Time Magazine Top 10 Fiction Books 2013

[Tarana]

volume of sales were the only criteria used to decide on the top 10 "best" books of 2013

While I agree with you, the reality is that over the years, one to five of the books that were the best sellers for the year are still popular decades or even centuries later. It doesn't have to be the best written story, but it MUST have a good story to inspire people to keep reading it. I'm talking novels here, not other genres.

To get an idea, here is a listing for the US. I'm sure you'll recognize many of the books from the 1800s through 1930s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publish..._United_States

[poohbear_nc]

#1 - Life After Life is a brilliant, compulsively readable, speculative book that addresses nearly every major philosophical question of the human condition - disguised as a sci fi/mystery/speculative alternate history based on a simple premise:

What if you were destined to assassinate Adolph Hitler? And kept being reborn every time you died prematurely until you got your chance? Would it change history? Would it change anything? Would it change you personally? Could you live knowing that you had multiple lives -- kind of similar, yet different from your current life? Is this the meaning of your existence?

The issues sound overbearing/academic/dry -- but this is a delightful read with memorable characters -- an audacious reworking of the classic time travel changing history genre.

I can't recommend this book highly enough.

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by NickyWithNook

Joe Hill is the son of Stephen King. I've heard that NOS412 is a good book but I haven't read it.

I thought that was the case but missed your comment until now. I did go searching for the answer though and happened to find that NOS4A2 is (still) on sale in the Kindle store for $1.99 for those who are interested.

[BelleZora]

^Ditto to Poohbear's post. I just finished reading Life After Life last night. Gripping book.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by BelleZora

^Ditto to Poohbear's post. I just finished reading Life After Life last night. Gripping book.

And currently only £0.99 in the Amazon UK Kindle store.

[Geralt]

I've read The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. Loved it. I also plan to read NOS4A2 by Joe Hill.

I have no interest in literary fiction or historical fiction, even if they incorporate fantastical elements, so I'll skip the rest.

[BenG]

2013? I'm still working on 1973.

[forsooth]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I can agree that Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane is well worth reading. I haven't heard of, let alone read, any of the others.

A strange list indeed.

[BenG]

One of the editors that picked these is Lev Grossman, so I would think he isn't prejudiced against genre fiction.

Oh, and the 10 best non-fiction books:
http://entertainment.time.com/2013/1...fiction-books/

[orlok]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

I thought that was the case but missed your comment until now. I did go searching for the answer though and happened to find that NOS4A2 is (still) on sale in the Kindle store for $1.99 for those who are interested.

For some reason it has been marketed in the UK as "NOS4R2", not "NOS4A2" (actually, I think the UK version sounds more like what it is alluding to...).

[orlok]

Originally Posted by Tarana

While I agree with you, the reality is that over the years, one to five of the books that were the best sellers for the year are still popular decades or even centuries later. It doesn't have to be the best written story, but it MUST have a good story to inspire people to keep reading it. I'm talking novels here, not other genres.

To get an idea, here is a listing for the US. I'm sure you'll recognize many of the books from the 1800s through 1930s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publish..._United_States

Given that there's a lot of John Grisham in there, I'm not sure I can entirely agree with your point .

But yes, of course high sales and a quality story sometimes happily coincide, as shown by these lists. Just wish I had read more of them...

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by orlok

For some reason it has been marketed in the UK as "NOS4R2", not "NOS4A2" (actually, I think the UK version sounds more like what it is alluding to...).

Oh - Nosferatu! I hadn't been able to make sense of NOS4A2. I suspect the UK editor thought it didn't make sense either, which would be why it got changed for the UK.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by forsooth

A strange list indeed.

Why is the list strange?

I had heard about three of the books and the others looked interesting also. That is what I would expect from such a list.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

#1 - Life After Life is a brilliant, compulsively readable, speculative book that addresses nearly every major philosophical question of the human condition - disguised as a sci fi/mystery/speculative alternate history based on a simple premise:

What if you were destined to assassinate Adolph Hitler? And kept being reborn every time you died prematurely until you got your chance? Would it change history? Would it change anything? Would it change you personally? Could you live knowing that you had multiple lives -- kind of similar, yet different from your current life? Is this the meaning of your existence?

The issues sound overbearing/academic/dry -- but this is a delightful read with memorable characters -- an audacious reworking of the classic time travel changing history genre.

I can't recommend this book highly enough.

I've now read it. While the body of the book almost lives up to your glowing description, and the characters and descriptions are good, the ending disappointed for me.

It's a "what if" with no resolution or explanation, and seems, to me, to just stop for no particular reason.

As I said, disappointing. A novel of ideas without enough ideas.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I've now read it. While the body of the book almost lives up to your glowing description, and the characters and descriptions are good, the ending disappointed for me.

It's a "what if" with no resolution or explanation, and seems, to me, to just stop for no particular reason.

As I said, disappointing. A novel of ideas without enough ideas.

I heard a review of the book so I knew that fact about the ending and I also like more closed endings so I will not read the book. But this seems to depend totally on what kind of reader you are. Some people seems to like this kind of endings.