As I have a short period of time before the latest episode of the new series of Sherlock comes on the TV, I thought I would do something useful. What better to do than procrastinate from doing some actual uni work, by writing a blog post!
In 2013, I read a whopping 42 books! (Not quite 50, but edging closer!!) Here are my top 13 of 2013:
1. Why We Broke Up - Daniel Hadler - 5/5 stars. Absolutely beautiful with absolutely beautiful images in it. Also Daniel Hadler is Lemony Snicket's real name!
2. Well-Read Women: Portraits of Fiction's Most Beloved Heroines - Samantha Hahn. 5/5 stars. An absolutely gorgeously fantastic book of delectable watercolour portraits of some of the most fantastic women in literature. And some lovely quotes as well.
3. The Fault in Our Stars - John Green. 5/5 stars. It feels a bit cheeky putting this in my top 13 for 2013, because I actually re-read it this year. However, it definitely stood up to being re-read and even made me cry again! I might re-read it in 2014 as well...
4. Hyperbole and a Half - Allie Brosh. 5/5 stars. A lovely Christmas present to receive (even if I did get two copies!). Painfully funny, yet hilariously true and filled with excellent cartoons.
5. The Story of English in 100 Words - David Crystal. 4/5 stars. I tried reading more non-fiction this year and was pleasantly surprised. This was very interesting and well worth reading from cover to cover.
6. The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky. 4/5 stars. Beautifully written and again, painfully true. Some wonderful YA.
7. How to Be a Woman - Caitlin Moran. 4/5 stars. The first piece of feminist non-fiction I have read and very impressive it was! Funny and insightful, though I couldn't give it 5 stars, because I disagreed with some of her ideas and she seemed to be suggesting everyone had to have the EXACT SAME opinions as her.
8. The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides. 4/5 stars. Very interesting to read, although frustrating at the end!
9. Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë. 4/5 stars. Again, feel like this shouldn't be on the list because it was a re-read. Nonetheless, it was still a pleasure to read again, although I did feel that the prose was a little stodgier than I remembered.
10. Married by Christmas - Scarlett Bailey. 4/5 stars. Fun fluff.
11. The Bookshop Strikes Back - Ann Patchett. 4/5 stars. An interesting story about a women trying to save books by setting up a bookshop in her home town.
12. The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris - Jenny Coglan. 3/5 stars. More fun fluff, though this is surprisingly well written and not too cliché.
13. Sushi Slim - Makiko Sano. 5/5 stars. Despite having such a high rating, as it is a cook book, one debates how well placed it is on the this list. I do love sushi though! ^^
