New Year's and My Favorite Books of 2013
So, my New Year's Eve was ok. My parents went over to Donna and Eric's house. I chose not to go. I just didn't feel like it. My parents didn't have such a great time anyway. They played Hand and Foot over there, but I guess Donna and Eric weren't enjoying it much. My mom said they should have played a different game. So, I don't think I really missed out on much.
I just went downstairs around 9pm and watched some episodes of The Twilight Zone and then put on ABC at 11:30 waiting for the ball to drop. I kind of regretted that because ugh...Miley Cyrus :x. The rest of it was blah too. I probably should of watched a different channel.
New Year's Day was kind of lousy tbh. First thing that happened was I found out my watch broke. I'm going out to get a new one today. Then various other technological malfunctions seemed to add to my irritation. Yeah, not a good way to start off the new year.
Now to the main part of this post. I read a total of 31 books last year, which is less than the year before, but technically I was cheating last year when I counted Edgar Allan Poe short stories as one book each. It's all regular books this time. The year was really a mixed bag for me. Not the best. I had to quit reading several books. I dropped one or two physical books and maybe a couple of ebooks. I use the random number generator to pick my next read often, but sometimes it just doesn't choose wisely lol. I have too many books on my endless TBR pile anyway to bother with finishing books I don't like. Here's to hoping this year will be better in terms of reading. So, here it is, my list of my favorite books of 2013, and I'll say a little something about each.
The King of Style: Dressing Michael Jackson by Michael Bush - This book written by Michael Jackson's fashion designer was really good. I loved the stories in it and the photos. It's one of my favorite Michael Jackson books I ever read.
Molok'ai by Alan Brennert - The life of a girl who has Leprosy. It's a very depressing read, but so good. I'd like to read more of this author's work.
Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons - Great sci-fi series. I only included the first two books because I thought they were the best ones. It kind of goes downhill from there and I never did finish the final book, Rise of Endymion. Simmons is another author new to me whom I'd like to read more books from.
Red Country by Joe Abercrombie - I think it's the best of his standalone novels so far. Of course it helped that there was an old familiar face as well playing a significant role in the story.
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare - Sure some of the characters annoyed me, particularly Clary, but it was an enjoyable read and I like the magical universe of this book.
The Ocean At The End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman - All right, I don't think this is Gaiman's best work, but I love how he captured the feeling of what it's like to be a child in a dangerous and wonderous world. It's best appreciated by adult readers.
The Crown Tower by Michael J. Sullivan - The first prequel book to the Riyria saga. I loved seeing Royce's sadistic side before it got slightly more under control in later books. I'm not including the other prequel book in this list, The Rose and the Thorn, because I didn't enjoy it quite as much as The Crown Tower.
A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin - The best of the series so far, and that's all I need to say about that.
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins - I actually liked this more than the first book in some ways. I'm of two minds about the ending though.
Hollow World by Michael J. Sullivan - The only book on my list that is actually a 2014 release. It comes out in April. I got it early by supporting the Kickstarter project and it was worth it. I got a bunch of goodies, plus this book was really good. It's a time travel novel, but a little different from what you would normally find in sci-fi. I recommend it and Pax is a great character.
The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson - A young adult novel, and a really good one at that. It was a lot of fun to read. The magic system and chalkling creatures were really cool. Another start to yet another series.
The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson - Ok so I got interested in the real story which inspired Frozen. I really liked it and found it beautiful. It would have been interesting to see how Disney would have done a more faithful adaptation. As it is though, there were small elements I think they did take from this story that were included in the movie. If you look more into it, you can see that.
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville - This may have well been my favorite read of the year. It's so imaginative and I never thought such a dark and dingy urban sprawl could be so captivating. It becomes more of a horror story as it progresses, which was cool. It was fantastic. In truth, I had actually started this book long ago, but set it aside at the time. I think it was due to the profanity or something, but that hardly bothers me now. So I restarted the book and it was worth it. I'll definitely be reading more of his books. Un Lun Dun was technically my first, which I really enjoyed as well.
The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud - The protagonist is pretty unlikable, but I sort of prefer it that way. He's a twat lol. Bartimaeus however is awesome! Another fun YA read. I'll finish this trilogy eventually.
