The year that was in reading

Today being the last day of 2013, it's but fitting to write about what the year was in terms of being a bibliophile. I was able to read 62 books in 2013. Not bad, yes? Not bad at all. I wish that number could've been higher though.

So here are the books that I read this year, which I've listed based on the order I read them.

(1) The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles

(2) Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi

(3) Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer

(4) Steps by Jerzy Kosinski

(5) The Magic Circle by Gilda Cordero-Fernando

(6) Bad Kings by Gilda Cordero-Fernando

(7) Old Man's War by John Scalzi

(8) Redshirts by John Scalzi

(9) Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

(10) 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

(11) BØDY by Asa Nonami

(12) The Notable Brain of Maximilian Ponder by J. W. Ironmonger

(13) The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

(14) Manga Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare and Kate Brown

(15) Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

(16) Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

(17) Wonder by R. J. Palacio

(18) Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne

(19) Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

(20) Inferno by Dan Brown

(21) The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

(22) The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

(23) Salingkit by Cyan Abad-Jugo

(24) Talking to Girls about Duran Duran by Rob Sheffield

(25) The Stranger by Albert Camus

(26) Are We There Yet? by David Levithan

(27) Wide Awake by David Levithan

(28) Hysteria by Megan Miranda

(29) The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin

(30) I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

(31) The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino

(32) Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

(33) Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

(34) The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg

(35) Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

(36) Immortal Beloved by Cate Tiernan

(37) Game by Barry Lyga

(38) Among Others by Jo Walton

(39) Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan

(40) The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

(41) Locke & Key 1: Welcome to Lovecraft by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez

(42) Locke & Key 2: Head Games by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez

(43) Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A. S. King

(44) The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut

(45) Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

(46) Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

(47) When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

(48) Night Shift by Stephen King

(49) The Sandman Vol. 2: The Doll's House by Neil Gaiman

(50) The Sandman Vol. 4: Season of Mists by Neil Gaiman

(51) Chew Vol. 1: Taster's Choice by John Layman and Rob Guillory

(52) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

(53) Saga Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

(54) Saga Vol. 2 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

(55) Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth by Grant Morrison and Dave McKean

(56) Chew Vol. 2: International Flavor by John Layman and Rob Guillory

(57) The Dinner by Herman Koch

(58) The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing

(59) Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

(60) HHhH by Laurent Binet (61) Chew: The Omnivore Edition Vol. 2 by John Layman and Rob Guillory (62) Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady by Carlo Vergara and Elmer Cantada More than anything, I'm surprised with the number of graphic novels I've read  this year—11 out of 62! That's 18% of the books I finished. I have now truly  appreciated the genre. (Now if only there were not so damn expensive!) And  everyone should read Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples's Saga. I also wished that I've read more nonfiction books and classics. Most of the  books I finished this year were novels. Anyway, I'm glad that the novels were a  good mix—literary fiction, science fiction, young adult, middle grade, classics,  LGBT, etc. And I discovered a lot of great authors and debut fiction this year. J. W.  Ironmonger's The Notable Brain of Maximilian Ponder is great cerebral (pun  intended) fun! Laurent Binet's debut, HHhH, is probably the best historical  novel published recently. In 2013, I began my love affair with David Levithan and John Scalzi.  Levithan writes the most inspiring LGBT books for young adults, which  everyone can read. Scalzi, a SF writer, won the Hugo this year for Redshirts,  which I think is truly deserved. There's always next year to read more books, yes? And the year after that.  Bring on 2014!