Amazon.com, Inc. today announced their annual Best Books of the Year So
Far list, a midyear retrospective that highlights the best books
released in 2013 between January and June. Life After Life, The
Son and Frozen in Time took the top three spots. Along with
an overall Top 20 list, customers looking for great books to read this
summer will find Top 10 editors’ picks lists in 20 categories, from
Cookbooks, Food & Wine to Children’s & Teens to Romance. The Best Books
of the Year So Far are available in print and Kindle editions at www.amazon.com/bestbookssofar.
“Customers looking for great summer reads will find an eclectic
selection on the list this year, from the very best fiction to
compelling memoirs to excellent young adult novels,” said Sara Nelson,
Editorial Director for Books and Kindle, Amazon.com. “Our #1 pick, Life
after Life, is clever but never gimmicky—which is amazing when you
consider that the story of the heroine’s life begins, ends and then
begins again, multiple times. We think this book is an extraordinary
feat of narrative ambition, an audacious genre-bender and a work of
literary genius.”
The Best Books of the Year So Far are hand-picked by the Amazon Books
editors, who rank their favorite titles in an overall Top 20 list, plus
10 picks each in 20 popular categories: Art & Photo, Audiobooks,
Biographies & Memoir, Business & Leadership, Comics & Graphic Novels,
Cookbooks, Food & Wine, Crafts, Hobbies & Home, History, Humor &
Entertainment, Kindle Singles, Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller &
Suspense, Nonfiction, Romance, Science Fiction & Fantasy, and Teens, as
well as Middle Grade, Picture Books, Board Books, and Chapter Books for
Kids.
The Amazon Books editors’ picks for the Top 10 Best Books of the Year So
Far are:
1. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson: What if you could be
born again and again? This brilliant, multi-layered novel answers that
question as Atkinson’s protagonist moves through multiple lives, each
one an iteration on the last, flirting with the balance between choice
and fate.
2. The Son by Philipp Meyer: A multigenerational Western
spanning the 1800s Comanche raids in Texas to the 20th century oil boom, The
Son is a towering achievement.
3. Frozen in Time by Mitchell Zuckoff: Two adventures in
one… recounting the 1942 crash (and subsequent struggle to survive) of a
U.S. cargo plane crew in Greenland, and describing the author’s own
participation in a modern day mission to uncover the mystery behind
their disappearance.
4. The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer: The
characters in this novel pulse with life as Wolitzer follows a group of
teenagers who meet at a summer camp for artsy teens in 1974 and work to
maintain their friendship through the competitions and realities of
growing up.
5. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini:
Following The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, Hosseini
has written another masterwork, one that moves through war, separation,
birth, death, deceit, and love—illustrating how people’s actions, even
the seemingly selfless ones, are shrouded in ambiguity.
6. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell: This Young
Adult novel about two kids who fall in love on a bus is sweet without
being saccharine. And it’s a story adults can love, too.
7. Gulp by Mary Roach: Roach is about as
entertaining a science writer as you’ll find, and this book about how we
ingest food will make you think, laugh, and wince as she covers all
things alimentary.
8. After Visiting Friends by Michael Hainey:
Unfolding like a novel, this nonfiction gem starts with journalist
Hainey uncovering inconsistencies within his own journalist father’s
obituary—and while the truth behind the death will eventually be
uncovered, greater truths await for Hainey, ones that will change the
way he views the past and the present.
9. Tenth of December by George Saunders: Saunders’
first collection of short stories in six years introduces his ironic,
absurd, profound, and funny style to an army of new readers.
10. The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker: This
enchanting debut, set mostly in turn-of-the-century Manhattan, is both a
well-researched historical novel and a spectacular work of fantasy.
To see the complete lists of the Best Books of the Year So Far, go to www.amazon.com/bestbookssofar.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com,
Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on
the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest
Selection. Amazon.com,
Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers
can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and
endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com
and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used
items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital
Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby;
Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors;
and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s
developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services
based on Amazon’s own back-end technology platform, which developers can
use to enable virtually any type of business. Kindle Paperwhite is the
most-advanced e-reader ever constructed with 62% more pixels and 25%
increased contrast, a patented built-in front light for reading in all
lighting conditions, extra-long battery life, and a thin and light
design. The new latest generation Kindle, the lightest and smallest
Kindle, now features new, improved fonts and faster page turns. Kindle
Fire HD features a stunning custom high-definition display, exclusive
Dolby audio with dual stereo speakers, high-end, laptop-grade Wi-Fi with
dual-band support, dual-antennas and MIMO for faster streaming and
downloads, enough storage for HD content, and the latest generation
processor and graphics engine—and it is available in two display
sizes—7” and 8.9”. The large-screen Kindle Fire HD is also available
with 4G wireless, and comes with a groundbreaking $49.99 introductory 4G
LTE data package. The all-new Kindle Fire features a 20% faster
processor, 40% faster performance, twice the memory, and longer battery
life.
Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com,
www.amazon.co.uk,
www.amazon.de,
www.amazon.co.jp,
www.amazon.fr,
www.amazon.ca,
www.amazon.cn,
www.amazon.it,
www.amazon.es,
www.amazon.com.br
and www.amazon.in.
As used herein, “Amazon.com,”
“we,” “our” and similar terms include Amazon.com,
Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning
of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly
from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve
risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to
competition, management of growth, new products, services and
technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international
expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment and
data center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements,
acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system
interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments
and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect
Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual
Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.
Copyright Business Wire 2013