Best & Worst ~ My 2012 in Reading

As 2012 coming to an end, the list are popping up all over the place. Since I always go against the grain and don't really care for opinions of magazines' critics (a mixture of experience and instinct), my reading differed from theirs quite a bit. But I'm ending this year quite satisfied in the literary choices I made. Here's an overview of what I liked and didn't, if you care to know. Be warned that not all I include here were books published in 2012.

My Best Reads

Published in 2012

1. The Underside of Joy by Sere Prince Halverson

2. Too Bright to Hear Too Loud to See by Juliann Garey

3. Toby's Room by Pat Barker

4. We Sinners by Hanna Pylvainen

5. Marie Curie and Her Daughters by Shelley Emling

6. The Reckoning by Alma Katsu

7. Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce

8. Wilderness by Lance Weller

9. The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian

10. A Hundred Flowers by Gail Tsukiyama

11. The Sadness of the Samurai by Victor Del Arbol

12. The Cranes Dance by Meg Howrey

13. Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

14. Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear

15. The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty


Published Before 2012

1. Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset

2. The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly

3. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

4. Falls the Shadow by Sharon Kay Penman

5. The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama

6. The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma

7. Maisie Dobbs & Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear

8. The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler Olsen

9. Winds of War by Herman Wouk

10. The Hunger Angel by Herta Muller

11. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

12. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys


Unfortunate Disappointments 

1. American Gods by Neil Gaiman

2. Helen of Troy by Margaret George

3. The Replacement Wife by Eileen Goudge


Special Mention for an Outstanding Audio Performance

1. Holy Bible: Word of Promise New Testament

2. The Word of Promise The Gift of Psalms

Best Books Read in 2010

My post is probably one of the latest ones appearing in the blogosphere summarizing the previous year in reading. I suppose I hesitated with the idea of writing one at all but decided that it's more a way of reference for myself and a few readers that may want to look for what I liked in the past years. I will only list the books that I absolutely loved or liked enough to keep them on my shelves for possible future re-reads. If you are so inclined, you can read a complete list of books I read in 2010 here. My only request is for you to not think that the books I don't mention in this post but are included in my 2010 read list are all bad. They are not, a lot of them are okay but simply just weren't my taste and I'm still glad I read them. You can always read my reviews (the ones that I did review) to see if you still would like them.

Books I loved (in alphabetical order):

City of Tranquil Light by Bo Caldwell - historical fiction, christian fiction, Asian fiction

The Passage by Justin Cronin - horror/ dystopian/ vampires 

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah - contemporary fiction, women's fiction 

Song of the Silent Harp by BJ Hoff - christian historical fiction, Ireland

Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman - historical fiction, England, Wales

This Must Be the Place by Kate Racculia - contemporary American fiction 

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers - christian fiction, historical fiction, 19th cent. America

The Street of a Thousand Blossoms by Gail Tsukiyama - Asian fiction


Books I really, really liked (they're also definite keepers and now belong on my shelves permanently):

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins - dystopian, YA

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins - dystopian, YA 

The Maze Runner by James Dashner - YA, sci-fi, dystopian

Heart of the Lonely Exile by BJ Hoff - historical, christian fiction, Ireland

Broken: A Love Story by Lisa Jones - memoir

By Fire, By Water by Mitchell James Kaplan - historical 

Strangers by Dean Koontz - thriller, suspense, paranormal

What the Night Knows by Dean Koontz - horror

Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok - Asian fiction/ women's lit. 

The Surrendered by Chang-Rae Lee - literary fiction, Asian 

The Blue Notebook by James A. Levine - contemporary fiction

Heart of Lies by M.L. Malcolm - historical fiction 

Falling from the Moon by Lise Marinelli - historical fiction

The Language of Trees by Illie Ruby – contemporary American fiction, magic realism, 

Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith - YA/thriller

Solitary by Alexander Gordon Smith (Escape from Furnace 2) - YA thriller