2013 Literary Year In Review

Just in time for last-minute Christmas book-buying, it’s time again to take a look back at all the books I loved and loathed in 2013 (and I’ve got quite the backlog of reviews.) I did not get to read as much this year as I usually do, with school and my overseas teaching job keeping me on the run. I apologize for the repetitive answers.

1.Best Book You Read In 2013 by genre?

• Contemporary YA – Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
  
• Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic – Son (best only because it was the only one I read) 
  
• Historical Fiction – The only one I read this year was dreadful (Snow Flower and the Secret Fan)
  
• Paranormal – The Dream Thieves
  
• Science Fiction – I did not read any this year, to my horror!
  
• Fantasy – Peter Pan
• Fairy Tale – Bitter Greens (based on the Rapunzel fairy tale, though it was more magical historic fiction.)
  

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going to Love More But Didn’t?

•  Son by Lois Lowry

3. Most Surprising (in a good way!) book of 2013?

• Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth – I bought it based on a Twitter comment, and only had the vaguest idea of what to expect. What I got was nearly perfect.

4. Book you read in 2013 that you recommended to people most in 2013?

• Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sàenz

5. Best Series You Discovered in 2013?

•   I discovered no series, but The Dream Thieves really hit the gas on The Raven Cycle
  

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2013?

•  Kate Forsyth. It takes forever to get her books from England, but they are so completely worth the trouble.

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?

• The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin – I don’t read a lot of contemporary literature because there’s usually a lot of grimy sex and crime and drugs and cursing and it all makes me very tired of the world. I had read Shopgirl and while it was fine, it didn’t have me seeking out Martin’s new work. Luck put a copy of this book in the dormitory I lived in while working in Germany.

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2013?

•  I stayed up all night reading Bitter Greens. Like, ’til dawn.

9. Book you read in 2013 that you are most likely to re-read next year?

• I will probably re-read The Dream Thieves just before the next book in the series comes out.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2013?

11. Most memorable character in 2013?

• Just about everyone in Peter Pan, Daniel Pecan Cambridge.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2013?

•  Peter Pan and Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

13. Book that  had the greatest impact on you in 2013?

• The Omnivore’s Dilemma. I already spent a lot of time thinking about food, but that book actually pushed me to make some philosophical decisions about where my food budget goes. Mr. ArmchairAuthor and I no longer go to McDonald’s even as a guilty pleasure, and though we have limited resources we spend a little extra for meat and dairy from grass-fed cows. Thankfully those things are readily available in our rural town, which lies in the valley where most of the country’s food is grown.

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2013 to finally read?

• Peter Pan. Seriously, I used to rent the stage play of Peter Pan from the library every other week (my mom was super sick of it), and I bought the live action film from 2003 and made all the girls in Germany watch it with me. Why did I wait so long to read that book?

15. Favorite passage/quote from a book you read in 2013?

• “We too have been there; we can still hear the sound of the surf, though we shall land no more.” – J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

16. Shortest & longest book you read in 2013?

• Longest: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (not worth it), though I re-read the Harry Potter series and I think Deathly Hallows is longer (totally worth it.)
  
• Shortest: The Scarecrow and His Servant by Phillip Pullman (or any one of the dozens of picture books I read to my preschoolers.)

17. Book that had a scene in it that had you reeling and dying to talk to somebody about it:

• Peter Pan made me laugh so hard I was dying to share it with someone, Bitter Greens was beautiful and shocking in many scenes. The “final showdown” scene in The Dream Thieves was epic.

18. Favorite relationship from a book you read in 2013.

• Aristotle and Dante.

19. Favorite book you read in 2013 from an author you’ve read previously.

• The Pleasure of My Company contained many laughs.

20. Best book you read in 2013 that you read based SOLELY on a recommendation from somebody else.

• Bitter Greens. Maggie Stiefvater asked her Twitter followers to recommend read-alikes for her novels, and someone put this one forward. I read the synopsis, and the rest is history.

21. Genre you read the most from in 2013.

• This year was a little more diverse than others, given the circumstances, but Fantasy remained a heavy hitter on my reading list.

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2013.

• Call me crazy, but I don’t get crushes on fictional characters. Perhaps that makes me no fun, but it’s just the truth.

23. Best 2013 debut you read.

• I don’t think I read any debuts.

24. Most vivid world/imagery in a book you read in 2013.

• Bitter Greens, no contest. It is graphic.

25. Book that was the most fun to read in 2013.

• Peter Pan

26. Book that made you cry or nearly cry in 2013.

• Peter Pan

27. Book you read in 2013 that you think got overlooked this year or when it came out.

• Bitter Greens, at least in the states.

28. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)

• Though I did not post very many this year, I enjoyed putting together playlists for Mix-Tape Mondays. I have some ides for this meme in the new year that will take it away from just soundtracks for books (though I will still do that.)

29. Most popular bookish blog post of the year.

•  My most popular post written this year (24 views) was my review of Ender’s Game. The post with the most views this year, 440, was Character Study: Ginny Weasley vs. Cho Chang.

30. Book you’re most anticipating for 2014.

•  The next installment in The Raven Cycle!

31. Series ending you are most anticipating in 2014.

• The next installment in The Raven Cycle?