The Books of 2012

  I started out this year telling myself that 52 in 52 wasn't a goal at all. That reading a couple of books a month was a-okay and there was no competition and the focus for the year was going to be pictures not words... I started this year telling myself all of this and what did I go and do? Break my record (of 65) from the year before, by 16 books. I was a reading machine it seems, almost 7 books a month! 

This year I counted second reads as a book, my justification was that it still takes time to read the book even if you have read it before. I allowed some books that were smaller to be counted as well. I didn't limit myself too much, but if I hadn't finished the book it didn't count. 

While I like saying that I read over 80 books this year I find myself lacking a real sense of accomplishment... I have to be honest, I don't immediately remember all of the characters in the books or even the plot line sometimes. 

While this year somehow became about numbers, I want next year to be about enjoyment, retention and knowledge. Next year I am going to be a lot more picky about which books I choose to read, and I am going to make myself more accountable. I may even start a separate blog or notebook to make notes about the books (even the fiction ones) so I retain more of what I read. 

I did manage to read and retain quite a few good ones this year, I've highlighted them in blue and yellow... blue for the ones that blew me away (haha, oh cheesy) and yellow for the also really good.

The mustard yellow books are the ones I find myself disappointed in or unhappy with. 

I will take the best of this year and put them on my bookshelf to share and read again. I will be more critical of what I pick up and choose to read, and I will take notes. I look forward to 2013... it's the year I relearn how to dig in to a good book.

The Books of 2012

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey – Trenton Lee Stewart

The Help – Katheryn Stockett

Love is the Killer App – Tim Saunders

Small is the New Big – Seth Godin

Sarah’s Key – Tatiana de Rosnay

The Art of Eating In – Cathy Erway

The Buenos Aires Broken Hearts Club – Jessica Morrison

Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway – Susan Jeffers Ph.D.

Schooled – Anisha Lakhani

Vision – Beth Elisa Harris (second reading)

Soul Herder – Beth Elisa Harris

The 4- Hour Workweek – Timothy Ferriss

Truth and Beauty – Ann Patchett

Start Something That Matters – Blake Mycoskie

An Abundance of Katherines – John Green

Sweet Valley Confidential: Ten Years Later – Francine Pascal

The Bean Trees – Barbara Kingsolver

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen R. Covey

Looking For Alaska – John Green (TWICE)

Paper Towns – John Green

The 100 Thing Challenge – Dave Bruno

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother – Amy Chua

Insecure at Last – Eve Ensler

Committed – Elizabeth Gilbert

My Name is Memory – Ann Brashares

Pay it Down – Jean Chatzky

Reading Lolita in Tehran – Azar Nafisi (second reading)

Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You – Peter Cameron

Catch – 22 – Joseph Heller

True Believer – Nicholas Sparks

The Money Drunk – Julia Cameron and Mark Bryan

The Fault in Our Stars – John Green (TWICE)

The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon (second reading)

Slow Love – Dominique Browning

Is Everyone Is Hanging Out Without Me? – Mindy Kaling

A Homemade Life – Molly Wizenberg

Will Grayson, Will Grayson – John Green & David Levithan

Seriously… I’m Kidding – Ellen Degeneres

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime – Mark Haddon

Betwixt – Tara Bray Smith

Little Bee – Chris Cleave

Prodigal Summer – Barbara Kingsolver

How to Sew a Button –  Erin Bried

The Other Side of the Story – Marian Keyes

Wintergirls – Laurie Halse Anderson

The Girl Who Played With Fire – Stieg Larsson

Smart Women Finish Rich – David Bach

Normal Gets You Nowhere – Kelly Cutrone

Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour – Morgan Matson

The Postmortal – Drew Magary

French Women Don’t Get Fat – Mireille Guiliano

Twenties Girl – Sophie Kinsella

Writing Down the Bones – Natalie Goldberg

The Start-Up of You – Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest – Stieg Larsson

Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card

The Summer We Read Gatsby – Danielle Ganek

The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien

Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern

Happier At Home – Gretchen Rubin

Instant Love – Susannah Conway, Amanda Gilligan and Jenier Altman

Juliet, Naked – Nick Hornby

Twisted – Laurie Halse Anderson

Divergent – Veronica Roth

Switch : How to Change Things When Change Is Hard – Chip Heath & Dan Heath

The Best Advice I Ever Got – Katie Couric

This is How – Augusten Burroughs

Spirit Junkie – Gabrielle Bernstein

You Can Buy Happiness (and It’s Cheap) – Tammy Strobel

Empire Falls – Richard Russo

Last Night At Chateu Marmont – Lauren Weisberger
Insurgent - Veronica Roth
The Fame Game - Lauren Conrad
The Fire Starter Sessions (TWICE)
168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think - Laura Vanderkam
Inheritance - Christopher Paolini
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma - Trenton Lee Stewart
The Brave - Nicholas Evans

xoxo