Favorite Books of 2013

Here’s everything I read in 2013.

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Bomb: The Race to Build – and Steal – the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon – How could this book NOT be on my list?  Dan and I read it together and both loved it.  I made a bunch of my friends read it and THEY all loved it.  It’s just fascinating stuff that’s not usually told written in a really gripping way.  A total winner. (Sidenote: I also loved Sheinkin’s book about Benedict Arnold.)

Code Name Verity – Another super popular one that deserves the hype.  Historical fiction and terrific.

The Willpower Instinct – Fascinating pop psychology on the science of willpower.

Chasing Lincoln’s Killer – James Swanson, I love you.  I’ve always been fascinated by Lincoln, and this was perfect to listen to right before our trip to Springfield, IL.

Snow Flower & the Secret Fan – I just thought this was gorgeously written with really excellent characterization.  Couldn’t put it down.

Bonus! Bossypants.  I bandwagoned and laughed a lot.  Often while I was going on long runs in prep four our half marathon so there was lots of gasping both from being out of shape and it being hilarious.

State of Wonder – Eight months later and I’m still rolling my eyes at this book’s plot/characters/inaccuracies/etc.  I’ve decided I just really don’t like Ann Patchett.  No bandwagoning here.

The Shoemaker’s Wife – This started out SO good, so maybe part of my low rating was overly high expectations.  It just had so much potential, and then just petered…not that long in.  The characters just kept doing dumb things and I was annoyed with the plot and it went on foreeeeever.

Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture – Again, had high hopes.  Again, they were wasted.  Just was not very tightly written, and needed a lot more research backing.  The author’s voice was very clear, and it was not a voice I particularly enjoyed.

The Family Fang – Read for a book club and was just…so weird.

Rules of Civility – I didn’t HATE this book, but I just really did not love it.  I did not like basically any of the characters, and I also didn’t like the person reading it on the audio version.  Perhaps I should shy away from the adult bestsellers and stick with the YA ones?  Whatever that says about me.