he beginning of 2013 was a really busy time for me, with our new house, wedding season, and traveling. I didn’t really get to read until August, but even given that shorter window of time, I had some really, really great reads this year. Here are 5 of my favorites in no particular order.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

It’s 1939 in Nazi Germany. Death is busy…and getting busier by the minute. Liesel Meminger, a foster child placed with a family outside of Munich, learns to read under the supervision and loving instruction of her foster father. Liesel, Papa, Max, Rudy, Mama…the characters became my family while I read this book. The writing was phenomenal, the storytelling captivating, and the ending…oh the ending.

“People observe the colors of a day only at its beginnings and ends, but to me it’s quite clear that a day merges through a multitude of shades and intonations with each passing moment. A single hour can consist of thousands of different colors. Waxy yellows, cloud-spot blues. Murky darkness. In my line of work, I make it a point to notice them.”

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

Written in the first-person (my favorite kind of read!), this was a quick read, but I highlighted SO many quotes from this book. It centers around August (Auggie) Pullman who was born with a severe facial deformity that has kept him out of mainstream school until now. He’s entering 5th grade at the beginning of the book and I got to follow him all the way through the school year. What a treasure this book is!!!

“I wish every day could be Halloween. We could all wear masks all the time. Then we could walk around and get to know each other before we got to see what we looked like under the masks.”

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

This book, maybe more than any other this year (*the only exception would possibly be The Book Thief), absolutely broke me. When I was finished, I had a true sob fest with tissues and a snotty nose. I read it in one day because I literally could not put it down. I tried. I tried to break for dinner, but my brain was not going to have it.

This review by Gail Werner sums it up best: “Readers will finish this lopsided love story majorly conflicted, especially so depending upon their spiritual and religious beliefs. But to explain why reveals more than I want to share about its plot or ending. So let me just say the story of Lou Clark, a 26-year-old working class girl who becomes the care assistant to Will Traynor, a victim of quadriplegia in the wake of a motorbike accident, is unshakable. There are so many tender moments contained in its pages (if you’ve read it too, you’ll know what I mean when I say the gift of those bumblebee tights is just one of them). So many maddening circumstances (if only Lou could convince Will to change his mind for love..will she have enough time?!). But, most of all, so many scenes that stir such deep feelings of empathy for Will’s condition that, at times, you too might have to put the book down. That’s because Moyes paints life as a quadriplegic with such poignancy, your heart feels as though it will be crushed by the weight of the burden this once vibrant, still handsome man must endure. Overall, I can’t say enough about this must-read. It will anger some, sadden all, but, most of all, I hope it makes its readers live outside of themselves. Even for just a minute.”

“I realized I was afraid of living without him. How is it you have the right to destroy my life, I wanted to demand of him, but I’m not allowed a say in yours? But I had promised.”

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

The fact that, 1 week after finishing the book, I was still thinking about it must say something. What a twister of a book. I couldn’t put it down. Several times I had already pinned the culprit only to have it ripped apart with a “what!?!?!”. The ending left me so infuriated, but it still went into my top favorites purely because anyone who can get me that involved and mad has written something worth reading.

“My mother had always told her kids: if you’re about to do something, and you want to know if it’s a bad idea, imagine seeing it printed in the paper for all the world to see.”

Tell The Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

I read a lot of heartbreakers this year. This was another one that I couldn’t put down. June takes the lead in first person and, after the death of her best friend & uncle Finn due to AIDs, she leads a double life becoming friends with Finn’s long-time boyfriend, Toby. Despite the fact that Finn & Toby had been living together for 9 years, June never even knew about Toby because her mother had told Finn that he couldn’t see his niece unless he hid the facts of his real life. After his death, June hates Toby because her parents have told her that Toby killed Finn (telling her he gave Finn AIDs), but June & Toby strike the most unusual, poignant friendship, sharing together their grief over the one person they both loved so much. Carol Rifka Brunt weaves such an amazing tale that you feel the same feelings that June is describing, so much so that I thought for sure Finn must be my uncle too. The book is set in 1987, which is interesting in and of itself as people didn’t know a lot about AIDs and the idea existed that even breathing the same air would give you AIDs. A really fantastic read about friendship, family (who could forget Greta? I hated her and loved her…it depended on the day), grief, loss, and healing.

“Because maybe I don’t want to leave the planet invisible. Maybe I need at least one person to remember something about me.”