What I read in 2013:

Ehhhh, it’s this time of the year again. I can’t believe how fast 2013 went, I still feel like it just started.

This year I aimed to read 70 books, which I thought was a more realistic expectation than last year’s attempt at 100.  However, I really failed this year as well, ending up with a total of 42. Absolutely terrible.

I also put a star next to the Australian authors this time, because that’s my scene.

Favourite and stand-out books for the year are in bold. The second half of the year was really disappointing; I didn’t read anything that enjoyable.

1: Audition – Ryu Murakami
2: Beautiful Days – Anna Godbersen
3: Looking for Alibrandi – Melina Marchetta *
4: I'm Being Stalked by a Moonshadow – Doug MacLeod *
5: Happy As Larry – Scot Gardner *
6: Sputnik Sweetheart – Haruki Murakami
7: Under the Wolf, Under the Dog – Adam Rapp

8: The Life of a Teenage Body-Snatcher – Doug MacLeod *
9: The Lucky Ones – Anna Godbersen
10: Looking for Jj – Anne Cassidy
11: After – Morris Gleitzman *

12: The Dead I Know – Scot Gardner *
13: In the Miso Soup – Ryu Murakami
14: A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers – Xiaolu Guo
15: The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ – Sue Townsend
16: When We Were Two – Robert Newton *
17: We Need to Talk About Kevin – Lionel Shriver
18: 33 Snowfish – Adam Rapp
19: A Corner of White – Jaclyn Moriarty *
20: Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth – Xiaolu Guo
21: I Am the Cheese – Robert Cormier
22: Such a Pretty Girl – Laura Weiss
23: Sixty-Nine – Ryu Murakami
24: Adverbs – Daniel Handler
25: The Lake – Banana Yoshimoto

26: Lady Chatterley's Lover – D. H. Lawrence
27: Freefall – Mindi Scott
28: Miss Chopsticks – Xinran
29: Want to Go Private? – Sarah Littman
30: Beatle Meets Destiny – Gabrielle Williams *
31: A Step From Heaven – An Na
32: The Princess Bride – William Goldman
33: In the Pond – Ha Jin
34: The Chosen One – Carol Lynch Williams
35: Dance Dance Dance – Haruki Murakami
36: John Dies at the End – David Wong
37: A Good Fall – Ha Jin
38: The Box Man – Kobo Abe
39: The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
40: Past the Shallows – Favel Parrett *
41: Miles from Nowhere – Nami Mun
42: The Lucky Ones – Tohby Riddle *

I got really into translated Asian literature, and not limited to Japanese works like before. I read a lot of Chinese literature, which I find pretty interesting in general. Ha Jin’s In the Pond was a really thought-provoking social commentary and it had great black humour. Next year, I really want to track down all the notorious published books that were banned in China because I’m just that hardcore.

I started reading Ryu Murakami this year, and I adore his stuff. In the Miso Soup is probably my favourite book for the year. The antagonist was so unnerving and terrifyingly off-kilter and the suspense was handled so well, I pretty much had to read it through in one sitting.

Australian releases-wise, I finally got around to reading Jaclyn Moriarty’s newest work, A Corner of White, which was released last year. Although Moriarty is one of my favourite Aussie writers, I really couldn’t enjoy this one and was quite dissappointed. Maybe it was the venture into fantasy and magical realism that put me off, but I found the characters hard to appreciate and the tiny semblance of plot too loose and even a little predictable at times. The characters are little more than traits and quirks and neither of the main protagonists are very likable. I’ll probably check out the sequel when it comes out, but I’m not very invested at all.

I also read Robert Newton’s When We Were Two, just to see how it stole the 2012 PM’s literary award from Barry Jonsberg’s Being Here, which I am biased towards. When We Were Two was well-written and cute, in that slightly-predictable Australian young-adult flavour. I think the setting was good and the characters well-done, but overall, it was fairly typical of its sort to be shortlisted. I would really like to see Australian YA writers break the standard mould and put a new, quirky spin onto things, which is why I supported Being Here so much.

Apart from all that, I ventured into a few new authors this year, mainly because I’m hesitant to judge a writer on a single work. Scot Gardner offers some very solid stuff. I’m impressed by Adam Rapp because of the stark difference between Under the Wolf, Under the Dog and 33 Snowfish. I find it fascinating that he can change his writing style so much to fit with the characters and nature of a story. Xiaolu Guo didn’t impress me with A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers, but I did really enjoy Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth, which was lovely and quirky and had personality. Also, An Na’s A Step from Heaven was really delicate, carefully-written and endearing. 

And I would talk about Kevin (We Need to Talk about Kevin), but you should just experience him yourself.

…wow, I really can go on. Yeah, I just love books a lot.

Hope everyone’s having a great holiday and staying safe!

See you next year!