Reusing a list in a subsite

Hi

I SP2010 I was able to save a list webpart as a file and import the webpart in a subsite. The imported webpart would then display the content from the original site. When I try the same thing in SP2013, I get an error message saying that the webpart contains a list that doesn't exist.

Are there any easy way to access lists stored in a top level site from the subsites in SP2013?

I know about Cross Site Publishing, but it looks too complicated for everyday use. Or am I wrong?

Thanks

Jakob