Best Reads of 2013

For me, this was the year of getting back into contemporary fiction, as opposed to sticking to the all-Victorian, all the time reading diet I've been on for the last 20 years. Although the reading that I do for my scholarship is still important and interesting to me, this has also been the year where I rediscovered pleasure reading.

Here are my favorite reads from 2013:

1) Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple. Written in a delightfully snarky tone--especially in sections from the mother's point of view--this book draws on emails, journal entries, and straight narration to bring you into the over-the-top world of its characters.

2) Five Star Billionaire by Tash Aw. Aw's novel, which was longlisted for the Man Booker, tells the interconnected stories of a group of outsiders trying to find their social and professional place in Shanghai. The thematic core of the novel is whether authenticity exists (or matters) in a world of self fashioning. The ending is a little disappointing, but otherwise it's a richly tapestried and satisfying novel.

3) I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella. I read *a lot* of Sophie Kinsella this year, but this one was definitely my favorite. Kinsella has created a well-crafted update of the epistolary novel using text messaging and emails. As Nina Garcia would say, it feels very fresh and current.

On a separate note, my second favorite Kinsella novel is Can You Keep a Secret?

4) Longbourn by Jo Baker. Baker's re-writing of Austen's Pride and Prejudice tells the story from the servants' point of view. The strength of this novel is that she doesn't try too hard to mimic Austen's style. Instead, the novel has its own story to tell and its own voice. As I wrote in my blogpost on this novel, I'll never see Lizzie's walk to Netherfield as quite such an independent and courageous act again.

5) The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp. This is one of those novels where the scenario is completely depressing, but you don't mind because the narrative voice is likeable and utterly compelling. I started this novel out of idle curiosity and was drawn in almost at once.

6) The Panopticon by Jenni Fagan. I'm still a little on the fence about this one since it is really difficult to read from an emotional point of view. But, like the Spectacular Now, the narrator is so brilliantly drawn and engaging that I couldn't put it down.