I’m a little later with this summary of my 2012 reading than I would have liked, but later is better than never I guess. I kind of geek out here a bit (although I did keep out some of my numbers, you’re welcome) but I am always fascinated by what type of books a year’s events can encourage me to read.
Total Books Read in 2012: 165
- Fiction read: 107 or 65%
- Non-Fiction read: 58 or 35%
- Total pages read: 17,204
- Total hours listened: 1,410 hours and 30 minutes OR about 59 days
Total number of books read borrowed from the library: 115 or 70%
Total number of books read that were published in 2012: 61
Longest audio book: 54 hours, Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson III by Robert A. Caro
Longest print or ebook: 683, The Shining by Stephen King
# of LGBTQ books read: 37 (22%)
Favorite memoir: Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson
Favorite queer theory: How to Be Gay by David M. Halperin
Favorite accessible queer theory: Gaga Feminism by Jack Halberstam
Favorite young adult novel: The Difference Between You and Me by Madeline George
# of Stephen King novels read: 11
Favorite: 11/22/63
Best on audio: Dolores Claiborne, narrated with a pitch-perfect Maine accent by Frances Sternahagen
# of books featuring Presidents read: 18
Favorite non-fiction books about Presidents: Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson IV by Robert A. Caro; The Presidents’ Club: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy
Favorite novel featuring a president: 11/22/63
Favorites
- Novel published before 2012: Bottle Rocket Hearts by Zoe Whittall
- Novel published in 2012: Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain
- Short story collection: What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank by Nathan Englander
- Historical fiction: Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
- Non-political biography: The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss
- About the Supreme Court: The Oath: The Obama White House and the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin
- Classic read in 2012: The End of the Affair by Graham Greene
Most disappointing sequel: Wild Thing by Josh Bazell, the follow-up to Beat the Reaper
Most disappointing reread: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Book featuring the most over-the-top hatred for Microsoft: Year Zero by Rob Reid
Book featuring the most over-the-top love for Microsoft: Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
Novel I should have read sooner: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Novel I should have avoiding longer: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Other Notes
- Best book written by an MSNBC personality: Drift by Rachel Maddow
- Surprisingly fun, out-of-my-comfort-zone read: Always Something There to Remind Me
- Worst Godfather sequel: The Family Corleone
- Most disturbing: American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis
- Should be made into a movie because it would be my favorite rom-com: Wife 22 by Melanie Gideon
- Book that made me the most nostalgic for fifth grade: Freedom Maze by Delia Sherman
- Best classic horror: Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
- Author I keep trying even though I haven’t liked one of their books: Val McDermid
You read some great books last year! Happy New Year! I hope you have a great 2013!
Awesome round up! Your categories are probably the best I’ve seen so far.
I like the specificness in this post, the Microsoft ones especially (I’m guessing the comments about the company were rather prevalent?). Happy new year!
Better late than never, right? And I love your categories! Happy New Year!
Haha, I love your categories. I think for me ‘Author I keep trying even though I haven’t liked one of their books’ has to be Margaret Atwood, though I feel sort of guilty about that. I studied Handmaid’s Tale and it was good to write essays about and analyse but I just didn’t enjoy it and I haven’t liked anything else by her but I keep trying… Maybe one day.
Happy new year, I hope 2013 is excellent for you so far.