2012 Reading Year in Review

Total for 2012: 140 (19 less than last year)
Fiction: 73
Non-fiction: 67
That works out to 11.67 books per month, 2.69 books per week.

Most books completed: January. This makes sense as I was pregnant and didn't feel like doing much other than read. (Kind of like my life right now!)
Fewest books completed: July.  Again, makes sense: July was crazy busy with two weeks of church camp.
Most fiction finished: January (14). Followed by: February (10)
Most non-fiction finished: December (10). Followed by: November & March (7).


Favorite mystery series: I still enjoyed the Lord Peter Wimsey books by Dorothy Sayers (and a few written by Jill Paton Walsh) but this year was the Year of Marsh. I finished at least eight Roderick Alleyn mysteries this year (although it took me until October to figure out I'd been reading them out of order).
Mystery Runner-Up: I should note that I finished The Complete Father Brown Stories in August.

Best Stand Alone Mystery:The Footsteps at the Lock by Ronald Knox, read in June.
Most Disappointing Mystery: Death Comes to PemberleyP.D. James is a master but this book (and a few annoying timeline errors) left me cold. It should have been my new favorite thing (Mr. Darcy! Solving a mystery!) but it definitely was not.

Favorite Novel:Witch Woodby John Buchan. Hard to get into, at first, but worth the effort. Philip and I both read this one. We both agree that we have nothing to compare it to - it's an original.
Most Over-hyped Novel: The Age of Miracles: A Novelby Karen Thompson Walker. Not my cup of tea. (Runners-up: The Lifeboat, The Fault in Our Stars, Next to Love, Penhally - which came highly recommended, and Fall of Giants)

Wannabe Austen-esque: Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson.

Best Classic I finally got around to reading: The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins.
Book from my shelves that I finally got around to: Embersby Sandor Marai, translated from the Hungarian. Didn't love it and it's no longer on my shelf.
Book I read just to finish the series (and talk about with my younger brother): Inheritance by Christopher Paolini. Book #4 of what was supposed to be a trilogy. Not my favorite series ever but I am impressed that a teenager could write a series and get it published.
Books I had no business reading: The Game of Thrones series. I can see why they're popular but I wish they didn't contain so many objectionable elements. It's really over the top and I can't excuse that.
Favorite re-read: Jane of Lantern Hillby L.M. Montgomery. One of her finest. (Do I say that about all the Montgomery books?)

Best Book About Writing: The Creative Habitby Twyla Tharp. Not about writing, per se, but definitely inspires creativity.

Best Book About Homemaking:The Gentle Art of Domesticity by Jane Brocket.
Best Book on Parenting: Boundaries with Kids by Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend.

Non-fiction book that inspired more reading and research: Bright Young People: The Lost Generation of London's Jazz Age by D. J. Taylor.

Best WW2 Non-fiction: Inferno: The World at War 1939-1945 by Max Hastings. Excellent work - truly well done.
Best WW1 Non-fiction:The Guns of Augustby Barbara Tuchman.
Non-fiction more people should read:Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talkingby Susan Cain.
Runner-up:The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brainsby Nicholas Carr.

Spiritual Living book everyone should read: The Hole in our Holiness by Kevin DeYoung.
Theology classic I finally got around to reading: Orthodoxyby G.K. Chesterton.

Book I Wish I Hadn't Needed to Read: What Was Lost: A Christian Journey Through Miscarriage by Elise Erikson Barrett. Just what I needed and I recommend it to anyone going through miscarriage.

Favorite Biography: The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family by Mary Lovell.

Related book: The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters edited by Charlotte Mosley

Books sent to me to review: none. Guess I'm not doing this Book Blogger thing very well. (Or I ignored the emails because I couldn't be bothered.)
Books I wish had been better: so, so many. I think I'm getting pickier as I get older (and as I've finished more books).
Books in my stack: Usually around 10, sometimes more but very rarely less.
Books I should start counting in my total: cookbooks. I read a lot of them but because they're primarily recipes I've never written them down in my commonplace book. Maybe it's time to start a new list!
More books I should count: books I read aloud to my girls. I need the accountability. I really slacked off on our read alouds last year and I regret that. So far, we're doing much better this year.

There you have it. Kind of a lackluster reading year, but definitely fun because of all the mysteries. You can find find previous reading years in review here: 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, and 2007.
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