My Favorite Books of 2013

I read 50 books last year. Here are my 9 fiction and 4 non-fiction favorites, which I recommend you read as well. They are listed in the order I read them.

fiction

The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan - reviewed here on January 29th

Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales by Stephen King - short stories vary from The Derringer Gang to cowboys getting captured by vampire nuns. Each story as good as or better than the last.

Dragons of Winter Night by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman - reviewed here on May 7th

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd - reviewed here on May 24th

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick - reviewed here on August 6th

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver - Imagine an evangelical Baptist taking his family to the Belgian Congo in 1959 on a mission to save the heathen Congolese. If you are laughing right now you will like this story.

If Jack's In Love by Stephen Wetta - reviewed here on October 29th

Light of the Moon by Luanne Rice - a woman fulfills her mother's dying wish by going to France to see a band of famous wild white horses. It becomes a journey of self-reflection and healing once her life intersects with a single dad who is trying to help his daughter overcome a tragedy.

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami - reviewed here on December 30th

non-fiction/memoir

Satchmo: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong by Steven Brower - The thing that makes this book special is having access to the collages and scrapbook pages Louis Armstrong created himself! Who would have guessed that besides being a genius musician he was also a crafter?!

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris - reviewed here on April 30th

Pussy Riot!: A Punk Prayer For Freedom by Pussy Riot - reviewed here on September 13th

The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick's Dogs and Their Tale of Rescue and Redemption by Jim Gorant - reviewed here on November 10th