Best (Print) Books of 2013

Top print books I read in 2013 with descriptions in 10 words or less. In the order I encountered them throughout the year. (Audio books will have a separate post.)

1. Take Five with Pope Benedict by Mike Aquilina and Kris Stubna
   Wonderful daily resource that refocused me on what really matters. (My review here.)
   
   
2. Watch series by Sergei Lukyanenko
   Only Russian novels I've ever enjoyed. (Good Story podcast discussion. My reviews here: Night Watch, Day Watch, Twilight Watch, Last Watch)
   
   
3. The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
   Fantasy, adventure, romance wrapped in theological science fiction.  (my review here)
   
   
4. King Peggy: An American Secretary, Her Royal Destiny, and the Inspiring Story of How She Changed an African Village by Peggilene Bartels
   The subhead says it all. I've read it twice. (review here)
   
   
5. The Woodcutter by Kate Danley
   A new, yet familiar, fairy story where true love conquers all. (review here)
   
   
6. Galactic Pot-Healer by Philip K. Dick
   Lovecraftian elder god gathers team to benefit mankind. (SFFaudio discussion here. My review here)
   
   
7. Save Send Delete by Danusha Goska
   Catholic and atheist debate faith in emails. Unputdownable. (my review here)
   
   
8. Middlemarch by George Eliot
   Marriage seen through the lens of "What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult to each other?" (my review here)
   
   
9. The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters
   Why investigate a murder if the world is ending? (my review here)
   
   
10. Countdown City by Ben H. Winters (sequel to The Last Policeman)
    Still asking questions in the face of the apocalypse  (review here)
    
    
11. Kirinyaga by Mike Resnick
    Can utopia be created by one man? Also African folktales.  (review/discussion at A Good Story is Hard to Find)
    
    
12. Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
    A contender with Bleak House as my favorite Dickens novel.  (excerpts and comments at Goodreads)

Yep. I cheated on just a few for that 10 word limit, most notably Middlemarch. Had to happen. Be sure to go through and read the reviews of anything that looks interesting. I promise there are a few in there that surprised me by winding up on this list.

ALL THE 2013 BOOKS
Here's my year in books according to Goodreads, where I may not have always written a review but I did keep pretty accurate track of what I read.