A Year in Books

In 2012 I set out to read 52 books. 1 book for each week of the year. I didn’t have a specific type of book or a specific genre in mind I just wanted to read, read, read. In 2011, I had read 38 books pretty comfortably so I figured 52 would be a reachable yet still slightly challenging goal.

I met my goal of 52 books on December 14 , 2012. There were also 4 books I began and gave up on out of sheer boredom or disgust over the atrocious writing and there is one book I am still working through.

So, without further ado, here are the books I read in 2012 in the order completed along with a rating on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the best. I have given more detailed reviews of many(but not all) of the books on Goodreads. You can read my reviews by clicking here or by clicking on the individual books listed below. 4 and 5 Star Books are highlighted in pink.

Books Read in 2012

Jan 7 – The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman – 3/5 Stars
Jan 26 – The Rook – Daniel O’Malley – 2/5 Stars
Jan 31 – Planting Dandelions – Kyran Pittmam – 3/5 Stars
Feb 3 – The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins – 5/5 Stars
Feb 5 - Mockingjay – Suzanne Collins – 5/5 Stars
Feb 8 – Catching Fire – Suzanne Collins – 5/5 Stars
Mar 2 – South to Alaska – Nancy Owens Barns – 3/5 Stars
Mar 5 – Unbillable Hours – Ian Graham – 4/5 Stars
Mar 22 – Lost in Shangri-la – Mitchell Zuckoff – 4/5 Stars
Mar 26 – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close – Jonathan Safra Foer – 1/5 Stars
Mar 30 – The G-Free Diet – Elizabeth Hasselbeck – 4/5 Stars
Apr 6 – When You Went Away – Michael Baron – 3/5 Stars
Apr 8 - Peak – Roland Smith – 4/5 Stars
Apr 14 – The Summer I Dared – Barbara Delinsky – 4/5 Stars
Apr 19 – Moon Over Manifest - Clare Vanderool – 5/5 Stars
Apr 23 – Divergent - Veronica Roth – 4/5 Stars
May 1 – Words Get in the Way – Nan Parson Rossiter – 3/5 Stars
May 2 – Born to Run – Christopher McDougall – 5/5 Stars
May 6 – Insurgent – Veronica Roth – 4/5 Stars
May 11 – Abraham Lincoln:Vampire Hunter - Seth Grahame-Smith – 3/5 Stars
May 13 – When in Doubt, Add Butter – Beth Harbison – 3/5 Stars
May 16 – Helpful Hints for Good Living – Mark Twain – 3/5 Stars
May 19 - Blacklisted from the PTA – Lela Davidson – 4/5 Stars
May 20 – On the Island – Tracey Garvis-Graves – 4/5 Stars
May 24 – Life as We Knew It - Susan Beth Pfeffer – 2/5 Stars
May 28 – Saving CeeCee Honeycutt – Beth Hoffman – 3/5 Stars
June 9 – Happyslapped by a Jellyfish – Karl Pilkington – 5/5 Stars
Jun 11 - The Lions of Little Rock – Kristin Levine – 5/5 Stars
Jun 13 – Ratio – Michael Ruhlman – 3/5 Stars
Jun 15 – What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast – Laura Vanderkam – 2/5 Stars
Jun 20 - Barefoot Season – Susan Mallery – 3/5 Stars
Jun 21 – The Bungalow – Sarah Joi – 4/5 Stars
Jun 23 – Turtle in Paradise – Jennifer L. Holm – 3/5 Stars
Jul 2 – Sea Change – Karen White – 4/5 Stars
Jul 14 – The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks – Rebecca Skloot – 3/5 Stars
Aug 5 - Dinner: A Love Story – Jenny Rosenstrach – 3/5 Stars
Sep 15 – Ocean Beach – Wendy Wax – 2/5 Stars
Oct 1 – Paris, My Sweet: A Year in the City of Light – Amy Thomas – 2/5 Stars
Oct 6 – The Light Between Oceans – M.L. Steadman – 4/5 Stars
Oct 17 – Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – Ransom Riggs – 3/5 Stars
Oct 28 – The Midwife of Hope River – Patricia Harmon – 5/5 Stars
Nov 1 – TMI Mom Bites the Big Apple – Heather Davis – 3/5 Stars
Nov 5 – Ozark Mountain Blue Hole Murder Mystery – Rolland Love – 1/5 Stars
Nov 10 – Between Shades of Gray – Ruta Sepetys – 5/5 Stars
Nov 17 – Thanksgiving: How to Cook it Well – Sam Sifton – 4/5 Stars
Nov 21 – Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir – Jenny Lawson – 3/5 Stars
Nov 22 – Messenger (The Giver #3) - Lois Lowry – 4/5 Stars
Nov 26 – Son (The Giver #4) – Lois Lowry – 5/5 Stars
Nov 29 – Who Peed on My Yoga Mat? – Lela Davidson – 5/5 Stars
Dec 1 – A Plain and Simple Christmas – Amy Clipston – 3/5 Stars
Dec 2 – Naomi’s Gift: An Amish Christmas Story – Amy Clipston – 3/5 Stars
Dec 14 – Midwives – Chris Bohjalian – 4/5 Stars
Dec 23 – The Snow Child – Eowyn Ivey – 3/5 Stars

Books I Couldn’t Bear to Finish in 2012

The Summer We Fell Apart – Robin Antalek
Shelter: A Novel – Frances Greenslade
Love Letters – Bryan Mooney
A Patchwork Christmas – Judith McCoy Miller

Books I am Still Working Through in 2012

John Adams – David McCullough

2013 Reading Goal

Please check back tomorrow when I will be sharing my reading goal for 2013. This year I have a theme which I am really excited about! See you tomorrow!

Are you on Goodreads? If so I’d love to follow you! Please leave your user information in the comments. You can follow me by clicking here.

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American History in Books: January 1, 2013 at 7:59 pm

{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }

1 gina December 31, 2012 at 10:16 am: Love Letters. Worst. Ebook. Ever. Okay, maybe not ever but definitely worst of 2012. I, too, couldn’t even finish.

I was going to read classics in 2013…but I’m having a difficult time because they’re SO LONG and not holding my attention {great books/stories, but just too long}. I’m thinking about reading the Hobbit, and the LOTR books instead.

Looking forward to your theme reveal!
2 Shannon @nwaMotherlode January 8, 2013 at 12:39 pm: Great idea to keep a running list throughout the year! You’ve inspired me to do that, too I also like your rating system. Just finished The Next Best Thing.
3 Ashley Ederington January 15, 2013 at 9:18 pm: Oh, I wish I could be a book reader. I maybe finish 4 a year and they are all about running or eating. I am more a scholarly journal article gal. I think I shall set a goal of reading 2 books that are not associated with running for the year and see where that takes me.
4 Peggy January 15, 2013 at 9:31 pm: I am impressed!
5 Shell (Panama-mama) January 18, 2013 at 11:45 am: I adore GoodReads. Without it I’d forget what I’ve read! I read 100 for last year’s challenge. Granted a lot of it was junk… My user name is panamamama if anyone wants to come play on Goodreads!