You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

Well, we've all had an evening to reflect on 2013. For some of us it was a little bit terrible, others it was awesome. But I want you to ignore that all now, and think about the BOOKS! Come on people, focus on the important things!!

Tell me what your best, and if you had some worst, reads of 2013 were.

In the interest of keeping my TBR from imploding, maybe limit the list of both to 5 each.

This was really difficult as I read a lot of good books last year. These are my best reads of 2013 (I tried to limit them to 5 but couldn't. They had to be included):

1) The Bronze Horseman - This is my favourite book of all time (as things currently stand). A beautiful story of love against the odds set in Russia during World War Two.
2) Forbidden - This book blew me away. The author takes a difficult subject matter and turns it into a realistic, gripping and heart-wrenching story. No book has ever made me cry so much.
3) The Song of Achilles - A retelling of Homer's 'The Illiad'. It is so well-written and the story is very touching.
4) The Night Circus - What can I say about this book that hasn't already been said? I just loved it!
5) The Woman in White - My favourite classic of 2013. A wonderful story with plenty of twists and turns and some great characters. It is also very accessible and easy to read.
6) Wolf Hall - I love Tudor history and this is one of the best books about that period that I have read. I loved the fresh take on Thomas Cromwell and can't wait to read the other books in the trilogy.
7) Cross Stitch - Loved this book! The writing is exquisite, the villain is loathsome and to top it all off, we have Jaimie Fraser.
8) Birdsong - A deeply moving tale of love and loss set mainly in the trenches during the First World War. It is harrowing yet beautiful and is definitely a book that gets you thinking.



And here are my worst:

1) Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia - I know a lot of people love this but it did nothing for me. The Italy section was ok but I found the rest really dull.
2) The Sense of an Ending - This was well written but it was one of those books where I reached the end, scratched my head and thought, 'Did I miss something?'
3) The Knife of Never Letting Go - Again, not a bad read as such but it was one of the least memorable books I read last year and I personally felt it was overhyped.
4) Across the Universe - This was ok but nothing special. I didn't really look forward to picking it up each day and it was pretty forgettable once I had finished.
5) The Frightened Man - This is probably the book that I was the most disappointed in last year. It sounded exactly the sort of book that I would love but I found it hard to engage with the main character and it was it was a bit of a slog to get through.

My Bests were:
The Garden of Evening Mists - most peaceful, calming book I've ever read. Malay POW meets Japanese gardener in Malaysia and he teaches her gardening while we learn about both their pasts.
Out Stealing Horses - Norwegian book of a boy after WWII and a summer he spends in the woods with his Dad.
Charmed Life - Diana Wynne Jones perfection. Fantasy, humor, magic and the world back in it's right order by the end.
The Kite Runner - Afghani boy who becomes a refugee in the States. His story before and after. Slow burner this one.
There is a four way tie for the fifth place so I will keep that to myself then.

Worsts:
A State of Symmetry - OMG. Learn to use punctuation, not refer to everyone in third or first person by their whole 3-4 name names.
Angels & Demons - if I read this it would be higher. The audio book blew.
Invisible Monsters - only finished as I was on a plane
Solaris - like reading a Polish science textbook on alien planets that don't exist.
Again number 5 is a two way tie.

Interesting Rusalka! I can see my TBR growing already.

Best
I rated 5 books 5 stars in 2013, and I'll put those here, although several of the 4-star reads were fanastic too.
Stardust
Mudbound
The Graveyard Book
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
The Kitchen House


Worst
The Beach House (did not even finish it)
Skippy Dies (again one I just couldn't finish)
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (I know people often like it and it wasn't extremely bad, but it ranks among my least favourite books of 2013)
The Casual Vacancy (same as previous)
One Hundred Names (I usually like books by Cecelia Ahern, but this one I just found disappointing)

Lisa wrote: "This was really difficult as I read a lot of good books last year. These are my best reads of 2013 (I tried to limit them to 5 but couldn't. They had to be included):

1) [book:The Bronze Horseman|..."

You are totally forgiven. I knew it would happen and I would be the worst. Rules are meant to be broken. Except in challenges. *shakes fist*

And my TBR list grows... ALREADY

My 5 best were
I, Claudius a re-read, but it's just fabulous. Think of the most outlandish soap opera you can, then double it. Excess, sex, lies, murder, this has got the lot.

The Remains of the Day On one level not a lot happens, but it does. Full of regret, but it manages to end on a hopeful note.

