Top 20 Reads of 2013

Those of us on the west coast are still waiting for 2014 to ring in. And as I wait, I will quickly finish up this post I've been meaning to put up for the past several days. Let's hope next year involves less procrastination, yeah?

If you read my very-detailed post on everything I read in 2013, then you'll remember that I read nearly 130 books. Because of this relativity large quantity, I'm allowing 20 books to be chosen in this list of Favorite Reads of 2013.

Some notes on this post before I dive in:

• only new reads of 2013 will be included (this will keep all-time favorites from reappearing on every list)
• favorites will be split into categories based on genre
• other than the genre categories, the list is completely at random (i.e. I don't want to make the difficult decision of listing in any other order)

I love making lists such as these. So I hope you enjoy.


**all book cover photos are courtesty of Goodreads

May 2013 Reading Update

May is over. And man is the year passing by quickly.

I normally post these reading updates at the end of the month (as opposed to the beginning of the next) but I've been so busy these past couple weeks I almost forgot about these updates entirely.

This past month has definitely been the most sporadic month in terms of book choices. A large chunk of these books are comics/manga. We also have a couple picture books, a little bit of non-fiction, and of course my old reliable, YA. I can't get through a month without reading some of that YA. It's been a fun month.

As usual, I'll mostly talk about my reactions to each book. If you want a synopsis, use the links.

And without further ado, here are the books I read in May, in the order finished.

Book Haul (Library Edition): May 10, 2013

Yes! The library doesn't just supply AC, internet, and DVDs.

If you read my last Book Haul then you know I've been going ever-so-slightly overboard with the book buying. And since I told myself I wouldn't buy any more books in May (which I broke already, but hey, it was a fairly priced first printing international copy of Harry Potter) I thought I should really hit up the library.

When it came to finding what books I wanted to borrow, it was mainly the question of: which books do I need/want in my collection immediately, and which do I not care to own (at the moment)? That became the deciding factor.

I ended up getting quite a lot of YA that I see often but don't know much about (Maureen Johnson and Sarah Dessen), in addition to friend recommendations and children's book.

Oh! I completely forgot to include 1 e-book! It was my first time ever borrowing an e-book on my kindle and it was an overall pleasant experience. I borrowed Rick Riordan's The Lightning Thief. Unfortunately, they only allow e-books to be "checked out" for a week. Which just means I'll probably stick to picking shorter/easier reads for my kindle from now on.