Say, Have You Change For a Literary Critique?
This was supposed to go up earlier, but the combination of LJ being a FAIL whale and my being sick derailed this review. Am I super-bummed that the 50 Books Challenge for 2013 only made it to 35, when in past years even in fallow times I've managed at least the minimum? Eh, just about everything in 2013 sucked. In a rare personal aside for a public post, the mainly good things about 2013 were the fact I learned that I'm stronger than I thought (even if I REALLY didn't want to have to learn that way/those ways) and that the folks I've been so blessed to have as my friends are truly the best friends for whom anyone could ever ask. My Giftmas this year was close to very, very nice (and certainly leaps and bounds and jumps from 2012's) thanks to their love (and no, I'm not just talking about the physical presents, although that is very nice and extremely thoughtful and lovely that someone is thinking of you).
In that spirit, we review 2013 in book reviews! Just a reminder: I do not count books I've read before (obviously 2013 had me leaning on some "comfort food") no matter how long it's been since I've read them (I reread A Little Princess which I haven't read since I was a kid, for no better reason than the fact a nice copy fell into my possession). I also don't count books I do not completely finish. If you're wondering if I'm making excuses, yes, yes I am, but I also like to explain the rules with my tallying.
You bored yet? LET'S GET ON WITH THIS.
Death Bed: The Bed That Eats, 1977
Favorite Books:
March Book 1
Someone Has to Set a Bad Example: an Anne Taintor Collection
Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister: A Novel
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Graphic Novel
Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls
Nothing's Sacred
Bill Mauldin: A Life Up Front
Economix: How Our Economy Works (and Doesn't Work), in Words and Pictures
The Darkest Night: Two Sisters, a Brutal Murder, and the Loss of Innocence in a Small Town
You'll Never Know Book Three: Soldier's Heart
A Game for Swallows: To Die, to Leave, to Return
The Central Park Five: A Chronicle of a City Wilding
Coal to Diamonds: A Memoir
Anne Arundel's Legacy; the Historic Properties of Anne Arundel County
The Nao of Brown
Least Favorite Books:
Girl Talk: Telling It Like It Is
Barack Hussein Obama
Books That Felt Like a Sisyphean Ordeal:
Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery
Economix: How Our Economy Works (and Doesn't Work), in Words and Pictures
DisneyWar
Books That Made Me Want to Smack the Author(s):
Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery
Steve Jobs: Genius by Design
Into the Water: a Shocking True Story of Abduction, Murder, and the Nice Guy Next Door
The Darkest Night: Two Sisters, a Brutal Murder, and the Loss of Innocence in a Small Town
Barack Hussein Obama
Coal to Diamonds: A Memoir
Books That Helped Me Look at the World in a New Way:
March Book 1
The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Graphic Novel
Waiting to Be Heard: a Memoir
Nothing's Sacred
Bill Mauldin: A Life Up Front
Economix: How Our Economy Works (and Doesn't Work), in Words and Pictures
Secret Girl: A Memoir
DisneyWar
Buried Memories: Katie Beers' Story
Eat This Not That! 2010: The No-Diet Weight Loss Solution
The Darkest Night: Two Sisters, a Brutal Murder, and the Loss of Innocence in a Small Town
You'll Never Know Book Three: Soldier's Heart
The Central Park Five: A Chronicle of a City Wilding
Coal to Diamonds: A Memoir
Anne Arundel's Legacy; the Historic Properties of Anne Arundel County
Books I've Already Recommended to People:
March Book 1
Someone Has to Set a Bad Example: an Anne Taintor Collection
Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls
Nothing's Sacred
Bill Mauldin: A Life Up Front
Economix: How Our Economy Works (and Doesn't Work), in Words and Pictures
Eat This Not That! 2010: The No-Diet Weight Loss Solution
The Darkest Night: Two Sisters, a Brutal Murder, and the Loss of Innocence in a Small Town
You'll Never Know Book Three: Soldier's Heart
The Central Park Five: A Chronicle of a City Wilding
Coal to Diamonds: A Memoir
Anne Arundel's Legacy; the Historic Properties of Anne Arundel County
The Hypo: The Melancholic Young Lincoln
Most Disappointing Books:
Girl Talk: Telling It Like It Is
Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery
Steve Jobs: Genius by Design
Buried Memories: Katie Beers' Story
Into the Water: a Shocking True Story of Abduction, Murder, and the Nice Guy Next Door
Barack Hussein Obama
Most Depressing (as in Sadness-Inducing) Books:
Body of Water
Secret Girl: A Memoir
Most Uplifting Books:
Economix: How Our Economy Works (and Doesn't Work), in Words and Pictures
Anne Arundel's Legacy; the Historic Properties of Anne Arundel County
In that spirit, we review 2013 in book reviews! Just a reminder: I do not count books I've read before (obviously 2013 had me leaning on some "comfort food") no matter how long it's been since I've read them (I reread A Little Princess which I haven't read since I was a kid, for no better reason than the fact a nice copy fell into my possession). I also don't count books I do not completely finish. If you're wondering if I'm making excuses, yes, yes I am, but I also like to explain the rules with my tallying.