The Death of King Arthur: A New Verse Translation the translation by Simon Armitage knocked my socks off. I'm a sucker for this style of text, alliterative verse has so much dynamism and excitement. Designed to be read aloud this captures the transition from an oral to written tradition. A rollicking story where the text drags you along at breakneck speed.

The Shadow of the Wind is another book that is more than it seems. A boy finds a book. Someone wants to take his book. And from there you have the whole gamut of human emotion rolled into one package.

The Last Sherlock Holmes Story is one of the best pieces of spinoff fiction I have ever read. It purports to be the memoirs of Dr Watson, and has Holmes investigating the Jack the Ripper murders. Quite startling.

And at the other end of the spectrum we have these stinkers:
The Anglo Files: A Field Guide to the British Unfinished. Awful. Neither humorous nor original. If you want you stereotypes reinforced, by all means give it a go.

The Namesake possibly not the series to try and start in the middle. Felt I was missing so much information that this ceased to make sense after 1 disc.

The Alchemist's Daughter The female narrator deserves a massive slap for being quite so dense. Gives women a bad name.

And I;'d have trouble picking 2 more stinkers from the array of books that only earned 2 stars, so I'll leave it at 3 stinkers.

Oh, Fun!

Top Five:

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (a book on how the author hates Napoleon, at least that's the impression I got)
Gulag by Anne Applebaum (disturbing but fascinating look at the Russian prision camps)
The Manticore by Robertson Davies (about an unlikeable character and his psychoanalysis)
Hild by Nicola Griffith (fictional story of St Hild of Whitby)
Niccolò Rising by Dorothy Dunnett (complicated and confusing story in 15th century Bruge)

Worst Five (I can't describe these, they were so bad for me that I couldn't finish them):

The Phoenix Guards by Steven Brust
The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth
Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner
The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert V.S. Redick
Artemis by Philip Palmer

Best:
*The ANZAC Book
*The Ark
*Splintered
*Gone with the Wind
*Anna Karenina
*The Light Between Oceans

Worst:
*A Beautiful Death
*To the Lighthouse
*Pulse
*Faces

So many to choose from.
My favourite:
The Night Circus - Simply magical. I loved every bit of it.
Dark Places - it made for a great group read discussion but was also very well written, suspenseful and I couldn't put it down.
The Wise Man's Fear - I read both books in the series this year but the second instalment was so much better.
The Warded Man - I love the world building and all the characters and demons in this book - beautifully described.
I too am struggling to choose between which book to put for my last favourite.

Worst:
The Black Dahlia - I didn't like the narrator nor the slang/cop speak and it just didn't pull me in so I abandoned it
The Road - I know - it's a Classic but I abandoned it because I didn't like the narrator - I think it would be a better read in print
Lord of the Flies - Again another Classic but it just didn't do it for me. I spent most of the time wishing all the kids would die! It was also another audiobook narrated by the author and I thought his voice was a little monotonous.
White is for Witching - I didn't like the writing style. It switched narratives throughout but it wasn't terribly clear who it had shifted to and sometimes took a few sentences to work out who was speaking then I'd have to go back and read from the beginning of that section for it to make sense.

I've (so far) been able to restrain myself and have only added two books to my TBR while reading this post!

Crime and Punishment
A Game of Thrones
Blood Work
A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II
Kafka on the Shore
tried to be multi genre

worst
Anna Karenina
Beneath the Dark Ice
Watchmen
Blood Alley-worst book ever

Yeah, lists!

Best
Gemma - one of the most compelling books I've ever read - at times it was almost painful to read.

Falling to Earth - the characters and emotions were so realistic - I can't recommend this one enough.

Into the Darkest Corner - I was actually reading this whilst walking to work on one occassion because I literally couldn't put it down.

Me Before You - it made me cry and yet feel really fulfilled by the end - and it's only the second book I've ever cried over

Two Boys Kissing - I'm an unapolagetic fan-girl of Levithan - I just want to highlight the whole book as it's a complete quote-fest.

Worst
Mansfield Park - I despised each and every single character.

Confessions of a GP - pompous windbag

Breeding Ground - hated the main character - his wife and so-called love of his life dies horribly and a day later he's lusting over someone else.

The White Queen - I thought this would be amazing considering the popularity but I really didn't enjoy it.

Invisibility - more unlikable characters. I see a pattern developing.

Travis of NNY wrote: "Blood Alley-worst book ever "

Wow. Big call. Wow.

Kat wrote: "Mansfield Park - I despised each and every single character. "

Oh this is sad. It's my favourite Austen!

