My 10 favorite reads of 2013

The year's favorite reads
(Click to enlarge)

Yes, I know that there are still a few more days till 2014. But with the way things are going, I'm never gonna get any reading done. I'll just be eating. And eating some more.

So 2013 isn't so bad in terms of reading. I finished 60 books, and like every year, I made it a point to have a diverse reading list. This year, there are fiction and nonfiction books, classics and contemporary books, young adult novels and books for children, a few LGBT works, and lots of graphic novels. I had lots of love for the graphic novel format this year.

I have to mention that I don't usually include the classics in my list. Instead, I focus on current (or current-ish) publications. Crime and Punishment is a favorite, and I doubt if there are people who would actually disagree with me on how beautiful that novel by Dostoevsky is. In a way, my annual list of favorite books somehow is a recommendation list of sorts. Besides, I always feel iffy recommending classics. They don't need anyone's good word.

Here are my favorite books for 2013: 2 graphic novel volumes, 1 middle grade novel, 2 young adult books, 2 thrillers, 1 science fiction work, 1 short story collection, and 1 novel in the literary fiction category. Oh, I present them in random order.

1. Saga Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples – Weird! Interplanetary wars! Romeo and Juliet in space!
2. Chew Volume 1: Taster's Choice by John Layman and Rob Guillory – Gross! Violent! Fun! Appetizing!
3. Wonder by R. J. Palacio – Kindness! Beautiful on the inside! No to bullying!
4. Redshirts by John Scalzi – Dispensable characters, not! The Hugo Award! TV episodes!
5. The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino – That twist! Like Hitchcock! Japanese crime!
6. Bødy by Asa Nonami - Human body part fetish! Kinky! Short stories!
7. Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan – Romantic! Break-ups! No hate!
8. The Notable Brain of Maximilian Ponder by J. W. Ironmonger – Erudite! The Catalogue! Memories!
9. Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer – Pies! Diners! Bittersweet! Hopeful!
10. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn – A sick mind! A-cuckoo! That narrator!

And I realized just now that I made an entry for each book above! Woot woot! You can check these out by clicking on the titles, in case you're curious about my remarks with exclamation points. 

So which of these 10 books is my single favorite read of 2013? That, my dear readers, is for another blog post. Happy holidays!