2012 Reading Round-up

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Some of the books I read this year

And in the photo finish of photo finishes, here's my year in reading, 2012 edition. At the beginning of the year, I jokingly said in one of our book club threads that I'm targeting to read 10 books this year. I didn't want to pressure myself to reach a certain number of books read at the expense of relishing reading or choosing books that I actually want to read. That happened when I used to set my reading target to 100 books for the year.

Now, according to my Shelfari bookshelf, I read a total of 55 books this year, give or take. I say "give or take" because I really wasn't sure how to count the comic book issues and graphic novels. Also, there are a few indie comics and books that I haven't been able to add to my bookshelf. In any case, I'm happy to say I exceeded the 10 book goal.:-P

So, the books I read in 2012:

  1. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
  2. The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt
  3. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
  4. The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson
  5. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
  6. The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
  7. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
  8. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
  9. Room by Emma Donoghue
  10. The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
  11. Sweet Tooth: Book 26 by Jeff Lemire
  12. Sweet Tooth: Book 27 by Jeff Lemire
  13. Sweet Tooth: Book 28 by Jeff Lemire
  14. Sweet Tooth: Book 29 by Jeff Lemire
  15. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
  16. Graceling by Kristin Cashore
  17. Habibi by Craig Thompson
  18. Hollowland (The Hollows, Book 1) by Amanda Hocking
  19. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
  20. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
  21. The Magicians by Lev Grossman
  22. The Silent Land by Graham Joyce
  23. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
  24. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
  25. Luna by Julie Anne Peters
  26. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
  27. The Gingerbread House by Carin Gerhardsen
  28. Seed by Ania Ahlborn
  29. A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce
  30. Voices in the Theater by A.S. Santos
  31. The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer
  32. Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (or, These Foolish Things) by Deborah Moggach
  33. Seducing Cinderella by Gina Maxwell
  34. Intimate Strangers by Laura Taylor
  35. The Religion by Tim Willocks
  36. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
  37. Porcupirate Plans the Day by Robert Magnuson
  38. Married by Mistake by Abby Gaines
  39. Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
  40. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
  41. A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
  42. Maid for the Billionaire by Ruth Cardello
  43. Every Day by David Levithan
  44. Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson
  45. The Twelve by Justin Cronin
  46. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
  47. Goodbye for Now by Laurie Frankel
  48. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
  49. Little Bee by Chris Cleave
  50. No One Writes to the Colones and Other Stories by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  51. Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloane
  52. Graceland by Chris Abani
  53. Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
  54. The Song of Achilles by Madeleine Miller
  55. The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brains by Nicholas Carr

And these are some of the books not included in Shelfari, because I've frankly been too lazy to create the book page yet:

  • Trese 5: Midnight Tribunal by Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo
  • Texticles by Adam David
  • School Run and a few other indie-published local comics
  • A slew of indie published erotica. Seriously.

I could say I read many of the erotica books for work reasons, but that's not entirely true. I read them because I wanted to read them.

Aside from that, I'd say I met half of the rest of my 2012 reading goals, according to this post. Specifically:

  • relinquish my little semblance of control and be entirely honest with myself. Ergo, I opt not to formally join any reading challenge this year. - OK
  • let my reading develop organically, while trying to read more of the following:
    • African women writers - NOT OK
    • Filipino literature (for fun, not just for work. Though work is fun.) - OK
    • Graphic novels - OK
  • try to limit my book buying to P1000 (around $23) per month. - NOT OK
  • try blog more regularly? - SO NOT OK
  • participate in or organize more read-alongs, either with fellow book club members or fellow bloggers. - KINDA OK
  • definitely have a Ulysses read-along with Jaclyn of a book diary. It will last a year and we'll be checking in with each other every 16th of the month. - NOPE. NOT EVEN CLOSE.

Forgot about these reading goals, really. But it seems that I've had a lot of them at the back of my mind, hence the OKs. Next year, I'm going to keep on trying with the African women writers, and will consolidate all my reading goals for next year in a later post.

I honestly don't know how this reading year compares with my other reading years, unless we consider quantity. But I think measures should be more than quantity. Suffice to say, I either enjoyed what I read this year or I enjoyed reading the books, regardless of whether I liked them or not.

Reading is so complex these days, what with all the social networks, status messages, internal and external ebook links, reviews, etc., etc. I think it's better for me to simplify and just enjoy losing myself in a book.

By the way, a happy end of 2012 and Happy New Year to all of you!

Comments

Unknown said…
What a list! I loved Maid for the Billionaire by Ruth Cardello! Wonderful series too!
November 14, 2013 at 3:34 PM
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