Saturday, December 28, 2013

Best Books (with words in them) I Read in 2013


I read some real winners this year.  Narrowing it down to 5 best was like being at Total Wine and More (which we have nothing like in Memphis) and knowing what I didn't drink on the spot would have to fit in my carry-on.  But after much deliberation, here are the ones I'm most glad to have read:


Beloved - Toni Morrison  (anyone know if she's related to Jim?)

Let the Right One In - John Ajvide Lindqvist (full disclosure: I read this in spite of it being recommended by Jay Bastardo.)

A Visit from the Goon Squad - Jennifer Egan

Dance Dance Dance - Haruki Murakami

Goodbye Columbus - Phillip Roth

Honorable mentions to Closely Watched Trains (by Hrabal, who someone turned me onto years ago), The Third Policeman (O'Brian) and Ender's Game (Card), all of which I enjoyed immensely. 

Now show me yours. 
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3 comments:

  1. DaveTuesday, December 31, 2013 4:16:00 PM

    I took the year off from reading I feel like. Currently reading a pretty comprehensive Springsteen biography with the latest Chabon on deck to be followed by a non-fiction account of the immediate aftermath of Katrina at Memorial hospital in New Orleans. Big resolution: read again!

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  2. JayThursday, January 02, 2014 7:59:00 PM

    Here's everything I read in 2013 ...

    The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made
    Doctor Sleep
    Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas
    My Uncle Oswald
    The Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique (33 1/3)
    Sh*t My Dad Says
    A Questionable Shape
    Legion
    Tales from the White Hart (Arthur C. Clarke Collection: Short Stories)
    I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp: An Autobiography
    Fiasco
    Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion
    Visiting Tom: A Man, a Highway, and the Road to Roughneck Grace
    A Wild Sheep Chase: A Novel

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  3. EricSaturday, January 04, 2014 1:09:00 PM

    Lurker, you put us to shame. I finished Offit's Magical Thinking: The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine and got into An Epidemic of Absence - both fine reads.

    I can't stop reading the first two chapters of Taibbi's Griftocracy. It activates the "holy shit!!" area of my brain.

    I'm feeling inspired, I think a Poobah Q. Potentate Bastard Challenge is forthcoming...

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