I have loved to read all of my life but have recognized recently that when my life is especially challenging I read more. A couple of months ago I vowed to make 2014 the year I didn’t read any books and concentrate more on writing but something popped up that means the going will be tough so I expect that I will keep embracing my escapism into books. Plus the fact that I love information and really dig good stories. Be all that as it may, 2013 is o-vuh! Following is a list of the books I read last year. If you want a description of what I thought about the books, visit my Shelfari site here.
Ratings Key: ****Superlative ***I really liked **I liked * Don’t bother
SELF-HELP
****This is How: Proven Aid in Overcoming Shyness, Molestation, Fatness, Spinsterhood, Grief, Disease, Lushery, Decrepitude & More. For Young and Old Alike by Augusten Burroughs.
BIOGRAPHIES/MEMOIRS
****My Beloved World: Sonia Sotomayor
***The Butler: A Witness to History – Wil Haygood
**Running with Scissors – Augusten Burroughs
****Take Me With You: A Memoir – Carlos Frias
*Married at Fourteen: A True Story – Lucille Laing Day
**Open Wide the Freedom Gates: A Memoir – Dorothy I. Height
***Orange is the New Black – Piper Kerman
***They Can’t Hide Us Anymore – Richie Havens
**The Only Girl in the Car – Kathy Doble
***Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, & Sex Changed a Nation at War – Leymah Gbowee
***Paper Shadows: A Memoir of a Life Lost & Found – Wayson Choi
***Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? – Mindy Kaling
**Devotion – Dani Shapiro
****A Christmas Memory – Truman Capote
****Wild – Cheryl Strayed
****Life – Keith Richards
***The Courage to Hope: How I Stood Up to the Politics of Fear – Shirley Sherrod
(Country Girl: A Memoir – Edna O’Brien – started but didn’t finish because it was due back at the library)
FICTION:
****Americanah – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
***My Antonia – Willa Cather
****The Reader – Bernhard Schlink
**Some Things I Never Thought I’d Do – Pearl Cleage
****Runaway – Alice Munro
***Dear Life – Alice Munro
**The Woman Upstairs – Claire Messud
****Home – Toni Morrison
**The Sense of An Ending – Julian Barnes
**The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963 – Christopher Paul Curtis
****A Mercy – Toni Morrison
***The Heart of the Matter – Graham Greene (I read this novel because it was mentioned several times in the novel Americanah.)
***The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest – Stieg Larsson
***The Silver Crescent – Leslie Woodard
***The Art Forger: A Novel – B.A. Shapiro
****Man Gone Down – Michael Thomas
***The Girl Who Played With Fire – Stieg Larsson
**Make Him Look Good – Alisa Valdes Rodriguez
***The Infinite Plan – Isabel Allende
***NW – Zadie Smith
**The Little Stranger – Sarah Water
**The Shadow Girls: A Novel – Henning Markel
***Defending Jacob – William Landay
****The Orphan Master’s Son – Adam Johnson
***Arcadia – Lauren Groff
***Train Dreams – Denis Johnson
***Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet – Jamie Ford
****Housekeeping – Marilynne Robinson
***A Scattered Life – Karen McQuestion
NON-FICTION
****How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, & the Hidden Power of Character – Paul Tough
***Cooked – Michael Pollan
**Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea – Barbara Derrick
***A Wedding in Haiti – Julia Alvarez
***Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity – Katherine Boo
***The Hare with the Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance – Edwin de Waal
***You’re Broke because You Want to Be: How to Stop Getting By and Start Getting Ahead – Larry Winget
****The End of Your Life Book Club – Will Schwalbe
***Bringing Up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting – Pamela Druckerman
CHILDREN’S FICTION (I read more books in this category but didn’t note them)
***No 1 Car Spotter – Atinuke
**The Bad Beginning – Lemony Snickett
HUMOR
****New Yorker Cartoons of the Year 2013 – Various
◊ If you liked this post, you might also like:
Learning from the Lives of Others: My Fascination with Memoirs
Why did “My Antonia” get only 3 stars???
Love having your list!!!
Kay
I meant to put 4 stars. Thanks for taking time to comment.