Monday, January 7, 2013

Best of 2012 In Books

I love this time of year when book bloggers post their favorite reads of the year. I get reminded of the books I wanted to read and may have missed and I always manage to add more to my must read list. Before I get to my most memorable books of 2012, I gathered some stats from my reading patterns last year. Just for fun.

By the numbers: 
I read ...
101 books total plus 8 online short stories

11 of the books I read were re-reads

37 library books
64 from my shelves
 8 online short fiction

33 were ebooks or online fiction
76 were paper books

71 novels/books
16 novellas
14 graphic novels
  8 online short fiction

I read books or stories by 66 distinct authors...

12 male authors     18.2%
54 female authors  81.8%

GENRE: 
Non fiction................... 3
Fiction .....................106

Romance...................... 55      52% 
    paranormal ..... 23
    contemporary.. 15
    historical ........ 14
    steampunk ....... 3
Graphic novels.............14       13.2%
Urban Fantasy ............ 13       12.3% 
Young adult ................. 7         6.6% 
Crime fiction ...............  7         6.6%
General fiction ............  6         5.6%
Fantasy ........................  3        2.8% 
Children's Literature...... 1        0.9%

Number of books per month:
   Jan    3
   Feb 14
   Mar 13
   Apr 12
   May  8
   Jun    5
   Jul     6
   Aug   9
   Sep    8
   Oct    7
   Nov 12
   Dec 12

My most memorable reads of 2012: 

The Book That Broke My Heart :
Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones [2012]

Favorite Romance:
The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie by Jennifer Ashley

Best Recommendation from a Friend:
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell [2011]
   and Conor's Way by Laura Lee Guhrke [1998; re-issued ebook in 2012]

Fantastic Fantasy: 
Eon and Eona by Alison Goodman
and Cold Magic and Cold Fire by Kate Elliot

The Roller Coaster Book:
Gold by Chris Cleave [2012]
It was sad, happy, exciting, bittersweet and anger inducing all at the same time.

Best Debut:
Hearts of Darkness by Kira Brady [2012]

The Longest Linger :
This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Díaz [2012]
This book got under my skin and I thought about it for a long time after I finished it.

Short but Oh So Sweet:
The Governess Affair by Courtney Milan [2012]
Deck The Halls with Love by Lorraine Heath [2012]
The Scandalous, Dissolute, No Good Mr. Wright by Tessa Dare [2012]

Most guilty pleasure:
Catching up on the Immortals After Dark series by Kresley Cole [2008-2011]

Best Blast From the Past:
Conor's Way by Laura Lee Guhrke [1998; re-issued ebook 2012]

Kicking Myself For Waiting So Long To Read This One:
 The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook [2010]  ...phenomenal world building!
    and The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie by Jennifer Ashley [2009] ...fascinating main character!

The Book That Challenged Me :
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
I only read the first 275 pages or so back in November, but I'm going to pick this book back up soon and finish it. The volume of it still intimidates me, but it's 19th century chick lit which is fun, even if Tolstoy can be quite long winded at times.

The Ones That Got Away: 
  and are now on my list to read in 2013... 

As always, I could go on and on about the books I missed in 2012, but these are at the top of the list.

The Fault in Our Stars by John
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Easy by Tamara Webber
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Iced by Karen Marie Moning
Motorcycle Man by Kristen Ashley

What was your most memorable 2012 book? 

18 comments:

  1. Silver Sparrow was ssoooo heartbreaking, good choice for that.

    This is How you Lose Her.. ugh, still don't like those characters. It didn't linger for me, for which I'm really glad.

    Eon and Eona were great! Still trying to get Lili to read them... she's too into her fanfic :(

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  2. I haven't read Jennifer Ashley but I am obsessed with getting a copy of her newest, which is the same series as Lord Ian. All day I've been talking myself out of buying it. This doesn't help. now I just want both of them.

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  3. I think the most memorable book I read was Hugh Howey's Wool Omnibus. I don't venture outside romance very often anymore, so I'm doubly glad that I gave this book a chance. I loved the world-building.

    My favorite romances include Conor's Way, The Witness, and A Scandalous Scot. I also especially enjoyed my re-read of Untie My Heart.

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  4. Way to go. 64 of your own books! Wow!

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  5. WTG! 101 books and so many of your own! Oh, and I love your book headings! I adored The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie!

