2013 Reading Recap
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
- Sign of the Unicorn (Amber Chronicles #3) by Roger Zelazny
- The Hand of Oberon (Amber Chronicles #4) by Roger Zelazny
- The Courts of Chaos (Amber Chronicles #5) by Roger Zelazny
- Trumps of Doom (Amber Chronicles #6) by Roger Zelazny
- Blood of Amber (Amber Chronicles #7) by Roger Zelazny
- Y: The Last Man, Vol. 3: One Small Step by Brian K. Vaughn
- Summer Knight (Dresden Files #4) by Jim Butcher (reread)
- Death Masks (Dresden Files #5) by Jim Butcher (reread)
- Blood Rites (Dresden Files #6) by Jim Butcher (reread)
- A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire #5) by George R.R. Martin
- The Alloy of Law (Mistborn #4) by Brandon Sanderson
- The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson
- The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
4 Stars
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
- A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire #4) by George R.R. Martin
- Stardust by Neil Gaiman
- The Color of Magic (Discworld #1) by Terry Pratchett
- Sign of Chaos (Amber Chronicles #8) by Roger Zelazny
- Y: The Last Man, Vol. 4: Safeword by Brian K. Vaughn
- Y: The Last Man, Vol. 5: Ring of Truth by Brian K. Vaughn
- Elric of Melnibone by Michael Moorcock
- Anathem by Neal Stephensen
- The Black Prism (Lightbringer #1) by Brent Weeks
- Hard Magic (Grimnoir Chronicles #1) by Larry Correia
- Hexed (Iron Druid Chronicles #2) by Kevin Hearne
- Hammered (Iron Druid Chronicles #3) by Kevin Hearne
- Tricked (Iron Druid Chronicles #4) by Kevin Hearne
- Trapped (Iron Druid Chronicles #5) by Kevin Hearne
- Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi
- Redshirts by John Scalzi
- Cold Days (Dresden Files #14) by Jim Butcher
- Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey
- Red Country by Joe Abercrombie
- The Emperor’s Soul
- Dimension of Miracles by Robert Sheckley
3 Stars
- Knight of Shadows (Amber Chronicles #9) by Roger Zelazny
- Prince of Chaos (Amber Chronicles #10) by Roger Zelazny
- Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
- Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians (Alcatraz #1) by Brandon Sanderson
- Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
- Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper
- 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:
- Finishing Roger Zelazny’s Amber Chronicles was an accomplishment. The world is amazing, but the books really dropped off in quality after #7.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!