2013 Reading Round Up

Well, I didn't get much reading done this year.  What with one thing and another, reading fell off my radar screen of fun things to do, replaced or augmented by Netflix, crafts, travel, concerts, singing, and UUA business.  I'm not sure I've read even 15 books this year.  But here goes...

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline.  This was one of the best books I read this year.  It is the juxtaposition of two stories, one modern about a teenager in foster care and one old about a girl who is sent to the Midwest on the orphan train to start her life over after the tragic death of her family in a fire.  Their secrets are sad, their friendship heartwarming.  It was a bit like the film Gravity, where one thing after another goes wrong for the protagonist, but it was a genuinely good, quick read.  I had it in my glove compartment to read on and off if I was early for pick up or something, but I found I couldn't put it down.  So that says something.

My Story by Elizabeth Smart.  Most people had their attention captured at least once or twice by the abduction and eventual rescue of Elizabeth Smart ten years ago.  I always admired how her family allowed her to go on with her life and how she kept her silence.  But this year she decided to break her silence and tell her story herself, and I wanted to read it.  It was compelling and scary and heartwarming all at once.

The Anglo Files: A Field Guide to the British by Sarah Lyall.  I really enjoyed this book--passages of it were laugh out loud funny, none more so than how the MPs heckle and belittle each other in the course of business.  I learned a great deal of history and why the British are the way they are and just really enjoyed it.

Takedown Twenty by Janet Evanovich.  As long as she writes 'em, I'll read 'em.  Stephanie, Lula, Bingo, and a giraffe.  'Nuff said.

Below Stairs by Margaret Powell.  Margaret Powell inspired Julian Fellowes in his portrayal of class in Downton Abbey, and her memoirs inspired Upstairs Downstairs.  She was sassy and spunky and I just loved her.  The book was wonderful.  I enjoyed reading what she thought of the upper crust and her reactions to their reactions to her.  And if I ever get a male cat, I'm definitely naming him "His Lordship".

Inferno by Dan Brown.  The latest Robert Langdon installment.  Probably the last one I'll read.  Lots of running around, lots of 'stuff' disguised as clues that really read to me like "Dan Brown read about all this stuff and decided he'd make a book out of it."  It was ok, but I didn't love it and it didn't make me think I'd want to read anything else.  It was better than the previous one about the Smithsonian or whatever it was, but nowhere near as good as The DaVinci Code or Angels and Demons.

The Guardians: An Elegy for a Friend by Sarah Manguso.  First time in my life I've been jealous of another human being's ability to write.  Manguso writes eloquently about her friend's suicide and her feelings afterwards.  It was a beautiful book and the only one about grief that I managed to get through in the past 17 months, despite a plethora of them having been given to me.

The Sixty Eight Rooms by Marianne Malone.  This summer I had the occasion to visit the Thorne Miniatures at the Art Institute of Chicago.  This is the first in a series of children's books about those rooms.  I wish I was a kid again so I'd have enjoyed reading it more.  Seeing the rooms was far better than reading the book, but to a kid, I bet the book is awesome.

I Love You, Miss Huddleston (And Other Inappropriate Longings of My Indiana Childhood) by Philip Gulley.  I love reading all of Philip Gulley's books.  They are a warm blanket on a cold day.  I had only read this one once, back when it first came out, and my friend who gave it to me said she didn't care for it very much which I think colored my reaction to it the first time around.  This time, I so enjoyed it.  I find it hard to imagine that the person I envision as the adult Philip Gulley, Quaker minister and author extraordinaire was a little bit of a hellion in his younger days.  I plan to go see him in Greensboro NC in January, and I hope to have the gumption to talk to him a bit about this book.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.  Technically I haven't finished this one yet, but I have to finish it by Sunday for my Anglophiles club and so I know it'll count.  I have seen countless movie versions of this classic Christmas story, but I haven't actually sat down and read it in years.  I am enjoying it so very much.  It is a wonderful book to read and makes me forgive Dickens just a little for all the other of his stories I used to have to plow through as a high school student.

Austenland by Shannon Hale.  Some chick's aunt sends her on an all expenses paid trip to an immersive Jane Austen era experience for 3 weeks and she spend the first 20 days waffling as to whether or not she can pretend she's in Regency England for 3 weeks or not.  And that was the good part.  I detested Jane, I detested the men, I detested all the people in Austenland, I detested the book.  Chosen as part of the Anglophiles club, received an absolute panning from all but 1 member.  That member hated The Anglo Files.  No accounting for taste.

So looks like I'm at 11 for the year.  I'm not counting all the textbooks I had to read for my classes this year.  That might double my total, but it wasn't very much fun, and there is not much to say about management texts and whatnot.

What did you read in 2013?