The Best Books of 2013
The Best Books of 2013
Rather fitting for the year 2013, several of my favorite books from the past year tended to be darker, featuring witches and werewolves and monsters. This short list highlights some of the new books I most enjoyed reading that were published in the past twelve months.
Written in Red by Anne Bishop
Every time Meg Corbyn’s skin gets cut, she sees a vision of the future. This unique gift, which marks her as a cassandra sangue or blood prophet, makes Meg extremely valuable to the right people, and she has spent her entire life imprisoned. When the chance to escape arrives, she takes it - but once in the outside world, she has no idea how to survive. Luckily, she soon finds a job working as the Human Liaison at Lakeside Courtyard, a business district that belongs to the Others. Who are the Others? They are the non-human creatures - the vampires, the shapeshifters, the elemental beings - who tolerate humans for the goods they can create, but have not completely renounced hunting them as prey.
To continue reading the full review, click here.
The Resurrectionist by E. B. Hudspeth
In the late 1870s, the son of a resurrectionist - body snatcher and grave robber - was enrolled at the Academy of Medicine in Philadelphia. Spencer Black was a talented medical student with a special interest in mutation. As the years pass, the young doctor's studies become more and more unorthodox, until he makes a claim that shocks the medical community: mythological creatures like mermaids, satyrs and centaurs once walked the earth, and humankind descended from them. Ridiculed by his peers, Dr. Black persists in his belief, and spends the following decades attempting to re-create these ancient ancestors before mysteriously disappearing.
To continue reading the full review, click here.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
An unnamed, middle-aged artist returns to his hometown for a funeral. While there, he revisits some of the places he knew as a child, including the farm at the end of the lane, where his friend Lettie lived. As he walks by a pond behind the house, he dives into his memories from when he was only a seven-year-old child, when an opal miner committed suicide in his family’s car and released an ancient, evil force. As the supernatural and “actual” worlds collide, Lettie and her family are the only ones who can seal the mystic being back where she came.
To continue reading the full review, click here.
Blood & Beauty: The Borgias by Sarah Dunant
It is 1492, and a new pope has been elected: the Spaniard Rodrigo Borgia, now Pope Alexander VI. Cheerful, generous, and full of love for life, the new Pope stirs up controversy in all he does. With his lovely mistress Giulia Farnase and his children Juan, Cesare, Lucrezia and Jofre - chastity is not one of Alexander’s virtues - at his side, he sets about founding a lasting dynasty. His children become chess pieces, placed strategically to advance the family: Cesare is raised to a Cardinal to further his father’s interests within the church while his siblings are married to key political allies to produce Borgia heirs. But the path to power is fraught with peril, especially when men as dangerous as Cesare Borgia plot and scheme, and no one - man or woman, child or adult - can remain innocent for long.
To continue reading the full review, click here.
Far Far Away by Tom McNeal
It seems that when Jacob Grimm passed away in 1863, he wasn’t quite finished telling stories. In Far Far Away, the author’s ghost remains trapped on Earth, unable to pass to the other side. He befriends a boy named Jeremy Johnson Johnson, one of the rare few who can hear the ghost’s quiet whispers. Jeremy’s mother abandoned her family and ran away with another man, causing his father to become a recluse who never leaves his room. The boy is lonely, trapped as he is in the town of Never Better with no friends and a pending eviction from the only home he’s ever known. When a pretty girl named Ginger convinces Jeremy to play a prank on the local baker, he becomes the town pariah, alienated by all. Grimm tries to steer his young friend in the right direction, away from trouble and harm, but it seems no matter what they do the boy’s problems increase. Darkness hangs over Never Better, and it threatens to swallow up everyone Jeremy cares about unless he can solve the mystery of the Finder of Occasions, who watches and waits with evil intentions…
To continue reading the full review, click here.
I don’t think of 2013 as a particularly dark or depressing year, but a certain preoccupation with the supernatural certainly seems to have informed my reading! I shall have to strive for greater balance next year.
What were some of your favorite books from 2013?
Peeking into the archives...today in:
2012: Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: 2012 Wrap-Up
2011: The Top Books of 2011
2010: Closing down for end of year Festivus…
2009: Cherries in Winter by Suzan Colon
2008: Discussion Question: OK, now that 2008 is over…
Rather fitting for the year 2013, several of my favorite books from the past year tended to be darker, featuring witches and werewolves and monsters. This short list highlights some of the new books I most enjoyed reading that were published in the past twelve months.
