My Best of 2013

2013 was a fantastic year. I had planned to write a LOT more reviews, but that unfortunately didn't happen, resulting in the rather dry few months I had at the end of the year. Apologies.

Like my 'Best of 2012' post last year, this is a round-up of the best books I read in 2013. I've had a LOT of favourites this year and so it was excruciatingly difficult in trying to decide what should and couldn't make the list. The following are listed in their order of review. I hope this inspires you to add a few books to your TBR list!


1. Ride With Me by Ruthie Knox (2012) (reviewed 14-1-2013, Grade A)
Just as Tiffany Reisz was my favourite new-to-me author of 2012 and as Gail Carriger held that title in 2011, Ruthie Knox was my favourite new author of 2013. I ended up reading four of her novels (Ride With Me, Along Came Trouble, Flirting With Diaster and Making it Last) but Ride With Me easily topped the list. Lexie needs a cycling partner for the TransAm cycling route across America, but once prospective partners find out she's a woman, they can't backtrack fast enough. Tom is tricked into becoming 'Alex's' cycling partner by his sister and it doesn't bode for an easy partnership. Their first ten minutes is plagued by a puncture - cue a very memorable scene involving some very hot tongue action!

Pretty books and other bookish news ...

No review today, because I am completely swamped. Third year law is hell on Earth, but I'm loving every long night spent glued to my desk, lecturers who speak at triple-speed and page-long reading lists for two-hour seminars; the things I do for my degree.

Instead, I thought I would share with you all my newest literary purchase, amongst other things. I was browsing in Waterstones at the beginning of this week, not with anything particular in mind, but knowing that I wanted to buy something special for myself. I spotted this on the shelf and after a brief internal debate, I couldn't help myself.

This is the new September 2013 hardback edition of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, illustrated by the very talented Jemima Catlin. This is my first copy of The Hobbit and unlikely to be my last; the lady in Waterstones confessed to owning about five copies, yet still being tempted by this one too! I can certainly see why. Despite first publication almost eighty years ago, The Hobbit is a timeless classic and new editions are only getting more beautiful. I've already got my eye on the Deluxe Hardback editions of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings!

I saw sample copies of the cover whilst I was interning at HarperCollins, but there weren't any interiors in the office that I could take a peek at. I'm glad that now that I've seen them, it's in my own copy; the illustrations are breathtaking. All illustrations are full-colour and there's at least one per double-spread; some pages have two. In addition, there's a dozen full-page illustrations, including the great dragon Smaug amongst his treasure.

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkein

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again (1937) (Collins Modern Classics)
J.R.R. Tolkien
Grade: A+
Genre: high fantasy
Source: own

Bilbo Baggins is your ordinary Hobbit from the Shire: he enjoys his food, his comfortable lifestyle in his own hobbit-hole, and the prospect of a leisurely life to the end of his days. Bilbo is descended from the respected Bagginses and the slightly less-respected Tooks – the latter of whom have a great sense of adventure ingrained into them. At fifty years of age, Bilbo has never felt the urge to go off and have jolly adventures of his own – until now.