Best Books You've Read in 2013

[Philip Overby]

These don't necessarily have to be books written in 2013, just books you read this year. I'm going to include books I'm in the middle of reading or have finished.

These are in no particular order.

The Bounty Hunters by Elmore Leonard: I finished this after his death this year and I always ask myself the question "Why don't I read him more?" I've liked everything I've ever read by him and his Westerns are just as good as his crime fiction in some cases.

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick: Another writer I don't read much for whatever reason, but I should probably read more. This is a book about a future in which the US has been split in two by Japan and Germany after losing WWII. I enjoyed this book mostly because it didn't feel like a book I expected to read. It followed POVs that felt real given the situation.

Neuromancer by William Gibson: While I'm only half-way finished with this one, I've found it to be incredibly engaging despite not knowing what is going on half the time.I believe that's a great attribute for a writer to have. To be able to immerse me in his world and navigate me through the chaos without losing my interest. I can understand why this is a classic. It's one of the most richly written books I've ever read.

The Steel Remains by Richard K. Morgan: Still moving through this book, which I really enjoy how he just lets loose and doesn't let up. I appreciate when writers don't worry about offending people and just tell the story they need to tell.

Where's all the fantasy you say? Well, with my Kindle broken, a lot of the fantasy I was reading isn't as easy to access.

What are your best reads of 2013?

 

[GeekDavid]

Glad you're enjoying Neuromancer. It's easy to see why that book sparked the cyberpunk genre.

 

[CupofJoe]

I've always wondered with The Man in the High Castle, if PKD had another story in mind as a follow up.
I love the story but it felt unfinished and untidy - like life I guess.

Due to health reasons I haven't been able to concentrate on novels. So I have looked to short stories and episodic stories.
I have read just about every miscellanea book I could beg borrow or steal.
What I have loved is Cache Lake Country: Life in the North Woods by John J. Rowlands.
Its about life in the Canadian wilderness just after the second world war. it is full of helpful tips and hints about life far from stores and other people and there is a lot of folks story telling. It is not taut and paced and sparsely written. It flows around things until you suddenly get what the author means. And there are some wonderful [and instructive] illustrations if you get the right edition. I am building a "Smoker" in the spring... just to see if I can...

@Phill the Drill - If you like Neuromancer, try Mirrorshades: the cyberpunk anthology, ed. Bruce Sterling. Its a dozen short stories and covers most of what Cyberpunk can cover.

 

[Philip Overby]

Thanks for the suggestion. Got too many books to read already, but if I get in the mood for more cyberpunk, I'll check it out.

 

[BWFoster78]

I'm going to do a blog post for my best book read in 2013 on 1/1. Unless I read something mindblowing before the end of the year, the hands down winner is going to be Jim Bernheimer's Confessions of a D-List Supervillian. Note: this isn't the best indie or small publisher book, but the best book. I picked this over works by Sanderson and Weeks.

 

[Ophiucha]

I'm really bad at remembering which books I've read which year, so some of these may have been late 2012 or so.

God Stalk, by P. C. Hodgell. The first book in the Chronicles of the Kencyrath, and this is the only one I've read so far. It's riddled with cliches, yet somehow manages to seem fresh. I think that is helped by how much I like Jame, the main character. Could be a series I grow to dislike if the world and stories don't get some interesting twists in later books, but the first one was good.

Swordspoint, by Ellen Kushner. Someone on the site recommended this one, but I can't remember who. Thanks, whoever you were! It was a great read. I love the whole mannerpunk thing, and this story had some of the best characters I'd read about this year. I've not found the second book anywhere for a good price, but I'll be picking it up the moment I do.

