2012 – The Year In Books

I’ve done this meme that I first saw on The Boston Bibliophile’s blog for a few years now. It’s a fun way to wrap up the year and remember all that I read throughout the year.

How many books read in 2012?
I set a record again this year with 92 books! I think I’ll go for an even 100 in 2013.

How many fiction and non fiction?
I read 75 fiction and only 17 non-fiction. Last year my percentage of non-fiction was about 12 percent. This year it’s up to 18 percent. I’d like to see it around 25 percent next year.

Male/Female author ratio?
I read 66 female authors and 26 male authors. That’s 28 percent – just 2 percent up from 2011. Clearly I favor female authors.

Favorite book of 2012?
My favorite work of fiction was Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. My favorite non-fiction book was The Half-Life of Facts by Samuel Arbesman. My favorite memoir was Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson.

Least favorite?
My only one-star review this year was Big Miracle by Tom Rose.

Any that you simply couldn’t finish and why?
The only book I abandoned this year was The Cursing Mommy’s Book of Days by Ian Frazier. I’d never heard of The Cursing Mommy but Cynthia Nixon narrated the audiobook so I gave it a try. It just wasn’t funny to me at all – I gave up on it after disc one.

Oldest book read?
The oldest book I read was Little Women by Louisa May Alcott which was first published in 1868. The next oldest book after that was A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin which was first published in 1953. Next year, I’d like to read more than two books published before I was born (1974).

Newest?
That’s hard to say because I read a lot that were published in 2012 and I didn’t keep track of the exact day they came out.

Longest and shortest book titles?
Longest: The longest book title was The Discovery of Jeanne Baret: A Story of Science, the High Seas, and the Woman to Circumnavigate the Globe
Shortest: Legend by Marie Lu (It was also the shortest author last name.)

Longest and shortest books?
I don’t keep track of page numbers but I think the longest was Blackout by Mira Grant with 672 pages and the shortest book was Countdown by Mira Grant with 75 pages. How funny that they were books by the same author in the same series!

How many books from the library?
14 books from the library. That’s a lot less than last year. Probably because I am starting to get more and more ARCs since attending BEA in June.

Any translated books?
No translated books this year.

Most read author of the year, and how many books by that author?
This was the year of doubles – I read two books by each of the following authors: Emily Giffin, Mira Grant, Carolyn Jessop, Jeff Kinney, and Jennifer Weiner.

Any re-reads?
I re-read the second half of Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer in preparation for the release of the movie Breaking Dawn Part 2. A Kiss Before Dying and Little Women were also re-reads – I think I read of both of them in middle or high school. Lover Awakened by J.R. Ward was a re-read too.

Favorite character of the year?
My favorite character was Amy from Gone Girl. I didn’t necessarily like her the most but she was one of the smartest and most complex characters of this year.

Which countries did you go to through the page in your year of reading?
I went to India, China, Romania, Germany, Canada, England, France, Malawi, Modelland, and Panem. (Those last two may be fictional countries.)

Which book wouldn’t you have read without someone’s specific recommendation?
I wouldn’t have read Diary of a Wimpy Kid if my eight year old son wouldn’t have recommended it to me.

Which author was new to you in 2011 that you now want to read the entire works of?

I would like to read all of the works of Shobhan Bantwal, Gillian Flynn, and Thrity Umrigar.

Which books are you annoyed you didn’t read?
My TBR list is too long – there aren’t any I can think of that I want to read more than any other.

Did you read any books you have always been meaning to read?
Not really. Most of the books I read were newer books that I read fairly soon after I heard about them.