What I Read in 2012

I fell just shy of my goal of reading 50 books in 2012, but if I'm totally honest, I probably read a trashy romance or two that I forgot to count.  That, combined with the books I started and didn't like, plus the tons of children's books I read last year, should definitely add up to more than 50.  I'm calling it a win.

Here were my ten (okay, eleven including both Sookie Stackhouse books) favorites, in no particular order:

The Flight of Gemma Hardy  If I had to choose my most favorite book of the year, this one would likely be it.  A slightly more modern (think 1950s) re-imagining of Jane Eyre, this book absolutely captivated me.  Lovely, lovely story.

Looking for Alaska  I finally jumped on the John Green bandwagon this fall, and I am not looking back.  I devoured this book in a day and a half, and while I liked it quite a bit at the time, it's the kind of book that I have thought about often since I read it.  There's so much to love in this book:  boarding school, rural Alabama (well, I love that part, anyway!), realistic teenagers I want to be friends with, first loves...the list goes on and on.

The Homecoming of Samuel Lake  This book and its characters stuck in my heart the moment I read it.  Southern preacher Samuel Lake and his precious family may be my favorite characters of the  year.  This book also provided some of my favorite quotes of the year.

The Shoemaker's Wife  A classic epic love story.  Tears were shed, and I am not ashamed to admit it.

The Last Plea Bargain  If you're a John Grisham fan, read this.  I loved it, and totally didn't see the end coming.

The Fault in Our Stars  (Yes, another John Green) The buzz about this book is what finally made me check out the author.  It lived up to expectations!  Fair warning:  tearjerker, but worth it.

Dead Reckoning and Deadlocked  (Sookie Stackhouse, Books 11 and 12)  I love Sookie Stackhouse and I don't care who knows it.  Award-winning literature?  Nope, but a heck of a lot of fun!

The Age of Miracles  Early YA genre, with some dystopian elements.  The details made the book for me.

First You Try Everything  I forgot how much I liked this book until I was going over the list of what I read this year.  A haunting view inside the demise of a marriage.  Loved the ending.

Laugh with the Moon  Technically this is middle-grade fiction, but my 30-year-old self loved it.  

Honorable Mentions:

Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn

Saving Ruth, by Zoe Fishman

The List, by Siobhan Vivian

Alabama Moon, by Watt Key

The Leftovers, by Tom Perotta

A Wilderness of Error, by Errol Morris

Heist Society, by Ally Carter

Shadow of Night, by Deborah Harkness

First Date, by Krista McGee

Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson

Shooting Stars, by Allison Rushby

What was your favorite book read in 2012?  Did you read any of my favorites?

Nerdy as it may sound, I can't wait to get started on this year's list!

Shadow of Night, by Deborah Harkness

It's no secret that I loved last year's A Discovery of Witches.  It easily made my list of favorite books in 2011.  The first book of the trilogy was full of history, mystery, and strong and intriguing female characters.  As the title suggests, there were plenty of supernatural elements,  but I felt they were tastefully incorporated, unlike a lot of the vampire/witch genre riding the post-Twilight wave.  (Twilight for educated adults, maybe?)

At the end of A Discovery of Witches (ADOW), Matthew Clairmont (a vampire) and Diana Bishop (a witch) are preparing to timewalk back to the sixteenth-century England to attempt to locate a lost manuscript.  When that book ended, I was instantly excited for the next part of the story.

Shadow of Night, the second book in the trilogy, picks up right where ADOW stops, with Matthew and Diana stepping into the past.  History is a huge part of these books, and I was excited to see what Harkness, a historian herself, I believe, would do with such an unusual setting.  You don't see a lot of novels with modern characters getting the opportunity to venture back to Elizabethan London.

This time-travel tome is rife with name-dropping:  Sir Walter Raleigh, Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, etc.  It's a little convenient that Matthew was able to fade into the background during his time as a part of this scholarly and well-known group of men....but hey, what's the fun of traveling back to Elizabethan England if you don't get to rub elbows with some of the greats?  (And yes, that does include the queen herself.)  Some of the most interesting parts to me were the details showing Diana trying to adjust to the customs of the age, by practicing her writing style and imitating the speech inflections of others.

