Books I read in 2013
Per my yearly tradition, here's a look at the books I read for pleasure in 2013. It felt like I read a ton more this year, although my list is only 21 books long, about average for me. My subway commute got a lot longer after I moved to Bushwick, so the majority of these books were probably read post-August.
Bold = favorites
* = rereads
- Super Sad True Love Story (Gary Shteyngart)
- The Russian Debutante's Handbook (Gary Shteyngart)
- Marcovaldo (Italo Calvino)
- American Gods (Neil Gaiman)
- Love Dishonor Marry Die Cherish Perish (David Rakoff)
- St. Lucy's Home For Girls Raised By Wolves (Karen Russell)
- Vampires in the Lemon Grove (Karen Russell)
- The Remains of the Day (Kazuo Ishiguro)
- Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro)
- The Crying of Lot 49 (Thomas Pynchon)
- Tenth of December (George Saunders)
- Pastoralia* (George Saunders)
- Civilwarland in Bad Decline (George Saunders)
- In Persuasion Nation (George Saunders)
- The Shining Girls (Lauren Beukes)
- 1984* (George Orwell)
- Brooklyn (Colm Tóibín)
- Mothers and Sons (Colm Tóibín)
- The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. (Adelle Waldman)
- Neuromancer (William Gibson)
- The Goldfinch (Donna Tartt)
So I was obviously in a George Saunders kick all year long, particularly since I saw him reading from Tenth of December at the Strand in January. I also finally got around to reading my first Pynchon and Gibson novels. And over a summer of insane government surveillance revelations, I read 1984, since it seemed fitting. Super Sad True Love Story ended up being a very timely read, too.
I was pleasantly surprised by how lovely I found Tóibín's writing, especially Brooklyn (not least because the protagonist's move to that borough mirrored my own), and disappointed in The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. since several friends had highly recommended it.
In 2014, I'm starting my year by reading Disgrace (J.M. Coetzee) and The Little Friend (Donna Tartt's debut novel). I also plan to indulge my love for Calvino by reading as many of his novels as I can find the time to.