Tag Archive | reviews

Saturday Review of Books: March 15, 2014

“[R]ereading can be a product not of simple dissatisfaction, nor of the fan’s utter enchantment, but rather of some curious mix of gratification and a feeling of incompletion. You can reread not from love or hatred but from a sense, often inchoate, that there’s more to this book than you have yet been able to receive.” ~Alan Jacobs

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Saturday Review of Books: February 8, 2014

“I can live without people, but I cannot live without books. As I was leaving to row across the Atlantic, I had to choose: I could pack a 40-pound life raft, or I could take along a modest library. I took the books and sent the life raft home. The books were more important to my well being, my survival, than a rubber raft.” ~Tori Murden McClure

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Welcome to the Saturday Review of Books at Semicolon. Here’s how it usually works. Find a book review on your blog posted sometime during the previous week. The review doesn’t have to be a formal sort of thing. You can link to your thoughts on a particular book, a few ideas inspired by reading the book, your evaluation, quotations, whatever.

Then on Friday night/Saturday, you post a link here at Semicolon in Mr. Linky to the specific post where you’ve written your book review. Don’t link to your main blog page because this kind of link makes it hard to find the book review, especially when people drop in later after you’ve added new content to your blog. In parentheses after your name, add the title of the book you’re reviewing. This addition will help people to find the reviews they’re most interested in reading.

After linking to your own reviews, you can spend as long as you want reading the reviews of other bloggers for the week and adding to your wishlist of books to read. That’s how my own TBR list has become completely unmanageable and the reason I can’t join any reading challenges. I have my own personal challenge that never ends.

1. gautami tripathy (Tahoe Trap by Todd Borg)
2. gautami tripathy (The Hunger Angel by Herta Muller)
3. gautami tripathy (The Personal History of Rachel DuPREE))
4. gautami tripathy (Mangled Hearts by Felicia Tatum)
5. Trinity Rose (Sacred Spring)
6. Jessica (Lucy in the Sky)
7. Barbara H. (Ida Scudder: Healing Bodies, Touching Hearts))
8. Carol in Oregon (Winter Watch)
9. Carol in Oregon (Monuments Men)
10. Juju@Tales of Whimsey (Dear Mr. Knightley)
11. Seth@Collateral Bloggage (Do You Believe in Magic?)
12. Jama’s Alphabet Soup (Tea Party Today)
13. Survivors: True Stories of Children in the Holocaust
14. Carol (Robbery Under Arms)
15. Sophie (The Midwife’s Apprentice)
16. Janet (The Book Thief)
17. SuziQoregon @ Whimpulsive (The Making of The African Queen)
18. SuziQoregon @ Whimpulsive (Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children)
19. SuziQoregon @ Whimpulsive (Shovel Ready)
20. SuziQoregon @ Whimpulsive (The Gates)
21. SuziQoregon @ Whimpulsive (Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall)
22. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (Runaway Hugs & Catching Kisses)
23. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (Journey by Aaron Becker)
24. Joseph R.@ZombieParentsGuide (Writing Down the Dragon by Tom Simon)
25. Beckie @ ByTheBook (Griselda Takes Flight)
26. Beckie @ ByTheBook (A Match Made in Texas)
27. Beckie @ ByTheBook (The Vicar’ Wife)
28. SmallWorld Reads (In the Sanctuary of Outcasts by Neil White)
29. Colleen@Books in the City (Love, Water, Memory by Jennie Shortridge)
30. Glynn (the Wrecking Light)
31. Glynn (The Hunter and Other Stories)
32. Lazygal (Game Slaves)
33. Lazygal (Split Second)
34. Lazygal (Manor of Secrets)
35. Lazygal (Mercy Snow)
36. Janet (Animal Farm)
37. Girl Detective (The Testament of Mary)
38. Girl Detective (Jane Eyre books)
39. Girl Detective (The Wind Up Bird Chronicle)
40. Girl Detective (Possession)
41. Girl Detective (How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia)
42. Girl Detective (The Dinner)
43. Girl Detective (The People in the Trees)
44. JD@The Literary Atlas (Ready Player One)
45. Becky (Thru the Bible Isaiah J. Vernon McGee)
46. Becky (Beyond the Shadow of the Brownstone)
47. Becky (A Heart Like His)
48. Becky (Lego Superheroes Phonics)
49. Becky (5 New Board Books)
50. Becky (6 picture Books)
51. Becky (Angel Island)
52. Becky (Edenbrooke)
53. Becky (The Wouldbegoods)
54. Becky (Half a Chance)
55. Becky (Sword in the Storm)
56. Leslie (Walden on Wheels & What’s So Funny)
57. Dana B (French Women Don’t Get Facelifts)
58. Phinnea (Easy to Kill)
59. Ann (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)
60. TracyK (The Little Shadows)
61. Guiltless Reading (The Isolation Door – Review Giveaway!)
62. Guiltless Reading (Belle Cora by Phillip Margulies)
63. Guiltless Reading (The Fault in Our Stars by John Green)
64. Anna @ Diary of an Eccentric (Daughters of the Nile)

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Saturday Review of Books: January 25, 2014

“When a day passes, it is no longer there. What remains of it? Nothing more than a story. If stories weren’t told or books weren’t written, man would live like the beasts, only for the day.” ~Naftali the Storyteller and His Horse, Sus by Isaac Bashevus Singer

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Welcome to the Saturday Review of Books at Semicolon. Here’s how it usually works. Find a book review on your blog posted sometime during the previous week. The review doesn’t have to be a formal sort of thing. You can link to your thoughts on a particular book, a few ideas inspired by reading the book, your evaluation, quotations, whatever.

Then on Friday night/Saturday, you post a link here at Semicolon in Mr. Linky to the specific post where you’ve written your book review. Don’t link to your main blog page because this kind of link makes it hard to find the book review, especially when people drop in later after you’ve added new content to your blog. In parentheses after your name, add the title of the book you’re reviewing. This addition will help people to find the reviews they’re most interested in reading.

After linking to your own reviews, you can spend as long as you want reading the reviews of other bloggers for the week and adding to your wishlist of books to read. That’s how my own TBR list has become completely unmanageable and the reason I can’t join any reading challenges. I have my own personal challenge that never ends.

1. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (Locomotive by Brian Floca)
2. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (Emily Climbs)
3. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (Miss Buncle’s Book quote)
4. Seth@Collateral Bloggage (All You Want to Know About Hell)
5. Beckie @ ByTheBook (Shadowed by Grace)
6. Beckie @ ByTheBook (Critical Pursuit)
7. Beckie @ ByTheBook (Mr. Spunky and His Friends)
8. Beckie @ ByTheBook (The Headmistress of Rosemere)
9. Beckie @ ByTheBook (Redeemed)
10. Cathy@ThoughtsonBooks (The Goodness of God)
11. Jessica Snell (Pen on Fire)
12. Barbara H. (Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy)
13. Barbara H. (A Study in Scarlet)
14. Barbara H. (The Blue Castle)
15. Books&Monika (A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki)
16. Janet (Last Chronicle of Barset)
17. Hope (Victorian Challenge Wrap-Up)
18. Jama’s Alphabet Soup (A Fine Romance)
19. Reading World (City of Women)
20. Becky (Dare to Love Again)
21. SmallWorld Reads (When She Woke by Hillary Jordan)
22. Yvann@Readingwithtea (The People in the Photo)
23. Yvann@Readingwithtea (The Incredible Inheritance of Wilberforce)
24. Becky (Pastwatch Redemption of Christopher Columbus)
25. Becky (Aquifer)
26. Becky (A Corner of White)
27. Becky (Lady of the English)
28. Becky (Alexander the Conqueror)
29. Becky (Good Morning Miss Dove)
30. ~ linda @The Reader & the Book (One)
31. Thalia @ Muses and Graces (Across the Great Barrier)
32. Glynn (The Watchman of Ephraim)
33. Glynn (St. Martin-in-the-Field)
34. Glynn (Wounded Women of the Bible)
35. Glynn (How the Bible Came to Be)
36. Susanne@Living To Tell (Almost Forever)
37. Joseph R.@ZombieParentsGuide (St. Benedict and St. Therese)
38. Sophie (Hatchet)
39. Sophie (Double Happiness)
40. Alex @ Is It Amazing (Plague Town)
41. gautami tripathy
42. gautami tripathy (something About Her)
43. gautami tripathy (The Doctor’s Secret Bride))
44. gautami tripathy (Baby, It’s Cold Outside)
45. gautami tripathy (Where’s My Son?)
46. gautami tripathy (The Lantern)
47. Anna @ Diary of an Eccentric (Somewhere in France)
48. Anna @ Diary of an Eccentric (No Surrender Soldier)

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Saturday Review of Books: January 18, 2014

“A good book, the really good ones, only begin when the last word on the last page is read.” ~Ben House

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Welcome to the Saturday Review of Books at Semicolon. Here’s how it usually works. Find a book review on your blog posted sometime during the previous week. The review doesn’t have to be a formal sort of thing. You can link to your thoughts on a particular book, a few ideas inspired by reading the book, your evaluation, quotations, whatever.

