And the Winner Is...

When I decided to undertake a minimum of 52 books this year, I never imagined the breadth of what I would read.  If you hop over to the previous post, you will see some thoughts and some stats reflecting my year on a broader scope.  Today, however, I want to highlight some particular books that I read in 2012.  I thought a fun way to do that would be à la John and Sherry Petersik over at Young House Love (if you are not already reading their blog, you should be).  At the end of each month, they round up all their posts from that month and award superlatives.  It's a fun way to recap all they've done.  I thought I would do the same, but overlooking the whole year.  Here goes!

Conclusion - A Year in Review

I find it hard to believe that I began this challenge just over a year ago.  2012 has been such a rewarding year - and not simply because of the challenge.  This year, I started a new job and got married, among other adventures (If you are interested in checking out more our personal life and less about what I'm reading - check out our other blog here).  I could hardly claim that accomplishing this goal beats the things that happened in my personal life, however, I still find it immensely rewarding.

This year, I saw myself becoming a better reader.  I pay more attention to how books are written and I find more inspiration for my future literary aspirations.  I also saw myself branch out significantly in the types of books that I read.  I read books because they were best sellers, books that were recommended because I like other books, books to learn, books to indulge quirky interests, books to challenge my thinking, books to challenge my taste buds, books to cry with, books to laugh with, books to feed my imagination, and books for book lovers.  I cannot say that I loved them all, or even liked them all.  But there were a few I completely fell in love with and spent the weeks after completing them telling everyone I knew to read them.  Next week, I have a post planned to give some "awards" to the books I really enjoyed this year.

I realize that most people reading a blog about books probably process in words over numbers.  There may be a few of you out there, though, who like me, love some good statistics.  For those of you left-brained thinkers, here are some numbers which catalog my year.

Books Read: 54

Total Pages Read: 22,806

Average Page Count (per book): 422 pages

Most Read Author: George R.R. Martin, 4 books (#1, #2, #3, #4)

Average Pages Read Per Day: 62

Most Read Genre: Fiction (38) 

Second Most Read Genre (since Fiction is so broad): Historical (18)

Busiest Months: February, April, October (wedding month even!), and December - 6 books each

Slowest Month: August - 2 books

Books I Started but Didn't Finish: Sophie's World (so close!), several marriage books that were started but abandoned post-wedding, Mere Christianity (too deep to take in more than a chapter at a time)

In the end, this experience has been a challenging, satisfying, growing experience.  I do not plan on repeating this challenge in 2013, particularly since I am considering starting grad school in the fall.  Still, my reading adventures are far from over.  Over the holidays, I picked up 8 new books (for a total of only $12!) in various locations.  I was at least if not more excited about those than any Christmas presents I got.  I have already started into the pile and Kevin says the next purchase for our home needs to be another bookshelf.  At the moment, I am looking for a new challenge to tackle.  I am thinking about finding a "100 Best Novels/Books of All Time" type list and tackling it over the next couple of years.  Or perhaps I will try something completely different.  I am open to anything.  All I do know for sure is that my love of reading has grown this year, which is something I did not imagine to be possible.  

Did you have a reading goal for 2012?  Did you complete it?  How about 2013?  Do you have any suggestions for what my next reading goal should be?

A Dance With Dragons - George R.R. Martin

A Dance with Dragons

Happy New Year!  Kevin and I rang in the new year with dear friends, but not before I completed one last book.  It has been my goal for the last week or so to finish this bad boy before the end of the year.  I started it in May, took a pretty long hiatus from it in the fall, but had a serious determination to add its name to the 2012 list.  It truly came down to the end; I finished the last page around 8:00pm last night, just a half hour before our company arrived.

One reason I took so long to finish with book, besides its length, is the vast emptiness after its completion.    There seemed to be no point in rushing to the finish when nothing lay beyond.  George R.R. Martin certainly is not known for his speed of writing.  As of now, people have predicted the release of Book Six, The Winds of Winter, to fall some time in 2014.  Any of fan of Martin's work knows that may well be a generous prediction.  Now that I have completed Dragons, only waiting remains. (Spoilers Ahead)

A Feast for Crows - George R.R. Martin

A Feast for Crows

And here we are with Book Four of A Song of Ice and Fire.  It's taken me long enough to get through this monster.  Over three months have past since I completed A Storm of Swords, but it feels like it could have been three years. I feel like I've been reading this book forever.  Granted, I was warned.  At long last I have made it through and am eagerly looking forward to Book Five, which has been touted by my cousins as the best one of the series.  First, though, a review of Crows. I promise to make my thoughts on the book shorter and less painful than the book itself. (Warning: Spoilers ahead)

A Storm of Swords - George R.R. Martin

A Storm of Swords

Wow.  So good.  I definitely see now why my cousins said this one was their favorite (at least until the fifth book).  If the fifth book is better than this, I cannot wait to get to it!  A Storm of Swords picked up where #2, A Clash of Kings, left off.  After Kings, I had been feeling a little unsure.  The series is great, of course, but I thought that maybe Martin's sophomore slump would continue into Swords.  I could not have been more wrong.  He picked up the story with the same fervor and excitement that I loved in the first book.  Before you head over the break, here is your official SPOILER ALERT! 

