Top Ten Reads of 2013

Most of you know I love to read.  I read daily.  I’m always carrying a book around with me – I read in the grocery line if it’s long enough, I read on the bus, on the airplanes, on the sidewalk, in bed, standing up, lying down…I just really like to read.  And truthfully, no one told me I should read.  As a child, I watched my parents read, and at some point I came across a couple of books that moved me, and I wanted to find more.  It’s been that way ever since.  This year, I read less books than ever but re-read Gilead four times.  I’m not sure why I read it over and over, except to say there are lines in that book that met me in my deepest parts and to read them only once seemed a waste.  So, I kept going back to it.  I read it again just last week.  Here are some of the others I read and deeply enjoyed.

1. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
This is a YA WWII thriller.  It takes place in France and England and in Scotland.  It’s about girl spies — and I loved it.  I couldn’t put it down.  I stopped breathing a few times and grabbed the kleenex at the end, grabbed the kleenex in a few other places too.  I thought about it days after I closed the cover and still wonder how in the world Elizabeth Wein pulled off such a brilliant plot.

2. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
I like John Green and have read a couple other books he’s written, but this one far surpassed his other novels.  It’s brilliant.  It’s sad, funny, witty, and profound.  It’s about two high school kids – one with terminal cancer.  The Fault in Our Stars is one of the best love stories I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading.  I decided to read it a few months back when I noticed Shannon Hale (an author I like) highly recommended it.  I cried.

3. Help, Thanks, Wow by Anne Lamott
I’ve written on this book more than once on my blog.  I read it three times in 2013 and will probably read it again. Gentle, kind, witty, honest, and full of hope.

4. Acedia and Me by Kathleen Norris
A friend in Chile handed me this book one night and said I might like it.  I devoured it.  It’s a book of essays about spiritual sloth.  It’s filled with rich insights about the spiritual life and the importance of discipline, of reflection, and of staying the course even when our emotions would tell us otherwise.  Kathleen Norris spends time with the Benedictine Monks and in particular, helped me see the importance of reading through the Psalms – over and over – even when reading scripture might feel like eating dry toast without the butter.

5. Gilead By Marilynn Robinson
For most of my life, I read a book, enjoy it, and never look back.  There are few I have read twice.  There are an exceptional few that I’ve read more than twice.  Gilead is now in its own category.  I’ve read it more than five times.  I can’t quite explain why this is so.  It touches me.  It’s reflective, generous, filled with insights on the human condition and our capacity to love and be loved, on our ability to open our hearts to life, and to change and grow.

6. When I was a Child I Read Books By Marilynn Robinson
It’s a compilation of essays.  She’s a deep thinker, that’s for sure.  And she lives out her faith in such an authentic way, I can’t help but want to read everything she’s written.  This is her newest book – and I read it in a week.  I plan on reading it again this year.

7. The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout
A few years ago, I read Olive Kitteridge and was mesmerized.  Elizabeth Strout spends years writing her books and it’s obvious.  There isn’t a word in the wrong place and the honesty and depth in each character startles me.  It’s almost uncomfortable.  This novel is very good.  If you liked Empire Falls or The Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo, you’ll probably enjoy The Burgess Boys.  It’s about family – and how family can drive us crazy and push every button we have, and yet, when family calls, we show up.  It’s also about America’s changing demographic and a growing immigrant community in Maine.  

8. Still Writing by Dani Shapiro
I waited almost daily for this book’s release date.  Dani Shapiro is a favorite.  And this book is one to savor, especially if you’re a writer, or a creative sort.

9. Blue Nights by Joan Didion
Joan Didion is incredible.  I read her stuff just for the direct and seamless sentence structure, and to read someone so willingly honest.

10. A Circle of Quiet by Madeleine L’Engle
My mom mailed me this book – and I relished every word.

These are the books I remember enjoying.  There are many others … I deeply enjoyed. I liked The People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks, and I enjoyed some novels by Polly Horvath this year, I read some articles that I distinctly remember, and some blogs that I love.  I’ll keep sharing.  However, this is the list of the top ten – off the top of my head – books I loved in 2013.

Much Love,

Tina