Thursday, January 3, 2013

My year in reading

Happy New Year! I have been a bad blogger (read: AWOL blogger) recently, and there are many reasons for that. One of the big ones, though, is that my life has changed a lot in the last eight months and that has thrown a lot of my reading habits into disarray. I love reading and I love blogging about it, so I'm going to really think about how to better prioritize those two things in 2013.

In the meantime, here's what I read in 2012:

Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov (translated by George Bird)
The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
The Antagonist by Lynn Coady
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon
The Paris Wife by Paula McClain
Dr. Brinkley’s Tower by Robert Hough
Coventry by Helen Humphreys
Radio Belly by Buffy Cram
Irma Voth by Miriam Toews
Touch by Alexi Zentner
Alone in the Classroom by Elizabeth Hay
Seen Reading by Julie Wilson
Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton
Instruction Manual for Swallowing by Adam Marek
The Headmaster’s Wager by Vincent Lam
Magnified World by Grace O’Connell
Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger
A Complicated Kindess by Miriam Toews
All Wound Up by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Above All Things by Tanis Rideout
That Summer in Paris by Morely Callaghan
Open by Lisa Moore
The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester
The Reading List by Leslie Shimotakahara
Better Living Through Plastic Explosives by Zsuzsi Gartner
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
One Good Hustle by Billie Livingston
The Blue Book by A.L. Kennedy
The Deception of Livvy Higgs by Donna Morrissey
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Mister Roger and Me by Marie-Renée Lavoie
Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
The Blondes by Emily Schultz
My Life in France by Julia Child
Leaving the Atocha Station by Ben Lerner
84, Charring Cross Road by Helene Hanff


That's 41 books. I'm partway through the 42nd book I started in 2012 (Sleeping Funny by Miranda Hill) and also listened to 3 audiobooks (When You Are Engulfed in Flames, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, and Me Talk Pretty One Day all by David Sedaris, who I think his hilarious). 
As a total number, it's fewer books than last year, but in a way I'm happier about what it represents. It can get really easy to start reading for numbers – choosing short or easy books because you know you'll get through them quickly and they'll pad your total. Competitive reading may sound silly, but on the Internet there is always someone to compare yourself to, especially if you admire them. Certainly one of the reasons my reading list is shorter this year is because I have partially changed jobs and thus have much less of a commute during which to read. Another big reason is because of all the knitting I did (that, at least in part, explains the audiobooks). I also joined a couple of book clubs, and experience I'm really enjoying because they push me to read outside my comfort zone. 

Here's what my reading looks like, by the numbers:
Novels: 27 Non-fiction: 7 Short-fiction: 6 Comic: 1

Female author: 28 (two novels by Miriam Toews) Male author: 12

I had a great year for short-fiction and non-fiction, and I can remember plot details about every novel I read, as well as how I felt about them, which is pretty great. Overall, I'm happy with my reading, and that I let myself linger with books I loved rather than trying to race through them on some self-imposed deadline. 

2012 was, for me, a great year for reading. I've been debating whether to do a best-of list, and I think instead I'll just make a list of the books that still stand out as memorable and recommendable now that I have the whole list in front of me (it's easy to be enthusiastic while reading or just after finishing, only to have the book recede after some time has passed). In no particular order, here are the books I read this year that I want to reread (or want you to read, so we can talk about them):

The Antagonist by Lynn Coady (I stil think about Rank sometimes and wonder how he's doing.)
Irma Voth by Miriam Toews (She needs to write something else soon!)
Touch by Alexi Zentner (I still get a little breathless when I think about this story.)

Seen Reading by Julie Wilson (So inventive and fun – as a TTC rider/reader, this is omnipresent.)
Above All Things by Tanis Rideout (Mountaineering is fascinating, and the writing is so excellent.)
The Blue Book by A.L. Kennedy (More than any other book this year, this one threw my heart around.)
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (It pissed me off and you should probably read it.)
My Life in France by Julia Child (One day, I will live in France again.)
Leaving the Atocha Station by Ben Lerner (The writing is so, so beautiful and frustrating and real.)

What were your top reads of 2012?

14 comments:

  1. So interesting reading other people's top lists! I found that I was disappointed by "Irma Voth." In the end, I was brought around to enjoy it more than the beginning, but I had so adored "A Complicated Kindness" and I felt let down by her latest. (I think I missed it being set in Canada!) I can also totally relate to your comment about knitting. I always find it a HUGE struggle to decide what to do in an evening and in the last few months, with Christmas knitting, pulling out my needles and watching "The Walking Dead" has usually prevailed over reading.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love your list of books particularly the shorter list of the books that you want to reread. I have put them all on my wish list on Amazon and I bet its not too long before I purchase them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey, How are going on?

    I think it is very useful and knowledge able info about of article My year in reading. I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made article.It is a very well site.Its help us many many way.I like this site.This is a nice post.I want to share Free web tracker, live chat, top bar, heat maps, visitor tracking, Free seo tools and so much more. Everything your website needs to engage, retain and attract traffic. Start GoingUp - Free! GoingUp! provides first category website statistics and seo resources for your website. With GoingUp!, easilytrack guests, observe sales, see transformation rate, and enhance your search techniques. GoingUp! offers the most complete website statistics around.

