I made a (little cranky, ranty) mention yesterday about the number of ‘Best Books of 2013’ lists being published in November. Because clearly the people who compile these lists don’t read in December.
I read in December – I guess I have time because I don’t write a column about books for the New York Times…
Anyway, one of the best books I read last year was Foal’s Bread by Gillian Mears, read in the last half of December. So readers, you may still have THE book of 2013 ahead of you.
But if you are yet to discover THE BEST BOOK OF 2013, here are some ‘Best of…’ lists. It’s a list of lists – go forth and add to your TBR stack.
New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2013 – I added Dirty Love by Andre Dubus III and reminded myself that The Interestings, The Circle, The End of the Point, The Luminaries, The Goldfinch, Life After Life, Schroder and Longbourn are all still in my reading stack.
Readings Best of Fiction 2013 – Readings is my local independent bookshop. Whoever puts together their lists has exceptionally good taste so I’m adding The Death of Bees by Lisa O’Donnell and A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki to my reading list. Both were on my radar during the year – I needed reminding. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante also looks good.
Huff Post Best Books of 2013 – Anything that Moves by Dana Goodyear is a definite future foodies pick.
Good Housekeeping Books We Loved 2013 – how did I miss a new book by Elinor Lipman (The View From Penthouse B)? Added to my list. Reminded of The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton DiSclafani, The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout and The Aftermath by Rhidian Brook. If I was in an historical fiction kind of mood, I’d be tempted by Above All Things by Tanis Rideout.
Amazon’s Best of 2013 – (remember they’re in the business of selling books…)
NPR’s Guide to Great Reads – there’s 200 of them…
The Guardian Best Fiction of 2013
Slate Staff Pick Best Books of 2013 – an interesting and eclectic mix. Must get to Curtis Sittenfeld’s Sisterland.
Publishers Weekly Best Books 2013
Esquire’s The Best Books We’ve Read This Year (So Far) – top marks for adding ‘So Far’!
Washington Post’s Top 10 Best Books (plus Graphic Novels and Audiobooks)
Forbes Best Books of 2013 – a non-fiction list but have been meaning to read One Summer: America, 1927, by Bill Bryson and Brick by Brick also looks good.
Library Journal’s Best Books 2013
More ‘best of’ lists are being published every day. I’ll update this list if I have the energy…
We Love This Book – The Best of Books 2013
Telegraph 100 Best Books for Christmas
Gourmet Traveller Best Books of 2013
Readings Five Notable Novels I Read This Year
Huffington Post’s Best Cookbooks of 2013
Wheeler Centre Staff Favourites Part 1 and Part 2 and author picks.
(Image via Slate)
I enjoyed your post (as I work on my best list)! I hope to read a least one more book this year!
To be honest, I haven’t made a list for my best books this year because it’s still December and I plan to read one or two more books before the year ends. It’s nice to see all these lists though and I found a few books that I can add to my huge TBR list 😉 Thanks!
Thanks for this list! 🙂 Coming up with mine for the next year
I’m also putting mine together (but leaving one spot empty in case I read a brilliant book in the next three weeks).
I know what I’ll be doing for the next three hours now!
Ha! Yes, my TBR stack grew somewhat…
Dirty Love, Above All Things, and Riding Camp are all very good, but if I had to guess I would say you probably wouldn’t like Dirty Love (if you’re looking to make you TBR stack even a little smaller). It’s funny, I was going to do a list just like this…
Thanks *moves Dirty Love way down the list and wonders why I still haven’t got to Riding Camp…. Or Empire Falls….*
Death of Bees and A Tale of the Time Being are both phenomenal novels. I rated both of those 5/5 and definitely two of the best novels I’ve read this year
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All these lists and all these books! I wonder how they compile them? Some great inclusions in so many but also some surprises.
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