Equalling last year’s score of 38 even though I’ve been slacking this month..I have really enjoyed almost everything I’ve read, with the exception of a few eye-rollers, but absolute favourite reads are in bold:
1. The Twelve by Justin Cronin
2. Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz (gay mermen ahoy)
3. The Last Dance by Victoria Hislop
4. Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner (short but ultra-dark and fascinating)
5. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens (typical Chas…long winded but ultimately good yarn)
6. Department 19 by Will Hill (great for boys)
7. Mr. Norris Changes Trains by Christopher Isherwood
8. Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood (remarkable)
9. The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson (an intriguing Brazilian post-apoc – plot sadly doesn’t match up to style)
10. The Mad Girl’s Love Song by Andrew Wilson (absolutely fascinating biog of Plath)
11. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (oblig. to read with the above)
12. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (yeah, I know, I’m late to the party)
13. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne (see above)
14. The Perfect Enemy by F.E. Higgins (part of the Pearson Heroes series – a read for work but ssh, I’m counting it…)
15. Tsotsi by Athol Fugard (powerful tale of redemption in South Africa)
16. Eg and Me by David Grant (also a Heroes book, and one I ended up teaching)
17. Do Not Wake the Devil by Andrew Peters (Heroes)
18. I-ssassins by Christopher Edge (Heroes)
19. The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey (pressed all my buttons: sci-fi, action, apocalypse, a little bit of hawt romance, very dark)
20. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
21. Shades of Earth by Beth Revis (this whole trilogy is fab)
22. Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson (prophetic cyber-punk with added Sumerian mythology)
23. Wool by Hugh Howey
24. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (#1 read of the year!)
25. Cruel Summer by James Dawson (perfect summer thriller)
26. The Glass Republic by Tom Pollock (great little urban fantasy series)
27. Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein (heart-rending)
28. Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
29. The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer (absorbing soap opera)
30. Shift by Hugh Howey
31. The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater (I am so in love with Gansey)
32. The Last King of Lydia by Tim Leach (picked this up in Kindle sale because I struggled through several books of Herodotus for my finals – Hdt is better but if you know anything about Croesus, Cyrus, Cambyses et al. this is a fun fictional companion)
33. The Elites by Natasha Ngan
34. More Than This by Patrick Ness (will stay with you for a long time)
35. A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki (magical)
36. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (I can see why everyone loves it, but for me it was a little too much like an MRA’s fantasy)
37. City of Women by David Gillham (completely gripping tale of life in war-torn Berlin)
38. The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
A few days of 2013 left – can I make it to 40? What shall I add to the list?
Catherine Queen 
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