When I saw the Book Riot list, Riot Round Best Books of 2013, I realized I have only read one of the books. How very un-literary of me, I know. Oh, well. I’ve read plenty of good books this year and won’t be sorry for that. If I only read books published in the current year I would have nothing to read New Years day when I’m tired and cold and I don’t want to leave the house.

Fortunately, the best book I read over the past twelve months, happens to be on this list: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. (NPR Book Review Here) For months, before its release on June 18, day before my birthday, I waited,  reading articles online about the book’s anticipation, interviews with Neil, and talked to people who love his work as much as I do. When the day came, I bought a copy and though I was surprised by how small it was, I was even more surprised by how good it was.

As Kim Ukura, author of the Book Riot Article, writes:

After I finished this book, I texted my husband to say that I would probably be bursting into tears at the thought of it for the next few days. This actually only happened once. My favorite Gaiman since The Graveyard Book, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is, for me, entirely about the mood it evokes and the feelings it has about childhood and memory. Though my life bears little resemblance to the unnamed narrator’s (except the part about stealing light from hallways and bright windows to read in bed at night), the nostalgia I felt while reading it was painful. Well done, sir. That’s about how it was for me. Stunned, wanting to read it again yet knowing that other books were calling my name for attention. The story feels like a secret very few people know about, finely crafted and extremely methodical in how it is told. A short novel, it’s like seeing a beautifully cut diamond and realizing all of the fine edits that make it so wondrous.

When you first start the book, it’s not obvious what the story is or will be. It’s hard to tell what is coming around the next turn as the plot, in a very Neil Gaiman way, feels real and–when the magic happens–you know it belongs there, that it too can be real.

Now that I have shared my favorite book, what is yours? What were your favorite books of 2013?