    Hmm...I haven't done my list yet, but I'll give you a sneak peak and say my most memorable book, well, series, was the Falls Chance Ranch series. Free (I would so pay money for this book!) and blew me away. It kind of taught me a lot about myself...and what I learnt surprised me :)

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  6. Mariana, I know. I didn't like the characters in This Is How You Lose Her, either. Except maybe the one girlfriend.. was it Palombo or something? The girlfriend who did well in school and refused to put out.

    Lisa, I read and really liked the second book in the series, too. Very good stories. I am going to continue with the series.. reading them in order. I think you should do the same! No pressure.

    Phyl, I've taken notes! You know.. I consider myself a romance reader at the end of the day.. and I will grab a romance before any other if given the choice, BUT the regular fiction I pick up usually ends up being quite memorable. I was going to give The Witness honorable mention. It was great, too!

    Linda, Yes! And of those 64, about 20 were bought or downloaded for free by me in 2012. The other 44 were from my TBR pile! Wow. That is pretty awesome.

    orannia, Thanks! I tried to come up with some fun 2012 winning categories.. it's a little more telling why a certain book was more memorable.

    What a wonderful observation about the Falls Chance Ranch series and what it taught you about yourself. That is some powerful writing, right there!

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  7. Very fun list, Christine.

    I'm pondering picking up the Ashley...

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  8. Whew...that is some stats! :D Great job!

    I have a few of what you've read in my TBR, namely the Alison Goodmans and the Kate Elliots, also The Madness Of Lord Ian. AND almost all of your 'The Ones That Got Away'! LOL I didn't do so good reading-wise last year - didn't read anything since my surgery in August but am slowly getting back in the grove. :)

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  9. Oops - back in the "groove". :)

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  10. Why didn't you include your cookbooks? Or, rather, the cookbooks you read this past year? Wishing you much success with this years goal!

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  11. Very nice year! I loved how you broke everything down.

    I ADORE the Iron Duke and have read it twice because it's so darned good. I just love Brooks writing. :)

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  12. Wow!! I wish I kept my numbers so well organized!

    Awesome job! :)

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  13. Good recap!! You've listed some books that I haven't yet read and look forward to hopefully getting to them this year.

    I've read Easy and The Fault in Our Stars and they're going to be in my best reads recap. :P

    Also, I started my journey with Kristen Ashley with Motorcycle Man and I haven't been able to stop reading her yet.

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  14. Angiegirl Ian MacKenzie has a form of Asperger's Syndrome. It makes for a very interesting, out of the norm, romance. I loved it.

    Jace. So good to see you! I hope you're finally feeling well enough to blog again. You've been missed!
    The Goodman and Elliot books were fantastic! The final book in the Elliot trilogy should be released this year. I can't wait!

    Brandy, I mentioned the cookbooks in a different post.. Best of 2012 In the kitchen, but I guess I should have included them in my stats? I didn't really think about it, but they should count, especially if I read them front to back like a book, right? ;)

    Tracy, Lord Ian is definitely re-read material--I agree!

    Alex, I keep a running list as I read books. Then it's easy to go back and count by genre, etc. I like tracking stuff. LOL.

    ~ames~I'll look for your recap.. I definitely need to read Those That Got Away on me in 2013!

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  15. It looks like you had an amazing year of reading in 2012! I will definitely be adding some of these books to my TBR list for 2013 :) And I hope that you have another amazing year in 2013!

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  16. Very nice numbers, Christine!! You made it over a 100 which I know was your goal! :) Very strong and nice come back considering your month of January and February last year LOL.

    I'm taking credits for both books in Best recommendation from a Friend :) Woohooo!!

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  17. samantha.1020 2012 WAS a great year in reading for me.. although looking back, I wish I read more 2012 releases. But I'm still happy about it all. I wish you a great year in 2013, too! XO

    nath, Thanks! I always think January will be a productive reading month with the busy holidays behind me, but it always seems to be my SLOWEST reading month. I don't get it...

    YES! Go right ahead and take credit for Attachments AND Conor's Way!!! I'm looking forward to reading more by Rainbow Rowell... I believe Eleanor and Park is her next book and should be coming out soon!

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  18. Christine, you read some really great books last year! We shared some of them. :) I regret that I still have Gone Girl by Flynn and Easy by Weber still in my TBR too. Oh well, there's always 2013. :D

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