Then on Friday night/Saturday, you post a link here at Semicolon in Mr. Linky to the specific post where you’ve written your book review. Don’t link to your main blog page because this kind of link makes it hard to find the book review, especially when people drop in later after you’ve added new content to your blog. In parentheses after your name, add the title of the book you’re reviewing. This addition will help people to find the reviews they’re most interested in reading.

After linking to your own reviews, you can spend as long as you want reading the reviews of other bloggers for the week and adding to your wishlist of books to read. That’s how my own TBR list has become completely unmanageable and the reason I can’t join any reading challenges. I have my own personal challenge that never ends.

1. the Ink Slinger (Our Culture, What’s Left of It)
2. Carol (Island of the World)
3. Barbara H. (Unspoken by Dee Henderson)
4. Barbara H. (Unglued by Lysa TerKeurst)
5. Faith (Amity & Sorrow)
6. Hope (The Carlingford Chronicles by Oliphant)
7. Beckie @ ByTheBook (Flame of Resistance)
8. Beckie @ ByTheBook (Hidden Falls: Ordinary Secrets (episode 1))
9. Beckie @ ByTheBook (30 Quick Tips for Better Health)
10. Beckie @ ByTheBook (Secrets of Harmony Grove)
11. Reading Enid Blyton with children
12. Seth@Collateral Bloggage (Divergent)
13. Becky (Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
14. Becky (Road to Yesterday by L.M. Montgomery)
15. Becky (Risked by Margaret Peterson Haddix)
16. Becky (The Courts of Love by Jean Plaidy)
17. Becky (Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown)
18. Becky (Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen)
19. Becky (The Merchant’s Daughter)
20. Becky (Every Waking Moment)
21. Becky (How To Read The Bible Through the Jesus Lens)
22. SmallWorld Reads (2013 Books Read and Reviewed)
23. SmallWorld Reads (Clair de Lune)
24. Glynn (Elegy for Trains: Poems)
25. Glynn (Crown, Orb & Sceptre)
26. Glynn (A Year in Weetamoe Woods: Poems)
27. Glynn (the Battle of Stirling Bridge)
28. Heart-warming Stories of Abraham Lincoln
29. Reading World (Miss Buncle’s Book)
30. Reading World (Mrs. Poe)
31. Charlotte’s Library (Rose and the Lost Princess)
32. Jessica Snell (Steelheart)
33. Sophie (The Humans)
34. Sophie (An Old-Fashioned Girl)
35. SuziQoregon @ Whimpulsive (A Conspiracy of Faith)
36. SuziQoregon @ Whimpulsive (Y: The Last Man Vol 7: Paper Dolls)
37. LiteraryFeline
38. Mystie (Ecclesiastes: Table in the Mist)
39. Mystie (Currently Being Read at our House)
40. Mental multivitamin (On the nightstand)
41. Yvann@Readingwithtea (The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns)
42. Yvann@Readingwithtea (I Am Half-Sick of Shadows)
43. Yvann@Readingwithtea (The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes)
44. Anna @ Diary of an Eccentric (The Tattered Prayer Book)
45. Anna @ Diary of an Eccentric (Alias Thomas Bennet)

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Saturday Review of Books: January 11, 2014

“What is the most precious, the most exciting smell awaiting you in the house when you return to it after a dozen years or so? The smell of roses, you think? No, moldering books.” ~Andre Sinyavsky

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Welcome to the Saturday Review of Books at Semicolon. Here’s how it usually works. Find a book review on your blog posted sometime during the previous week. The review doesn’t have to be a formal sort of thing. You can link to your thoughts on a particular book, a few ideas inspired by reading the book, your evaluation, quotations, whatever.

Then on Friday night/Saturday, you post a link here at Semicolon in Mr. Linky to the specific post where you’ve written your book review. Don’t link to your main blog page because this kind of link makes it hard to find the book review, especially when people drop in later after you’ve added new content to your blog. In parentheses after your name, add the title of the book you’re reviewing. This addition will help people to find the reviews they’re most interested in reading.

