Glass of Wine

This was a tough list to put together. To make decisions slightly less wrenching, I decided to limit this to fiction I read this year for the first time, specifically series openers or standalones- which is not to say that I didn't read some fantastic sequels and nonfiction this year, because I definitely did. Maybe next year I'll have time to read more of both of those, and add some new categories. I tried to think about a lot of different aspects before putting these books in order: how much I liked them, how well written I thought they were (not always the same things), how memorable they were, and how likely I am to reread them when I have more time (ha). Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfield Atmospheric, suspenseful, and violent, this thriller definitely got under my skin. I don't read much realistic or crime fiction, but I'm glad I made an exception for this dark tale of death in a small town.   Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth Another...

For 2013, I wish for.... 10) The S.H.I.E.L.D. series to be picked up and be awesome and Whedony. 9) The Outlander series to be picked up and be awesome and star Chris Hemsworth and an actress good enough to play Claire. 8) The Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell series to be picked up and be awesome and star David Tennant. 7) The chance to go back to NYCC. 6) The Walking Dead to not kill all of my favorite characters (I know I shouldn't have picked any, ever , but Season Three's midseason finale made me realize how much I care about Daryl, Glen and Maggie. Blast). Also, while I'm wishing for things from AMC, I'd really, really like for Jesse to survive the finale of Breaking Bad , and for the show to close on a scene ten-fifteen years later of him teaching a chemistry class. 5) David Tennant to be involved with the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special, double points if Billie Piper is involved as well, and even moooooore points if they bring back Donna Noble, K-9, and...

The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan On remote Rollrock Island, men go to sea to make their livings--and to catch their wives.  The witch Misskaella knows the way of drawing a girl from the heart of a seal, of luring the beauty out of the beast. And for a price a man may buy himself a lovely sea-wife. He may have and hold and keep her. And he will tell himself that he is her master. But from his first look into those wide, questioning, liquid eyes, he will be just as transformed as she. He will be equally ensnared. And the witch will have her true payment.  Margo Lanagan weaves an extraordinary tale of desire, despair, and transformation. With devastatingly beautiful prose, she reveals characters capable of unspeakable cruelty, but also unspoken love. -Plot summary borrowed from Goodreads I'd been seeing the cover of Margo Lanagan's Tender Morsels all over the place and it's been on my To Read list for awhile now, but when I saw that she'd written ...

A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce This ravishing winner of the ALA's William C. Morris YA Debut Award is a fairy tale, spun with a mystery, woven with a family story, and shot through with romance. Charlotte Miller has always scoffed at talk of a curse on her family's woolen mill, which holds her beloved small town together. But after her father's death, the bad luck piles up: departing workers, impossible debts, an overbearing uncle. Then a stranger named Jack Spinner offers a tempting proposition: He can turn straw into gold thread, for the small price of her mother's ring. As Charlotte is drawn deeper into her bargains with Spinner-and a romance with the local banker-she must unravel the truth of the curse on the mill and save the community she's always called home. -Plot summary borrowed from Goodreads Having just come off a historical farm recreation documentary binge (hey, it's a thing! Check out Tales from the Green Valley, Victorian...