Today I’m linking up with Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly blog event hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, for my annual list of ten best books read during the year. This year’s list seems like one of the most unusual mixes I’ve had—and it seemed like I had a bit of a harder time putting it together. Besides a few really splendid standouts that were easy choices, there were a lot of books that I liked (I’ll talk about more of those in my general year-end reading roundup post after the New Year!), and it was challenging picking out just which ones were the best to round out the list. But here they are—in the order read, not order of favorites:


The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer

A big, rich, rambling, beautiful novel, this wins my award for favorite book of the year. Told mostly from the perspective of an English boy, the nephew of a college professor who teaches in America, it traces his journey to the States and the family’s life in village, city and country on both sides of the Atlantic, exploring with pleasant humor and an incredible eye for detail the curious differences and similarities of English and American culture in the late Victorian/early Edwardian era. Read my full review here.

A novel of life on an R.A.F. bomber base during WWII, centering around the sometimes difficult progress of a romance between a young pilot and a female signal officer—deceptively understated, with a feel for everyday life, like both of Shute’s books that I’ve read so far. It’s not the kind of book that grabs you with a flash and a bang, but rather one that creeps up on you quietly till you’re entirely absorbed. Review here.

Once again something very much out of the ordinary for me makes my top-ten list. In fact, I can’t quite compare it to anything I’ve ever read before. If you move in any of the same online circles I do, you may have heard ought of this book: an ambitious planetary fantasy written in a stunningly grand and gilded style. My review here.

An unusual and interesting piece of WWII and film history, this book traces the wartime experiences of five famed Hollywood directors, the effect of those experiences on their lives and careers, and the often complicated and controversial role of documentary filmmakers in the army. (And isn’t that old-movie-poster cover pretty cool?) Read my review here.

A good half of this list I acquired via library; The Grand Sophy and Until That Distant Day I bought on Kindle, while for Plenilune as well as Pendragon’s Heir I was fortunate enough to be an advance reader! Thorofare, meanwhile, was an impulse purchase of an out-of-print used book which really paid off.

Previous years’ top-ten lists: 2011, 2012, 2013.

Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly event hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, winds up the year with the highly fitting theme of Top Ten Books Read in 2013. I read a lot of great books this year; it was hard picking just which ones to squeeze into the nine and ten spots! But here they are. They appear in the order I read them, not the order of favorites:

 

I love a good solid piece of historical nonfiction, and WWII is one of the areas I’m interested in. I’d been curious to read more details about Pearl Harbor after seeing the movie Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), and I really enjoy Walter Lord’s readable and information-packed style. I actually checked this one out of the library again and re-read it early this December.

 

An extremely entertaining memoir of growing up on a New Mexico cattle ranch beginning in the 1880s. Agnes Morley and her younger siblings had enough colorful adventures to spark ideas for a dozen novels—and yet there’s a lot of interesting detail on the people, the work and domestic life of the Southwest too. A great read for any Western fan and/or history buff.

 

Easily my favorite read of the year. Gorgeous writing, a stunningly evoked setting, suspense and intrigue and romance…it doesn’t get much better than this. Read my review here.

 

Anybody might enjoy it, but writers especially are bound to get a kick out of this charming book, the tale of a mild-mannered English spinster who writes a novel based off the people in her little village, and turns said village upside-down! Read my review here.

 

Yes, this is probably the most unexpected entry on my list! I didn’t think I would ever read science fiction. But the delightful characters and twisting plot drew me in, and I couldn’t put it down. Read my review here.

 

 

 

I couldn’t put down this unique mystery from 1927. It’s told from the perspective of two young reporters, a girl and a man, covering a sensational murder trial—the whole book takes place in and around the courtroom, with all the evidence in the mystery presented via testimony and speeches. Mystery lovers won’t want to miss it.

 

Good historical journals and diaries are another one of my favorite types of books, and May Smith is one of the wittiest, most entertaining diarists I’ve ever read. Her diary gives a wonderful snapshot of life in a typical English town during WWII, and how ordinary life went on under extraordinary circumstances.