My best books were:

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
Wonder by RJ Palacio
The Invisible Bridge
The Light Between the Oceans
My Mother Was Nuts


My worst reads were - only listing one since I generally don't finish books I don't enjoy

Camp by Elaine Wolf

My best books were:

by Charlie Lovett.

**Absolutely one to read again and again. Peter is like a real person to me. Loved it.

by Joseph Boyden

**I would never have thought, I'd enjoy this after having read his other work Through Black Spruce, however this one is epic from start to finish.

by Koethi Zan

**Imagine a list of all the things you must never do to survive, then ask yourself...what "would" I do to survive. This book looks at that question, this one could so easily be the next Silence of The Lambs. Awesome.

by Ken Follett

**Loved the characters and Follett's ability to tie five families together to bring to light the happenings of WWI was beautifully handled. Definitely a big read...but so worth it.

Ones I read that just weren't great:

by Rebecca Skloot

**A very long tale about a dead woman who is famous for donating the HeLa cells. Skloot's long winded ramblings of how she discovered Henrietta and her somewhat uninteresting family just didn't appeal to me.

by Tatiana de Rosnay

**This one is a series of letters to the deceased husband of a woman who is about to lose her home. Interesting, but not great.

and the only one to win the prize of worst book for 2013....

by Randy Pausch. I bear guilt for saying it based on the reasoning for the book, however was just an unbelievable fail for me.

Scott wrote: "My best books were:

by Charlie Lovett

by Joseph Boyden

by Koethi Zan

I was so pumped for de Rosnay's book after reading Sarah's Key but have to admit this book and her other title published after Sarah's Key were just OK.

[bookcover:Fall ..."

Lisa wrote: "This was really difficult as I read a lot of good books last year. These are my best reads of 2013 (I tried to limit them to 5 but couldn't. They had to be included):

1) [book:The Bronze Horseman|..."

I just began rereading The Bronze Horseman. I must admit that I didn't much care for this book the first time around and even tried the second book, The Summer Garden and stopped there. But since that time, many others have waxed on how good this book was so I thought I'll try it again. I do hope I enjoy it more the second time around.

As for Eat, Pray, Love, I heard the author speak some years back and loved her speech, etc. I saw the movie before and thought the author was delightful. But that was some time ago and I picked up the audio since it was all that was available that day and which interested me. I must admit that I really did enjoy it especially the time she spent in India. Now we are spending two weeks in Tuscany and I'm hoping I will enjoy that area as much as she did.

Nancy wrote: "Scott wrote: "My best books were:

by Charlie Lovett

by Joseph Boyden

by Koethi Zan

I ..."

I had heard amazing things about Sarah's Key at bookclub. Like you I had high expectations going into this, but was like...meh...why write this? Why read it?

5! Difficult choices...

The best
1. Mãn. Not translated but if anyone want to find a thin book to practice French, this would be one.
2. La fiancée américaine. Not translated.
3. The Kite Runner
4. The Blinding Knife, 2nd in Week's latest series.
5. The Help

The worst
Wish You Were Here: i did not went further than the first few chapters. Animal acting /thinking as human this way annoys me.
The Casual Vacancy.
The Main Corpse

Special mention to 2 audios, because it made a difference
The Ocean at the End of the Lane. i would have loved it in paper, but the narration by Gaimen raise it up.
Letters from Skye. Not my cup of tea usually, and I Probably would have grown a bit bored with it i. Paper, but the audio was so great that It kept me listening.,

Nancy wrote: "Lisa wrote: "This was really difficult as I read a lot of good books last year. These are my best reads of 2013 (I tried to limit them to 5 but couldn't. They had to be included):

1) [book:The Bro..."

Fingers crossed you enjoy 'The Bronze Horseman' more this time round Nancy. As far as 'Eat, Pray, Love' goes, I quite enjoyed the Italy section but the rest did absolutely nothing for me at all. I was able to finish it but it was definitely my least favourite book of 2013.

I really hope you enjoy your visit to Tuscany! There are so many places in Italy that I really want to go to and Tuscany is high up on the list.

Bestest
The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle: The Thing Beneath the Bed by Patrick Rothfuss What fun. This story is faaaar too horrible for parents!!!☻

This was a year for Jim Thompson, probably one of the most demented writers to make you read as though anxiety and a queasy stomach were good things! I read several of his books and his biography. You may want to start slowly and cap off with The Killer Inside Me, once your gut toughens up.

Also a year for Neil Gaiman. I'm now a fan of everything he writes. I'll submit The Graveyard Book for your consideration since I must try to keep to five nominations!

The Sacred Art of Stealing by Christopher Brookmyre. And Why I thought so.

