Tracey's Top Books of 2013 - Number 1

When I decided to blog about my top 10 books of 2013, I thought it would be really difficult. I was already beginning to make back-up plans for how I could get by rating 13 books or 12 books or 20 books. But, I surprised myself. It took me approximately 5.6 seconds to create my list of top 10 books. You've already gotten to see my reviews for books 10-2. In case you missed it, here is a recap so far:

10. Lexicon by Max Barry

9. Son by Lois Lowry

8. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

7. Divergent by Veronica Roth

6. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen

5. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon

4. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

3. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

2. Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

I guess it is time to finally reveal Tracey's Number 1 Book of 2013. If you have talked to me in the last year, this will come as no surprise....

1. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

As with many of the books I read in 2013, this novel was a happy surprise. I didn't really know anything about it but the cover art intrigued me and of course, the title was brilliant. I read the dust jacket and knew I had to pick up this novel. From what I could tell, it was about a little girl in Nazi Germany - that's all I needed to know to read it. I absolutely love reading books about the Holocaust. I learned so much about the Holocaust from teaching Anne Frank to my 8th graders and became fascinated. I always want to know more about it and want to read novels that help me understand the depths of what people went through during that time. After I purchased this book, I read the reviews on Goodreads and was happy to see that it has a very high rating (4.36 out of 5 stars). When a book has over 4 stars with half a million ratings, you know it has to be good.

I began reading late in February, and was immediately hooked. The book is narrated by DEATH! That is brilliant. Who better to tell a story about Nazi Germany and the Holocaust than the being who saw the majority of it - Death. Now, Zusak could have really messed up by doing this because writing about such a terrible time in human history is a very delicate subject. Death is not malicious or rude or evil. In this novel, Death is more of a work horse who was given the unfortunate job of cleaning up the world. Death is compassionate and pities humanity. Death pities humanity. I could not get over this fact and began crying at this point in the novel. I don't think I ever stopped after that. To believe that society has become so corrupt and so evil that Death feels sorry for us is hard to swallow. Since reading this novel, I have thought about this idea over and over. It changed something inside me.

Now, as Death tells us the story of little Liesel, we get to see the tragic story of a young girl who suffers heartbreak. Death meets her three times throughout the novel and each time is painful. Liesel is our book thief who steals books and reads them with her foster father late at night. Throughout the novel, we get to see the toll the Nazis took on innocent people. Liesel's family harbors a Jew named Max and Liesel makes friends with neighbor children. The controversies surrounding religion, education, politics, and society are explored in this novel. As it is a novel about Nazi Germany, it is sad and real and does not end happily. Our narrator guides us through all of the turmoil of the country and the despair humanity brought upon itself.

While the story itself is beautiful, and I love the risks Zusak took in creating this novel, the story alone is not why it is my number 1 novel of the year. This book has made its way into my ever-growing list of all-time favorite novels. This book changed me. As I said earlier, the fact that Death pities humanity is one that I still mull over from time to time. Reading this book gave me a greater appreciation for the freedoms I have and the drive, ambition, and power to change the world for the better. More than ever, this book made me want to do something that allows me to give back to humanity. To be the "silver lining" in a sea of wicked and corruption. 

2014 Reading Goals!

Wow. 2013 was such a good year for reading. So many great novels were released, many books were turned into movies, and several of my favorite book series came to an end. I am eager and excited for the books 2014 will hold. I cannot guarantee they will be as good as the books I read in 2013, but I have high hopes. 

As 2014 is being dubbed "The Year of the Dissertation", I am not sure how many novels I will be able to read. I have decided that my goal for the year is 48. That is about 4 books a month, or one book every 7ish days. I think I can manage that while writing a dissertation and finishing this dang degree. :)

Happy Reading in 2014!