Monday, December 30, 2013

Books Read in 2013

I don't have it much in me to write a long post about the books I've read this year.

I love to read. Even throughout all of the terribly difficult times in the hospital with Sam and all of the stress of the last few weeks of his life and the horrible hole that he left in our lives…reading brings me solace and comfort. I can lose myself in a book. Sometimes, though, the knowledge that I'm going to peek my head back out and find things unchanged…sometimes that makes it hard to get lost…

I don't keep track of when exactly I finish all the books, but I know that I went through some lengthy "dry spells" this year...periods when I didn't read anything beyond my Facebook feed or an Entertainment Weekly magazine…here's my list for 2013. I can't even imagine tomorrow, but I know that the sun will rise and set and I know that I will eventually pick up another book to read. 

And so it goes…


  1. The Panther by Nelson DeMille
  2. Havana Real by Yoani Sanchez
  3. Game Changer by Margaret Petersen Haddix
  4. The Fault in our Stars by John Green
  5. Cuba: A History by Sergio Guerra-Vilaboy
  6. Two Whole Cakes by Lesley Kinzel
  7. Earth Unaware by Orson Scott Card
  8. Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
  9. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
  10. One More River by Mary Glickman
  11. Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon
  12. I Love Mondays and Other Confessions From Devoted Working Moms by Michelle Cove
  13. Friendkeeping by Julie Klam
  14. Curse of the Thirteenth Fey by Jane Yolen
  15. Second Person Singular by Sayed Kashua
  16. Beautiful Creatures by Garcia and Stohl
  17. Memoir of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks
  18. Relational Judaism by Ron Wolfson
  19. Wisdom for People of All Faiths by Evan Moffic
  20. Saying No & Letting Go by Edwin Goldberg
  21. A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy
  22. The Still Point of the Turning World by Emily Rapp
  23. The Round House by Louise Ehrdrich
  24. Son by Lois Lowry
  25. Enigma by Robert Harris
  26. The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier
  27. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
  28. The Selection by Kiera Cass
  29. The Elite by Kiera Cass
  30. Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight
  31. Liars' Gospel by Naomi Alderman
  32. Fly Away by Kristin Hannah
  33. Earth Afire by Orson Scott Card
  34. One by LeighAnn Kopans
  35. The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
  36. Jerusalem Assassin by Abraham Azrieli
  37. The Passage by Justin Cronin
  38. Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss
  39. Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks
  40. The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls by Anotn DiSciafnai
  41. The English Girl by Daniel Silva
  42. Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews
  43. Indelible by Dawn Metcalf
  44. Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld
  45. Two by LeighAnn Kopans
  46. The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
  47. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
  48. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
  49. How To Be a Friend to A Friend Who is Sick by Letty Cottin Pogrebin
  50. From Telling to Teaching by Joye Morris
  51. The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida
  52. I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
  53. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
  54. Allegiant by Veronica Roth
  55. Lions of Lucerne by Brad Thor
  56. Carry On, Warrior by Glennon Melton

Previous book lists are over in the sidebar <--- of my blog.
Usually I keep my list on my blog but this year I did a terrible job of updating it and started using GoodReads to keep track of what I've read. So feel free to follow me over there.

I'm hoping to read some of the "best of 2013" in the first month of 2014. What did you read in 2013 that you liked best? 

2 comments:

Leens said...

Rabbi Sommer, you are a true inspiration. Your strength and wisdom leave me in awe. I hope that you are doing as well as you possibly can be and that you find some comfort in your wonderful family and may Sam's memory be a blessing.

SMA said...

Phyllis --

Thank you for posting. I have to admit I look forward to your list each year. Cheesy, but true. :) So I hoped you would post ... understood if you wouldn't ... and like knowing that reading provided some respite in 2013 and a glimpse of something to anticipate in 2014.

For what it's worth (and maybe you've read all three), my favorites this year were (in no particular order):

The Art of Fielding, by Chad Harbach

And (highly unusual for me) 2 non-fiction:

My Jesus Year: A Rabbi's Son Wanders the Bible Belt in Search of His Own Faith, by Benyamin Cohen

Like Dreamers: The Story of the Israeli Paratroopers Who Reunited Jerusalem and Divided a Nation, by Yossi Klein Halevi - LOVED it, and I think it reads more like historical fiction than anything

Wishing you the best 2014 possible,
Stephanie A.