The cold winter nights feel warm and cozy spent in bed reading books.

“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, “Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.” ― Lewis Carroll

I grew up in Southern Vermont. I was on the Varsity Dance Team, Varsity Equestrian Team, and Varsity Snowboarding Team throughout high school.

Since graduating from college, and diving into the working writer’s life, aka feast or famine, I haven’t been able to afford to pursue my athletic passions. My free time after completing my writing assignments is spent working stop-gap non-career-related gigs to help pay my bills.

I miss riding horses and snowboarding but hopefully, once I’ve gotten more clients and fewer stop-gap gigs, then I’ll be able to resume my favorite sports.

If you’ve been following my blog, then you know that I figured this would be a great place to list all of the books that I read in 2013, I have broken these into two posts six months apart, and I’ve read 35 books over the course of the year.

Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of essays, since I’ve been running a monthly essay discussion group.

Without further ado, in order of oldest to most recently read:

The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg

Just Kids by Patti Smith

Charming Billy by Alice McDermott

This is Running for Your Life by Michelle Orange

How to Travel with a Salmon by Umberto Eco

Changing My Mind by Zadie Smith

Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace

Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion

Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris

The Home and the World by Rabindranath Tagore