Written in Red by Anne Bishop
Every time Meg Corbyn’s skin gets cut, she sees a vision of the future. This unique gift, which marks her as a cassandra sangue or blood prophet, makes Meg extremely valuable to the right people, and she has spent her entire life imprisoned. When the chance to escape arrives, she takes it - but once in the outside world, she has no idea how to survive. Luckily, she soon finds a job working as the Human Liaison at Lakeside Courtyard, a business district that belongs to the Others. Who are the Others? They are the non-human creatures - the vampires, the shapeshifters, the elemental beings - who tolerate humans for the goods they can create, but have not completely renounced hunting them as prey.
To continue reading the full review, click here.
The Resurrectionist by E. B. Hudspeth
In the late 1870s, the son of a resurrectionist - body snatcher and grave robber - was enrolled at the Academy of Medicine in Philadelphia. Spencer Black was a talented medical student with a special interest in mutation. As the years pass, the young doctor's studies become more and more unorthodox, until he makes a claim that shocks the medical community: mythological creatures like mermaids, satyrs and centaurs once walked the earth, and humankind descended from them. Ridiculed by his peers, Dr. Black persists in his belief, and spends the following decades attempting to re-create these ancient ancestors before mysteriously disappearing.
To continue reading the full review, click here.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
An unnamed, middle-aged artist returns to his hometown for a funeral. While there, he revisits some of the places he knew as a child, including the farm at the end of the lane, where his friend Lettie lived. As he walks by a pond behind the house, he dives into his memories from when he was only a seven-year-old child, when an opal miner committed suicide in his family’s car and released an ancient, evil force. As the supernatural and “actual” worlds collide, Lettie and her family are the only ones who can seal the mystic being back where she came.
To continue reading the full review, click here.
Blood & Beauty: The Borgias by Sarah Dunant
It is 1492, and a new pope has been elected: the Spaniard Rodrigo Borgia, now Pope Alexander VI. Cheerful, generous, and full of love for life, the new Pope stirs up controversy in all he does. With his lovely mistress Giulia Farnase and his children Juan, Cesare, Lucrezia and Jofre - chastity is not one of Alexander’s virtues - at his side, he sets about founding a lasting dynasty. His children become chess pieces, placed strategically to advance the family: Cesare is raised to a Cardinal to further his father’s interests within the church while his siblings are married to key political allies to produce Borgia heirs. But the path to power is fraught with peril, especially when men as dangerous as Cesare Borgia plot and scheme, and no one - man or woman, child or adult - can remain innocent for long.
To continue reading the full review, click here.
Far Far Away by Tom McNeal
It seems that when Jacob Grimm passed away in 1863, he wasn’t quite finished telling stories. In Far Far Away, the author’s ghost remains trapped on Earth, unable to pass to the other side. He befriends a boy named Jeremy Johnson Johnson, one of the rare few who can hear the ghost’s quiet whispers. Jeremy’s mother abandoned her family and ran away with another man, causing his father to become a recluse who never leaves his room. The boy is lonely, trapped as he is in the town of Never Better with no friends and a pending eviction from the only home he’s ever known. When a pretty girl named Ginger convinces Jeremy to play a prank on the local baker, he becomes the town pariah, alienated by all. Grimm tries to steer his young friend in the right direction, away from trouble and harm, but it seems no matter what they do the boy’s problems increase. Darkness hangs over Never Better, and it threatens to swallow up everyone Jeremy cares about unless he can solve the mystery of the Finder of Occasions, who watches and waits with evil intentions…
To continue reading the full review, click here.
I don’t think of 2013 as a particularly dark or depressing year, but a certain preoccupation with the supernatural certainly seems to have informed my reading! I shall have to strive for greater balance next year.
What were some of your favorite books from 2013?
Peeking into the archives...today in:
2012: Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: 2012 Wrap-Up
2011: The Top Books of 2011
2010: Closing down for end of year Festivus…
2009: Cherries in Winter by Suzan Colon
2008: Discussion Question: OK, now that 2008 is over…