    Thanks For Very Interesting Post

    ReplyDelete
  4. Banyak orang yang merasa terganggu dengan penyakit ambeien. Karena ambeien merupakan penyakit yang munculnya di bagian dubur atau anus. Tapi ternyata pengobatan ambeien tidak harus selalu secara medis namun kini ada http://wasirambeienherbal.com/cara-mengobati-benjolan-wasir-secara-alami.html. Memang cara pengobatan itu tergantung dari si penderita. Bisa mengobati secara medis maupun secara tradisional. Semuanya bisa dilakukan sesuai dengan keinginan penderita mana yang dirasa lebih mudah. Untuk lebih jelasnya silahkan baca artikel kami selengkapnya

    Blog ini menjual obat herbal kutil kelamin, karena Jika penyakit ini terus dibiarkan maka gejala juga akan terasa menyakitkan. Mengenai proses munculnya, kutil pada pria ini bisa hadir dalam bentuk datar atau berukuran besar dan berkelompok. Ciri yang paling umum dari kutil kelamin ini adalah bentuknya yang menyerupai kembang kol. untuk cara pemesanana silahkan kunjungpengobatan kutil kelamin tanpa operasi



    http://www.obatdenature.com/obat-kemaluan-keluar-nanah/Dan kondisi ini dapat semakin parah dan kemudian menimbulkan berbagai macam komplikasi seperti peradangan sendi dan infeksi jantung. Hal yang seperti ini dapat dicegah dengan mengenali gejala awalnya, sehingga penyakit ini tidak bertambah parah. untuk cara pemesanana silahkan kunjunghttp://se-intelligence.com/mengobati-kemaluan-keluar-nanah.html


    http://wasirambeienherbal.com/cara-mengobati-benjolan-wasir-secara-alami.html kekurangan dan kelebihannya. Misalnya saja dengan pengobatan secara medis, masih mungkin ada efek dari penyakit tersebut. Karena banyak pengobatan medis yang menggunakan bahan-bahan kimia. Namun cara mengobati ambeien secara tradisional juga sama halnya dengan pengobatan medis. Ada kekurangan dan kelebihan. Tapi tidak ada salahnya jika pengobatan secara tradisional pada penyakit ambeien dilakukan sejak awal. Untuk pemesanan obatnya ilahkan kunjungi website kami

    Klik disini untuk pemesanan obat kutil kelamin denature, tentu saja kita agak seram membayangkan hal ini jika terjadi pada kita, tapi setidaknya cara ini memang terbaik karena dilakuka dengan bersih dan efisien. untuk cara pemesanana silahkan kunjungpengobatan kutil di kemaluan tanpa operasi



    http://www.obatdenature.com/obat-kemaluan-keluar-nanah/Dan kondisi ini dapat semakin parah dan kemudian menimbulkan berbagai macam komplikasi seperti peradangan sendi dan infeksi jantung. Hal yang seperti ini dapat dicegah dengan mengenali gejala awalnya, sehingga penyakit ini tidak bertambah parah. untuk detail tentang gonore silahkan baca artikelhttp://bonjourdeluxe.com/nanah-keluar-dari-kemaluan.html


    ReplyDelete
  5. We find lots of learning after reading this very useful article .

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for sharing this very valuable information i really feel happy to read this post. Doha Massage Qatar offers best lady massage services for men in doha, Qatar. Visit us on qatar massage

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for suggesting good list. I appreciate your work this is really helpful for everyone. Get more information at Body rubs in Los Angeles, California. Keep posting such useful information.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks for sharing the best information and suggestions, I love your content, and they are very nice and very useful to us. If you are looking for the best Body rubs in Chicago, Illinois, then visit HarlotHub. I appreciate the work you have put into this.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi to every single one, it’s truly a good for me to visit this web page, I love your content, they are very nice and it includes helpful Information. Check out our website Love Reading Nyack for more Nyack Psychic related info! I am truly pleased to read this website posts which carries lots of helpful data, thanks for providing these kinds of statistics.

    ReplyDelete
  10. So glad to know every review is moderated! (BLACKWOOD FOR MEN)

    ReplyDelete
  11. The content of your article is really useful and I will also share this with my frineds. But honestly your site is takking many time for loading and you need to use Hostgator web service for improvement. This will give you the best uptime gaurantee.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Harrah's Philadelphia Casino & Racetrack - Mapyro
    Harrah's Philadelphia Casino & Racetrack in Chester, Pennsylvania offers guests the perfect 목포 출장마사지 getaway 부산광역 출장마사지 from your 익산 출장안마 casino at the 대구광역 출장샵 Harrah's 과천 출장안마 Philadelphia Casino

    ReplyDelete

Real Time Web Analytics
BooksANDBlogs
Powered By Ringsurf