2013 Reading List

I read 50 books in 2012, a goal set in early March of that year. Knowing that many New Year Resolutions don't make it past January/February, that makes me feel very accomplished. In my New Year Resolutions, I set the new goal of reading 60 books in 2013.

Sometimes I feel as if reading goals such as this are necessary for someone like me who feels like their reading list is never ending. It's overwhelming to think you may possibly never get to all the books you want to. Hopefully, by the end of 2013, 60 will get me through a lot of them.

Though I have listed only 22 books, many of these books were either series (The Maze Runner Series, Lauren Oliver's series) or general suggestions to read more works by a particular author (Austen, Murakami) so the reading list actually totals ~33. Though this is only about half of my reading goal for 2013 of 60, I am a very spontaneous reader (meaning I want to immediately read whatever I'm in the mood for regardless of how long books have been on any list- hence my love for browsing bookstores AND why it seems like I can never get to certain books) and loading up this list with books I really don't care for just for the sake of reaching 60 is senseless. There's a very good chance that ~25% of these books won't even get read by the end of 2013, but are instead replaced with books that I find completely at random.

That leads me to my next topic. I'm considering doing an updated reading list every quarter of the year to update on my progress through this list as well as new additions. So expect an updated reading list/progress by the end of March!

So, without further ado, here is my introductory reading list!

1. The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien

I read The Fellowship of the Ring 9+ years ago but never got to the remaining two. So this year, I hope to reread the first and finally finish the trilogy!

2. The Magicians - Lev Grossman

This is one of those books that I stumbled on on one of my bookstore adventures. I was simply browsing the shelves, saw this title, and made sure to put it on my note of books to remember on my phone. I haven't heard much about it, but it looks promising! I believe there's a sequel to this book as well.

3. Catch-22 - Joseph Heller

Catch-22 is a perfect example of a book that gets cast aside year after year. But not 2013! I am determined to read this book. 

4. Behind the Beautiful Forevers - Katherine Boo

Behind the Beautiful Forevers is a book that has gone completely unnoticed by me until "best books of 2012" lists were starting to surface. I was surprised how many times I saw this book repeated and how little I've heard of it. And when I heard that it was non-fiction, I became more intrigued. 

(photo taken from Barnes & Noble)

5. 1984 - George Orwell

1984 is a book that I was unlucky enough to not be required to read in school and I have been meaning to ever since. There's not too much to say about this one since everyone already knows what this is about. I enjoyed Animal Farm  a lot so I'm excited to read another Orwell piece.

6. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

It's just a coincidence that I have two classic dystopian novels consecutively, but I don't bother to hide my love for these type of novels. Brave New World is one of those titles that have been in the back of my mind for years but I never picked up. I intend to change that this year.

(photo taken from Amazon.com)

7. Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction - J.D. Salinger

This book is the last unread Salinger piece I have left. And while a part of me wants to save it knowing Salinger can no longer provide me with more, I know that is silly and intend to read it.

(photo taken from Amazon.com)

8. more Jane Austen in general, starting with Persuasion. Of Jane Austen's works I have completed Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Northanger Abbey. I think it would be fun to read the rest of her works since her writing never lets me down. Persuasion is my first go-to since I down own either Mansfield Park or Sense and Sensibility.

9. some Haruki Murakami. I currently have Kafka On the Shore, Dance Dance Dance, and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle at my disposal, so I will most likely start with one those. Every person I know who has read Murakami's novels have told me how much they don't "get" them or simply don't care for them in general. Normally, that would discourage me entirely, but I enjoyed "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running" so much, as well as some shorts of his. In addition to this, I was consistently discouraged to read the Uglies series and I ended up liking it a lot, so I might disregard negative reviews more often, starting with Murakami.

10. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

This is just one of those books that I keep saying I'll get to eventually but just haven't. Just a month ago, I read an interesting poem about Emily and her personal life and it has fueled my desire to read this book even more. So maybe 2013 will finally be its year!

11. The Old Curiosity Shop - Charles Dickens

This is actually a book that I picked up on a complete whim while browsing Barnes & Noble in search of what to use my coupon on. I had never heard of this title by Dickens before and having A Christmas Carol as the only Dickens piece I've read, I decided to pick it up. The title really drew me in.