After linking to your own reviews, you can spend as long as you want reading the reviews of other bloggers for the week and adding to your wishlist of books to read. That’s how my own TBR list has become completely unmanageable and the reason I can’t join any reading challenges. I have my own personal challenge that never ends.

1. SuziQoregon @ Whimpulsive (The Cricket on the Hearth)
2. SuziQoregon @ Whimpulsive (The Runaways Vol. 3: The Good Die Young)
3. SuziQoregon @ Whimpulsive (Children of the Storm)
4. Barbara H. (Lost and Found)
5. Barbara H. (Jennifer: An O’Malley Love Story)
6. Barbara H. (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Interrupted Tale)
7. Seth@Collateral Bloggage (Nascence)
8. Glynn (Without a Claim)
9. Carol in Oregon (Reading My Own Books Plan)
10. Yvann@Readingwithtea (Lean In)
11. Yvann@Readingwithtea (I Capture The Castle)
12. Glynn (Unblogger)
13. Janet (Chaser… The Dog Who Knows 1000 Words)
14. Glynn (Living in the Nature Poem)
15. Thoughts of Joy (The Round House)
16. Thoughts of Joy (Trash)
17. Beckie @ ByTheBook (The Dancing Master)
18. Beckie @ ByTheBook (The Painted Table)
19. Glynn (Lillian’s List)
20. Reading World (The Handfasted Wife)
21. Amy @ Hope Is the Word he Interrupted Tale)
22. Reading World (Oliver Wiswell)
23. Jama’s Alphabet Soup (A Commonplace Book of Pie)
24. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (Rose Under Fire)
25. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (Emily Climbs quote)
26. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (Papa Is a Poet)
27. Becky (Studying Your Bible)
28. Becky (Crazy Busy)
29. Becky (The Time Machine)
30. Becky (The 100)
31. Becky (The Living)
32. Becky (The Revolt of the Eaglets)
33. Becky (Royal Affair)
34. Becky (4 2014 Picture Books)
35. Becky (4 2014 Board Books)
36. Sophie (The Westing Game)
37. the Ink Slinger (Zen in the Art of Writing)
38. Joseph R.@ZombieParentsGuide (Usborne Robin Hood)
39. Marijo at TheGigglingGull (Listen by Rene Gutteridge)
40. Marijo at TheGigglingGull (Lie Down in Green Pastures by Debbie Viguie)
41. Marijo at TheGigglingGull (Relentless by Robin Parrish)
42. Marijo at TheGigglingGull (Sunday Sampler)
43. Marijo at TheGigglingGull (CREATE by Stephen Altrogge)
44. Marijo at TheGigglingGull (The Midwife’s Here by Linda Fairley)
45. Becky (Dear Mr. Knightley)
46. Alice@Supratentorial(Riddle of the Labyrinth)
47. Leslie (A Good Book: 2013 Summary)
48. Shonya (Yadayada Prayer Group)
49. I’d Rather Be At The Beach (Hospice Voices)
50. Susanne (A Promise Kept)
51. Guiltless Reading (Shattered Illusions by Leigh Hershkovich)
52. Guiltless Reading (Mountainfit by Meera Lee Sethi)
53. Harvee@Book Dilettante
54. Anna @ Diary of an Eccentric (Last Train to Paris)
55. gautami tripathy (A Calamitous Chinese Killing by Shamini Flint)
56. gautami tripathy (Death, Taxes and Green Tea Ice Cream by Diane Kelly)
57. gautami tripathy (Dirty Little Secrets by Liliana Hart)
58. gautami tripathy (Far To Go by Alison Pick)
59. Karen Collier (The Prodigal by Brennan Manning and Greg Garrett)
60. Harvee@Book Dilettante (Short Leash)

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Saturday Review of Books: January 4, 2014

“For me to love a work of fiction, it must survive my harpy eye on all accounts: It will tell me something remarkable, it will be beautifully executed, and it will be nested in truth. The latter I mean literally; I can’t abide fiction that fails to get its facts straight.” ~Barbara Kingsolver

Happy Birthday, JRR Tolkien (b.January 3, 1892)! Scroll down to link to your end of the year/beginning or the year booklist(s). Link here for reviews of books from this first week of 2014.

