2013 Book List. No, Really.

Last year, I lamented the shocking fact that for my annual book list, I DIDN'T POST IT UNTIL APRIL. What could be worse than THAT? 

ANSWER: Waiting until Oct-freaking-ober. LATE October.

What can I tell you about the books I read during 2013? Well, at this point . . .  not a whole lot. In many cases, they've faded into the back of my mind and clumped together. 

But 2013 had some standouts. Little Bee, Room, Beauty Queens, A Year of Biblical Womanhood, and Caleb's Crossing were very good, often for totally different reasons. Any, after 9+ months of incremental fussing, I give you the book list of 2013.

1.      Dark Road to Darjeeling       

Deanna Raybourn      

Mystery/historical fiction
Rating: 3.75

2.     Blind Descent 

Nevada Barr   

Mystery 
Rating: 3.25         

3.      The Milk Memos:How Real Moms Learned to Mix Business with Babies-and How You Can, Too
Cate Colburn-Smith and Andrea Serrette     

Parenting        

Rating: 3.5

4.      The Winter Palace      

Eva Stachniak

Historical fiction   
Rating: 4     

5.     Envy   

Anna Godbersen        

Young adult/historical fiction

Rating: 4

6.      The Winter Sea           

Susanna Kearsley       

Historical fiction        

Rating: 4

7.      Unexpectedly, Milo    

Matthew Dicks          

Contemporary literature         

Rating: 2.5

8.     Torn: True Stories of Kids, Career & the Conflict of Modern Motherhood   

Edited by Samantha Parent Walravens         

Parenting          

9.      Splendor         

Anna Godbersen        

Young adult/historical fiction
Rating: 4

10.  The World Before Her

Deborah Weisgall       

Contemporary literature         

Rating: 4

11.  A Gate at the Stairs    

Lorrie Moore  

Contemporary literature         

Rating: 4.25

12.  Little Bee        

Chris Cleave   

Contemporary literature         

Rating: 5

13.  Habits of the House    

Fay Weldon   

Contemporary literature/historical fiction

Rating: 3.75

14.  Any Day a Beautiful Change: A Story of Faith and Family   

Katherine Willis Pershey        

Autobiography/religion

Rating: 4

15.  Room  

Emma Donoghue       

Contemporary literature         

Rating: 5

16.  Only God Knows Why: A Mother's Memoir of Death and Rebirth    

Amy Lyon

Autobiography/religion

Rating: 4

17.  Beauty Queens           

Libba Bray     

Young adult   

Rating: 4.25

18.  Summer House           

Nancy Thayer 

Contemporary literature         

19.  Revenge of the Radioactive Lady       

Elizabeth Stuckey-French      

Contemporary literature         

Rating: 4

20. Maine       

J. Courtney Sullivan   
Contemporary literature         
Rating: 4.5

21.  A Likely Story: One Summer With Lillian Hellman   

Rosemary Mahoney   

Autobiography/biography

Rating: 3.75

22.  Untold Story   

Monica Ali     

Contemporary literature         

Rating: 4

23.  Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers       

Lois-Ann Yamanaka  

Contemporary literature         

Rating: 3

24.  The Unseen    

Alexandra Sokoloff   

Thriller

Rating: 3.75

25.  Who Will Run the Frog Hospital?      

Lorrie Moore  

Contemporary literature         

Rating: 4

26.  A Year of Biblical Womanhood          

Rachel Held Evans    

Religion/women's studies
Rating: 4

27.  Long Live the King     

Fay Weldon

Historical fiction        

Rating: 3.5

28.  Dracula          

Bram Stoker   

Victorian literature     

Rating: 3.75

29.  Caleb's Crossing        

Geraldine Brooks       

Historical fiction   
Rating: 4.5