January 9, 2014

Best of 2013

Oh man.  Despite barely blogging in 2013, I still read a bunch.  It was the usual mix:  lots of fiction, some smutty books, a handful of non-fiction.  All around, it was a great year for reading, but here are my top five faves: 

1)  The Orphan Master's Son:  I don't think I've ever read anything quite like it.  Completely original and completely deserving of the Pulitzer.

2)  World War Z:  Courtesy of my friend Mark, I picked up this page-turner.  I also did not sleep for the entire month of September due to zombie nightmares.

3)  The Circle:  I get the criticism:  Dave Eggers' characters aren't fully formed and the 'plot twist' is pretty apparent from the first few chapters.  It doesn't matter.  The book does a great job exploring privacy, social media, and what we give up when we opt in.

4)  Americanah:  Hands down, my favorite book of the year.  I highlighted over a dozen passages, but I could have easily highlighted the whole book because it was that good.  

5)  Lean In:  I was a little torn about whether or not to include this one.  Like many others, I think that Sandberg writes from a position of incredible privilege, and that she seemed a little out-of-touch with some of her suggestions.  That said, I thought the book was thought-provoking with its discussions on work-life balance and how to make parental leave conversations more inclusive.

Happy 2014, everyone!

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