2013 Books in Review
My goal was to read 52 books this year... so far I have read 37. I don't think it's possible to reach my goal at this point, so I'll be happy with the amount I did read. I highlighted the ones in RED that i really loved, and I'll say a few words about why.
So in the order that i read them...
Is Everyone Hanging Out without Me? By Mindy Kaling
Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler
If You Lived Here by Dana Sachs - Beautiful insight into relationships, the past, the things we carry, and adoption.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos - Another relationship book with all the ugly and the good of friendships
7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker - This book really made me think about my life, my choices and my stuff... and how it's okay to get rid of things and less is more!
The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow
Bossypants by Tina Fey
The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen
Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews
The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen
The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain
Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann - Interesting story with a murder mystery thrown in... and lots of messed up characters.
Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld - Twin sisters are able to predict the future, one embraces their gift the other runs from it. Will their big earthquake prediction come true??? It's a page turner!
If It's Not One Thing, It's Your Mother by Julia Sweeney
The Sinners and The Sea: The Untold Story of Noah's Wife by Rebecca Kanner - I have never really thought much about the story of Noah, let alone his wife, but this fictional account is really great!
Between You and Me by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala - This is a memoir of a woman who lost her whole family in the 2004 Tsunami in Sri Lanka. We are talking her parents, husband and two boys. How she picks herself up after this and fights to live is beyond me? It is a heartbreaking, beautiful story.
Rescue by Anita Shreve
Coming Clean: A Memoir by Kimberly Rae Miller
Still Points North: Surviving The World's Greatest Alaskan Childhood by Leigh Newman
The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer
Someone by Alice McDermott
At the Bottom of Everything by Ben Dolnick
Tapestry of Fortunes by Elizabeth Berg
The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan - The author intertwines 4 different stories set around love, engagements and the diamond industry. Well written and lots of great characters.
Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist
Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple - I loved how quirky the character Bernadette was, she is crazy and weird and neurotic. My kind of gal.
Ready for Air: A Journey Through Premature Motherhood by Kate Hopper - This book hit home for me because I also had a preemie. And not only that, but the author had her baby at the same hospital I did. Reading it was hard and very cathartic. It's good to read something that someone else has been through. But even if you don't have a preemie in your life, Kate Hopper is just a great writer!
No One Could Have Guessed the Weather by Anne-Marie Casey
What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love by Carole Radziwill
Me Before You by JoJo Moyes - This book was definitely my favorite this year. A quadriplegic and his caregiver develop an unlikely friendship. But what they learn from each other is what makes it so beautiful. Heartbreaking and funny... it's a winner!
Desperate: Hope for the Mom who Needs to Breath by Sarah Mae and Sally Clarkson
Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Woman's Prison by Piper Kerman- I actually first saw the Netflix original show Orange is the New Black before I read the book. So of course I was expecting the book to be just like the show. It's not. But it's just as good and definitely gives more real insight into life in a woman's prison. Full of triumphs, heartbreaks, and laughs.
The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult - I've never read a Jodi Picoult book because I assumed they were all Life Time Original movies in the making. This book was far from it. A young girl strikes up a friendship with an old man who asks her for a favor. But what happens when she discovers the man is not who she thinks she is? Set partially during the Holocaust this book has some real sad and disturbing moments. But the story is phenomenal and worth reading!
Little Bee by Chris Cleave
Carry On, Warrior: Thoughts on Life Unarmed by Glennon Doyle Melton - I Loved this book and I love Glennon Melton! She writes so beautifully and delicately about life, addiction, motherhood, love, and forgiveness. I read it in one sitting!
My book picks of the year would have to be: Me Before You, Orange is the New Black, and Carry On, Warrior.
What are some of your favorite books you've read this year?
So in the order that i read them...
Is Everyone Hanging Out without Me? By Mindy Kaling
Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler
If You Lived Here by Dana Sachs - Beautiful insight into relationships, the past, the things we carry, and adoption.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos - Another relationship book with all the ugly and the good of friendships
7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker - This book really made me think about my life, my choices and my stuff... and how it's okay to get rid of things and less is more!
The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow
Bossypants by Tina Fey
The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen
Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews
The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen
The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain
Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann - Interesting story with a murder mystery thrown in... and lots of messed up characters.
Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld - Twin sisters are able to predict the future, one embraces their gift the other runs from it. Will their big earthquake prediction come true??? It's a page turner!
If It's Not One Thing, It's Your Mother by Julia Sweeney
The Sinners and The Sea: The Untold Story of Noah's Wife by Rebecca Kanner - I have never really thought much about the story of Noah, let alone his wife, but this fictional account is really great!
Between You and Me by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala - This is a memoir of a woman who lost her whole family in the 2004 Tsunami in Sri Lanka. We are talking her parents, husband and two boys. How she picks herself up after this and fights to live is beyond me? It is a heartbreaking, beautiful story.
Rescue by Anita Shreve
Coming Clean: A Memoir by Kimberly Rae Miller
Still Points North: Surviving The World's Greatest Alaskan Childhood by Leigh Newman
The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer
Someone by Alice McDermott
At the Bottom of Everything by Ben Dolnick
Tapestry of Fortunes by Elizabeth Berg
The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan - The author intertwines 4 different stories set around love, engagements and the diamond industry. Well written and lots of great characters.
Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist
Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple - I loved how quirky the character Bernadette was, she is crazy and weird and neurotic. My kind of gal.
Ready for Air: A Journey Through Premature Motherhood by Kate Hopper - This book hit home for me because I also had a preemie. And not only that, but the author had her baby at the same hospital I did. Reading it was hard and very cathartic. It's good to read something that someone else has been through. But even if you don't have a preemie in your life, Kate Hopper is just a great writer!
No One Could Have Guessed the Weather by Anne-Marie Casey
What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love by Carole Radziwill
Me Before You by JoJo Moyes - This book was definitely my favorite this year. A quadriplegic and his caregiver develop an unlikely friendship. But what they learn from each other is what makes it so beautiful. Heartbreaking and funny... it's a winner!
Desperate: Hope for the Mom who Needs to Breath by Sarah Mae and Sally Clarkson
Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Woman's Prison by Piper Kerman- I actually first saw the Netflix original show Orange is the New Black before I read the book. So of course I was expecting the book to be just like the show. It's not. But it's just as good and definitely gives more real insight into life in a woman's prison. Full of triumphs, heartbreaks, and laughs.
The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult - I've never read a Jodi Picoult book because I assumed they were all Life Time Original movies in the making. This book was far from it. A young girl strikes up a friendship with an old man who asks her for a favor. But what happens when she discovers the man is not who she thinks she is? Set partially during the Holocaust this book has some real sad and disturbing moments. But the story is phenomenal and worth reading!
Little Bee by Chris Cleave
Carry On, Warrior: Thoughts on Life Unarmed by Glennon Doyle Melton - I Loved this book and I love Glennon Melton! She writes so beautifully and delicately about life, addiction, motherhood, love, and forgiveness. I read it in one sitting!
My book picks of the year would have to be: Me Before You, Orange is the New Black, and Carry On, Warrior.
What are some of your favorite books you've read this year?
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