You bored yet? LET'S GET ON WITH THIS.
Death Bed: The Bed That Eats, 1977
Favorite Books:
March Book 1
Someone Has to Set a Bad Example: an Anne Taintor Collection
Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister: A Novel
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Graphic Novel
Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls
Nothing's Sacred
Bill Mauldin: A Life Up Front
Economix: How Our Economy Works (and Doesn't Work), in Words and Pictures
The Darkest Night: Two Sisters, a Brutal Murder, and the Loss of Innocence in a Small Town
You'll Never Know Book Three: Soldier's Heart
A Game for Swallows: To Die, to Leave, to Return
The Central Park Five: A Chronicle of a City Wilding
Coal to Diamonds: A Memoir
Anne Arundel's Legacy; the Historic Properties of Anne Arundel County
The Nao of Brown
Least Favorite Books:
Girl Talk: Telling It Like It Is
Barack Hussein Obama
Books That Felt Like a Sisyphean Ordeal:
Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery
Economix: How Our Economy Works (and Doesn't Work), in Words and Pictures
DisneyWar
Books That Made Me Want to Smack the Author(s):
Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery
Steve Jobs: Genius by Design
Into the Water: a Shocking True Story of Abduction, Murder, and the Nice Guy Next Door
The Darkest Night: Two Sisters, a Brutal Murder, and the Loss of Innocence in a Small Town
Barack Hussein Obama
Coal to Diamonds: A Memoir
Books That Helped Me Look at the World in a New Way:
March Book 1
The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Graphic Novel
Waiting to Be Heard: a Memoir
Nothing's Sacred
Bill Mauldin: A Life Up Front
Economix: How Our Economy Works (and Doesn't Work), in Words and Pictures
Secret Girl: A Memoir
DisneyWar
Buried Memories: Katie Beers' Story
Eat This Not That! 2010: The No-Diet Weight Loss Solution
The Darkest Night: Two Sisters, a Brutal Murder, and the Loss of Innocence in a Small Town
You'll Never Know Book Three: Soldier's Heart
The Central Park Five: A Chronicle of a City Wilding
Coal to Diamonds: A Memoir
Anne Arundel's Legacy; the Historic Properties of Anne Arundel County
Books I've Already Recommended to People:
March Book 1
Someone Has to Set a Bad Example: an Anne Taintor Collection
Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls
Nothing's Sacred
Bill Mauldin: A Life Up Front
Economix: How Our Economy Works (and Doesn't Work), in Words and Pictures
Eat This Not That! 2010: The No-Diet Weight Loss Solution
The Darkest Night: Two Sisters, a Brutal Murder, and the Loss of Innocence in a Small Town
You'll Never Know Book Three: Soldier's Heart
The Central Park Five: A Chronicle of a City Wilding
Coal to Diamonds: A Memoir
Anne Arundel's Legacy; the Historic Properties of Anne Arundel County
The Hypo: The Melancholic Young Lincoln
Most Disappointing Books:
Girl Talk: Telling It Like It Is
Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery
Steve Jobs: Genius by Design
Buried Memories: Katie Beers' Story
Into the Water: a Shocking True Story of Abduction, Murder, and the Nice Guy Next Door
Barack Hussein Obama
Most Depressing (as in Sadness-Inducing) Books:
Body of Water
Secret Girl: A Memoir
Most Uplifting Books:
Economix: How Our Economy Works (and Doesn't Work), in Words and Pictures
Anne Arundel's Legacy; the Historic Properties of Anne Arundel County