Showing posts with label 2012. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2012. Show all posts

Sunday, December 9, 2012

2012 End of Year Book Survey


Time to do some end-of-the-year reading reflections!  I used Perpetual Page Turner's survey last year and decided to have a go at it again this year.
1. Best Book You Read In 2012? (You can break it down by genre if you want)
Adult: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
YA: Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
Unfortunately, Scarlet by A. C. Gaughen didn't really do it for me...but I think my expectations were too high.  Also, I couldn't get into Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry - I'm hoping I can come back to it with renewed interest later (I'm only 300ish pages into this chunkster).
 3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2012? 
That would be To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis.  I wasn't sure what to expect from a historical sci-fi comedy of errors - but, wow was I enthralled with this book!
 4. Book you recommended to people most in 2012?
Definitely The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

 5. Best series you discovered in 2012?
I really enjoyed the first book in the Lunar Chronicles
 6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2012?
David Mitchell and Connie Willis
7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?
I have to say, I didn't read much that was out of my comfort zone this year - but I loved the one non-fiction book I read which was Tina Fey's Bossypants.
 8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2012?
Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness (an intense conclusion to a great trilogy) and Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

 9. Book You Read In 2012 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year:
Flat Out Love by Jessica Park - it was an adorable story with really witty dialogue...a treat to read!

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2012?
11. Most memorable character in 2012?
Augustus Waters from The Fault in Our Stars and Patroclus from The Song of Achilles
 12. Most beautifully written book read in 2012?
Eeeek!  How can I choose?!  I'm going to say Cloud Atlas because each character's story was written in a completely different style - what a feat!
13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2012?
Probably Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.  Like I said in my review, it came at time in my life where some of the themes and insights were really comforting.
 14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2012 to finally read?
I Captured the Castle by Dodie Smith - an adorable story!
15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2012?
"I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once." - John Green, The Fault in Our Stars (what a terrific line!)

“Why fight the 'natural' (oh, weaselly word!) order of things? Why? Because of this―one fine day, a purely predatory world shall consume itself. In an individual, selfishness uglifies the soul; for the human species, selfishness is extinction.”
― David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas
16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2012?
Shortest: Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel at 224 pages
Longest: Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey at 1,015 pages
17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!
Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness - what an emotional rollercoaster of a book!
18. Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2012 (be it romantic, friendship, etc).
Wow, this is a really hard question to answer - there are so many!!  Just to include a new title to this post (you can just assume that any of my other faves feature amazing relationships) I would say the friendship featured in Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein.
19. Favorite Book You Read in 2012 From An Author You Read Previously
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
20. Best Book You Read That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else:
The Probable Future by Anne Hoffman - recommended by Anne @ The Book Garden

Thursday, November 17, 2011

2012 Reading Challenges

I'm really excited to stretch my reading horizons further next year and in order to push myself I've signed up for four new challenges for 2012!

First up, I signed on to Curiosity Killed the Bookworm's Sci-Fi Challenge!  For this challenge, the object is to read one Sci-Fi book per month - I'm super excited!  Some possibilities I'm thinking about:

  • Kindred by Octavia Butler (I meant to read this in 2011 but never got around to it!)
  • The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
  • Triptych by J.M. Frey
  • Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
  • WE by John Dickinson
  • Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
and many many more!

I also signed up for Beth Fish Reads' What's in a Name 5 Challenge.  It's such a creative challenge!  The object is to read one book from each of the following categories:
  • A book with a topographical feature (land formation) in the title: I'll probably read The Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson
  • A book with something you'd see in the sky in the title: I'm thinking Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
  • A book with a creepy crawly in the title: I'll likely read The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison
  • A book with a type of house in the title: I'm think I might choose I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
  • A book with something you'd carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack in the title: I'll probably read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
  • A book with a something you'd find on a calendar in the title: I'm thinking Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day by Ben Loory

Additionally, I signed up for the Back to the Classics Challenge 2012 hosted by Sarah Reads Too Much!  This should be relatively easy for me to accomplish since my book club will be doing a round of classic books starting in February.
  • Any 19th Century Classic
  • Any 20th Century Classic
  • Reread a classic of your choice
  • A Classic Play - I might kill 2 birds with 1 stone and re-read some Shakespeare :)
  • Classic Mystery/Horror/Crime Fiction
  • Classic Romance
  • Read a Classic that has been translated from its original language to your languange
  • Classic Award Winner 
  • Read a Classic set in a Country that you (realistically speaking) will not visit during your lifetime

And lastly, but definitely not least, I signed up for the Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2012 hosted by My Reader's Block.  I was already challenging myself to get some of the books on my shelves read - but hopefully this challenge will keep that a priority!  I'm going for the Pike's Peak level (12 books from my pile) - because with 4 challenges total (and my undying love of the library) this is realistically what I will get accomplished.


Phew!  That's all of them!  What challenges are you guys signed up for?