The Saga of Recluce, by L. E. Modesitt. I read the first seven books during the spring while I was taking an online course, just so I had something fun to read between my course books (which were also fun, technically, but there's something about having to read a book that makes it less enjoyable, even when it is Dracula, which is one of my favourites). The world is what made me love this series, and some of the stories were excellent, with realistic if not always likeable leads. There were a few books that were less exciting to get through, but the span of the saga - like, 2000 years - keeps me reading even the worst books just to know where they all fit in and get that bit of extra worldbuilding out of each book.

 

[BWFoster78]

Swordspoint, by Ellen Kushner. Someone on the site recommended this one, but I can't remember who. Thanks, whoever you were! It was a great read. I love the whole mannerpunk thing, and this story had some of the best characters I'd read about this year. I've not found the second book anywhere for a good price, but I'll be picking it up the moment I do.

I have no idea what "mannerpunk" is, but this book sounded interesting. Added it to my wishlist. Thanks!

 

[Ophiucha]

It's like a novel of manners, but set in a fantasy or science fiction setting (represented here by the omnipotent -punk suffix). Not always a riveting genre, but I thought Swordspoint did a fantastic job at keeping it interesting with some great characters.

 

[Philip Overby]

I've always wanted to read L.E. Modesitt's work after seeing his books almost everywhere I ever went since I was a teenager. The one you mention sounds interesting. So it follows characters through the span of 2,000 years? That's pretty cool. I've always been a fan of sagas in that you get a really broad sense of a world through the eyes of characters from multiple generations.

 

[Snowpoint]

Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card - Good, but a lot of the text is just medeavel characters arguing about how Time Travel might Work. And the other flaw is that the Sequel doesn't follow up on the most interesting part. Maybe the third book will get to that. Overall, I enjoyed it. The Audible edition is TOP NOTCH. The reader has an amazing baritone.

Last Call by Tim Powers - One of the best books I ever read. He turns Poker into highly suspensful action scenes. The Tarrot Based magic is something that envolopes EVERY aspect of the world.

Bartemeus Trillogy - by Johnathan Stroud - If I read this in Middle School, I would look back on it fondly as my FAVORITE book. As an adult, it was MORE FUN that harry potter (not a fan). I would recommend to others.

Stress of Her Regard - by Tim Powers - Not as much fun as Last Call, but if you are familiar with the antics of Byron, a good historical embellishment.

 

[GeekDavid]

I've always wanted to read L.E. Modesitt's work after seeing his books almost everywhere I ever went since I was a teenager. The one you mention sounds interesting. So it follows characters through the span of 2,000 years? That's pretty cool. I've always been a fan of sagas in that you get a really broad sense of a world through the eyes of characters from multiple generations.

Yes... the first few books have a weird sequence... the first and fourth books are two parts of the same story, the second and third are prequels. After that he settles into duologies to tell each story, without books in between.

Another thing he does is tell one side of a story (from the "order" character's point of view) and then, in a later book, he tells the other side (from a sympathetic "chaos" character's POV) of several of the incidents where they were opposing each other. Unfortunately, as far as I've seen, he only does that once.

Also, check out the Imager series (set in a different world from Recluce, and with different magic). The magic is simple, Imagers can create objects -- solid, real objects -- through mostly an act of will. But there are serious downsides, the main one being that they can also image things like fire, and image them in their sleep. Thus they have to sleep alone in specially shielded rooms or take other precautions.

 

[Inglorion]

This year I read the entire Song of Ice and Fire.

 

[Noma Galway]

I read ASOIAF as well, also the Gentleman Bastards Sequence...other than that I seriously do not remember.

 

[ACSmyth]

My favourites of the year would be Republic of Thieves (Scott Lynch), Stormdancer (Jay Kristoff) and Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Laini Taylor).

I love Locke Lamora. That's all you need to know right there.

The latter two are YA. I'm reading more YA at the moment since my next writing project will be YA and I'm trying to get into that style after hammering away at an adult series for a couple of years. Stormdancer is fantasy with a steampunk feel, set in Japan. DoSaB is angels and demons with a twist.

 

[yonig]

Best served cold-Joe abercrombie