2013 Reading wrap up, and my favorites

2013 was a crazy reading year for me. It was my first year back at work since we moved to Pierre and I really didn't expect that I would get a lot read. As it turns out, I ended up reading MORE than any year since I had kids but my reading choices fit a very narrow pattern. While I was finding time to read, I just wasn't finding the energy to explore new things and I tended to default to tried and true authors that I knew would deliver.  I didn't hit many of my goals, but I did far exceed the number of books I hoped to read. I also did not sit down this year and break my reading out into categories and authors and publishers, as I have in the past.

I did keep track of the titles (full list to follow) and so can tell you the following:

I read 73 books.
Of those 56 were Romance novels, 11 were Young Adult/Juvenile fiction, 4 were non-fiction and 2 were general fiction.  I am not at all bothering by this as I feel like just reading anything was an accomplishment.

I read multiple books by the same author, including a handful of re-reads. The most popular authors were:
Nora Roberts at 8 titles, and 3 more written as JD Robb.
Tessa Dare with 6 titles.
Courtney Milan with 5 titles.
Jill Shavis with 5 titles.
Susan Mallery with 3 titles.

I discovered that while I do enjoy Shalvis' Lucky Harbor books and Mallery's Fool's Gold, that when I look over a years worth of books that none of them stand out. The titles are completely unmemorable and I can't remember if I even really loved them. I have to look up each one to remember then story, and then can tell you if it were great or not. This is great for in the moment, because I know I can pick one up and enjoy it, but not so great for the author overall, as I can't ever recommend an individual title. The same is true for the JD Robb In Death series.

I started reading almost exclusively e-books this year. I get two 15 minute breaks at work each day, and I look forward to those breaks more than is healthy. My job isn't hard or bad, but for those 15 minutes NO ONE AT ALL interrupts me and I can sit and read and it is lovely. I find that since I'm already carrying my iPad or Nook with me, I don't want the extra weight of a book too. Then when I get home I carry my phone or iPad around the house and just never seem to pick up paper books. I didn't purposely track this either, but my best estimate is that out of the 73 books, 17 of them were paper, and those were all read in the first half of the year.   I read a lot of books from NetGalley this year, which allowed me to stay somewhat current with my reading, and I loved it.

I didn't take the time to really sit and ponder a best of list, instead choosing to go with reading over the list and jotting down titles as they jumped out as memorable. I discovered several authors this year that I really enjoy and since I read their books back to back it's really hard to choose a favorite.  I can without reservation recommend Courtney Milan and Tessa Dare, and I really liked Anne Barton's book a lot, as well as the Carla Kelly ones I read.

After reviewing my reviews, I still can't pick a favorite so in no particular order but roughly the order I read them:

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo. (WHY have I not read the next in the series??)
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson (and really the second one as well)
Marrying the Royal Marine by Carla Kelly (Nearly perfect romance here.)
Any Duchess Will Do by Tessa Dare
The Duchess War and The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan (TCC not yet reviewed, but soon.)
This Song Will Save your Life by Leila Sales
Louder Than Love by Jessica Topper
Once She Was Tempted by Anne Barton
The Conquest by Edith Layton
Sleigh Bells in the Snow by Sarah Morgan
His Uptown Girl by Liz Talley


My reading goal for 2014 is once again to read 52 books (yes, I have hit this easily the last two years. I don't make a goal in an effort to read MORE, my goal is just to read steadily, a book a week.) I'd like to read more than a handful off this list, and finish reading The Great Gatsby. If I were to pick a classic for this year, it would be Rebecca.  I'd like to write at least a few sentence review of each book I read.

The complete list of books for 2013:

1. The Other Side of Us by  Sarah Mayberry
2. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
3. Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
4. Wild For the Sheriff by Kathleen O'Brien 
5. Zeus: King of the Gods by George O'Connor YA Graphic Novel
6. Too Wicked to Wed by Cara Elliot 
7. The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
8. South Dakota Outlaws & Scofflaws by John Andrews, Bernie Hunhoff
9. The Lady Most Willing by Julia Quinn, Eloisa James and Connie Brockway 
10. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
11. A Good American by Alex George
12. All He Ever Desired by Shannon Stacey 
13. Back to the Good Fortune Diner by Vicki Essex
14. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
15. Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson
16. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
17. Marrying the Royal Marine by Carla Kelly
18. The House on Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder
19. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
20. Marrying the Captain by Carla Kelly
21. The Surgeon's Wife by Carla Kelly 
22. All He Ever Dreamed by Shannon Stacey 
23. The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson 
24. A Week to be Wicked by Tessa Dare
25. American Savage by Dan Savage 
26. A Lady by Midnight by Tessa Dare
27. A Night to Surrender by Tessa Dare
28. Any Duchess Will Do by Tessa Dare
29. Beauty and the Blacksmith by Tessa Dare
30. Once Upon a Winter's Eve by Tessa Dare
31. The Duchess War by Courtney Milan
32. The Governess Affair by Courtney Milan
33. A Kiss for Midwinter by Courtney Milan
34. The World's Strongest Librarian by Josh Harnagrane
35. Undone by Shannon Richard
36. It Had to Be You by Jill Shalvis
37. The Heiress Effect by Courtney Milan
38. This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales
39. Dirty Little Secret by Jennifer Echols 
40. Big Sky Christmas by C.J. Carmichael
41. A Most Devilish Rogue by Ashlyn MacNamara
42. Dance Upon the Air by Nora Roberts
43. Heaven and Earth by Nora Roberts
44. A Weaver Beginning by Allison Leigh
45. Always on my Mind by Jill Shalvis
46. What Happens Between Friends by Beth Andrews 
47. His Christmas Sweetheart by Cathy McDavid
48. Face the Fire by Nora Roberts
49. Louder Than Love by Jessica Topper 
50. Always on My Mind by Jill Shalvis
51. Vision in White by Nora Roberts
52. Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts 
53. Savor the Moment by Nora Roberts
54. Happily Ever After by Nora Roberts
55. Dream Lake by Lisa Kleypas
56. Love Overdue by Pamela Morsi
57. To All the Rakes I've Loved Before by Anne Barton 
58. Once She Was Tempted by Anne Barton
59. Christmas on 4th Street by Susan Mallery
60. A Fool's Gold Christmas by Susan Mallery
61. The Conquest by Edith Layton
62. Treachery in Death by JD Robb
63. New York to Dallas by JD Robb
64. Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas
65. Just One Kiss by Susan Mallery
66. A Christmas to Remember by Jill Shalvis, etc.
67. Sleigh Bells in the Snow by Sarah Morgan
68. His Uptown Girl by Liz Talley
69. Two of a Kind by Susan Mallery
70. The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan
71. Once in a Lifetime by Jill Shalvis
72. Dark Witch by Nora Roberts
73. Celebrity in Death by JD Robb