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Welcome to the Saturday Review of Books at Semicolon. Here’s how it usually works. Find a book review on your blog posted sometime during the previous week. The review doesn’t have to be a formal sort of thing. You can link to your thoughts on a particular book, a few ideas inspired by reading the book, your evaluation, quotations, whatever.

Then on Friday night/Saturday, you post a link here at Semicolon in Mr. Linky to the specific post where you’ve written your book review. Don’t link to your main blog page because this kind of link makes it hard to find the book review, especially when people drop in later after you’ve added new content to your blog. In parentheses after your name, add the title of the book you’re reviewing. This addition will help people to find the reviews they’re most interested in reading.

After linking to your own reviews, you can spend as long as you want reading the reviews of other bloggers for the week and adding to your wishlist of books to read. That’s how my own TBR list has become completely unmanageable and the reason I can’t join any reading challenges. I have my own personal challenge that never ends.

1. Carol in Oregon (15 New Words)
2. Carol in Oregon (Children’s Book, Venezuela)
3. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (The Interrupted Tale)
4. Carol in Oregon (10 Quotes)
5. Seth@Collateral Bloggage (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo)
6. Seth@Collateral Bloggage (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty)
7. Seth@Collateral Bloggage (The Deuterocanonical Books)
8. Seth@Collateral Bloggage (The Simplified Guide)
9. 10 Great Reads of 2013
10. Beth@Weavings (Favorite Reads of 2013)
11. Beth@Weavings (Books Read in 2013)
12. Beth@Weavings (Books Read in 2014)
13. the Ink Slinger (Gone, Baby, Gone)
14. the Ink Slinger (2013 Year In Review: Non-Fiction)
15. the Ink Slinger (2013 Year In Review: Fiction)
16. Hope (Movie Review of the book Catching Fire)
17. Glynn (View from the North Ten: Poems)
18. Glynn (Olive Kitteridge)
19. Glynn (Songs for Ascent)
20. Glynn (Poetry Five)
21. Lazygal (Daughters of Jerusalem)
22. Lazygal (Wake)
23. Lazygal (The Weight of Blood)
24. Lazygal (The Enchanted)
25. Beckie @ ByTheBook (Carolina Gold)
26. Beckie @ ByTheBook (Rest Not in Peace)
27. Beckie @ ByTheBook (The NIV Ragamuffin Bible)
28. Beckie @ ByTheBook (Rules of Murder)
29. Thoughts of Joy (Silent Prey)
30. Becky (A Woman’s Guide To Reading the Bible in a Year)
31. Becky (Captive Maiden, Cinderella Retelling)
32. Thalia @ Muses and Graces
33. Becky (5th Wave)
34. Becky (Bluffton)
35. Becky (The Real Boy)
36. Becky (The Apprentices)
37. Thalia @ Muses and Graces (The Mysterious Affair at Styles)
38. Becky (The Story of the Treasure Seekers)
39. Sophie (Toms River)
40. Pages Left Unturned (Paradise Lot: Two Plant Geeks, 1/10th.. Acre, etc.)
41. Vicki (In the Big Inning… Bible Riddles from the Back Pew by Mike Thaler)
42. Vicki (The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop & Cafe by Mary Simses)
43. Vicki ( Joyland by Stephen King)
44. Vicki ( Sea Devil by Jessica Sherry)
45. DebD (Not a Creature was Stirring)
46. Yvann@Readingwithtea (The President’s Hat)
47. Yvann@Readingwithtea (The Yonahlossee Riding School for Girls)
48. Yvann@Readingwithtea (The Bedlam Detective)
49. Val’s Vicinity (Dear Mr. Knightley)

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Saturday Review of Books SPECIAL EDITION: December 28, 2013

“The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who’ll get me a book I ain’t read.” ~Abraham Lincoln

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TODAY, SATURDAY December 28th (and all this week), is a special edition of the Saturday Review of Books especially for booklists. You can link to a list of your favorite books read in 2013, a list of all the books you read in 2013, a list of the books you plan to read in 2014, or any other end of the year or beginning of the year list of books. Whatever your list, it’s time for book lists. So link to yours, especially if I missed it and it’s not already here.

Welcome to the Saturday Review of Books at Semicolon. Here’s how it usually works. Find a book review on your blog posted sometime during the previous week. The review doesn’t have to be a formal sort of thing. You can link to your thoughts on a particular book, a few ideas inspired by reading the book, your evaluation, quotations, whatever.

