What was the best book you read this year?

Also, I just picked up "The Goldfinch" by Donna Tartt for my Kindle. Super excited about that one. "The Secret History" is one of my favorite books of all time, and "The Little Friend" is pretty great, too.

 

"Life After Life" by Kate Atkinson. Wonderful book which stayed with me long after I finished reading.

 

"Silver Linings Playbook" by Matthew Quick
or
"Doctor Sleep" by Stephen King

 

The Yiddish Policeman's Union. Michael Chabon.

 

I'm about 15% of the way through that now. Still wondering when it starts getting good.

 

As for the best books I've read this year, man, there have been a lot of good ones. Top 5, in no order:

- "The Monuments Men" (Robert Edsel)
- "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" (Rebecca Skloot)
- "The Man Who Never Died: Joe Hill" (William Adler)
- "The Signal and the Noise" (Nate Silver)
- "The Celebrant" (Eric Rolfe Greenberg)

 

"Up Country," by Nelson DeMille.
Not the first time I've read it, either.

This book has everything -- drama, history, suspense, mystery, comedy, heated politics, romance and a great little travel tour of Vietnam -- and you can't put it down once you start. The pacing is off the charts, and the story itself is incredibly good.

Nelson DeMille is a brilliant writer,
and I think "Up Country" is his best work.

 

I read a lot of books this year, largely because I got a Kindle Paperwhite, which makes it easy to read just about anywhere.

Other than the aforementioned "Billy Lynn," I finished:

"Sticks and Stones," by Emily Bazelon
"Nine Inches," by Tom Perrotta
"The Circle," by Dave Eggers
"The God Delusion," by Richard Dawkins
"Why People Believe Weird Things," by Michael Shermer
"The Great Gatsby," by F. Scott Fitzgerald
"Mint Condition," by Dave Jamieson
"The Centrist Manifesto," by Charles Wheelan
"10 1/2 Things No Commencement Speaker Ever Said," by Charles Wheelan
"Naked Economics," by Charles Wheelan
"Gone Girl," by Gillian Flynn

I'm a really promiscuous reader, so I also started a bunch that I haven't finished yet.

 

Doctor Sleep
The 12 Tribes of Hattie
A Prayer for Owen Meany (for the millionth time)

 

I read all five "A Song of Ice & Fire" books. That took up most of my year.

But the best book I read in 2013 was Jane Leavy's Mickey Mantle bio "The Last Boy."

Unbelievable amount of research. Leavy not only talked to every living Mantle family member and former Yankees teammate (along with numerous guys he played against), but also tracked down guys he played with and against in high school and in the minors, former Yankee Stadium ushers, fans who saw him play live, hotel and restaurant personnel working during his various after-hours dalliances, and even the guy who found the ball Mantle supposedly hit 565 feet in Washington in 1953.

 

I didn't love it. Not nearly as good as Kavalier & Klay, hard to like the characters, and the ending was just too crazy.

 

Other books I read this year that I liked...

American Lion (Andrew Jackson bio) by Jon Meachem
Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill
Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman