Amazon’s Book Editors have chosen their top picks for Best Books of the Year, making selections across a wide variety of categories. While the comprehensive list has one hundred selected titles, the top ten books are:
1. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
2. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
3. Thank You for Your Service by David Finkel
4. Life After Life: A Novel by Kate Atkinson
5. Pilgrim’s Wilderness: A True Story of Faith and Madness on the Alaska Frontier by Tom Kizzia
6. Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East by Scott Anderson
7. Tenth of December: Stories by George Saunders
8. The Son by Philipp Meyer
9. A House in the Sky: A Memoir by Amanda Lindhout
10. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
“This year offered a stellar list of books to choose from, both fiction and nonfiction,” said Sara Nelson, Editorial Director of Books and Kindle at Amazon.com, in a press release. “Our top choice, The Goldfinch, is an emotionally trenchant masterpiece and was hands down our team’s favorite book of the year.”
Celebrity authors were invited to pick their top books of the year, and they were “Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep, chosen by George R.R. Martin, Life After Life, selected by Helene Wecker (debut author of The Golem and the Jinni), and The Sound of Things Falling, which is one of Khaled Hosseini’s favorites.”
Amazon is offering readers two incentives to accompany this list. First, the Best Books of 2013: Reader’s Guide offers insiders’ look at author interviews, excerpts, and information on each of the books included in this year’s top picks. In addition, Amazon is hosting a sweepstakes in which three winners will be given a Kindle Paperwhite filled with this year’s selections. The free Kindle readers’ guide can be found HERE, and the sweepstakes entry can be found HERE.
Mercy Pilkington is a Senior Editor for Good e-Reader. She is also the CEO and founder of a hybrid publishing and consulting company.