I can’t believe how quickly 2013 passed. My life changed in many good ways in 2013, but all those good things consumed some of the free time that I had previously enjoyed. I did less blogging than usual and I fell way behind on book reviews. I still intend to go back and write reviews for some, but I now realize that I will probably have to skip some as well.

Despite it all however, I held to my reading goal of 40 books. In fact, I actually read 42, which is pretty awesome if you ask me. I’m also happy to report that every single book read was 3 stars or higher. It was really another fantastic year in reading. Here’s a quick breakdown:

5 Stars

1. Sign of the Unicorn (Amber Chronicles #3) by Roger Zelazny
2. The Hand of Oberon (Amber Chronicles #4) by Roger Zelazny
3. The Courts of Chaos (Amber Chronicles #5) by Roger Zelazny
4. Trumps of Doom (Amber Chronicles #6) by Roger Zelazny
5. Blood of Amber (Amber Chronicles #7) by Roger Zelazny
6. Y: The Last Man, Vol. 3: One Small Step by Brian K. Vaughn
7. Summer Knight (Dresden Files #4) by Jim Butcher (reread)
8. Death Masks (Dresden Files #5)  by Jim Butcher (reread)
9. Blood Rites (Dresden Files #6) by Jim Butcher (reread)
10. A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire #5) by George R.R. Martin
11. The Alloy of Law (Mistborn #4) by Brandon Sanderson
12. The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson
13. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

4 Stars

1. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
2. A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire #4) by George R.R. Martin
3. Stardust by Neil Gaiman
4. The Color of Magic (Discworld #1) by Terry Pratchett
5. Sign of Chaos (Amber Chronicles #8) by Roger Zelazny
6. Y: The Last Man, Vol. 4: Safeword by Brian K. Vaughn
7. Y: The Last Man, Vol. 5: Ring of Truth by Brian K. Vaughn
8. Elric of Melnibone by Michael Moorcock
9. Anathem by Neal Stephensen
10. The Black Prism (Lightbringer #1) by Brent Weeks
11. Hard Magic (Grimnoir Chronicles #1) by Larry Correia
12. Hexed (Iron Druid Chronicles #2) by Kevin Hearne
13. Hammered (Iron Druid Chronicles #3) by Kevin Hearne
14. Tricked (Iron Druid Chronicles #4) by Kevin Hearne
15. Trapped (Iron Druid Chronicles #5) by Kevin Hearne
16. Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi
17. Redshirts by John Scalzi
18. Cold Days (Dresden Files #14) by Jim Butcher
19. Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey
20. Red Country by Joe Abercrombie
21. The Emperor’s Soul
22. Dimension of Miracles by Robert Sheckley

3 Stars

1. Knight of Shadows (Amber Chronicles #9) by Roger Zelazny
2. Prince of Chaos (Amber Chronicles #10) by Roger Zelazny
3. Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
4. Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians (Alcatraz #1) by Brandon Sanderson
5. Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
6. Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper
7. Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman

I’ll do some additional breakdowns in an additional post or two, but I’ll share a few thoughts that I had while typing out this list:

1. Finishing Roger Zelazny’s Amber Chronicles was an accomplishment. The world is amazing, but the books really dropped off in quality after #7.
2. I really enjoyed catching up on Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid Chronicles. It’s such a fun series. I actually think it’s one of those series where the whole is greater than the individual parts. I’ve rated each novel 4 stars and yet I think I would rate the series at 5 stars.
3. I believe Jim Butcher’s Cold Days was the first Dresden book that I didn’t give 5 stars. I think Butcher tried to cram too much action into one novel and it suffered a little. Or perhaps Kevin Hearne’s new and fresh series is starting to overshadow Dresden, which has been the premiere urban fantasy series for many years.
4. I read a bunch of Brandon Sanderson’s catalog this year, some of which was amazing and some of which was so-so. That said, every book had an excellent magic system.

More to come (hopefully within a reasonable time frame). Stay tuned!