8 years! How did that happen? This blog is old ; ). Anyway, as I usually do, I will use my last post of the year to talk about my favourite topic…books! Or book and reading I guess. This year I have read less than usual, mainly because I got vertigo in August which meant a couple of months where reading fiction of the printed/e-book variety was limited (nothing like feeling seasick to ruin a good read). My saving grace during that time was audiobooks but the average audiobook is 10 hours plus and I can probably read 2 1/2 physical books in that time. Plus lots of my audiobooks are re-reads and comfort type listens, so not much new book ground there. I tend to listen to audiobooks of books I already know because audiobooks do tend to give the writer brain time to pick out any flaws, so I start with books I already like to minimise the chances of that. Plus I am, as previously stated, very picky about audiobooks narrators, so I re-listen to the ones I like.
But anyway, of the books I did manage to get through, here are some of my faves this year!
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn – Good twisty (or twisted, maybe) suspense
Written in Red by Anne Bishop – A good urban-kind-of fantasy with a very interesting world…looking forward to the next one.
The One That Got Away by Kelly Hunter – Kelly, as usual, delivered some of my fave short contemporary reads this year (What the Bride Didn’t Know was another cracker!)
A Spear of Summer Grass by Deanna Raybourn – I’ve been a fan of Deanna’s Lady Julia Grey series since it started but this stand-alone journey to Africa was just as good.
Untamed by Anna Cowan – A vivid and beautifully written very different historical romance that sucked me right in
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson – A YA paranormal mystery that was both funny and downright creepy at times
Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan – Another YA paranormal gothic mystery. Sarah writes great heroines and great funny dialogues while ripping out your heart.
Her Favourite Rival/Her Favourite Temptation by Sarah Mayberry – Two gorgeous short contemporary romances by Sarah, another of my fave contemporary writers
Coming to My Senses by Alyssa Harad – part memoir, part love letter to perfume, and all delectable. I don’t read a lot of narrative non-fiction but this is the kind I love.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman – Lovely, strange and also quite heartbreaking in parts. I listened to it and read it. I definitely recommend the audiobook as anything read by Neil Himself is great.
So there you go, some of the books that made me laugh, gave me feels, made me think and entertained and cheered me this year. I look forward to discovering more in 2014.
What about you? What were some favourite reads this year?