Tied for being different: Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters and Still Missing by Chevy Stevens.

Surprisingly Best Series Dr Siri Paiboun Mystery Collection: The Merry Misogynist, Love Songs From A Shallow Grave, Curse Of The Pogo Stick, Anarchy And Old Dogs, Disco For ... Thirty Three Teeth, The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill Had to squeeze that in!


Not So Much
What Dreams May Come by Richard Matheson, And I just don't buy it.

Recipe for Trouble by Jackie Griffey. Almost every character was named similarly...Minnie, Mattie, Mayme, (I know there was at least another one.) AND there wasn't even a MMMM recipe!

This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Díaz. As an authorial representative of his native country, you'd think Diaz could find at least one worthy person. My Review

Cassandra French's Finishing School for Boys, Eric Garcia, Ridiculously silly, and somewhat disturbing validation of sexual abduction. I was supposed to laugh, I think.

Max and the Cats by Moacyr Scliarr My Thoughts

Boxer, Beetle by Ned Beauman, Huh?

2014 was the best year of reading that I have ever had. I filled in some big gaps in my reading and discovered some amazing authors.

My favourites
East of Eden is now my favourite book of all time.
Middlesex
Lolita
The Name of the Wind
Burial Rites
We Need to Talk About Kevin
Wool Omnibus
The Passage
The Woman in White

Least favourites

The Ocean at the End of the Lane- I think I must be the only person in the world that doesn't like this book.
Joyland was a filler book, in my opinion, not worth the time.
Ender's Game had something rotten running through it that I strongly disliked. Not for me.

Judy wrote: "Now we are spending two weeks in Tuscany and I'm hoping I will enjoy that area as much as she did.

Enjoy your time, Nancy. Lucky You!"

Thanks Judy.

Lisa wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Lisa wrote: "This was really difficult as I read a lot of good books last year. These are my best reads of 2013 (I tried to limit them to 5 but couldn't. They had to be included):

1)..."

I'm not sure why Eat Pray Love appealed to me the way it did - perhaps because of thre talk of spiritual matters and one of my classes on the Bible has been delving in to this subject.

I hear you about Italy. We have a friend who was born near Naples and speaks fluent Italian. I have always wanted to travel though Italy with her and her husband. They are great friends of ours for the past 40 years and we said this was the time to do it, so off we good.

And I certainly will let you know if my second reading of The Bronze Horseman is any better.

Almeta wrote: "The Sacred Art of Stealing by Christopher Brookmyre. And Why I thought so."

Does one need to read the first book in the series before tackling this one?

I am a compulsive reader and while I never read The Sacred Art of Stealing, I always recommend people to begin any series with the first book. Just my opinion.

I read a lot of great books this year!! but if I had to pick 5:
Middlemarch
The Name of the Rose
I, Claudius
The History of Love
The Things They Carried

worst:
The Law and the Lady
Fifty Shades of Grey
The Phantom of the Opera
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

Judy wrote: "The Worst:

1) Walden - It feels almost like a sacrilege listing this book, but I found it dry, dry, dry... A friend and I tried to buddy read and I don't think we made it past the second chapter..."

I join you in that sacrilege! My Review (to keep you company)

Wow! I gave eleven 5 stars in 2013. So the best of the best....

Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen
Dark Places
Speaks the Nightbird
The Song of Achilles
NOS4A2

.... and the worst

Fiji: A Novel
Starship Troopers
The Calligrapher's Daughter
Any Known Blood
The Land Of Dead Flowers (My abandoning this book and giving it a bad review inspired the author to write a blog entry and to start following my reviews.)

It's really interesting reading what people enjoyed and didn't.

Bumping a couple books up my TBR as we speak - We Need to Talk About Kevin and The Song of Achilles in particular!

Almeta wrote: "Surprisingly Best Series Dr Siri Paiboun Mystery Collection: The Merry Misogynist, Love Songs From A Shallow Grave, Curse Of The Pogo Stick, Anarchy And Old Dogs, Disco For ... Thirty Three Teeth, The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill Had to squeeze that in!..."

This is a fabulous series! I love Dr. Siri.

Janice wrote: "Almeta wrote: "The Sacred Art of Stealing by Christopher Brookmyre. And Why I thought so."

Does one need to read the first book in the series before tackling this one?"

Honestly, I forgot that there was a previous book, which I have not yet read. At the time the first A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away was not available to me.

Even though I am usually a purist on these matters, I don't think the first one needs to be read in order to enjoy The Sacred Art of Stealing.

