What I Read in 2013

"The Game of Thrones books are overwritten, have rather shallow characters, and the map of Westeros isn't nearly as interesting as George R. R. Martin thinks it is. But I can't stop reading them!" -- This Girl

2013 was hard on me. I put in 50+ hour workweeks between the two part-time jobs that I report to the IRS. I also picked up freelance writing work (marketing content, but what the hey). I also did odd jobs for cash.

Usually I was too busy to do things for myself, you know, like tie my shoes or eat a meal sitting down or remember what day it is.

And yet. And yet! I averaged a little more than one book per week for pleasure in 2013.

There have been years I nearly doubled my goal of reading 52 books in 52 weeks. I guess I'm just happy I can still make sense of all these symbols strung together as words.

Reading, though enjoyable, is never purely recreational for me. I take writing seriously, and writers need to read. Reading is work, in a way.

So here it is, if I finish what I'm reading now I will have read 55 books in 2013.

My Top Ten:
Cavedweller by Dorothy Allison (Seriously, this is now one of my favorite books of all time! This book is maybe the best thing that happened to me in 2013! LOVE DIS BOOK.)
The Book of Saladin by Tariq Ali
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum (I read these as a kid, but I truly enjoyed rereading the Oz series, this one especially, as an adult.)
Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver
The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
We Need New Names by NoViolet Buluwayo
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
Sonata Mulattica by Rita Dove

The Whole Shebang:
1. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (Horror/SciFi)
2. Habibi by Craig Thompson (EPIC Graphic Novel)
3. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green (Young Adult Fiction)
4.  Goodbye, Columbus by Philip Roth (Fiction/Short Story Collection)
5. NW: A Novel by Zadie Smith (Fiction)
6. The Illuminated Rumi, Translated by Coleman Barks (Poetry)
7. A Hologram for the King by Dave Eggers (Fiction)
8. Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver (Fiction)
9. This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz (Fiction)
10. I Don't Care About Your Band: What I Learned from Indie Rockers, Trust Funders, Pornographers, Felons, Faux-Sensitive Hipsters, and Other Guys I've Dated by Julie Klausner (Humor/Memoir. Sucked.)
11. Cavedweller by Dorothy Allison (Fiction)
12. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (Children's Fantasy)
13. The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum (Children's Fantasy)
14. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen (Fiction)
15. The Book of Saladin by Tariq Ali (Fiction)
16. Zeitoun by Dave Eggers (Creative Nonfiction?)
17. Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum (Children's Fantasy)
18. Left Neglected by Lisa Genova (Fiction)
19. The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier (Historical Fiction)
20. Revolutionary Letters by Diane di Prima (Poetry)
21. Dorothy And The Wizard In Oz by L. Frank Baum (Children's Fantasy)
22. Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver (Fiction)
23. Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? by Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert (Comic/Graphic Novel)
24. The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka (Fiction)
25. If I Stay by Gayle Forman (Young Adult Fiction)
26. Ladders To Fire by Anaïs Nin (Fiction)
27. Of Mistresses, Tigresses and Other Conquests by Giacomo Casanova (Memoir. Allegedly.)
28. The Road to Oz by L. Frank Baum (Children's Fantasy)
29. Liliane: Resurrection of the Daughter by Ntozake Shange (Fiction)
30. The Actual by Saul Bellow (Fiction)
31. Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer (Nonfiction)
32. Eleven Minutes  by Paulo Coelho (Fiction)
33. The Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum (Children's Fantasy)
34. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (Young Adult Fiction)
35. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (SciFi)
36. We Need New Names by NoViolet Buluwayo (Fiction)
37. Dawn by Octavia Bulter (Really Disturbing SciFi!)
38. Children of the Albatross Anaïs Nin (Fiction)
39. The Goshawk by T.H. White (Nonfiction)
40. Corona by Bushra Rehman (Fiction)
41. Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson (Fiction)
42. In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez (Historical Fiction)
43. Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward (Fiction)
44. Loose Woman by Sandra Cisneros (Poetry)
45. Questions About Angels by Billy Collins (Poetry)
46. Sonata Mulattica by Rita Dove (Poetry)
47. Trickster's Choice by Tamora Pierce (Young Adult Fantasy)
48. Immortality by Milan Kundera (Fiction)
49. A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin (Fantasy)
50. A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin (Fantasy)
51. A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin (Fantasy)
52. The Golden Apples by Eudora Welty (Fiction/Short Story Collection)
53. Three Stories by J.D. Salinger (Fiction/Short Story Collection)
54. Batman: Knightfall, Vol. 1 (Comic Collection)
55. A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin (Fantasy)