2012: The Year in Books

2012 was a really interesting reading year for me. The year started out super strong where I was just reading a lot of stuff I really enjoyed, I reread the Harry Potter books which was time consuming and fun, and then I ended the year rather weakly by struggling to get through some reads. I read more classics than I normally do, a trend I plan to continue, and a lot of books for movies. I'm actually really satisfied with my year in reading and I hope I feel the same way at the end of 2013.

Instead of giving you a list of my favorite books, I thought it was kind of interesting how I ended up reading things with similarities and so I'm going to just kind of go through them like that. If I had to pick favorites this year, they are probably Anna Karenina,Jellicoe Road, and A Monster Calls. They are all utterly gorgeous wonderful books that should be widely read! (and are as it happens to be!) Also, click on titles to see my reviews!

Two Romantic Chunksters that Take Place in Russia

Anna Karenina vs. The Bronze Horseman

This...probably comes as no surprise, but Anna Karenina is the clear winner, since I really didn't like The Bronze Horseman that much. It might seem unfair to compare them, but they are both well loved. To The Bronze Horseman's credit, I do still remember the book pretty well. And it made me want to read more stuff in Russia, so there's that. But Anna Karenina is such a full and rich book with characters that I just genuinely loved. I'm so glad I read it this year!

Two New Books from Authors who's Previous Series I Loved

The Casual Vacancy vs. Carnival of Souls

This one is a lot harder!! I'm going to go with Carnival of Souls, though. Even though I really appreciated The Casual Vacancy, I can't say that I actually loved it. Carnival of Souls was less of a departure and I loved the feel of the new world, not to mention that I always love Marr's characters and relationships. I'm looking forward to the next book!

Two Fitzgerald Novels

The Beautiful and Damned vs. The Great Gatsby

Probably a shocker, but I preferred The Beautiful and Damned. I think The Great Gatsby was wayyyy too built up for me as this like ultimate American novel and it fell a little flat for me, while I found it easier to pick at the issues and themes in The Beautiful and Damned. I can't really say that I loved either book wholedheartedly, though. By the way I've seen two different Gatsby trailers at movies I've seen recently and it looks crazy, like I wish I had felt that level of energy while reading the book. Also, I'm like one hundred percent against the casting, what were they thinking??

Two Books Read for Ill-Fated TV Shows

The Selection vs. 666 Park Avenue

Neither of these were truly great, but I'm going to pick The Selection for the potential of the series. I will be reading the second book this year when it comes out and I'm crossing alllll my fingers the author capitalized on that thematic potential. Still in mourning it was never a show, sigh. 666 Park Avenue is a cute fun read but I have zero motivation to ever read more in the series.

Two Critically Acclaimed YA Tear Jerkers

The Fault in our Stars vs. Code Name Verity

This is such a hard one because I really loved both of these books. But...I'm going with Code Name Verity. Partly because it gave me one of the things I love best in any story...a strong relationship that wasn't romantic but still deeply meaningful. But I kind of want to give John Green a little shout out for completely inspiring me when I saw him at the LA Times Festival of Books earlier this year, he was so wonderful.

Lots of Zombie Books

Blackout vs. Zom-B vs. This Is Not a Test vs. The Reapers are the Angels

I enjoyed ALL of these zombie books, but my favorite was probably The Reapers are the Angels. So much beautiful writing. I really did love This is Not a Test as well, I mean it seems Courtney Summers can do no wrong. But The Reapers are the Angels was a different kind of read for me that took me by surprise and gave me some very memorable zombie scenes!

There are so many other wonderful books I read this year. Like, I tried to figure out how to fit in The Ask and the Answer and say BOOK THAT TOTALLY CHANGED MY MIND ABOUT A SERIES, but I didn't read another book that changed my mind about a series. I really wish I had written about the rest of the trilogy after I finished, but I hear Jodie read The Ask and the Answer and she'll cover everything far more brilliantly than I ever could. Also, Beth Kephart's Small Damages was lovely, and I adored Sara Zarr's How to Save a Life,Donna Freitas's The Survival Kit, and Francisco X. Stork's Irises and I highly recommend these books, THEY ARE WONDERFUL.

It's just been a really wonderful reading year! I feel happy and blessed with it. I hope you enjoyed my sort of silly way of looking back and I hope you'll be back tomorrow when I discuss one of my favorite things--reading goals!

What's the best book you read this year?

2012: Movies, TV, Music, Blogging

Wow.

So it's kind of hard to believe that I used to do separate posts for all of these. This has to be the most relaxed Christmas holiday I've had in years and I still can't bring myself to do all of that writing!

