Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Looking Back at the Books of 2013

I didn't read 100 books as I attempted last year, but it's a new year and I can set that as a goal again.  I did read 81.  I also almost finished my challenge of reading all of Agatha Christie's books.  I have 14 more of those to read and most of those are short story collections.  Rather than listing all the books I've read in the order read, I'm grouping them.

Agatha Christie books read in 2013
The Man in the Brown Suit - recommended by my doctor and she was right.  Great book.
The Secret of Chimneys
The Seven Dials Mystery
THe Mysterious Mr. Quin
The Sittaford Mystery
Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
Murder is Easy
And Then There Were None - I knew how this one came out because I saw it as a play.
Towards Zero
Death Comes at the End
Sparkling Cyanide
Crooked House
They Came to Baghdad
Destination Unknown
The Pale Horse
Endless Night
Passenger to Frankfurt- this was the strangest one I've read of hers.
The Secret Adversary
Nemesis - A Miss Marple mystery, one that I missed reading in 2012.
Partners in Crime
Black Coffee

Books Read for My Book Clubs in 2013
The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb - excellent!
Molaka'i - a sad story
Five Quarters of an Orange - quite an intriguing story
The Orchardist - tedious, too wordy.
Guest of Honor
Plain Song
The Kitchen House - not believable
Go Tell it on the Mountain
The Talk Funny Girl - spellbinding
The Silver Star
Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker - not what you'd expect from historical fiction, a disappointment.

Non-fiction Selections in 2013
Adoption is a Family Affair
The Hare With Amber Eyes - A Family's Century of Art and Loss
Wicked Baltimore - Charm City Sin & Scandal
Finding Everett Ruess
A Dream So Big
In the Sea There Are Crocodiles
100 Objects from the British Museum
The Mary Lincoln Enigma

Other Books I Enjoyed in 2013 that I Recommend to You
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
The Language of Flowers
Playing for Pizza
The Aviator's Wife
The Secret Keeper
Remarkable Creatures
Soloman's Oak
The Gallery of Vanished Husbands

I'm not going to list all the books I read.  The ones not included above were okay, but largely not worth mentioning.  I don't make a practice of reading a book I don't like unless it's for the book club. I did re-read four books this year that I highly recommend.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - read it for the third time.
Time and Again - read after many years break for the third time.
Tears of the Giraffe- part of the series No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, re-read for second time.
The Secret Garden - a children's book I hadn't read in a very long time.  Still a delight.

What books would you recommend I add to my list to read in 2014?

Happy New Year!







8 comments:

  1. Yay, more people posting lists of books they've read. I don't think I've read any on your list except for Secret Garden. And I agree, that one is a delight. Thank you for the reminder of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society - I really wanted to read that when it came out but instead ending up buying it for my sister and then never managing to borrow it. Must have a look in the library for it when they open again after the break.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by. You must read Guernsey Literary … It's the best. Too bad the author did survive to write another one.

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  2. Oh, found you via Two Men and a Little Farm, just in case you were wondering. I always find it interesting to see the connections. :)

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  3. I just don’t have as much time and energy to read these days as I would like! I invariably fall asleep after a couple chapters, unless it is an incredibly riveting book.
    Usually I read nonfiction and essays, most often related to farming, of course. Favorites for this year:
    Clabbered Dirt, Sweet Grass by Gary Paulsen - my first book read of 2013 - totally lovely
    Growing a Feast by Kurt Timmermeister ( I may have also read his previous book, Growing a Farmer, this year)
    Portrait of a Burger as a Young Calf by Peter Lovenheim
    Restoration Agriculture by Mark Shepard (reading this now -it was a birthday present and is GREAT)
    Eat Pray Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert
    Esme Dooley by Jane Donovan - this is a kids’ book I read in order to interview the author for my radio show, and I totally loved it

    I have a tall stack of wanna-reads next to my bed, including some fiction , right now. So many books, so little time!

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  4. I don't think I've read any of these. Looks like a good year of reading. Thanks for joining the blog hop!

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  5. I love the Secret Garden, I like your Agatha Christie spree, I read a lot of her in high school, addicting

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