Top Ten Fiction Books of 2013

Top Ten Fiction Books of 2013

Today, I thought it would be fun to see what I’ve been missing this year.  Below are the top ten lists for fiction this year from various sources.  It seems I have a lot of catching up to do. Which ones did you read?


Good Reads Best Books of 2013 Choice Awards

And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
A look into the lives of a brother and sister and their families in Afghanistan, 1952.






The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
An unlikely friendship between a young woman who lost her mother and an elderly man who later confesses a long-buried and shameful secret.




Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
A love story of an ordinary girl who tries to help a wheelchair bound ex-Master of the Universe.





The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
After surviving a crash, a young boy is taken in by a friend’s family. He clings to a small painting from his mother and eventually is drawn into the art underworld.




The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty (Also author of What Alice Forgot)
Cecilia has the perfect marriage until she finds a letter from her husband meant to be opened in the event of his death.




Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
A young girl helps an older woman clean out her home and discovers her history as a young Irish immigrant orphaned in New York City.




A scientist, who designs a scientifically valid survey to find the perfect wife for him, encounters Rosie who meets his criteria yet he disqualifies her as a candidate and helps her in her quest to identify her biological father.  Update:  I read this book in 2016 and LOVED it!!


The House Girl by Tara Conklin
The story of an escaped slave in the pre-war South, a determined young lawyer, and a woman seeking compensation for families of slaves.




A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
A sixteen-year-old girl plans to document the life of her great-grandmother before taking her own life in Japan. Across the Pacific a novelist finds a collection of artifacts washed ashore from the 2011 tsunami that connects to the girl in Tokyo.  



Tenth of December by George Saunders
A collection of short stories about class, love, sex, loss, work, despair and war.







New York Times 2013 Best Seller in Fiction (Hardcover)

Cross My Heart by James Patterson
A man uses Detective Alex Cross’ family against him in a page-turning thriller. (Alex Cross Series)





Sycamore Row by John Grisham
A man commits suicide leaving a will that upturns the lives of his adult children, his black maid, and Jake. (2nd book in the Jake Brigance Series)




Takedown Twenty by Janet Evanovich
Stephanie sets her sights on catching a notorious mob boss. (Stephanie Plum Series)





The First Phone Call From Heaven by Mitch Albom
A small town on Lake Michigan gets worldwide attention when its citizens start receiving phone calls from the afterlife.



King and Maxwell by David Baldacci
Former secret service agents turned investigators look into the mysterious death of a soldier in Afghanistan only to realize they’ve stumbled onto something bigger and more treacherous than anyone could have imagined.



Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
A tribe of seemingly innocent people are quasi-immortal living off the steam that children with the shining produce when they are slowly tortured to death—an epic war between good and evil.



S. by Doug Dorst
A young woman picks up a book left behind by a stranger and finds notes from the previous owner in the margin. She responds with notes of her own and the book is left for another stranger.



The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
After surviving a crash, a young boy is taken in by a friend’s family. He clings to a small painting from his mother and eventually is drawn into the art underworld.



The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks
A remarkable story of two couples whose parallel love stories intersect in profound and surprising ways.




The Supreme Macaroni Company by  Adriana Trigiani
A heartbreaking story that begins on the eve of a wedding in New York and travels to New Orleans, and culminates in Tuscany.





Amazon’s 2013 Best Selling Women’s Literature & Fiction (Minus the Christmas books, as of 12/8/13)


The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty (Also author of What Alice Forgot)
Cecilia has the perfect marriage until she finds a letter from her husband meant to be opened in the event of his death.



Soy Sauce for Beginners by Kristen Chen
A woman leaves her floundering marriage and moves back to Singapore and faces her mother’s drinking problem and the machinations of her father’s soy sauce business.



The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks
A remarkable story of two couples whose parallel love stories intersect in profound and surprising ways.




Sweet Nothings (A Sugar Springs Novel) by Kim Law
Free spirited Joanie Bigbee, who sells cupcakes out of a converted Volkswagen van, meets Nick Dalton who wants more than just a fling



And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
A look into the lives of a brother and sister and their families in Afghanistan, 1952.





The Second Chance Café (A Hope Springs Novel) by Alison Kent
A woman runs a café in a Victorian home while she tries to uncover the truth about her birth parents, but is distracted by a handsome carpenter.   



Things We Set on Fire by Deborah Reed
A series of tragedies brings Vivvie's young grandchildren into her custody, and her two estranged daughters back under one roof in this deeply personal, hauntingly melancholy look at the damages families inflict on each other—and the healing that only they can provide.

The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg (Who also wrote A Redbird Christmas)
An impressionable woman named Fritzi takes over the running of her family’s filling station in the 1940s during the war and sees an opportunity for an even more ground-breaking adventure. Update: I read Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe in 2017 and really enjoyed it!

The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani
A sweeping family saga of Ciro and Enza who immigrated from Italy to the United States separately in the early 1900s, built their lives in their new homeland, and later reconnect.



It Must Be Love by Bella Andre
The passion from an unforgettable fling five years ago reignites when rock star Ford Vincent vows to do anything to win back the heart of successful real estate agent, Mia Sullivan.



Happy Reading! 
Annette


Comments

Marianne said…
Wow, I only read two of all those books. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini which was one of the greatest books I read this year and Me Before You by Jojo Moyes which was more a disappointment. Thank you for putting these lists together, Annette.

Marianne from Let's Read
Thanks, Marianne. I'm really behind the times because I haven't read any of those books. There sure is a lot of buzz about "And the Mountains Echoed." After reading your review, I will definitely have to put it on my reading list. Too bad about "Me Before You"--it sounded very interesting. You had me chuckling about your theory on pink book covers. :)

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