Books of 2012

Happy New Year! I cannot believe another year has gone by and that I'll be 32 on Sunday. Amazing. Like last year, I am listing all the books I've read this year and highlighting the ones I think you should read.

1) A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness - 579 pages
2) Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated by Alison Arngrim - 302 pages - This is a memoir of the actress who played the hated character of Nellie Oleson on the 70s TV series Little House on the Prairie. Funny, sad, and interesting.
3) A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin - 694 pages - Chris actually bought the first four books of the Game of Thrones series and started reading the first one, but then I read it and had to download the other books. It's kind of a soap opera with a lot of gore and sword fighting. The third book, A Storm of Swords is my favorite so far - the fourth is the worst and took me forever to get through. I just bought Chris (and me) the fifth book for Christmas, but haven't started it yet.
4) A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin - 761 pages
5) A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin - 1,178 pages
6) A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin - 1060 pages
7) Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling - 222 pages - Mindy Kaling, whom you might know as Kelly Kapour from The Office wrote a very funny, warmhearted book about her childhood and early years as a comedy writer. Kaling is clearly very talented, but what struck me the most was how she bucked what her parents hoped would be a traditional career for a first generation Indian-American (doctor, engineer, lawyer) for a tenuous (and ultimately successful) career in comedy and acting.
8) Delicate Armor by Connie Claire Szarke - 294 pages
9) Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - 419 pages - I think I read this in a few hours during my break from reading A Feast for Crows. It is gripping, disturbing and unexpected. The perfect quick read.
10) Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn - 272 pages
11) Dark Places by Gillian Flynn - 368 pages
12) The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky - 213 pages
13) Thunderstruck by Erik Larson - 480 pages

Wow. Thirteen books. That's only one a month. Abysmal. But wait, before you say that you're off your game (and I admit that I am somewhat), please note that five of those books are over 500 pages long, some considerably longer. In fact, those five alone account for over 4,000 pages read. My Nook also died sometime after our trip to Chicago in early November, so I decided to reread the last Harry Potter book, which is over 700 pages long.

My goal for this year is to at least get back up to 26 books, which would be one book every two weeks. I think it's attainable, given that we'll be going on a big trip in May that will take nearly 24 hours to get to (both ways!), so I'll have a LOT of time on my hands to read. Also, Chris just gave me my birthday present a little early (an iPad!), so I can get back to downloading books from the library (and all my Nook books).

Any books you recommend for this year? I am currently reading The Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan and I have The Book Thief on my list as well.

Happy Reading!