Books of 2013

Back in December 2012, Craig suggested I keep track of the books I read in 2013. I've started this post in January of 2013 with the intention of also giving a little blurb of some sort. No promises that this will stick for the whole year.

Broken Harbor by Tana French
I love Tana French books. They're murder mystery novels that usually connect the main character to the story behind the crime somehow. I highly recommend listening to any of her books-on-tape because she is Irish and the books take place in Ireland. The Irish accent is quite enjoyable to listen to. After listening to one on CD, I now read all the books in an Irish accent. I even read a chapter or 2 aloud to Craig while he was driving. Reading aloud in an Irish accent is exhausting.

Peril at End House by Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie became a guilty pleasure last year, specifically her recurring character Hercule Poirot. This was my 10th novel featuring Poirot and my 12th Christie novel (including And Then There Were None). Her books don't vary much. Some are better than others. Motives often repeat themselves, but the Poirot character is always fun to read. This one would be in the top 5 of the Poirot novels I've read thus far.

The Gunslinger by Stephen King
I'm a fan of Stephen King, and thought I would try his supposed fantasy series. I guess there are about 7 or 8 books in the series, so if it was good, then I'd have lots of books lined up to read. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it. Maybe the series gets better (gosh, I would hope so), but this book seemed obvious that he was trying something new and wasn't very good at it. There were some interesting scenes, but the story itself was just strange and uneventful. I won't rule out trying #2 in 2014, but it's looking doubtful.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
I loved this book! I never read it and have said many times that I should. It takes place on Long Island after all! I had no clue what the "West Egg" and the "East Egg" were, but a quick web search tells me that it refers to the small peninsulas with Great Neck and Port Washington. I'm writing this review many months after I read it, so I can't cite many specifics as to what made this an enjoyable read. I do remember that I hated the characters from the beginning, and then I realized that the author intended to make unlikable characters. I appreciated the moral at the end.

Foundation by Isaac Asimov
Craig had been trying to talk me into reading this series for quite a while, so I finally started the Foundation. I read this way back in March or so, so I don't remember much. Then again, I don't think I remembered much even a week later. That's what I've been used to in my history of reading science fiction though. I was confused through most of the book. Centuries passed at the blink of the eye. There were too many characters for me to remember. Despite all that, I *think* I enjoyed it. And, as you shall see, I kept reading.

Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov
Compared to Foundation, this book was a pleasant surprise! I read a lot of it during our hike through the Grand Canyon, and I looked forward to reading it in my tent each night. It was a nice way to take my mind off the frightening trail that I was in the midst of. There was much more character development in this book. They even stayed in the same century for a good portion of it. The mystery of the Mule absolutely made this book.

Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov
This was another enjoyable read. It included interesting characters, a female protagonist, and some exciting twists. Again, it's still science fiction, so please don't ask me to explain too much more than that.

Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer
Krakauer is one of my favorite authors. He takes true stories, generally tied to tragic events, and brings them to life. I loved Into the Wild because he brought in his own experience with reckless adventures to help the reader understand the possible thought process of Chris McCandless. He also does a lot of research into the topic he writes about, so I generally learn new facts while feeling like I'm reading an exciting fiction page-turner. Despite my enjoyment of all his past books, I hesitated to read Where Men Win Glory. I didn't relate to the people who put Pat Tillman on a pedestal. I don't particularly enjoy reading about football or war. However, when I finally gave this book a try, it did not disappoint. Krakauer talked a lot about the history that led up to the post-9/11 wars. He also painted a grim picture of what those wars looked like. All-in-all, I would recommend this book right along with his other books.

Inferno by Dan Brown
I don't care what anyone says about Dan Brown. I love his books, even if the stories are a little too crazy to believe. Da Vinci Code is still my favorite, but I enjoyed this one too. I like going on adventurous trips to Europe in his make-believe world. And, in the words of Lois Griffin, "I loved it. And the chapters are only about two pages long so you feel really smart when you read it."

Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut
Vonnegut is another favorite author of mine. He has a talent of making depressing stories funny and entertaining. This one was no exception. I liked the message and how it actually made me wonder whose side I agreed with. Vonnegut opened the book with, "This is the only story of mine whose moral I know. I don't think it's a marvelous moral, I just happen to know what it is."

The Mind's Eye by Oliver Sacks (and half of Musicophilia)
I read "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat" in 2012 and enjoyed reading the case studies of all the obscure neurological diseases there are out there. So I checked out some more Oliver Sacks books from the library. I started with Musicophilia, but gave up half way through. It was a whole lot of case studies about people who started hearing music all the time due to neurological problems. The first few cases were interesting, but then became repetitive. So I moved on to The Mind's Eye. This one talked about people who suddenly lost the ability to read. One person was a famous pianist and suddenly couldn't read music. Another was an author who could continue to write, but couldn't proofread his own work. I enjoyed the read, but "The Man..." is still my favorite.

Hickory, Dickory, Death by Agatha Christie
More Agatha Christie! The setting of the crimes in this mystery was an international hostel, filled with young interesting characters from around the world.

The Big Four by Agatha Christie
This mystery revolved around an alliance of mobster-like criminals around the world. It had a series of murders, which of course makes it better.

Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
A friend of mine raved about this book, so when a book club recommended it, I decided to try it out. I never made it to the book club, so I didn't get a chance to discuss much. I enjoyed reading it and I liked a lot of her message. Her personal stories were humorous, and I truly am impressed with the women who make it to the top of their career. However, outside of that, this book was nothing special (sorry, Kris!).  Maybe I can't relate because I'm not in a male-dominated work environment and I have little desire to climb to the top of the career ladder. The big thing that stuck out to me was Sandberg's overall message that women need to level the playing field and stand up for their rights to follow their dreams and break societal norms, etc etc. Yet the underlying tone is that all women want to get married and have kids and have a powerful career. If you don't want all of those things, it must be because society has made it too hard for you. Again, this may just be that this book was geared toward this population of women, struggling to balance everything. And with all her sweet stories of Zuckerberg, I couldn't help but wonder if Facebook had encouraged Sandberg to write this book to appeal to all those out there who have such a horrible opinion of Zuckerberg and Facebook in general.

The Winter of our Discontent by John Steinbeck
Grapes of Wrath will always be my favorite Steinbeck book (and one of my favorite books in general), but his short novels are well-written as well. This story gave a little peek into a small town man and his struggles to find happiness. A favorite theme of Steinbeck.

Taken at the Flood by Agatha Christie
More murder, more Poirot, more fun.

Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie
This murder took place on an airplane! Christie wrote so many novels that they spanned decades (I believe the 20's through the 60's). Most of the settings are contemporary with the time she wrote each book, so it's fun to watch the world change over time through Christie's eyes.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
I read this for a book club. The little I knew about this book I had learned from Friends. Apparently, prior to writing this book, Alcott only wrote short stories. Her publishers kind of made her write this book. I wasn't crazy about the first half of the book. It was a bunch of short little tales that used the same characters and each chapter had a little moral at the end. The second half of the book was originally a second book. When I learned that, it made sense. Alcott had improved as an author and the second half of the book (originally, Good Wives) had much more continuity and character development. The issues were a little more complex as well. I'm glad I read this, but don't plan to read more Alcott. I understand why this book appealed to young girls. Unfortunately, I was a couple decades too late.

I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
My godfather sent me lots of great books when I was growing up. Some, like The Chronicles of Narnia, I enjoyed on my first try. Others, like The Hobbit, took several attempts before I finally got through it (and now I love the Hobbit too!). I, Robot was one of the latter. Uncle Fil sent it as a gift years (decades?) ago. I tried it, but never got into it. But this time around I liked it. I think it helped that Craig told me that it's a book of short stories. I definitely did not realize that originally. The characters recur and so I thought it was one story and that I was just getting utterly confused (and I find science fiction confusing enough as it is!). As a group of short stories, I loved most of them (admittedly, I still have one to go). Most are supposed to be told by a character to a reporter, sharing some of the mishaps that occurred as robots became more and more part of society.