As is the norm when the year ends, Top-10 lists of everything pop out everywhere. And as such, why not jump on the bandwagon and publish lists myself…

I’ve always been a sucker for lists… during the first year of my previous job, I had very little to do (think commodity trading during 2009), yet needed to appear busy. My work involved a lot of financial modeling, which required having Excel open on the screen… so to pass the time, I created lists in Excel of every book I’ve read, every film I’ve seen, every video game I’ve played, every concert I’ve been to…. you get the idea. It was a lot of work, racking up my brain to recall every book I could remember reading, or scouring movie databases to confirm if I actually had seen that film or not… Having made the lists, it felt wrong not to keep at it, so every new movie I see or book I read goes into my Excel files! Trust me, it comes quite handy, particularly if I’m going to do top of 2013 lists!

So here goes: a list of the top books I read in 2013 (not necessarily published during the year, though quite a lot of them are new).

In total, I managed to read 38 books this year, just below my target of 40, but hey, good enough. Of those 38, these were my favourite:

 
 
The Golem and the Jinni (Helene Wecker) – My top read of the year. Amazing book, loved every word, every page. The type of book I would love to write, fantasy and historical fiction, all rolled into one. Two magical creatures in turn of the 20th century New York, and the incredible friendship they form. Can’t wait for more from Helene Wecker.

Lexicon (Max Barry) – Now this was fun. A great, well-executed thriller, with an intriguing supernatural twist. Highly recommended.

 

The Cuckoo’s Calling (Robert Galbraith) – Let’s be honest, I only read this book because of JK Rowling’s outing as the author, and a need to know what people were talking about. I was not a fan of The Casual Vacancy, and wasn’t too sure what to expect about this one… and was very surprised of just how good this story was. Really enjoyed it, and hoping that JK Rowling will carry on with the series.

 

Of Bees and Mist (Erick Setiawan) – Can’t really recall how I came across this book, which is not that new, but really really liked it. Halfway between fantasy and magical realism, this novel was a gratifying find.

The Shining Girls (Lauren Beukes) – I really enjoyed this one… found the time travel concept fascinating, and thought all-in-all, a great book. Perhaps the ending could’ve been better, but nonetheless, a fun read.

Dreams and Shadows (Robert C Cargill) – It may have been a tad derivative, but I found this book extremely enjoyable. A tale of fairies, magic, fantasy… pretty much like half the books I’ve read in my life… yet this one stood out, and I’m looking forward to reading more. I believe the sequel is coming out in the spring…can’t wait.

Too Big to Fail (Andrew Ross Sorkin) – Yes, I finally got around to reading this one… which is funny considering that I do work at an investment bank for a living. The book was incredible, rarely have I been so intrigued by a non-fiction book, keen to read on and on to see what happens next… even though of course I knew what would happen next.

I could’ve added The Ocean at the End of the Lane, a book that I was very excited about (big Neil Gaiman fan). But somehow, I felt a little bit disappointe: it had all the components to make me love it, yet the book was just so short and rushed, that in the end, couldn’t help but feel less than thrilled over it. 

Other notable books include The Mirage, The Republic of Thieves, Redshirts… books that I really enjoyed, yet fall just short of the FAVORITE brand.

I’ll think about posting my top movies of the year later on… till then!