Well, last year 22 books made my Top List for 2011. I felt bad that I couldn't even narrow it to 20, but then this year I have ended up with a Top 28 Books (out of about 70 that I read), so I am re-framing my feelings, and feeling grateful that I read even more great books this past year! The books I read are rated by me on a very subjective scale, ranging from "bad" to "excellent". I don't share my subjective ratings with others; it is just for me. However, the list of 28 books below were rated either "excellent" or "very good". And as last year, I will slowly attempt to narrow this down. Last year, I could not pick a number one favorite, but this year, there is a hands-down favorite!
So, here is the list of the top 28 books that I read in 2012, listed in the order that I read them:
Jack Kennedy Elusive
Hero-Chris Matthews
The Immortal Life of Harriett
Lacks-Rebecca Skoot
The Sense of an Ending-Julian
Barnes
On Canaan’s
Side-Sebastian Barry
To Kill A Mockingbird-Harper
Lee
Old Filth-Jane Gardam
Hunger Games-Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire-Suzanne
Collins
Mockingjay-Suzanne Collins
The Man in the Wooden
Hat-Jane Gardam
A Prayer for Owen Meany-John
Irving
The Bottoms-JR Lansdale
nightwoods-Charles Frazier
The Snow Child-Eowyn Ivey
The Ice Queen-Alice Hoffman
The Absolutist-John Boyne
In the Tennessee Country-Peter Taylor
The Orchardist-Amanda Coplin
The Patron Saint of Liars-Ann
Patchett
A Summons to Memphis-Peter
Taylor
11/22/63-Stephen King
Wild-Cheryl Strayed
Rebecca-Daphne Du Maurier
Once Upon A River-Bonnie Jo
Campbell
The End of Your Life Book
Club-Will Schwalbe
Gone Girl-Gillian Flynn
Reinventing the Body,
Resurrecting the Soul-Deepak Chopra
The Lost Wife-Alyson
Richman
Lincoln-David Herbert Donald
I am pleased (with myself) to report that of the top 28, 6 are non-fiction. At this rate, I may have to stop saying that I don't like non-fiction!
Okay, narrowing the list down to my top 16 (why are my numbers so odd?)
Jack Kennedy Elusive
Hero-Chris Matthews
The Sense of an Ending-Julian Barnes
On Canaan’s
Side-Sebastian Barry
To Kill A Mockingbird-Harper
Lee
A Prayer for Owen Meany-John
Irving
The Bottoms-JR Lansdale
nightwoods-Charles Frazier
The Snow Child-Eowyn Ivey
The Ice Queen-Alice Hoffman
The Absolutist-John Boyne
In the Tennessee Country-Peter Taylor
The Orchardist-Amanda Coplin
A Summons to Memphis-Peter
Taylor
Wild-Cheryl Strayed
The End of Your Life Book
Club-Will Schwalbe
Lincoln-David Herbert Donald
Wow, there are still 4 non-fiction books on my list! Crazy! It is interesting to note that 6 of these 16 are older books.
And more selecting:
Jack Kennedy Elusive
Hero-Chris Matthews
The Sense of an Ending-Julian
Barnes
To Kill A Mockingbird-Harper
Lee
A Prayer for Owen Meany-John
Irving
The Bottoms-JR Lansdale
nightwoods-Charles Frazier
The Snow Child-Eowyn Ivey
The Ice Queen-Alice Hoffman
The Absolutist-John Boyne
The Orchardist-Amanda Coplin
Wild-Cheryl Strayed
Oh, nuts, now the number is 11. Maybe I am odd, not the numbers!
Okay, now it is getting really tough, but I am narrowing it down even further (last time before announcing my favorite book of 2012, I promise):
Jack Kennedy Elusive
Hero-Chris Matthews
To Kill A Mockingbird-Harper
Lee
The Ice Queen-Alice Hoffman
The Absolutist-John Boyne
The Orchardist-Amanda Coplin
Wild-Cheryl Strayed
And now for the final narrowing...Despite the fact that To Kill A Mockingbird is my favorite all-time book, my very favorite book read in 2012 was:
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
My reading goals for next year are a little different than in the past. Usually I have focused on wanting to read more books than the year before. I am not focusing on that this year. This year one of my goals is to begin reading more about Abraham Lincoln. It was a in-retirement goal that I had for years, and I still hadn't gotten to it until last month. Reading Lincoln and seeing the movie Lincoln re-enforced my feeling of wanting to know more about him. A second goal is to begin reading some of the books that my mom had left a list of that she wanted to read. And my third goal is to whittle down the pile of books to-be-read (TBR) that are all over my house! I can't wait to get started, so off I go to read right now!
Happy New Year everyone!
1 comment:
I am getting more and more curious about Wild.
Loved how you narrowed down your list.
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