Then on Friday night/Saturday, you post a link here at Semicolon in Mr. Linky to the specific post where you’ve written your book review. Don’t link to your main blog page because this kind of link makes it hard to find the book review, especially when people drop in later after you’ve added new content to your blog. In parentheses after your name, add the title of the book you’re reviewing. This addition will help people to find the reviews they’re most interested in reading.

However, I’ve spent the past couple of weeks gathering up some lists I could find and linking to them here. Scroll down to see the lists I’ve already linked to along with book advisory suggestions from yours truly. Perhaps you’ll see something in all these lists that will call to you and set your reading agenda for the next week or even year.

If I didn’t get your list linked ahead of time and if you leave your list in the linky below along with a comment, I’ll try to advise you, too, in the comments section of this post.

1. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (2013 read alouds & top picks)
2. Amy@Hope Is the Word (Books Read in 2013)
3. Carol in Oregon (Reading Year in Retrospect)
4. Becky (12 Books of the Month)
5. Alice@Supratentorial(2013 Books Read)
6. Alice@Supratentorial(2013 Read-Alouds)
7. Becky (Top Ten Georgette Heyer)
8. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (2013 top picks)
9. Barbara H. (Books read in 2013)
10. Barbara H. (Top 10 books read in 2013)
11. Becky @ Operation Actually (Books Read in 2013)
12. Carol History #4: Silent Night!
13. Jessica Snell (2013 highlights)
14. Hope (Favorite Books of 2013)
15. Lazygal (2013 Reading Roundup)
16. Harvee@ Book Dilettante
17. Glynn (Books I’m Not Recommending for Christmas)
18. Top 10 of ’13 @ Lisa notes
19. Sophie (Most Anticipated Reads of 2014)
20. Diane’s Top Ten List 2013
21. Black By Popular Demand (The Best Books I Read this Year)
22. Sarah @Delivering Grace (Books read and read alouds)
23. Alex @A Different Place (The Best Books I Read in 2013)
24. Shannon (Best Books of 2013)
25. Books to the Ceiling (Best Books of 2013)
26. Modern Mrs. Darcy (My favorite books of 2013)
27. Jamie Rubin (My favorite reads of 2013)
28. Boston Bibliophile (My Favorite Reads of 2013)
29. Mystica (Best Reads for 2013)
30. BermudaOnion (The Best of 2013)
31. Bibliophile by the Sea (Favorite Reads in 2013)
32. Books on the Nightstand (2013 Reading Review)
33. Seth@Collateral Bloggage (Reading Recap 2013)
34. Seth@Collateral Bloggage (2013 Favorites)
35. Pamela’s Picks The Best YA Books of 2013
36. dawn (Books Read 2013)
37. Welcome to My Tweendom Favorite Reads of 2013
38. Reading Rants 2013 Top Ten
39. Beckie @ ByTheBook (Best of 2013)
40. Eve Tushnet Best of 2013
41. Cindy@OrdoAmoris(Non-Fiction)
42. Cindy@OrdoAmoris(Series)
43. Sheila @ Dodging Raindrops (Best Books Read in 2013)
44. Pages Left Unturned (Top Books of 2013, as Labeled by TheTeaCat)
45. Ruth (Books I read in 2013)
46. ElizabethEsther Best Books of 2013
47. Sophie at Spark Favorite Books of 2013
48. BookTrail Top Ten
49. Tamara at Club Mom Best Books of 2013
50. The Quivering Pen (My Year of Books)
51. Annie Rim (5 Star Books of 2013)
52. Bridget of Arabia (Best Books of 2013)
53. Camels and Chocolate (What I Read 2013)
54. Mental multivitamin (the complete list)
55. Cindy@OrdoAmoris(the rest)
56. Ragdoll Books (Best Books of 2013)
57. Galavanting GIrl (Best Books I Read in 2013)
58. Sam at TIny Library (Best Books of 2013, Vol. 1)
59. Sam at Tiny Library (Best Books of 2013, Vol. 2)
60. Amanda@The Living Room (The 2013 Book List)
61. Hungry for Good Books (The Best Books of 2013)
62. Elizabeth Craft (Best Books I Read in 2013)
63. Rhapsody in Books (Top Ten-ish Books I Read in 2013)
64. Rainy Day Reading (Favorite-something books of 2013)
65. Marijo at TheGigglingGull
66. Marijo at TheGigglingGull (my reading plans for 2014)
67. georgianne (Books I Read in 2013)
68. georgianne (favorite books in 2013)
69. Pages Left Unturned (Most Anticipated Reads of 2014, as Labeled by TheTeaCat)
70. Janie 2013 Book Review
71. In This Corner (My Best Books of 2013)
72. Reader Bee (Best Books of 2013)
73. On books! (Best Books I Read in 2013)
74. Florence in Print (Best Books I Read in 2013)
75. Reading Envy (Best Books of 2013)
76. Kim (Top Ten YA Picks of 2013)
77. At A Hen’s Pace (Annotated List of 2013 Reads)
78. Lisa Spence (Favorite Reads of 2013)
79. Laura Fabiani (Best Books of 2013)
80. Maude and Mozart (2013 Best Books List)
81. Elizabeth Caulfield Felt (Best Books of 2013)
82. Better Hawaii (Best Books of 2013)
83. Carrie Gelson (Favorites of 2013)
84. In Media Res (The 5 Best Books I Read in 2013)
85. Tolle Lege (The Best Books I Read this Year)
86. Christian Chick (Best Books of 2013)
87. MeReader (Best Books of 2013)
88. Becky @ One Literature Nut (Best Books of 2013)
89. Anna @ Diary of an Eccentric (Best of 2013)
90. The Girl @ Diary of an Eccentric (Best of 2013)
91. Kara@Biblio-File (2013 Book List)
92. Staci Eastin (Most Intriguing Novels Read during 2013)
93. Barnabas (The Top Five Books I Read in 2013)
94. Teri Lynne (Best Books I Read in 2013)
95. Becky @ Becky’s Book Reviews
96. Art@Home (The Best Books of 2013)
97. Fountains of Home (The Best Books I Read in 2013)
98. Sara Dobie Bauer (Best Books of 2013)
99. Sharkbytes (Best Books Read in 2013)
100. Jamie’s Rabbits (Best Books I Read in 2013)
101. Rissi (2013’s Best in Fiction)
102. Alyssa (Top 13 Books I Read in 2013)
103. Cassie (My Favorite Reads of 2013)
104. Karen @ Candid Diversions
105. Stuck in a Book (Top 10 Books of 2013)

