Monday, December 17, 2012

{misc.} wrapping up 2012


This is pretty much the end of my blogging year, as I am off to China in a few days. I have never been there (although my sister has lived in Beijing for ten years), so that should be an exciting and different (and freezing) Christmas holiday. 

I will likely read a bit on the journey, so I expect that I'll end the year with somewhere around 110 books finished. This is a big drop in numbers from 2011 (171 books), but in 2012 I had an almost bookless month travelling in the UK and France, and also a conference paper to prepare, with lots of not-counted-and-not-much-fun books being read early in the year. 

Fiction came in at 93 books; non-fiction a paltry 11. E-books (71) whipped tree-books (33). Re-reads accounted for 9 titles. If I break down fiction, I have 26 books of the literary sort, and 56 all somewhat lighter (crime, mystery, action, espionage, historical fiction, etc.). 11 were really meant for children or young adults. Only 5 books were translated from other languages (very poor). 


And my top reads? I have ruthlessly omitted re-reads (sorry, Georgette Heyer) and books I haven't yet reviewed (in this category, I loved Mary Norton's The Complete Borrowers and Cassandra Parkin's outrageously funny Lighter Shades of Grey: a (very) critical reader's guide to Fifty Shades of Grey) [and, no, I haven't read the original]

So… in the end, I have 11 FAVOURITE READS OF 2012 (yes, 11), in no particular order:

Joanna and Ulysses - May Sarton {REVIEW

Memento Mori - Muriel Spark {REVIEW

Seducers in Ecuador & The Heir - Vita Sackville-West {REVIEW

Miss Buncle's Book - D. E. Stevenson {REVIEW

The Blood of the Vampire - Florence Marryat {REVIEW

Lamberto Lamberto Lamberto - Gianni Rodari {REVIEW

A Kiss Before Dying - Ira Levin {REVIEW

The Best of Everything - Rona Jaffe {REVIEW

Diary of a Nobody - George & Weedon Grossmith {REVIEW

Lightning Rods - Helen DeWitt {REVIEW}

    
    
    
   

Wishing you all 
a Merry Christmas and 
a very Happy New Year!

8 comments:

  1. I hope you have a lovely time in China - and that you'll be telling us about your travels when you get home again. I also hope 2013 brings lots of wonderful books!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Lisa May - I wish I'd had time to squeeze in some China-themed reading, but I'm hoping it will inspire me to find some when I return. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

      Delete
  2. Hope you have a lovely time in China too. I must check out some of your reviews. I absolutely love May Sarton's poetry have been meaning to try her fiction for a while. I'm also impressed by the amount of e-books you've read.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Sarah - I thought I'd be a bit resistant to e-reading, but I LOVE it. I hate reading on back-lit devices, but the paper-look kindle is great. Among other things, I think it is the ability to highlight that makes it such a joy. Have a wonderful Christmas!

      Delete
  3. Ah yes, that Vita book I have to hunt out. :) Have a great trip and a great start to 2013!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Alex. I nearly had 2 Vita books on there, but I haven't reviewed All Passion Spent yet. It is wonderful. Merry Christmas!

      Delete
  4. Some fantastic books there! Indeed, the four I've read - the Vita Sackville-West, Grossmith, Stevenson, and Spark - are all books I really like. And so glad to see Spark there, after your wonderful contributions during MS Reading Week. I wonder if she'll appear on my list for this year... I read so many, and they were good, but then I've read so many other good books this year... I always wait til the last day before making my list.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Simon - I look forward to catching up with everyone's Best Of when I return - have a wonderful Christmas.

      Delete

{READ IN 2018}

  • FEBRUARY
  • 30.
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  • 26. The Grave's a Fine & Private Place - Alan Bradley
  • 25. This is What Happened - Mick Herron
  • 24. London Rules - Mick Herron
  • 23. The Third Eye - Ethel Lina White
  • 22. Thrice the Brindled Cat Hath Mewed - Alan Bradley
  • 21. As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust - Alan Bradley
  • 20. The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches - Alan Bradley
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  • 15. Nobody Walks - Mick Herron
  • 14. The Talented Mr Ripley - Patricia Highsmith
  • 13. Portrait of a Murderer - Anthony Gilbert
  • 12. Murder is a Waiting Game - Anthony Gilbert
  • 11. Tenant for the Tomb - Anthony Gilbert
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  • 129. And Death Came Too - Anthony Gilbert
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  • 126. Miss Pinnegar Disappears - Anthony Gilbert
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  • 98. Cargo of Eagles - Margery Allingham & Philip Youngman Carter
  • 97. The Mind Readers - Margery Allingham
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  • 96. The China Governess - Margery Allingham
  • 95. Hide My Eyes - Margery Allingham
  • 94. The Beckoning Lady - Margery Allingham
  • 93. The Tiger in the Smoke - Margery Allingham
  • 92. More Work for the Undertaker - Margery Allingham
  • 91. Coroner's Pidgin - Margery Allingham
  • 90. Traitor's Purse - Margery Allingham
  • 89. The Fashion in Shrouds - Margery Allingham
  • 88. The Case of the Late Pig - Margery Allingham
  • 87. Dancers in Mourning - Margery Allingham
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  • 84. Sweet Danger - Margery Allingham
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  • 75. The Forgotten - David Baldacci
  • 74. Zero Day - David Baldacci
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  • 73. Pilgrim's Rest - Patricia Wentworth
  • 72. The Case is Closed - Patricia Wentworth
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