Books of 2013

The final count: 86 books in 2013. (76 "real" books and 10 audiobooks)

Originally, I set out to read at least 40. A friend suggested an A to Z author challenge, in which we read one book from every letter of the alphabet. Some people use the book titles for the letters, but we used the author's last name. About halfway through the year my mom joined. I can't remember when I finished, but it was early enough that I was able to read whatever I wanted over the past few months.

Here they are. Most recent first. (Click to enlarge.)

Audiobooks were a lot more prevalent in 2013. I listened to 9.5. I started running to audiobooks. It took me a long time to get through them as I wasn't running more than 2-3 miles a few times a week. After my wedding, I started to up my milage a bit and ran more frequently. After some post-Turkey Trot tendonitis, I listened to a few audiobooks at work. Find of the year: I looooove Nicola Barber's narrating. I listened to five audiobooks I wouldn't have for her narration alone!

Did not finish: I rarely abandon books, but this year I left behind Beautiful Ruins. I hated the characters.  I include it on my list because I made it 60% of the way and read the last two chapters. No bueno. I do not regret leaving it behind. I also stopped listening to Carrier of the Mark halfway through. Even Nicola Barber couldn't keep me interested in fantasy YA.

The complete list in ABC order by author
1. Scott Adams, The Joy of Work
2. Tasha Alexander, A Crimson Warning
3. Sarah Addison Allen, The Peach Keeper
4. Sarah Addison Allen, The Girl Who Chased the Moon
5. Jessica Anthony, Chopsticks
6. Kate Atkinson, Life After Life
7. Max Barry, Lexicon
8. Alison Bechdel, Are You My Mother?
9. Alison Bechdel, Fun Home
10. Rusty A. Biesele, The Saeshell Book of Time, Part 1 (I won this book!)
11. Mike Birbiglia, Sleepwalk with Me
12. Francesca Lia Block, Ruby
13. Francesca Lia Block, Blood Roses
14. Ray Bradbury, The Halloween Tree
15. Anne Brontë, Agnes Grey
16. Jeffrey Brown, Darth Vader and Son
17. Dan Brown, Inferno
18. Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game
19. Willa Cather, Death Comes for the Archbishop
20. Daniel Clowes, Ghost World: Special Edition
21. Lauren Conrad, Infamous
22. Gareth Cook, The Best American Infographics 2013  (I won this book!)
23. Jenny Doh, Craft a Doodle: 75 Exercises From 18 Artists
24. Junot Díaz, Drown
25. Janet Evanovich, Smokin' Seventeen
26. Leigh Fallon, Carrier of the Mark 
27. Elizabeth Warnock-Fernea, Guests of the Sheik: An Ethnography of an Iraqi Village
28. Helen Fielding, Mad About the Boy
29. Bob Fingerman, Maximum Minimum Wage
30. Becca Fitzpatrick, Hush, Hush
31. Gillian Flynn, Dark Places 
32. Gillian Flynn, Sharp Objects
33. Jim Gaffigan, Dad is Fat
34. Neil Gaiman, The Ocean at the End of the Lane
35. Nicole Georges, Calling Dr. Laura: A Graphic Memoir
36. Tavi Gevinson, Rookie Yearbook One
37. Khalil Gibran, The Beauty of Life
38. Lev Grossman, The Magician King
39. Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha
40. Amanda Hocking, Wake
41. Amanda Hocking, Lullaby
42. Christopher Isherwood, A Single Man
43. Henry James, The Turn of the Screw
44. P.D. James, Death Comes to Pemberley
45. Maureen Johnson, The Name of the Star
46. Maureen Johnson, The Madness Underneath
47. Kazu Kibuishi, Flight Explorer: The Lost Islands
48. Stephen King, Duma Key
49. Stephen King, Joyland
50. Stephen King, Doctor Sleep
51. Julia Kuo, 20 Ways to Draw a Dress
52. D.H. Lawrence, The Virgin and the Gipsy
53. Carson McCullers, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
54. Lisa McMann, Crash
55. Lisa McMann, Bang
56. Vladimir Nabokov, The Enchanter
57. Audrey Niffenegger, Raven Girl
58. George Orwell, Animal Farm
59. Jake Parker, The Antler Boy and Other Stories
60. Anna Quindlen, Black and Blue
61. Ransom Riggs, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
62. Veronica Roth, Allegiant
63. Rainbow Rowell, Eleanor & Park
64. J.K. Rowling (Robert Galbraith), The Cuckoo's Calling
65. Nancy Jo Sales, The Bling Ring
66. David Sedaris, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk
67. David Sedaris, Holidays on Ice
68. David Sedaris, Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls 
69. David Sedaris, Me Talk Pretty One Day
70. David Sedaris, When You Are Engulfed In Flames 
71. Maria Semple, Where'd You Go, Bernadette
72. Jon Stewart, America
73. Mark Twain, The War Prayer
74. Lyudmila Ulitskaya, The Funeral Party
75. Various Authors, The Book of Other People
76. Kurt Vonnegut, We Are What We Pretend to Be
77. Jess Walter, Beautiful Ruins 
78. Rachel Ward, The Drowning  (The author sent me this book!)
79. Frank Warren, PostSecret
80. Frank Warren, A Lifetime of Secrets: A PostSecret Book
81. Karen White, Return to Tradd Street  (I won this book!)
82. Qiu Xiaolong, Death of a Red Heroine
83. Banana Yoshimoto, Lizard
84. Gabrielle Zevin, All These Things I've Done
85. Cecily von Ziegesar, Gossip Girl
86. Markus Zusak, The Book Thief

2013 was a good book + internet year:

• I found out via twitter my favorite author Max Barry (Lexicon - READ IT) was coming to town. We met him, watched a movie based on his book Syrup (next to him), got books signed, and went to dinner with him and other fans. It was awesome.  He's from Australia, so it was pretty insane he came to Columbus. 
• The same friend and I have been waiting for Rachel Ward's new book forever, we said something on twitter to each other, Rachel Ward saw and sent us a UK edition of the book (The Drowning). 
• Kazu Kibuishi mentioned he'd be in Columbus about two days before an event so I quickly bought tickets to see him talk. It was extremely inspirational AND I got to chat with him briefly and he signed my copy of Flight! 
• I won six First Reads giveaways on Goodreads! (Three to read in 2014.)

Next year... 
Originally I planned to read all my "to-read" shelf books but 1. there are too many and 2. I wasn't wild about feeling constrained by a challenge, so I'm just going to read whatever I want.

Okay, that's all. If you're still reading, did we read any of the same books? And as always, if you're on Goodreads, let's be friends.