Wednesday, December 26, 2012

2012 In Review (ha-haa) and What 2013 Holds

Merry Christmas, everybody! With the whirlwind of Christmas-related activities I'm taking a mini-break from reviewing and most likely won't even finish a book this week, so since this is my last post of 2012 I decided to share what my favorites are for this year and what I'm planning for next year.

Drumroll please! Here is my top five of 2012:

 Body of Evidence by Patricia Cornwell  Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins  Still Alice by Lisa Genova  The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon  Quiet by Susan Cain

Now, onto the plan for 2013. Yes, there is a plan. There's even a spreadsheet (my friends keep giving me a hard time about those, but they're just so neat and handy I love them). First things first though: there will be a change in the schedule. As you know this year there was a review a week, on Sundays. Next year I've decided to read fewer books to give myself the time to do everything else in my life and not feel like a proverbial hamster in a wheel. Next year I'll be reviewing 2 books in three weeks and they're going to be meatier books.
Which brings me to the best part - the books. How did I come up with the list? Oh, it's a highly complex formula involving... Just kidding. I'm taking 5 books each from the NYT Best Seller list, NYT Children's Best Seller list, the list of books discussed on BBC World Book Club, 4 prize-winners from 2012, 10 titles we'll be reading in my book club and 5 spots are open for the inevitable times when nothing on the list, or shelf, will do. OCD is a curious thing, let me tell you. Anyway, here's the proposed reading list for your perusal, in alphabetical order. We'll see how many of these I will actually read. See you in the new year!


The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
Angela's Ashes
Anna Karenina
Atonement
Bossypants
The Cat's Table
Dead End in Norvelt
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Fault in Our Stars
Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America
Gone Girl
The Grass is Singing
The Help
A House for Mr Biswas
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
The New York Trilogy
The Night Circus
Possession
The Round House


Olga's favorite books »



4 comments:

  1. I loved Wolf Hall and Gone Girl! For Wolf Hall, just a quick note if you haven't already heard: Every time you don't quite know who is thinking or talking, just assume it's Cromwell. Mantel did quite a number with the usage of "he," so it can get confusing. If I had known that right from the start, the first fifty pages or so would have been much more enjoyable :)

    Enjoy 2013, and yes, less pressure and more time to do other things keeps one motivated to have fun on the blog.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh wow, what a list - I am looking forward to your reviews!
    I think it's a good thing to relax blogging pressure. I don't have any posting schedule, I just post whenever I finish a book, but sometimes I do feel the pressure to read a lot to keep readers of my blog 'entertained' and I've got to watch that, as blogging should be fun. Here's to a fun and relaxed 2013 :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Natalie, thank you so much for the tip, I'll be sure to remember it when I read the book :)

    Sam, I don't think you have anything to worry about, your blog is great and it's obvious that you have fun with your reading while maintaining quality in your choices. I'll be watching for your reviews too!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Merry X-mas & Happy New Year !!

    ReplyDelete