Okay, there are a few days left in the year, but I probably won’t finish the book I’m working on before then. (But who knows, I could get really addicted–if so, I’ll edit this entry!)

Last year I listed the books I’d read for the year at the end of the year, and I thought I’d keep up the tradition. It’s a fun retrospective, and I’m especially happy since this year I read way more books than I usually do (which is still very little compared to some avid readers out there). As usual, most of the books are YA, but some MG and adult made their way on there.

This year a number of things happened, reading-wise:

• Early in the year, I set out to finish my to-read shelf by the end of the year. By which I mean the books I had literally sitting on a shelf, ones I’d never read before. Somehow, that shelf got full of books I didn’t touch for YEARS. I think the oldest one had been sitting there since 2008, the last time I “caught up.” I did catch up about halfway through the year (even though I added some new books along the way), right in time for ALA.
• I attended the American Library Association annual conference in June just because it was nearby (Chicago). I’m not a librarian, but it was open to the public, and as a writer and reader, I thought it would be fun. (Especially after hearing from friends how awesome Book Expo America is.) I got my first-ever set of ARCs, most of them books I’d never even heard of before going but seemed appealing, and I made it a quest to read them all before their release dates, and I did.
• I got a Kindle for my birthday, after years of thinking I’d hate reading e-books. Now I change between reading paper copies and e-books pretty often! I like how e-books are instantly available and most of the time more affordable than paper copies. They also take up less space, obviously, and although I still prefer paper copies, I’m trying to cut back on the books I own since I have so many already. This way I still own them, just in virtual space.
• I went to the library more often toward the end of the year to save money and save book shelf space by just borrowing some books I found appealing. Mostly books by authors I’d read earlier in the year and because I then wanted to read everything they wrote!
• I went to an event at Books of Wonder not having heard of the YA authors there and walking away with three of their books and putting the rest on my get-from-the-library list.
• …And now thanks to the Kindle and the library and all the many, many books that seem interesting, I have a sizeable to-read list again. And I’m not even counting the many, many books I want to read but I don’t have a copy of yet. (I also want to re-read some books soon!) It never ends. The reader’s happy but overwhelming dilemma.

The 2013 list (not counting the many graphic novels and manga I read this year as well):

1. Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore (autographed, thanks to a friend who got it for me; I started this one in 2012 but finished in the new year; probably my favorite in the trilogy)
2. Mr. Monk Gets Even by Lee Goldberg (the last book in the series! It was like saying a second farewell years after the TV show ended ;-;)
3. Insurgent by Veronica Roth
4. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (I was really into this book! It came highly recommended)
5. The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling (the beginning was a bit of a slog, but I was really addicted after the first 100 pages or so; it’s depressing, but good, and I’ll read whatever she writes!)
6. The Luxe by Anna Godbersen
7. Rumors by ditto
8. Envy by ditto
9. Splendor by ditto (I read the whole series at once, a gift from a friend)
10. City of Swords (Stravaganza 6) by Mary Hoffman (sorry to see this series end!)
11. A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan (so good, a gift from a friend, and I wish more people read it!)
12. The Witch of Duva (novella) by Leigh Bardugo
13. The Juniper Game by Sherryl Jordan (I bought a bunch of her books years ago since I liked the books of hers I’d read when younger)
14. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
15. Wizard for a Day by Sherryl Jordan
16. The Bears’ Famous Invasion of Sicily by Dino Buzzati (I picked this one up years ago just because I saw it had an introduction by Lemony Snicket, ha)
17. A Time of Darkness by Sherryl Jordan
18. The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani
19. Time of the Eagle by Sherryl Jordan
20. The Too-Clever Fox (novella) by Leigh Bardugo
21. Sabriel by Garth Nix
22. Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
23. Secret Sacrament by Sherryl Jordan (this was actually a rare re-read because Time of the Eagle was the sequel and it reminded me how much I loved the first one)
24. The Sight Seer by Melissa Giorgio (I’m cheating here, ha; I read this in 2011 before she even queried it, not this year that it came out, but this year I DID read the sequel as a beta reader, so I did read a book by her and it counts toward my # XD)
25. Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis (autographed at ALA; really good and different!)
26. The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith/J.K. Rowling (I liked it better than The Casual Vacancy, although nothing will be as good as HP, of course, but it was a fun, faster-paced read)
27. Sometimes Never, Sometimes Always by Elissa Janine Hoole (autographed at ALA)
28. Inhuman by Kat Falls
29. Unthinkable by Nancy Werlin (autographed at ALA; I liked this so much despite not reading the books that came before it that I made it a quest to read all of Werlin’s books!)
30. Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer by Katie Alender
31. The Wolf Princess by Cathryn Constable
32. Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott (oo, still not out! I’ve read an ARC that’s still not out!)
33. Impossible by Nancy Werlin (the first book in the Unthinkable canon; love this series!)
34. I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga (I read it since I like Dexter)
35. The Registry by Shannon Stoker
36. The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl by Barry Lyga
37. Goth Girl Rising by Barry Lyga
38. Pivot Point by Kasie West (pretty awesome, better than I was expecting!)
39. Dexter’s Final Cut by Jeff Lindsay (a better maybe-ending to the series than the TV one, I suppose!)
40. Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin
41. The Killer’s Cousin by Nancy Werlin
42. Game by Barry Lyga
43. Allegiant by Veronica Roth
44. A Shimmer of Angels by Lisa M. Basso
45. The Waking Dark by Robin Wasserman (autographed when I met her at Books of Wonder in NY; the first YA book my bf actually asked to borrow and liked!)
46. An Autumn Dream (novella) by Melissa Giorgio
47. Double Helix by Nancy Werlin
48. The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin (so gripping, I read it in two sittings~)
49. Black Mirror by Nancy Werlin
50. More Than This by Patrick Ness (not the book I bought autographed by him at Books of Wonder, but it seemed intriguing, so I got it from the library)
51. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (this is the one I got autographed; still reading)