And...that's it. Who knows what reads 2014 will bring? Stayed tuned for the next of my three lists tomorrow, or if not, then whenever I get around to it.
I just went downstairs around 9pm and watched some episodes of The Twilight Zone and then put on ABC at 11:30 waiting for the ball to drop. I kind of regretted that because ugh...Miley Cyrus :x. The rest of it was blah too. I probably should of watched a different channel.
New Year's Day was kind of lousy tbh. First thing that happened was I found out my watch broke. I'm going out to get a new one today. Then various other technological malfunctions seemed to add to my irritation. Yeah, not a good way to start off the new year.
Now to the main part of this post. I read a total of 31 books last year, which is less than the year before, but technically I was cheating last year when I counted Edgar Allan Poe short stories as one book each. It's all regular books this time. The year was really a mixed bag for me. Not the best. I had to quit reading several books. I dropped one or two physical books and maybe a couple of ebooks. I use the random number generator to pick my next read often, but sometimes it just doesn't choose wisely lol. I have too many books on my endless TBR pile anyway to bother with finishing books I don't like. Here's to hoping this year will be better in terms of reading. So, here it is, my list of my favorite books of 2013, and I'll say a little something about each.
The King of Style: Dressing Michael Jackson by Michael Bush - This book written by Michael Jackson's fashion designer was really good. I loved the stories in it and the photos. It's one of my favorite Michael Jackson books I ever read.
Molok'ai by Alan Brennert - The life of a girl who has Leprosy. It's a very depressing read, but so good. I'd like to read more of this author's work.
Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons - Great sci-fi series. I only included the first two books because I thought they were the best ones. It kind of goes downhill from there and I never did finish the final book, Rise of Endymion. Simmons is another author new to me whom I'd like to read more books from.
Red Country by Joe Abercrombie - I think it's the best of his standalone novels so far. Of course it helped that there was an old familiar face as well playing a significant role in the story.
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare - Sure some of the characters annoyed me, particularly Clary, but it was an enjoyable read and I like the magical universe of this book.
The Ocean At The End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman - All right, I don't think this is Gaiman's best work, but I love how he captured the feeling of what it's like to be a child in a dangerous and wonderous world. It's best appreciated by adult readers.
The Crown Tower by Michael J. Sullivan - The first prequel book to the Riyria saga. I loved seeing Royce's sadistic side before it got slightly more under control in later books. I'm not including the other prequel book in this list, The Rose and the Thorn, because I didn't enjoy it quite as much as The Crown Tower.
A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin - The best of the series so far, and that's all I need to say about that.
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins - I actually liked this more than the first book in some ways. I'm of two minds about the ending though.
Hollow World by Michael J. Sullivan - The only book on my list that is actually a 2014 release. It comes out in April. I got it early by supporting the Kickstarter project and it was worth it. I got a bunch of goodies, plus this book was really good. It's a time travel novel, but a little different from what you would normally find in sci-fi. I recommend it and Pax is a great character.
The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson - A young adult novel, and a really good one at that. It was a lot of fun to read. The magic system and chalkling creatures were really cool. Another start to yet another series.
The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson - Ok so I got interested in the real story which inspired Frozen. I really liked it and found it beautiful. It would have been interesting to see how Disney would have done a more faithful adaptation. As it is though, there were small elements I think they did take from this story that were included in the movie. If you look more into it, you can see that.
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville - This may have well been my favorite read of the year. It's so imaginative and I never thought such a dark and dingy urban sprawl could be so captivating. It becomes more of a horror story as it progresses, which was cool. It was fantastic. In truth, I had actually started this book long ago, but set it aside at the time. I think it was due to the profanity or something, but that hardly bothers me now. So I restarted the book and it was worth it. I'll definitely be reading more of his books. Un Lun Dun was technically my first, which I really enjoyed as well.
The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud - The protagonist is pretty unlikable, but I sort of prefer it that way. He's a twat lol. Bartimaeus however is awesome! Another fun YA read. I'll finish this trilogy eventually.
And...that's it. Who knows what reads 2014 will bring? Stayed tuned for the next of my three lists tomorrow, or if not, then whenever I get around to it.