Books

I read 56 books this year (that’s one more than last year!)  Here they are by the numbers-

Fiction 42, Non-fiction 14

Female authors 35, Male authors 21

Series books- continuing series 6, new series 4 (I only plan to continue one, the Louise Penny series)

Oldest book read? Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit published in 1975

Most read author? Harlan Coben with 3

My 5 favorite books this year

The Winter Sea was a romantic delight from beginning to end. I can’t wait to read more!

The Husband’s Secret had an excellent cast of characters with strong storylines that all came together in a powerful conclusion.

A Gracious Plenty had a gritty main character and a cemetery full of dead people and somehow  managed to be beautiful.

The Uncommon Reader was a light escape with the Queen and her books. Hard to resist.

The Girl You Left Behind was a surprise to me because I rarely read wartime books and I found this one addicting.  I want more.

Movies

I watched 62 new to me movies this year (that’s up 13 from last year).  I wrote about 3 of my favorite 100 movies (#7 There’s Something About Mary, #46 Chocolat, #62 Yankee Doodle Dandy) and did one Book vs. Movie post (Ender’s Game – still time to vote in the the poll), wrote a few Friday film talks and continued my 5 word movie reviews asking for your participation and help for charity.

2013 was my most watched movie year with 18.

The oldest movie I watched was A Touch of Evil, 1958

Most watched actress- Sandra Bullock with 3 films (Gravity, The Heat, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close)

Most watched actor was a 3 way tie with 3 movies each- Woody Harrelson (Catching Fire, Now You See Me, Game Change)

Matthew McConaughey (Magic Mike, The Wolf of Wall Street, Boys on the Side)

 Ben Kingsley (Ender’s Game, Searching for Bobby Fisher, Iron Man 3)

My 5 favorite movies this year-

The Hunger Games:Catching Fire – I love Katniss even though I’ve never read the books (for shame!)  A

Prisoners – A gritty thriller that makes you think.  A

Argo – Another thriller, but this one political and psuedo-true!    A-

The Sting – There was not a boring minute in this con film with two handsome legends.     A-

42 – An overlooked baseball movie that hit all the right bases.       A-