2013 books!

SO I haven't written much here this year. In part, I've been busy and occasionally sick, but mostly I've been not very exciting.  Despite new uncertainties and limitations, life mostly proceeds as it always has.  I wrote a bunch of grants, one of which was funded.   I drank a lot of cocktails on patios and at the back tables of new bars, and spent some time on the beach.  I saw the Finger lakes and the rocky coasts of Maine, went to San Diego twice in three weeks,  had many adventures.
 I also spent a lot of time in bed recuperating from one thing or another, which is pretty lame.  The upside of being sick all the time is, of course, lots of time to read!  These are the books I finished in 2013. I put asterisks by my ten favorites.  I should note that I am not one of those people who finishes every book they start, in fact I frequently start and don't finish.  If I don't find a book enjoyable or engaging or interesting, I stop reading (unless I'm super bored or on an airplane or something) So unless otherwise noted, any book on this list is one I considered worth reading, even if it wasn't one of my favorites ever:

1. Sharp Objects Gillian Flynn    Dark but good. I also tried to read Dark Places by her, but couldn't get into it
2. Year of the Flood Margaret Atwood  re-read
3. The Dovekeepers Alice Hoffman  re-read
4. Ghost Map Steven Johnson  A rare non-fiction book. Would you like to know more about cholera? Then this is the book for you!
5. The Garden of Evening  Mists Tan Twen Eng
6. Sweet Tooth Ian McEwen  A nice engaging read, but the finale felt a little bit like a re-tread of some of his surprise endings.
7. Through the Ever Night Veronica Rossi
8. Little Wolves Thomas Maltman
9. The Sense of an Ending Julian Barnes
10. Scarlet Marissa Mayer
11. The Gentle Axe R. N.  Morris
12. Philida Andre Brink 
13. *Vampires in the Lemon Grove Karen Russell  I don't usually get that into short stories, but I devoured these.  This lady can write!
14. *Out of the Easy Ruta Septys This one is technically for teenagers, but it takes place in a brothel and other assorted stations of the criminal underworld in New Orleans, so...older teenagers? Upon finishing, I immediately wished it was a series so there could be more
15. A Vengeful Longing R. N.  Morris
16. Wise Men  Stuart Nadler 
17. Legend Marie Lu Decent for those of you who like dystopian worlds saved by plucky teens
18. Between Shades of Grey Ruta Septys  Not that shades of grey! This one is about life in a gulag. Slightly less sexy. 
19. Jacob's Folly Rebecca Miller It took me a while to get used to the premise (17th century parisian jew is reincarnated as a fly on long island), but once I did I enjoyed it
20. When We Wake Karen Healey
21. *A Tale for the Time Being Ruth Ozeki Lovely, reminds me a little bit of The Elegance of the Hedgehog, which is one of my all-time favorites
22. Dark Triumph Robyn LaFevers
23. *The Golem and The Jinni Helene Wecker  
24. The Fever Tree Jennifer McVeigh 
25. Southern Cross the Dog Bill Cheng I
26. *Constellation of Vital Phenomena Anthony Marra  Probably my favorite of the year. Completely beautiful and haunting and poignant, it's a book that makes you ache long after you finish. 
27. Seige and Storm Leigh Bardugo
28. Until She Comes Home Lori Roy
29. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without me Mindy Kaling
30. Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway Sara Gran Not quite as good as the first Claire DeWitt novel, but still a fun read
31. Shining Girls Lauren Beukes This started off so good and interesting, and ended up sort of...blah.  
32. The River of No Return Bee Ridgeway
33. The Time in Between Marie Duenas 
34. A Moment Comes Jennifer Bradbury
35. The Last Runaway Tracey Chevalier
36. The Never List Koethi Zan 
37. The Arrivals Melissa Marr
38. The Wicked Girls Alex Marwood
39. Blood and Beauty Sarah Dunant
40. Love and Lament John Millikin Thompson 
41. Lost Girls Robert Kolker
42. *Maddaddam Margaret Atwood The sequel to Year of the Flood and Oryx and Crake,  not quite as spectactular as those two, but a nice ending to the trilogy 
43. *The Daughters of Mars Thomas Kenneally The story of two sisters who become nurses in WWI. Aside from an annoying habit of saying things like "we're going to Gallipolli where I'm sure nothing bad will happen", this is great
44. Seven for a Secret Lyndsey Faye
45. The Hired Man Aminatta Forna
46. The Fire Witness Lars Kepler
47. The Last Animal Abby Geni 
48. We are Water Wally Lamb Wally Lamb has this annoying tendency to try to work a bunch of hot-button issues into every book he writes. It was obnoxious in earlier books, but in this one renders an otherwise interesting story pretty much unreadable. I wouldn't have finished if I hadn't been trapped on an airplane. 
49. The Bone Season Samantha Shannon   A new sci-fi/fantasy/dystopian series. This book was definitely flawed, but I think the series has a lot of promise. 
50. My Notorious Life Kate Manning
51. *Life after life Kate Atkinson Really fascinating, sort of darkly funny.  The only downside is that the story is about a woman who has infinite lives, so the first fifty or sixty pages feature a baby/little girl dying over and over again, which is a bit of a bummer
52. *The Lowland Jhumpa Lahiri 
53. Rustication Charles Palliser
54. *Code  Name Verity Elizabeth Wein  SO GOOD.  This was one of my favorites. Great storytelling, characters, everything.  Technically a book for teenagers, but I think it would appeal to adults who don't like YA lit too.  A pretty quick read, but as soon as I finished (and stopped crying), I immediately flipped back to the front and re-read the first half. 
55. Rose under Fire Elizabeth Wein   Sequel to Code Name Verity.  Not quite as good, but still worth reading
56. All the Truth That is in Me  Julie Berry
57. Fool Christopher Moore
58. The Road Cormac McCarthy   Just to end the year on a positive note...

   Also, some re-reads:

   59-61.  The Hunger Games Trilogy
   62-68.  Harry Potter 1-7