Now that you point it out though...I need to go back. Curses!

Almeta wrote: "Now that you point it out though...I need to go back. Curses! "

Oops - sorry! Thanks, I've added it to my wishlist.

Narrowing down to 5 best:

Thirteen Moons
Atonement
The Poisonwood Bible
The Handmaid's Tale
Gulag

As far as worst books go, I really don't finish books I'm not enjoying so I can't think of any off the top of my head. I'll add if I think of any.

My five best:

The Flamethrowers
Empire Falls
Night Film
Life After Life
Swamplandia!

Casceil wrote: "My five best:

The Flamethrowers
Empire Falls
Night Film
Life After Life
Swamplandia!"

I'm reading Night Film at the moment and I'm hooked! It's really good.

Rusalka wrote: "And my TBR list grows... ALREADY"

NARF!

Favs:

The Kite Runner
Matterhorn
The Book Thief
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
The Help


Worst:

Eat, Pray, Love
Interview with the Vampire: Claudia's Story (I wanted this to be good so bad))
The Xibalba Murders

Best of 2013: (sorry couldn't limit it to five - I read so many great books in 2013!)

Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East
Rules of Civility
Half of a Yellow Sun
Americanah
Glimpses of Bengal Selected from the Letters of Sir Rabindranath Tagore
The Book of Fate
How the Light Gets In
What is the What
The House by the Dvina: A Russian Childhood
And the Mountains Echoed

Worst:
Beautiful Ruins
Bring Up the Bodies

Great Judy - I'll be interested to know what you think of The House by the Dvina: A Russian Childhood I sure do hope you'll like it - no pressure! Here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... Yes, and Rules of Civility was beautifully written - what mastery of the language.

Esther wrote: "5! Difficult choices...

The best
1. Mãn. Not translated but if anyone want to find a thin book to practice French, this would be one.
2. La fiancée américaine. Not ..."

I'd listen to Neil Gaiman read a power-tool instruction book - his narration always has me spellbound!

Rusalka wrote: "Kat wrote: "Mansfield Park - I despised each and every single character. "

Oh this is sad. It's my favourite Austen!"

I desperately wanted to love it as it was my first Austen. At least it hasn't turned me off completely ;)

Kat wrote: "Rusalka wrote: "Kat wrote: "Mansfield Park - I despised each and every single character. "

Oh this is sad. It's my favourite Austen!"

I desperately wanted to love it as it was my first Austen. A..."

It does seem to be a vegemite Austen though. You love it or dislike it. Her others are more universally liked.

I have yet to finish my "best book of 2013" and it is now 2014, but I think it still counts - The Goldfinch. Wow, what a read! I want to eat every word, I want to invade the mind of Donna Tartt, but mostly, I don't want this experience to end!!

Nothing that I read in the past year comes close to , but these were definitely good reads deserving of honorable mention:

2. Americanah
3. Tumbledown: A Novel
4. A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea
5. Then They Came for Me: A Family's Story of Love, Captivity, and Survival

Worst reads (I actually quit reading both) were This Side of Paradise and The Execution of Noa P. Singleton: A Novel.

I am curious why you disliked Eat Pray Love. I rather enjoyed it.

Worst:

[book:Eat, Pray..."

I read so many 5 star books last year then I can list, but here are 5:
The Book Thief
The Woman in White
Frenchman's Creek
Wonder
Love in the Time of Cholera

I think Moll Flanders is my least favorite read last year.

I didn't have a lot in 2013 that I couldn't stand, but I have some goodies.

Warm Bodies I found the writing very humorous without being cheesy. The notion that a zombie could have such eloquent and detailed thoughts without speech was awesome.

Water for Elephants I just really loved this one. Old amusement parks and circus' interest me.

The Help When I watch a movie I look up to see if it has a book. When it does, I want to read it and see what was left out. What was the author's meaning? So I loved the movie and loved the book more per my MO.

Fahrenheit 451Fahrenheit 451 This book is a thinker. The thought of burned books upsets me.

For Your Heart I loved this one because it was an interesting take on a Scottish Ballad. I'm not big into books about Faeries but this one kept me interested. This one's young adult but I've also read her short e books and enjoyed them.


And the only book I had a hard time getting through in 2013

Her Fearful Symmetry I kept reading because I had faith that the author would turn things around and have a point, I was wrong. I'm sad because I loved The Time Traveler's Wife but at the end of this one I was just confused. It was just a frustrating book that got more farfetched as it went along.


Honorable Mention
Those Who Save Us Great book I just wished the ending wasn't rushed.