Books I Read in 2011

As promised, here is the list of books that I read in 2011.  I included everything with chapters.  No judging.  I tried some things out (cough, cough, Twilight) that I quickly discovered were not for me, regardless of having given them their fair chance.  I've included a few comments under some of them.

1. The Girl Who Played with Fire – Stieg Larsson

   
   
   2.       One Day – David Nicholls

   Great book.  Kevin and I watched the movie the other night and it was also fantastic.  Unique concept.  Excellent execution.

   
   
   3.       Water for Elephants – Sara Gruen

   Brilliant.  Book and movie.

   
   
   4.       A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
   5.       Anthem – Ayn Rand
   6.       Decision Points – George W. Bush
   7.       William and Kate: A Royal Love Story – Christopher Andersen

   Guilty pleasure read.  Wonderfully indulgent.

   
   
   8.       The Mysterious Affair – Agatha Christie
   9.       The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest – Stieg Larsson

   My least favorite of the series.

   
   
   10.   The Rule of Four – Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason
   11.   Twilight – Stephanie Meyer
   12.   New Moon – Stephanie Meyer
   13.   Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea – Barbara Demick

   Absolutely fascinating look into North Korea.  I learned so much and Demick's writing style kept me engaged.  I highly recommend this one.

   
   
   14.   Cleopatra: A Life – Stacy Schiff

   Excellent biography of a timeless historical figure.  If Egyptian history interests you, this is a must read.

   
   
   15.   Wonderful Tonight – Pattie Boyd

   Pattie Boyd was married to George Harrison and Eric Clapton.  This is her memoir.

   
   
   16.   The Ark – Boyd Morrison
   17.   The Unlikely Disciple – Kevin Roose
   18.   The Kid Who Became President – Dan Gutman
   19.   Meet Molly – Valerie Tripp
   20.   Molly’s Surprise – Valerie Tripp
   21.   The Tudors – G. J. Meyer
   22.   A Covert Affair: Julia Child and Paul Child in the OSS – Jennet Conant

   As a huge Julia Child fan, I knew I had to read this.  However, while interesting, I enjoyed My Life in France 100x more because that's the part of Child's life with which I better connect.

   
   
   23.   Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

   Part of my attempt to give all the books I hated in high school a second chance.  While there are good sections of this story, for the most part, I had it right in high school.

   
   
   24.   Women and Ministry – Dan Doriani
   25.   Kitchen Confidential – Anthony Bourdain

   A tell-all book about the world of cooking and commercial kitchens.  For an at-home chef like me, it was guilty pleasure mixed with hobby.

   
   
   26.   Where She Went – Gayle Forman
   27.   Medium Raw – Anthony Bourdain
   28.   Across the Universe – Beth Revis

   A young adult sci-fi novel.  Surprisingly, I really enjoyed it.  I wouldn't be surprised if we see this one on film in the next few years.

   
   
   29.   Atlas Shrugged –  Ayn Rand

   Amazing.  I've been putting off reading this for a while, but after reading Anthem again and loving it just as much the third time around, I knew I needed to venture into more of Rand's work.  This was well worth the immense endeavor.  It took me from Easter to Thanksgiving, but I did it and loved it.  The Fountainhead will be on my 2012 list.

   
   
   30.   Start Something That Matters – Blake Mycoskie

   A gift from a coworker.  This guy founded TOMS shoes.

   
   
   31.   The Novelist – Angela Hunt
   32.   Why? Because We Still Like You: An Oral History of the Mickey Mouse Club – Jennifer Armstrong

   More guilty pleasure.  A very fun read.

   
   
   33.   Bossypants – Tina Fey

   How can you not love Tina Fey?  I wasn't going to read this and then I picked it up on a whim before Thanksiving.  Needless to say, my break was spent laughing over Fey's delightful memoir.

   
   
   34.   Before You Get Engaged – David Gugel

   Awesome book.  Kevin and I read it together and we would highly recommend it to any Christians thinking about taking the next step as a couple.  It scores much higher on my chart than most Christian dating books by being practical and avoiding cliches.

   
   
   35.   A Stolen Life – Jaycee Lee Dugard
   36.   A Game of Thrones – George R.R. Martin
   37.  Love Wins - Rob Bell
   38.  The Help - Kathryn Stockett
   
   
   Well, there it is.  The 2011 list.  Hopefully 2012 will be longer!  It's my goal to make 40 for sure and 52 if I really push myself.

A Clash of Kings - George R.R.Martin

A Clash of Kings

I realize that this is the second book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, but since I read the first one last year, I'm not going to include a review of it.  Suffice it to say that it was good enough that I started immediately on the second one.