Also, I don't really have much to say for these categories, to be honest. But I do appreciate looking back on what I thought was important in the year and enjoy everyone else's posts so...well here goes.

Music

Obviously there was Andrew Peterson's new CD, Light for the Lost Boy, which goes without saying. For me. I love it. AP fan for life, etc.

Also, there was Mumford & Son's new album which I also enjoyed. I don't have nearly the love for it as the first one, but I do still like it. I read a review...maybe on NPR? about how Mumford is living loud in his corner or something which I thought was a very apt description and I would have referenced that idea a lot if I had ever gotten around to writing about it.

But the new music for me this year includes one album that was actually released this year and two bands that I discovered thanks to TV shows--thank you TV.

Lana del Rey/Born to Die--I listened to this so much. It was a really interesting experience for me because I actively rejected the lyrics while also finding myself buying into the image created. But mostly I just found the music soooo addictive like I wanted to be listening to it all the time. I did enjoy the discussion in comments at Lady Business about it, though!

The Rural Alberta Advantage--loooove. I was introduced to this band because of the all too short lived Canadian drama The LA Complex (RIP :/) and the way the show had live bands that played in the complex. (maybe three over the course of the show?) anyway thanks to tumblr I learned who they were and started listening to their stuff on Spotify and it was like instant love. Check them out! They are good.

Choir of Young Believers--Their song "Hollow Talk" is the theme song on Bron/Broen and that's how I was introduced to them, you know, a few years behind the times. I love their atmospheric sound. I mean seriously, though, the way that show used the song was PERFECTION. (at first I didn't like it and then I loved it, etc.)

Movies

Movies I watched this year that I still find myself thinking about and wanting to talk about include Sucker Punch, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Sinister, and Cloud Atlas (ugh yes I saw it and I'm like shamed to say that I loved it, but I did). I also watched Christmas in Connecticut for the first time ever and I LOVED IT. I saw Les Miserables and really enjoyed it and Anna Karenina, too. (but the book!! oh the book!)

I feel like I didn't watch that many movies that really surprised me this year. For some reason the film list is always really short for me as I forget movies fairly quickly and end up liking movies that I have to add disclaimers to. Life is tough, I tell you!

TV

I already wrote about TV at great length over at The Book Smugglers, but this was the year of falling in love with Danish TV for me. Borgen was like a revelation of how good TV could be. I also ventured outside of my comfort zone and watched Avatar: The Last Airbender which I loved and Six Feet Under (well, I'm still watching it) which I like. I think my two keepers of the new season are Nashville and Beauty and the Beast--two shows that engage my emotions which I always enjoy.

Blogging

In the past, I've always talked about the blogs I've loved but Ana did this thing where she linked to posts she enjoyed. I don't really remember all the posts I've enjoyed throughout the year, to be honest. But....here are a few I remember (as I scroll through starred items in google reader):

Having read A Canticle for Liebowitz, I was quite struck by this post on TechCrunch, The Death of Paper I think it's something worth thinking about, especially in light of Newsweek no longer being a print magazine. We are watching huge shifts take place in our times and culture that will impact the future, there is no doubt.

I read The End of the Affair in 2011 and watched both film versions this year, so I really loved reading Teresa's review which was so smart and so different from what I took from the book.

Jason's analysis of gift giving is still brilliant. Don't let it depress you, though, if your Christmas was a let down, let it inspire you for next year!

Melissa's post about the lack of urgency and passion in book reviews is something I still think of frequently.

But Cass's recommendation of Bottle Rocket Hearts during BBAW is a perfect example of the kinds of posts I so love in book blogging and I still need to read the book!

Meg's post about online friends being real is another post I've reflected on a lot throughout this year. I do think there can be a difference between the friendships we have online and offline, but I don't think there has to always be. It's kind of odd and probably the reason that I can't come to any conclusion on the subject is because it really depends on the friendship and the person. There's something different about the friends I've made through book blogging...they are such trusting, open friendships in a way? And so many of us have such a shared history now. A lot of us have met in real life, etc. But not all online friendships work this way. Also, it's kind of weird how easily someone can just stop communicating with you if you only know them online!

Cheryl Klein's post I just recently linked to A Brief Rant Against my Own Interests but for my Own Beliefs summed up how I feel about political discourse.

Ana's post about being wrong is definitely one that I have to think about again and again.

As I scrolled through my starred items in google reader, I realized how often I have starred posts to comment on and then never did. Sorry everyone!

As far as this blog goes, I don't really have any deeply memorable posts from the year in my mind. Hopefully 2013 will be better!

So...that's it! Book post soon, I hope!