanor and Park become more themselves and thank goodness Eleanor is able to escape her horrible home life at Park's house. I loved Park's family, even his dad, and wanted as much as Eleanor to hand out with them at their house, eating sloppy joes for dinner and watching movies with air-popped popcorn on Friday nights. Their love story is so very youthful and sweet, studded with comic books, awesome 80's alternative music (Smiths, Joy Division, Cure - nice!), and of course misunderstandings and insecurity. This book makes you remember how awkward young love can be, but also how overpowering and beautiful it can be too. But again, it's darn sad and if you are sensitive to swears this might not be the book for you.  I loved it.

32. The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer
Wow, what a change from Eleanor and Park! I absolutely loved this book! I don't know why it took me so long to read this. It's been on my to-read shelf forever and I actually started it a couple of times. It's a great Regency romance with great unforgettable characters and beautiful Regency language. It was surprising and funny and read like watching a movie the whole time. It was written in 1950, so it's not always politically correct, but if you can forgive that, it's a superb read. I especially liked the ending. It was great.

33. Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers
Mary Poppins is cranky pants!! Who would have thought?! So this is the real children's book behind the much loved Disney movie, Mary Poppins. The book feels very different from the movie to say the least. It's a series of magical vignettes with the mysterious, vain, cranky, and magical nanny Mary at the center. Mary is in a perpetual bad mood and is rude to almost everyone including the children. But she does take the Banks children, of which there are four, on lots of crazy and strange adventures. It very much reads like a children's chapter book, so it's a fast read, but I did not find myself liking Mary at all. Maybe if I was a child in the 30's it would make more sense, but for me the adventures were bizarre and didn't string together very well. Anywho, I think Walt Disney did a great thing for Mary Poppins and P.L. Travers by making Mary lovable and all the cute songs didn't hurt the story either. I am glad to have read this before going to Saving Mr. Banks, because I felt like I understood the real story before seeing the Disney-fied version. By all accounts P.L. Travers absolutely hated the movie and Walt Disney until the day she died for "ruining" her Mary Poppins, but like I said I think the movie was a blessing to this cranky character.

34. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
First, I want to explain that this is the British North and South and not the Civil War North and South of Patrick Swayze mini-series fame. Very different. This is a great book on so many levels. The characters are  richly developed and the ark of the story is beautiful and redemptive. I really loved it and enjoyed the time I spend reading it. And it did take some time because it's a Victorian novel, so it's a bit wordy and at times slow going, but I was completely fine with having to work at this book because it was worth it and rewarding. Ultimately it is so very romantic. Mr. Thornton is very dreamy. Like Mr. Darcy or Captain Wentworth dreamy. Of course after finishing this book I spent the next two days watching the BBC movie adaptation every chance I got. It is the best costume drama! Richard Armitage is an amazingly good Mr. Thornton and it has probably the best movie ending ever. Love the book and the movie!

Choosing a favorite for 2013 is so hard! I'm going to have to give it to North and South followed by The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, and Eleanor and Park. I hope you had many happy reads in 2013 too and here's to many wonderful moments with good books in 2014!