Readers, Dad. They're called readers.

I did read some books this year--not as many as I would have liked, of course, but still. There was reading. One time I saw another blogger's New Year's Resolutions and one of them was "Read four books this year." I remember being so confused and gobsmacked. I mean, how could you avoid reading four books in one year? Seriously! I think her other resolutions were things like "Learn how to make own croissants" and "Go sailing in the Maldives or some s***," and she probably accomplished them. Which just goes to show that maybe I don't use my down time as productively as I could.

Anyway. There was a stretch this summer where everything I read was disappointing, but thankfully I got back on track. Here were a few favorites from 2013.




Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. This was the 5-star book for this year. I had to be in the right frame of mind to finally pick it up and read about cheery things like sex trafficking and women without access to education or maternity care. But I'm so glad I did. And there's actually quite a lot of cool, uplifting stories about what these women are able to do once they get treated like, you know, humans.



Still Alice. This novel is about a brilliant Harvard professor who starts forgetting things. When she gets disoriented during a jog, she visits her doctor and is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease. Alice and her husband, with their three adult children, are all trying to cope in their own ways as she deteriorates. I couldn't put it down, even though it was pretty heartbreaking in places.


 Parenting: Illustrated with Crappy Pictures. This will never win the Nobel Prize for Literature, but man it's what I needed to read after little Loki was born. I just sat on the couch and howled, then tried to read parts out loud to GH. I think my favorite story was the one about the road trip where her husband had to hold their child in the air on the side of the road while he did his business.

Where'd You Go Bernadette? This book was a fun read that was also really well-written. Bernadette doesn't fit in with the other moms in Seattle (and she doesn't want to). When her agoraphobic tendencies get out of control, she disappears after a failed intervention. The novel is made up of the emails, FBI files, and ER bills compiled by Bernadette's teenage daughter as she searches for her mom.

 The Rosie Project. Hilarious and touching. This book is maybe what would happen if Dr. Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory wanted to find a life partner. In this version he's Dr. Don Tillman, an Australian genetics professor whose social awkwardness (think Asperger's) masks the fact that he's a very sweet guy. Don embarks on "The Wife Project" armed with a survey he's designed to weed out unsuitable matches. But when he meets Rosie, a woman who meets none of his requirements and causes all kinds of upset to his orderly life, he keeps looking for reasons to spend time with her. (Note: the Kindle version is only $1.99 right now, so if your library doesn't have it this would be a great way to check it out!)

What about you guys? Any favorites I should put on this year's to-read list?