Amazon Book Editors Announce the Best Books of 2013 So Far

Amazon Book Editors Announce the Best Books of 2013 So Far

Just in time for the summer reading season, customers can browse and buy the best books of 2013 (so far) in more than a dozen popular categories on Amazon.com

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- 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. (NAS: 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.

Amazon.com, Inc.
Media Hotline, 206-266-7180
www.amazon.com/pr

KEYWORDS:   United States  North America  Washington

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: