My favorite New Year’s resolution to make is how many books I’m going to read in the coming year. Last year, however, I set my goal too high at a ridiculous 52 books. It quickly became clear that I was going to fall far short of my goal and I felt somewhat discouraged as a result. I decided to be less ambitious for 2013 and set my goal at 35 books.

I ended up reading 39 books I hadn’t read before and re-reading 4 more.

Here are the 39. Goodreads has a much better list view with ratings and dates for the curious or those afraid of this big blob of text:

The Summer Tree (The Fionavar Tapestry, #1), by Guy Gavriel Kay
A Memory of Light (Wheel of Time, #14), Robert Jordan
Seeds of Rebellion (Beyonders, #2), by Brandon Mull
The Wandering Fire (The Fionavar Tapestry, #2), by Guy Gavriel Kay
Fablehaven (Fablehaven, #1), by Brandon Mull
Rise of the Evening Star (Fablehaven, #2), by Brandon Mull
Grip of the Shadow Plague (Fablehaven, #3), by Brandon Mull
Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary (Fablehaven, #4), by Brandon Mull
Keys to the Demon Prison (Fablehaven, #5), by Brandon Mull
Holes, by Louis Sachar
The Truth (Discworld, #25), by Terry Pratchett
Thief of Time (Discworld, #26), by Terry Pratchett
Tarnished Knight (Lost Stars, #1), by Jack Campbell
The Darkest Road (The Fionavar Tapestry, #3), by Guy Gavriel Kay
2001: A Space Odyssey, by Clarke, Arthur C.
MongoDB and PHP, by Steve Francia
Programming in Objective-C, by Stephen G. Kochan
Chasing the Prophecy (Beyonders, #3), by Brandon Mull
The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master, by Andrew Hunt
The Gate Thief (Mither Mages, #2), by Orson Scott Card
The Inmates Are Running the Asylum, by Alan Cooper
Tigana, by Guy Gavriel Kay
Guardian (The Lost Fleet, #3), by Jack Campbell
The Rithmatist (Rithmatist, #1), by Brandon Sanderson
Monster Hunter International (MHI, #1), by Larry Correia
Earth Afire (The First Formic War, #2), by Orson Scott Card
Theft of Swords (The Riyria Revelations, #1-2), by Michael J. Sullivan
Night Watch (Discworld, #29), by Terry Pratchett
Assassin’s Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy, #1), by Robin Hobb
Monster Hunter Vendetta (MHI, #2), by Larry Correia
Monster Hunter Alpha (MHI, #3), by Larry Correia
Steelheart (Reckoners, #1), by Brandon Sanderson
Rise of Empire (The Riyria Revelations, #3-4), by Michael J. Sullivan
Heir of Novron (The Riyria Revelations, #5-6), by Michael J. Sullivan
Monstrous Regiment (Discworld, #31), by Terry Pratchett
Going Postal (Discworld, #33), by Terry Pratchett
Thud! (Discworld, #34), by Terry Pratchett
Mitosis (Reckoners, #1.5), by Brandon Sanderson
Making Money (Discworld, #36), by Terry Pratchett

And the 4 books I re-read:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Harry Potter, #1), by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2), by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3), by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4), by J.K. Rowling

Not that I need a reason to re-read anything, but the particular reason for this re-read was that I wanted something fun and light to read that I could put down mid-sentence without effort. It’s hard to put down a good book you’ve never read before when you’re right in the middle of a big action sequence, even if the bacon is burning. I didn’t want that sort of struggle while preparing holiday meals.