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12 Best Adult Fiction Books I Read in 2013

Miss Buncle’s Book by D.E. Stevenson. I just finished this story about an author who courts danger by using the people of her small English village as characters in her novel. It was lovely.

A Wilder Rose by Susan Wittig Albert, reviewed at Semicolon.

The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb. I couldn’t really write a decent review of this probably-too-long story about the aftermath and reverberations of the Columbine shooting in the lives of a young couple, but despite having scenes and and indeed, entire sections, that could have been edited out (IMHO), the parts that were good, were very, very good. Actions matter. No man is an island. We make choices that affect others.

Doc by Mary Doria Russell.

The Rosemary Tree by Elizabeth Goudge.

Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan, reviewed at Semicolon. Spy fiction/romance with all the twists and turns that would be expected in both.

January Justice by Athol Dickson, reviewed at Semicolon. Mr. Dickson, one of my favorite Christian authors, enters the genre of detective thriller with a complicated hero in a sticky situation. And there’s no explicit sex, bad language or nastily described violence.

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, reviewed at Semicolon. This novel from a Nigerian/American author is classified as young adult fiction in my library, probably because the narrator is fifteen years old, but I think it will resonate with adults of all ages, and with readers around the world because the themes–abusive relationships, religious legalism, freedom, and the source of joy–are all universal themes.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley, reviewed at Semicolon. Sweet and sassy, and the author is over seventy years old? Congratulations, Mr. Bradley!

I Do Not Come to You by Chance by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, reviewed at Semicolon. Set in Nigeria for my West Africa reading challenge.

A Light Shining by Glynn Young, reviewed at Semicolon. Sequel to Dancing Priest, the story of Michael Kent, Olympic cyclist, Anglican priest, and orphan with a mysterious past.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. A post on the Futuristic Computer Techie Fiction of Cory Doctorow and Mr. Cline.

Preview of 2013 Book Lists #2

SATURDAY December 28th, will be a special edition of the Saturday Review of Books especially for booklists. You can link to a list of your favorite books read in 2013, a list of all the books you read in 2013, a list of the books you plan to read in 2014, or any other end of the year or beginning of the year list of books. Whatever your list, it’s time for book lists. So come back on Saturday the 28th to link to yours, especially if I missed it and it’s not already here.

However, I’ve spent the past couple of weeks gathering up all the lists I could find and linking to them here (Preview of 2013 Book Lists #1). I’ll be posting off and on between now and the 28th a selection of end-of-the-year lists with my own comments. I’m also trying my hand at (unsolicited) book advisory by suggesting some possibilities for 2014 reading for each blogger whose list I link. I did this last year, and I don’t really know if anyone paid attention or not. If you did read a book I suggested for you last year, please leave a comment, either negative or positive, so that I’ll know how well I did. I do know that I enjoy exercising my book-recommending brain.

If I didn’t get your list linked ahead of time and if you leave your list in the linky on Saturday, December 28th, I’ll try to advise you, too, in a separate post or in the comments.

Here are few early booklists I found while looking around the book blogs.Novel Novice: Best YA Books of 2013. Sara at Novel Novice makes all fourteen of the books on her best-of list sound like must-reads. They can’t all be that good, can they? For her, I’m recommending Orleans by Sherri Smith and A Matter of Days by Amber Kizer, both apocalyptic YA novels that were published in 2013.

Meg at A Bookish Affair: Best Books of 2013. One of Meg’s favorites reads in 2013, Buried in Books: A Reader’s Anthology by Julie Rugg, sounds particularly inviting. Meg enjoys historical fiction: I wonder if she’s read Prince of Foxes by Samuel Shellabarger, one of my favorite historical fiction novels? And since Meg enjoys “books about books”, a sub-genre I’m rather fond of, too, I suggest she check out Louis L’Amour’s Education of a Wandering Man.

Angela’s Anxious Life: Best Books I’ve Read in 2013. Angie seems to lean toward the dark side, Stephen King, dystopian series, and some graphic novels and fairy tale retellings. I wonder if she’s read What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell? In the re-spun fairy tale genre, I recommend Donna Jo Napoli’s The Wager and Enchantment by Orson Scott Card.

Fiction Fascination: Best Books of 2013. Carly recommends The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman so highly that I might have to actually read it this year. For this Irish mom and book blogger, I’m recommending The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde and Winter’s Tale by Mark Helprin.

Rachel Held Evans: My five favorite books of the year. Ms. Evans should try Death by Living by N.D. Wilson and The Little Way of Ruthie Leming by Rod Dreher. Both books would speak to the conservative side of her Christian roots, without, I think, infuriating the more liberal side of her thinking.

Carrie K at Books and Movies: Favorite YA Fiction of 2013 and Favorite Contemporary Fiction of 2013. Oh, Carrie, read Mrs. Buncle’s Book by D.E. Stevenson. I just finished it, and I think you would like it a lot. For YA fiction, check out The Opposite of Hallelujah by Anna Jarjab.

Sarah Johnson at Reading the Past: 15 Memorable Reads of 2013. Sarah reads historical fiction, and she’s pretty much an expert on the genre. I think I want to read all 14 of her favorites. (I already read A Wilder Rose by Susan Wittig Albert, and I enjoyed it very much.) As for recommendations, I suggest (if she hasn’t already read them) Doc by Mary Doria Russell and River Rising by Athol Dickson.

37 Books of the Year as recommended by bloggers at Reading Matters. I can’t make recommendations for all 37 of the bloggers who participated in Kim’s Reading Advent Calendar, but I can recommend a book or two for Kim herself. She would do well to check out Wally Lamb’s The Hour I First Believed and I Do Not Come to You by Chance by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, one of my favorite reads from this past year.

Mademoiselle Le Sphinx: Best Books I’ve Read in 2013. Mademoiselle is Aliaa El-Nashar, an Egyptian young lady living in Cairo who loves to read. For her future reading I propose Orleans by Sherri Smith and and oldie but goodie, The Little World of Don Camillo by Italian author Giovanni Guareschi (because Aliaa is studying Italian at the university in Cairo).

Amara’s Eden: Best Books I Read in 2013. Amara’s list includes everything from Stephen King (Carrie) to YA to picture books. Amara seems to be participating in an ongoing (?) C.S. Lewis reading challenge, for which I recommend The Great Divorce. And since Amara likes horror, I’d suggest she go back to the classic horror author, Edgar Allan Poe, and sample some of his short stories.