12. Delirium/Pandemonium - Lauren Oliver

If you can't already tell from my list new favorites from 2012, I love reading YA books, especially ones that deal with unique/dystopian societies. And though I'm not too familiar with what Lauren Oliver's series is about, I read the first few sentences and got a good impression that I would enjoy it.

(photo taken from Barnes & Noble)

Furthermore, I'm not someone who likes to leave series unfinished unless I really have no interest and reading further would simply be a waste of my time. However, with dystopian novels, I never find this to be the case. Even if I'm not entirely invested in the characters I always find the societies interesting enough to finish the series.

(photo taken from Barnes & Noble)

13. The Maze Runner Trilogy - James Dashner

Another teen dystopian novel! I really can't get enough of those. I currently only own the first two, but I'm not prone to only reading partial series unless they are horrible, so I will most likely be getting the third book as well as the prequel. 

14. The Blood of the Lamb - Peter de Vries

I have heard this title a lot (it's been on my Amazon "save for later list" for quite some time) I thought maybe placing it on this list would motivate me to finally pick it up. Also, the title is just creepy and odd, and I like it.

(photo taken from Barnes & Noble)

15. Reached - Ally Condie

When I finished Matched (full review here) I wasn't sure if I would finish the series anytime soon. But I found myself still curious and bought Crossed and it was surprisingly a great improvement from Matched. I now have fuel to finish this series. 

16. Moby Dick - Herman Melville

I attempted Moby Dick in early 2012, but found myself incredibly busy and unmotivated to find the time to finish it. I do, however, enjoy Melville's style and adored his writing in "Barleby the Scrivener."

17. The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald

My boyfriend generously added this book of short stories to my collection and it is intimidatingly long (almost 800) pages. I really don't want it to be one of those books that sits on my shelf and gathers dust so I would like to try and read 1 short story a week and finish it by the end of the year!

18. Castle In the Air - Diana Wynne Jones

After completing Howl's Moving Castle I was ready to find more books just like it. This book, also by Jones, is another book in which I'm more familiar with Miyazaki's film adaption. And even though his adaption is lengthy and slow at times, I still really enjoyed it and look forward to reading this book as well.

(photo taken from Barnes & Noble)

19. House of Many Ways - Diana Wynne Jones

Another Diana Wynne Jones book! I can't get enough of these type of books so why not add as many as I can to this list.

(photo taken from Barnes & Noble)

Lastly I have a few recommendations from family and friends. I find that I'm often asked for book recommendations, but rarely given any. So I would like to spend some time reading the few that I actually do get.

20. The Art of Racing In the Rain - Garth Stein

This recommendation is from my sister, someone who's taste I generally trust (despite her attempts to stop me from reading the Uglies series). She had high praise for this novel, and despite my low tolerance for sad animal stories, when she told me it was told from the perspective of a dog, I knew I had to read it.

(photo taken from Amazon.com)

21. Winter Rose - Patricia A. McKillip

This book wasn't so much a recommendation as it was a favorite of one of my closest friends. And despite the technicality that she didn't recommend it to me, I'm going to take the fact that she enjoyed it so much as a recommendation in itself. I currently have no idea what it's about, but I'm very content with starting books this way.

(photo taken from Barnes & Noble)

22. Slammed - Collen Hoover

This book is a friend recommendation and came with very, very high praise. I have no idea what it's about, but I think it's more fun that way. 

(photo taken from Barnes & Noble)

Though I will end the list here, there are many more books that I want to read such as Madame Bovary, A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, etc. If I tried to list all books I am interested in, the list would be never ending. The 22 I listed are currently higher priority than those that just sit in my mind. But knowing me, my next read will probably be Madame Bovary now.

There are many books I want to reread as well, but I think I'm going to make a whole post about the rereadability (a new word I just created) of books and which ones I feel I could reread an endless number of times and why.

I hope you enjoyed taking a look at my 2013 reading list and that it inspired some of your reads. Look out for weekly book reviews and possibly a reading progress update/updated reading list towards the end of March!