My Books of the Year

After a lean year in which I only got through 120 novels, there is a clear standout favourite above the rest.

1. The Teleportation Accident by Ned Bauman is so mind-blowingly ridiculously entertaining, it's difficult resisting the urge to constantly re-read it. I can't explain the plot because it's too warped, but just the name of the hapless protagonist Egon Loeser is enough reason to read it.

2. Worst. Person. Ever. by Douglas Coupland

3. The Book of Skulls by Robert Silberberg

4. Memories of Ice by Steven Erikson

5. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

6. Vengeance by Iain Irvine

7. Midnight Tides by Steven Erikson

8. Stone of Farewell by Tad Williams

9. The Demi-Monde: Winter by Rod Rees

10. Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson

My Top Ten Films of 2013

These aren't necessarily the best, but rather the ones I've personally enjoyed and appreciated most. In no particular order:

• Cloud Atlas - I'm keen to see the 8 hour director's cut
• Side Effects - Steven Soderbergh's last film? Surely not.
• Oblivion - despite Tom Cruise
• Gravity - plenty of gravity plus a little Clooney levity
• American Hustle - this one will take most of the Oscars
• How I Live Now - how Saoirse Ronan lives now
• The Great Gatsby - the best film set in West Egg
• The Way Way Back - thanks to Sam Rockwell
• Anna Karenina - due to budget constraints, the director was forced to stage the whole film in a theatre.
• What's in a Name (Le Prénom) - a French dinner party farce in which one of the family pretends to name their new child Hitler, and another brother might be having an affair with their mother

And special mentions go to: Wolverine, Pacific Rim, Pictures of Superheroes, World War Z, The Host, I Give it a Year, and Beautiful Creatures.

Vermin

Meet young Vermin, the Central Park squirrel.

San Remo

These be the San Remo apartments, Central Park West.

Dreamy Park

It's a park and it's central. It's ummm Central Park. Yep it's late and I'm uninspired. Don't hold it against me - I'm a photographer not a writer.

From the Elevated Park

This is the view from the High Line elevated park, previously a railway. It resembles a movie set.

Grand Central Station

It's a station that is both grand and central. Do you get the feeling I'm not very creative with my writing today?

Sun Dogs over Portland

Two of my favourite cities are Portland Oregon and Portland Maine. And visiting the latter, it was wondrous to see these Sun Dogs in the sky. These mock suns are caused by ice crystals high in the atmosphere, and indeed the next day a storm (the remnants of a hurricane) hit the region.

Near Lake Sebago

The autumn colours near Lake Sebago in Maine were so vibrant.

Stowe's Covered Bridge

This shot was taken from the covered bridge in central Stowe. There's no definitive explanation for covering bridges other than their propensity to attract tourists.

Corn Chowder

In gorgeous Stowe, northern Vermont, we had a delicious pub meal. Here is my scrumptious corn chowder with hard cider and oyster crackers.

This was my first sampling of chowder and I wish hadn't waited so many decades to discover it.

Still on the Mountain

Mountain Tragedies

It was poignant to read the stories of some of the 160 or so people who lost their lives on this mountain. Most succumb to hypothermia, as the temperature can plummet rapidly, catching out those without adequate preparation and warm clothes. The coldest temperature recorded there unofficially was below -50 C.

More Mt Washington

Windy Time

Mt Washington in New Hampshire is one of the windiest places on earth. Luckily the weather was tame the day I drove to the summit, but there was still evidence of a storm a few days earlier, with sheets of ice still sitting in the shade.

Maine Lake #1065

Artist John Constable would have loved Maine. There's a new lake to paint every mile or so.

Mmmmm funghi

I couldn't resist biting a chunk out of this New Hampshire mushrooom.

Hitchcock Lighthouse

Here's the same lighthouse but in a more Hitchcock thriller style. Please try to imagine the scary soundtrack.

Cape Elizabeth, Maine

How pretty is the lighthouse at Cape Elizabeth, just outside Portland, Maine? I'd love to return midwinter in the midst of a storm, as the waves crash over it.

New Hampshire

It's poignant to think that that beautiful foliage has by now all fallen to the ground and is rotting underfoot.

Maine Lake

Here's an unknown lake I passed in the early morning, driving through Maine to Lake Sebago. Fog was shrouding the far bank, or was it an approaching cataclysmic death cloud?

Woodstock again

Did I boost the saturation enough?

Woodstock VT

There are numerous Woodstocks. The Vermont one must be the prettiest, especially in autumn.

White River Junction

Arriving in the Vermont town of White River Junction in darkness (in the midst of an awesome storm that spawned a tornado which hit New York), I was pleasantly surprised to see this gorgeous view out of the hotel the next morning.

Washington Irving

Among others, the following notable people are buried in Sleepy Hollow:

Elizabeth Arden; Brooke Astor; Walter Chrysler; Andrew Carnegie; William Rockefeller; and of course Washington Irving.