As I mentioned in my last post, I didn't reach my goal of reading 80 books this year. I've read 65, and I think I'll reach 66 by the end of the year.
Still, I read some really good books! Surprisingly, all but two of my favorite books of the year are actually Christian fiction. I'll usually really enjoy a couple of books from that genre each year, but apparently 2013 was an exceptionally good year for Christian fiction. :)
{The Tutor's Daughter, The Heiress of Winterwood, Rebellious Heart, Fangirl, Under Wildwood, Dear Mr. Knightley, Once Upon a Prince, Made to Last, Rules of Murder}
By the way, I haven't actually finished Rules of Murder yet, and that's why there's no link to my review. I'm about halfway through, but I'm sure I'll finish it soon and I'm enjoying it enough already for it to make my favorites list! But please: no spoilers.
I usually say that these are my favorite books that I read this year, though they weren't necessarily released in 2013. This time, though, all of my favorites were actually released this year!
Of the 65 books I've read, I had eleven rereads, which is a pretty good amount. I reread some of my favorites this year, including Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, and Ella Enchanted. I read three completed series: the Across the Universe trilogy, The Giver quartet, and the Sarah, Plain and Tall books. I also read one uncompleted series: The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place (the fourth book just came out, and there's at least one more after that).
If you've been reading the blog for a while, you know that I usually only post about books I've been sent for review. In 2014 I want to start writing about books more! I want to do more reviews and just more bookish posts in general. But if you want to follow everything that I read, check out my obsessively maintained Goodreads. (Seriously, sites like Goodreads and Ravelry were made for obsessive people like me.)
It was a good year for books! I just wish I had read more. :) But don't worry, I have grand plans for next year (of course. I always do). There are so many lovely books coming out! More on that soon...
What are your favorite books of 2013?
Oh this is a fun end of the year prompt! I'm going to steal it (with credit to you if couse) and write up my own on my blog!!!
ReplyDeleteI never read Christian fiction anymore but reading many of your reviews this year makes me want to return.
I used to read a lot of Christian YA when I was a young teenager, but then I went through a spell for years where I didn't read any Christian fiction. I just started reading it again about two or three years ago. :) If you like historical fiction, I highly recommend Julie Klassen's The Tutor's Daughter. It was so, so good, and reminiscent of Austen and Jane Eyre.
DeleteLove reading these posts and WOW, Kristin you have some great ones on here; many of them are my own favorites too. Got mine all ready for next week.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you're enjoying Rules of Murder; hope you like the end just as well. :)
I look forward to reading your post! :) I do love a good mystery...I have some speculations, so I'm curious to see if I'm right about any of them.
DeleteBooklists are definitely one of my favorite things. I could peruse them on the internet for days. :D I didn't have a specific goal this year, but after looking over my list of completed books, I'm pretty happy with ones I was able to read. Plenty of delightful re-reads and only one book that I didn't like at all. I always have a hard time narrowing down favorites, but I think that my top 10 books or series that I either read or re-read this year are (in no particular order...):
ReplyDeleteThe Underland Chronicles – Suzanne Collins
The Book Thief – Markus Zusak
The Giver Quartet – Lois Lowry
The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien
Ender's Game – Orson Scott Card
Percy Jackson and the Olympians (series) – Rick Riordan
Strong Poison (and the next three Lord Peter Whimsey Mysteries with Harriet Vane) – Dorothy Sayers
The Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
Dear Mr. Knightley – Katherine Reay
Looking forward to the rest of your end-of-the-year posts, Kristin!
I've heard such good things about The Underland Chronicles! Our library doesn't have them, though, so I haven't been able to read them yet. The Great Gatsby is definitely on my to-read list for 2014. :) And I'm glad you loved Dear Mr. Knightley, too!
DeleteP.S. You should totally start a blog in 2014. *hint hint* :)
I love all of your review posts, Kristin! They're awesome. I've got several of those books on my to-read list.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite books I read this year are:
On Distant Shores by Sarah Sundin
She Walks in Beauty by Siri Mitchell
Queen of the Waves by Janice Tompson
A Distant Melody by Sarah Sundin
I think it's safe to say I like historical fiction. Ha! :)
I'm glad you like them! I have way too much fun writing them. :)
DeleteI love the first two books in Sarah Sundin's Wings of Glory series. I have the third one but haven't read it yet. I read She Walks in Beauty a couple of years ago and loved it! I really enjoyed Janice Thompson's Weddings by Bella series, but I had no idea she had written historical fiction, much less one about the Titanic! That one's definitely going on my to-read list. :)
I change my reading goals sometimes. I started out with 60 this year then progressively bumped it up and up because I didn't feel I should surpass 60 and be at 110% or whatever unless I had like 100 as my first goal. I am at 84 (my goal is 85 right now), but I feel that I am focusing too much on quantity and not quality, so I should probably set it low and keep it low to read longer books! I like when people post about books; that is often how I find new reading material. Through reading your blog I have been inspired to try The Series of Unfortunate Events (I read the first and have no wish to continue, but I tried something new and finished another book, so that was a good experience), and have Wildwood and Under Wildwood in my huge stack of library books to read.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you didn't like The Bad Beginning! But like you said, it's always good to try a new sort of book. :) I was a little disappointed in Wildwood, but Under Wildwood was so much better! Now I'm very much looking forward to the third and final book that's coming out next year.
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