Favorite Books I read in 2013

I know it's still early December, but I wanted to write about some of the amazing books I read this year before the Internet is deluged by end of year posts.

My goal was to read 24 new books in 2013.  2012 was a terrible year for me in that department, so this year I wanted to spend more time reading.  Currently, my count stands at 46.  And that's only counting books I haven't read before.  I also reread the Hunger Games trilogy recently, and Melina Marchetta's brilliant book The Piper's Son.  I'm also in the middle of Chelsea Campbell's The Trials of Renegade X, which I know I'll easily finish before the end of the year, and I'm sure I'll manage to squeeze in a couple more books that are sitting on my shelf.

I don't know if this was just a good year for books or a bad year for TV or if I just made more of an effort.  46 averages out to about a book per week, which I know isn't likely.  It was more like I wouldn't read anything for a couple of weeks and then blow through 4 or 5 books in a couple of days.  Having back-to-back hernia surgeries gave me a lot of free time, as did my two week stint in jury duty.

Anyway, some of the standouts are:

Winger by Andrew Smith.  Andrew pretty much has a book on this list every year.  I'm also really looking forward to Grasshopper Jungle next year, and I'm sure I'll be mentioning how amazing it was at the end of 2014.

Eleanor & Park and Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell.  Rainbow's book have a genuine quality to them that is hard to resist.  Her characters are normal people dealing with their insecurities and fears, and I love that.

September Girls by Bennett Madison.  This book caught me off guard.  Irreverent and foul-mouthed, at its core it's a book about questioning everything.

Ask Again Later by Liz Czukas.  I got to read an ARC of Liz's debut and it was brilliant.  Deceptively simple and wonderfully sweet, I can't wait for everyone else to get to read it.

Vicious and The Archived by Victoria Schwab.  I hadn't read anything of Victoria's before, and these two books (Vicious was written for adults and The Archived for teens) couldn't have been more different, but they were both so original and well written.

UnSouled by Neal Schusterman.  What can I say?  Neal's Unwind dystology keeps getting better and better.

The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater.  Though I've never read any of her other books, the Raven Cycle has totally captured my imagination.  It reminds me of the magic of The Dark is Rising books I read as a kid.

Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz. Another book with fish people, this was the magic gay fish book Hannah teased about writing that I thought she was crazy for even considering.  Turns out I was the crazy one for doubting her.  Teeth is Hannah's best book yet.

2014 looks to be another great year with lots of books coming out that I can't wait to read.  So tell me:  what were your favorite reads of 2013 and what are you looking forward to next year?