This is pathetic. I only read 26 books this year! And one of those was a repeat (though I was happy to re-read it). I’m very disappointed in myself. Parts of the year have specific reasons why I wasn’t getting a lot of reading done, but that doesn’t make it ok that I only got through 26. Topping my list of things to do in 2012 is to read more!
Since my total number of books is so small, I’ve opted to not list my most disappointing or worst books. There are some of those, but I’m leaving them out this year.
I’m on a book website called goodreads (I think I’ve mentioned it here before). It’s where I keep track of everything I’ve read and what I thought about it. It’s also where I see what my friends are reading and what they think about their books. It’s an easy way for me to both get recommendations and look back over the year to see what my favorites were. I also rate my books with a star rating (1 to 5 stars) even if I don’t write a review.
This was a weird year in books. I only gave four books a 5 star rating. That’s pretty low. I usually manage to find more than 4 books in a year that I really love. Not the case this year. I gave quite a few 4 stars, but I still find it to be a disappointing book year overall. However I think that has a lot to do with the fact that I just didn’t read as much as I should have.
Because I don’t have too many 5 stars, I’m going to mention a few 4 star books in these lists too, just to make it a bit more inclusive of my total reads.
Fiction Runners Up:
One Day, by David Nichols. I haven’t seen the movie yet but I really enjoyed this book, though it made me cry.
The Lonely Polygamist, by Brady Udall. I’m fascinated by most things related to Mormon fundamentalism but usually that falls into non-fiction. This was a fast, interesting novel. There was one chapter that had me sobbing.
Bloodroot, by Amy Greene. I was drawn to this book because of the positive critical reviews I had read, and because it is set in the mountains of TN. It was very good.
Everything Is Illuminated, by Jonathan Safron Foer. No where near as approachable as his other books, but once you dig through it, you find it was worth all the effort. Alexander is a perfect character in a slightly less than perfect story.
Peace Like a River, Leif Enger. Awesome suggested I read this and then the book club we were still having earlier this year picked it. It was really great.
Fiction Winner:
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. I don’t care that the book is in no way new. It was, outside of the series I will mention next, the best fiction book I read this year. I’ve already reviewed it at length so I won’t go into that again, except to remind you of one of my favorite quotes: "Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing." This book was so good I was unable to complete another book for a month after I finished it. If you haven’t read it, or if you haven’t read it in many many years, you really should read it again.
Series (fiction) Winner):
The Hunger Games, book 1
Catching Fire, book 2
Mockingjay, book 3
All by Suzanne Collins
This series was a bit of a guilty pleasure for me because they are young adult literature. However I always need some kind of literary guilty pleasure and they are way too dark and twisted to be young adult! I have a lot of friends who’ve read them. Some of my friends loved them as much as I did; others had a difficult time with them. They are very dark, I will give you that. But there is so much social commentary in them, I don’t know how they wouldn’t be dark, because this world we live in is pretty twisted. They are super fast reads. I borrowed books two and three from a friend on a Saturday afternoon. I returned book 2 to her on Sunday morning and book 3 on Tuesday. They are the kind of books that you won’t put down, or if you do, you will only do so begrudgingly and wish the entire time you are away that you are at home reading. Give yourself room in between the first and second, because when the 2nd one ends you will immediately begin the 3rd. And I’m betting when you finish all three, you will find yourself thinking about them for a long time to come. They were all excellent, but the 3rd was my favorite (and the only other fiction book aside from Mockingbird that I gave 5 stars to). I am super excited about the movie starting next year!
Non fiction runners up:
Where's My Wand by Eric Poole. The category that suffered the most in my reading this year was memoirs, which is my favorite genre. This was one of the few I read.
Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich. A fast, easy look at how impossible it is to survive on minimum wage, and this was in 2008.
Bossypants by Tina Fay. Not as funny as I was hoping it would be, but still enjoyable.
A Matter of Conscience: Redemption of a Hometown Hero by Sherry Hoppe. A true story of a mysterious death, by the wife of the man who fired the shot. I don’t know that I would have read it were it not written by someone my family knows, and had it not taken place in Chattanooga. It has too much football talk for my taste, but it was a very well researched and well written book.
Non fiction winners:
Two non fiction books got 5 stars from me. They are very different, but both are excellent.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Beautifully written. Important in so many ways. A science related book that was difficult for my non- science brain to stop thinking about.
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. Krakauer has been on my list 3 out of the last 4 years. The year he wasn’t, I think I just forgot to read one by him. He is a favorite author and if you haven’t picked up one of his books, you really need to. I don't climb mountains. I don't want to climb mountains. This book has made me afraid for all the people I know who do climb mountains. I was very quickly enthralled and engrossed in this book. I didn't want to stop and even made a friend wait on me at one point because I refused to get up before I finished a chapter. Maybe it's because he's such a great writer. Or maybe it's because it's a true story. Possibly it's because it's a monster of a tragedy. Whatever it is, it's a gripping read. It is, at times, difficult to keep all of the people straight and remember who goes with what group, but all of that sorts itself out by the end and mostly you just shake your head and sigh and try to rub the chill bumps off your arm as you read.
This completes the year of books, 2011. Here’s to hoping 2012 is a better year! I’m going to start making my list of what to read now.
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