Rebecca Lee’s Bobcat and Karen Green’s Bough Down were chosen from our short lists of books of fiction and poetry (published in the March/April issue and accessible online at believermag.com) selected by the editors of the Believer. We also asked our readers to fill out an email form with what they thought were the three ­strongest works of fiction and poetry ­published in 2013. The top twenty most represented titles in each category follow. One spot on the following list, for a book whose author works on this magazine, has been intentionally left blank because it would look creepy to include it.

*

Readers’ Favorite Works of Fiction in 2013

1. Tenth of December – George Saunders
2. The Flamethrowers – Rachel Kushner
3. Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish – David Rakoff
4. ______________________________ – ____________
5. The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. – Adelle Waldman
6. Taipei – Tao Lin
7. Bobcat and Other Stories – Rebecca Lee
8. Traveling Sprinkler – Nicholson Baker
9. Tampa – Alissa Nutting
10. Note to Self – Alina Simone
11. Speedboat – Renata Adler
12. The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells – Andrew Sean Greer
13. In the House Upon the Dirt Between the Lake and the Woods – Matt Bell
14. Americanah – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
15. Spectacle – Susan Steinberg
16. The Interestings – Meg Wolitzer
17. The Goldfinch – Donna Tartt
18. S. – J. J. Abrams and Doug Dorst
19. A Schoolboy’s Diary and Other Stories – Robert Walser
20. The Era of Not Quite – Douglas Watson

Readers’ Favorite Works of Poetry in 2013

1. Red Doc> – Anne Carson
2. The Boss – Victoria Chang
3. Silverchest – Carl Phillips
4. Tongue Lyre – Tyler Mills
5. Black Aperture – Matt Rasmussen
6. You Good Thing – Dara Wier
7. The Rose of January – Geoffrey Nutter
8. My Enemies – Jane Gregory
9. Small Porcelain Head – Allison Benis White
10. Great Guns – Farnoosh Fathi
11. Debts and Lessons – Lynn Xu
12. Dear Boy – Emily Berry
13. Antidote – Corey Van Landingham
14. Orange Roses – Lucy Ives
15. The Tales – Jessica Bozek
16. Ocean – Sue Goyette
17. The Narrow Circle – Nathan Hoks
18. The Glacier’s Wake – Katy Didden
19. All night in the new country – Miriam Bird Greenberg
20. King Me – Roger Reeves