[amazon_link id=”0143124544″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]I resolved to read at least 30 books in 2013, and I’ve read (or listened to) 39! Yay, Well Done Me, etc. etc. You have probably read my reviews on all of them here, on Goodreads and on my Facebook page 🙂 . In no particular order then, here are my Top 5 Reads from among those :

– Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

I had not read Moyes prior to this, but I had read several very good reviews for this book. Yes, this sweet, funny, heartbreaking book did meet all those very high expectations. Published by Penguin Books.

[amazon_link id=”0778315479″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]- Teatime for the Firefly by Shona Patel

I generally try and vary the genres of the books I’m reading. So I will follow up a sci-fi book with a mystery and that maybe with a chick-lit kind of tale, or some serious heavy literature (with deep meaning, or so I think). I don’t read much romance, when I do I kind of expect them to follow the standard boy-meets-girl kind of routine. So when I did happen to read this from Harlequin MIRA, I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the book, the historical details and the chemistry and charm of the main protagonists.

Quite a lovely read, this one!

[amazon_link id=”B00D8G4GIU” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]- White Trash by Alexandra Allred

Thanks to Netgalley, I am now reading books from smaller, indie publishers in addition to the big ones, great books that I would have missed out on ordinarily. I have been very impressed with the quality of the books, and “White Trash” is a good example.

The book’s story is a little reminiscent of “The Help” initially, but it soon grows into its own.

White Trash is published by The Writer’s Coffee Shop out of New South Wales, Australia. It began in 2009. You can learn more about their offerings here.

[amazon_link id=”1459707125″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]- Corpse Flower by Gloria Ferris

This book features one of my favorite fictional characters ever (here is another) : Bliss Moonbeam Cornwall. And with a name like that, how could she not be quirky and fun and a little goofy and accident-prone? Corpse Flower is really a mystery, but it has a lot of stuff besides : drama, humor, snippets of small-town life and romance. It also introduced me to the Corpse Flower, an actual species of rare flowering plant (didn’t we say that reading was good for you?)

A very, very good read, this book comes from the Canadian publishing house Dundurn Press.

[amazon_link id=”B00DACZTX8″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]- The Last Clinic by Gary Gusick

This is another mystery with a strong female protagonist, in a small town trying to solve a murder. This time the local, righteous preacher is dead, and Detective Darla Cavannaugh has been called back from unofficial leave to deal with the case.

This very well done who-dun-it is from Alibi Publishing, Random House’s digital only imprint.