Mirime's Reading List 2013!

See also: Mirime's Reading List 2012, Mirime's Reading List 2011, and Mirime's Reading List 2010

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1.-3. The Nine Lives of Chole King by Liz Braswell
I actually quite enjoyed this trilogy! The mythology/world is well thought out and it didn't get too drippy despite the targeted teenage audience. A good balance of adventure and character-building.

4. Crewel by Gennifer Albin
A really good YA science fiction novel. The author's worldbuilding is excellent, although occasionally she does get a little too convoluted in her own explanations. As it will be a series, though, I trust that all will become more clear as more books come out!

5. Goldenhood by Jessica Randall
I didn't think that this 'little red riding hood' retelling added much to the original myth, but at least it was well written.

6.The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Another collection of Holmes stories! Very Victorian and a bit dated, but still fun to read.

7. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Hot dang, I finally finished this book! I kept putting it down and picking up other reads in between. It is very slow-moving with plenty of boring passages, but sometimes there were good insights into the characters' thoughts and feelings.

8. Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman
A super cute book for young children, but since it's Gaiman I just couldn't resist reading it :)

9. Cold Days by Jim Butcher
Aaah I love Dresden! So pleased that the series is continuing in such a fine vein with lots of adventure too.

10. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling
Back to some nostalgic re-reads :)

11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling

12. Death's Daughter by Amber Benson
Not very good at all.

13. Sabriel by Garth Nix

14. Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan
I really enjoyed this cyberpunk novel! Lots of good social commentary and deeply human characters admist all the thrilling action, too.

15. Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning
My brain is meeeeelllting

16. Broken Angels by Richard Morgan
Another enjoyable adventure, though not quite as richly imagined as the first one, I felt.

17. Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett
A fun little tale, although it might have been a little easier if I'd read the previous two books in the series!

18. Songs of Love and Death ed. George RR Martin and some other guy
A collection of short stories by various authors; some good, some not so good. I guess when the theme mentions 'love', you're bound to get some contributions from romance novelists.

19. I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett
A very satisfying conclusion to the Tiffany arc and an enjoyable story!

20. Woken Furies by Richard Morgan
The last of his cyberpunk trilogy featuring the same protagonist. I think it was better than the second, but was more difficult to compare to the first as they approached similar themes in different ways. Still recommended!

21. Stories Ed. Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio
As with everything Gaiman has a hand in, this was a great story collection. Every story had something 'magical' in it but they covered a wide range of genres and every one was amazing.

22. The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde.
Though I loved the 'lost in a good book' series, I found this book for younger readers to be a bit belabored and not quite as amusing. It was ok I guess.

23. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
I finally got around to reading this one and boy, am I sure glad I did! Definitely one of the highlights so far this year for me, book-wise.

24. World War Z by Max Brooks
Hmm... I liked it more than I thought I would. Not so much swashbuckling adventure, more human interest and realistic depiction of how a disease would spread. Very well thought-out, if creepy!

25. Joy School by Elizabeth Berg
Always wary of "book club books" but I enjoyed this! Very sweet, simple coming-of-age story. Plus I always identify with those unrequited youthful crushes and daydreamers.

26. Everything is Going to Kill Everybody by Robert Brockway

27. Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Started off good, kinda went downhill for me in both plot and writing style. I had to make myself finish it.

28. The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
A re-read for me... I can't recommend it enough! Visionary, tender, and thought-provoking and beautifully written and.... just everything awesome.

29. Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
I finally got over my bias against nonfiction and picked this up after a few recommendations. Boy am I glad! The author has a great writing style and wove an awesome story about some crazy ultramarathoners, how running works, and all kinds of interesting little side stories into one compelling read. I've been recommending it to pretty much everyone.

30. Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson
The first book I've read by Stephenson. I really enjoyed the cyberpunk, half-real-life, half-virtual-reality world that he created. It was full of action and just enough "tech" to seem really cool without getting too convoluted. I'm definitely interested in finding more now! Maybe that big trilogy of his that's been out for a while now...

31. How to Create the Perfect Wife by Wendy Moore
Interesting vignette of history (this is another nonfiction book), but at times the author wavered between factual reporting and flights of imaginative, poetic fancy that clashed. Overall, I felt she was just a little too emotionally involved in her subject.

32. Shadowglass by Erica Hayes
Oh my, this book was pretty cheesy and terrible in most ways, but at least it was well-written enough to keep me reading 'till the end.

33. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

34. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

35. Sleepwalk With Me by Mike Birigblia

36. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

37. Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
Darkly funny, a little heartbreaking, and difficult to believe it's a true story.

38. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
Pretty similar to Running with Scissors, actually, but short stories and vignettes rather than one narrative.

39. The Blue Tango by Eoin McNamee

40. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

41. Miss Nume of Japan by Onoto Watanna

42. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

43. Crossings by Chuang Hua

44. The Coffin Tree by Wendy Law-Yone

45. Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje

46. Ulysses by James Joyce
Yeah, I read this book a lot. No class on modernism would be complete without it, apparently :P

47. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

48. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

49. The Waves by Virginia Woolf
I hadn't read this one before! Really quite an amazing and inspiring work, once you get past the rather formalistic structure of the novel.

50. Lirael by Garth Nix
Finally got around to reading the other two books that come after Sabriel! I was not disappointed. Great read, very engrossing adventure and sweet but not trite characters and plot :)

51. Abhorsen by Garth Nix

52. Deerskin by Robin McKinley
Much darker than I expected, given the stylistic fairy-tale approach... but still a good read!

53. Sorcery and Cecelia by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
A very fun idea, written in the form of letters exchanged between two cousins. Rather fluffy adventure/romance set in an alternate-universe Regency England with magic and wizards, but good if you're in the mood for light reading!

54. REAMDE by Neal Stephenson

55. Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser