Readers’ Bloc 2013: Name the books you loved the most this year
Books published in 2013:
All That Is, James Salter. We wish we could write like him.
Donna Tartt, The Goldfinch. Dickens would be very proud.
Dissident Gardens, Jonathan Lethem
Autobiography of A Corpse, Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky. We take great pride in being able to spell “Krzhizhanovsky”. Banned by Soviet censors in his lifetime, a master of speculative fiction emerges in a new translation.
Books published in other years that we only read this year:
From Hell, Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell. Possibly the greatest graphic novel in the history of humankind.
The Unrest-Cure and Other Stories, Saki. Nasty and hilarious.
The Hunters, James Salter
Rogue Male, Geoffrey Household. Possibly the greatest thriller ever written, and certainly the greatest with a feline character.
Beginner’s Greek, James Collins
Any Human Heart, William Boyd. Logan Mountstuart is our favorite fictional character of the year.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
December 23rd, 2013 at 06:22
the love affairs of nathaniel p (adelle waldman)
the goldfinch (donna tart)
lawrence in arabia (scott anderson)
tenth of december (george saunders)
December 23rd, 2013 at 09:25
Books I read this year and dug (a lot):
Bringing Up the Bodies, Hilary Mantel
Dear Life, Alice Munro
The Cuckoo’s Calling, Robert Galbraith
My Father’s Tears, John Updike
Toxicology, Jessica Hagedorn
Other entertaining reads:
The Circle, Dave Eggars (a little machoshithead but fun while it lasted)
Perfume, Peter Suskind (ahahahaha!!)
The Murder Room, P.D. James (atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere)
December 23rd, 2013 at 15:09
These are the books I’ve read in 2013 that I would recommend to every passing stranger (not necessarily published this year):
1. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline- Suddenly, I’m Steve of Voltes V and I’m looking to get Steve Jobs’ fortune in a contest that can literally cost me my life.
2. The Passage by Justin Cronin – Eating was not necessary whilst I was reading the book.
3. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson – I didn’t know it was part of a ten book series and that the other books have not been written yet. I wanted to kill the author for putting his readers through the agony of waiting.
4. Symbols and Signs (Short Story) by Vladimir Nabokov – I’ve just read it three days ago and I’m still brooding about it.
5. The Goldfinch – I’m still reading it and I don’t want to stop but I need to get a life.
6. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender – I go round and round thinking about the twist at the end.
December 23rd, 2013 at 17:26
I posted this on my Facebook account last week after finally getting around to reading the Hunger Games trilogy.
—
So I recently finished reading “The Hunger Games” trilogy. It is indeed fascinating as a book, perhaps even more so than the films. For a series categorized as being for young adults, it has such deep layers of social commentary.
“Mockingjay,” while heavy-handed at times particularly when Collins felt the need to quite literally explain her symbolism and metaphors right there in the text, raised the stakes from the first two books. She further explores her previous themes on social class, decadence, exploitation of children, and who benefits from war.
She also rightly questions how we as a society have either been desensitized by media or else have been rendered incapable of separating reality from non-reality when we absorb what is being fed to us. This should resonate for many Pinoys – who cannot distinguish the onscreen personas of their “idols” from their real-life character. How such media representation can be used for either good or evil is one of the most interesting aspects of the books.
December 23rd, 2013 at 18:10
1. How to Kill A Rockstar and
2. God-Shaped Hole (both Tiffanie DeBartolo)
3. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
4. Unwind (Neal Shusterman)
5. World After (Susan Ee) -2013
6. Crown of Midnight (Sarah Maas)
7. Tampa (Alissa Nutting) – 2013
8. Speechless (Hannah Harrington)
9. The Book Thief (Mark Zusak)
10. Siege and Storm (Leigh Bardugo) – 2013
December 25th, 2013 at 21:34
Ronigurl: Nabokov preferred “Symbols and Signs”. What was that final phone call?
Re: Getting a life. Will it be as wonderful as the book? If not, go on reading.
December 25th, 2013 at 22:02
In no particular order:
The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
The Necklace and Other Stories by Guy de Maupassant
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
I Bought Andy Warhol by Richard Polsky
The Best of Saki by H.H. Munro
Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
Kant and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein
The Elephant to Hollywood by Michael Caine
Patriotism by Yukio Mishima (a re-read! With my new copy having unforgiveable omissions and typo errors!)
December 25th, 2013 at 22:17
silentfollower: You have a defective copy of Patriotism? Email the publisher and they’ll send you a replacement (But keep the defective copy, it might become a collector’s item). We did that the other day, when our copy of The Privileges by Jonathan Dee (an excellent novel that would be in our top 10 if we hadn’t already published this year’s top 10, so it’ll be on next year’s) turned out to be missing pp 139-171. We went to the publisher’s website and left a message.
December 25th, 2013 at 23:31
pahabol. i just finished reading The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce. it is moving.
Merry Christmas!
December 26th, 2013 at 00:56
1. Karen Thompson Walker’s The Age of Miracles (brilliant debut novel published last year)
2. Danzy Senna’s You Are Free (a collection of puissant short stories from a newish writer too; 2011)
3. Alexandros Papadiamantis’s The Murderess (NYRB 2010)
4. Jean-Patrick Manchette’s Fatale (NYRB 2011)
5. Jean Stafford’s The Mountain Lion (NYRB 2010)
6. Sarah Maguire’s The Invisible Mender (1997)
7. Ruth Padel’s Voodoo Shop (2002)
Published this year:
8. Claire Messud’s The Woman Upstairs
9. Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam
10. Soseki Natsume’s The Gate
Not yet done with The Goldfinch & The Luminaries & All That Is. Oh right:
11. Ambeth Ocampo’s Rizal Without the Overcoat (re-read!)
December 26th, 2013 at 05:06
Ms. JZ: My copy appears to be a known uncorrected edition, but I will send the publisher a note after the holidays.
December 26th, 2013 at 07:39
Every Love Story is a Ghost Story by D.T. Max
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin
The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud
Stoner by John Williams
December 26th, 2013 at 08:41
Just last Sunday, I bought “A History of the Philippines: From Indios Bravos to Filipinos” by Luis H. Francia as part of some research I am doing for writing. I’m only within the first section (pre-colonial history), and it’s pretty fascinating.
Another recommended books recently bought is “Trese: Book of Murders.”
December 26th, 2013 at 21:26
I’m thinking it’s the sanitarium calling that their son succeeded in tearing a hole in his universe. It won’t be the wrong number since she painstakingly told the girl about her mistake in transposing a number for a letter.
As for getting a life, sometimes, it is better than fiction. I nerved myself to talk to a stranger while on queue at the supermarket checkout. He was buying 6 pieces of Lea & Perrins worcetershire sauce. So many! What will he do with that many? Drink it like softdrinks? Turns out he was using it to make homemade longganisa. I got a lesson in longganisa making and which pork fat makes the best longganisa extender, as well as learning that the casing is called tuyong isaw. Great encounter for a food enthusiast like me.
And in between merrymaking, I finally managed to finish The Goldfinch – am still processing the ending.
December 27th, 2013 at 13:40
Not in order:
The Tiger’s Wife – Tea Obreht
The Master and Margarita – Mikhail Bulgakov
The Goldfinch and The Signature of All Things – Both I haven’t finished yet – tinitipid :D
Karen Russell’s books:
– St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves: The tales are exquisite little gems. The cover story, sad, beautiful, perfect.
– Swamplandia! : One event crushed me so badly I wanted to rip out the dust cover! But that would also mean ripping out the review notes and praises. I think I’m over the bit of depression I got. (Repeat to self: It’s fiction… fiction…)
– Vampires in the Lemon Grove: This only reinforced my jealousy and confirmed that I’m a fan.
@ vincenzotagle
Please let me know where you got a copy o Tenth of December. Thanks :-)
January 4th, 2014 at 03:06
Erratum: Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein
January 13th, 2014 at 14:37
not really so many books read this year, and not many fiction pa:
1. Margaret Thatcher, Vol. 1: The Grocer’s Daughter by John Campbell
2. The War of the End of the World by Mario Vargas Llosa
3. Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable
4. Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan
whoa, can’t believe it’s just these four, although i reread the gospel of Mark after finishing Zealot.