2013

I'm a little late with sharing some favorites of 2013 this go-around, but I can't let the opportunity pass by to revisit some of my favorite things. :) This post is going to be limited to favorite books, though, since my movie and television blogging was fairly non-existent, particularly for the latter half of the year. Without further ado, here are a few of my favorite reads from 2013.

• A Cast of Stones by Patrick W. Carr (The Staff & the Sword #1)
• The Passing Bells by Phillip Rock (The Greville Family Saga #1)
• Love in a Broken Vessel by Mesu Andrews
• The Red Plague Affair by Lilith Saintcrow (Bannon & Clare #2)
• Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers (His Fair Assassin #1)
• Unrivaled by Siri Mitchell
• The Crown by Nancy Bilyeau
• The Queen's Vow: A Novel of Isabella of Castile by C.W. Gortner
• Rules of Murder by Julianna Deering (A Drew Farthering Mystery #1)
• A Study in Darkness by Emma Jane Holloway (The Baskerville Affair #2)

2013 held its share of challenges (losing my grandmother and my dad's surgery for prostate cancer), resulting in rather sporadic blogging (though I still managed to write a record 80 book reviews!), I want to thank all of you for sticking with me and sharing your prayers and good thoughts, whether in comments, e-mails, or Facebook messages! I've been terribly remiss about sharing updates here, mainly because I tend to view this corner of the blogosphere as my escape from "reality," but I didn't want to get too far into the new year without sharing my thanks. Dad continues to do REALLY well, praise God! :)

Looking forward, I'd REALLY like to reactivate the entertainment portion of my blogging endeavors, but I'm reluctant to make any promises (they are SO time consuming to write...probably because I go on and on and ON), as blogging challenges and I tend to implode spectacularly. *wink* The first test of that resolution is going to be the return of Downton Abbey THIS SUNDAY. I can't promise to have recap posts up by Monday...but if you're patient with me the following week, let's see how this goes, hmmm? 

Reading-wise, as I exceeded my 75-count Goodreads challenge for 2013 (so what if there were about twenty novellas and e-book shorts in that count...they COUNT right??? *wink*), I signed up for 90 this year -- and would love to finally hit that elusive triple-digit mark. We'll see how that goes, hmm? (And if you're on Goodreads and we haven't connected there yet, please send me a friend request!)

A very happy new year to one and all! And thanks again for reading Booktalk & More.