As much as I loved all the history contained in Shadow of Night, I wasn't quite expecting the entire book to be set in the past.  There were only very brief, minor glimpses into present-day occurrences.  We know enough to realize that significant things are happening, things that will surely have major consequences in the last book, but we only get the barest of facts about the rest of the family while Matthew and Diana are in the past.  The constant focus on the past made the book a little tedious at times, at least for me.

One of the great things about ADOW was how quickly it seemed to move.  At well over 500 pages, it is of significant length, but I was so intrigued by the story that it didn't matter (I quite liked having lots of "story" left to read, in fact).  SON did not move nearly as swiftly as its predecessor.  There just wasn't a lot of action to move the plot along as quickly, and I found myself wishing someone would do something to create a little action.

That's not to say nothing happened in the book, of course.  There is plenty to ponder while waiting for the third installment.  But, like many middle books of a series, SON is more about developing the characters and setting the stage for the finale.  In that respect, there is nothing to complain about with SON.  The development evidenced in Diana's character was particularly well done.  The marriage and relationship between Matthew and Diana became much more meaningful and deepened significantly during the second half of the book.  Matthew had some excellent scenes with his father that further developed his character and put to rest some lingering issues.  In fact, the scenes at Matthew's family home were some of my absolute favorites of the book.

In the end, I was left rooting for Matthew and Diana as a legitimate couple, sure that they were equally devoted to their blended family, and excited to see how the entire group will face the challenges sure to come in the final book of the trilogy.

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I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  Shadow of Night is available now.

The Anti-Romantic Child, by Priscilla Gilman

As parents, we can probably all admit that we had expectations for our children, at least to some degree.  Intentionally or unintentionally, we imagine our children fitting into the mold we create for them:

I bet she will be good at sports, like her daddy.

Maybe she will love to read as much as I do.

As soon as she is old enough, I can teach her to play an instrument.

For Priscilla Gilman and her husband, both literature scholars, that mold looked something like the romantic child from Wordsworth's poetry.  Considering the parents' background and temperaments, it seemed quite likely they would produce the next in a line of scholars, a child who would embody all the best qualities of the romantic idealization of childhood.

Just as nearly every expectant mother has had some glamorous notion of all the things our children will be, we have very likely all been struck with the realization that our dreams do not determine who our children will be.  It doesn't take long before our children defy our expectations, in one way or another. 

For Gilman, the realization that her first son, Benjamin, may not be the embodiment of the romantic child she imagined was only the beginning of the journey.  In candid and genuine prose interwoven with verses from her favorite poet, Gilman describes the difficult first years of Benj's life--the eccentricities he displayed from an early age, motor delays, unemotional temperament, etc.--and the growing awareness that her son was fundamentally different from other children his age.

This poignant memoir of a mother's journey through grief, acceptance, and celebration of her son's differences is truly "a story of unexpected joy" that will strike a chord with any parent.  I love that Gilman describes how she learned to lean on family and friends for support.  With a determined spirit, Gilman (and Benj's father, who remains very involved in his day-to-day life despite a divorce from Gilman) doggedly advocates for Benjamin's needs and does everything in her power to help him succeed.  What mother can't relate to that kind of love?

My favorite passage in the book comes not from Wordsworth, but from Gilman herself, in summing up her experiences with Benjamin:

...I have had to come to terms with the loss of my romantic vision, my idea of how my child, and my life, were going to be.  But out of the death of that dream has come a flourishing of amazing life.  Being Benj's mother has changed me profoundly, has made me more, rather than less, idealistic; more, rather than less, passionate; more, rather than less, creative...

In parenting Benj, I have gotten more in touch with a profound kind of romanticism; I have been given access to a transcendent sense of mystery and awe and wonder.

Isn't that what parenting is all about?

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I received a copy of this book from the publisher and TLC Book Tours.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Favorite Books of 2011

When I decided to set a reading challenge for myself last year on Goodreads, I went with the somewhat randomly selected number of 35 books for the year.  It took me until sometime in 2010 to really get back into reading after the girls were born the year before, and I think I read around 25-30 books that year, so 35 seemed like a good number.  When I found myself back in the habit of reading with a vengeance early on in 2011, I increased my goal to 50 books for the year.

Despite my best efforts to find something enticing enough to read in the last couple of days of 2011, I fell one book short of my goal and ended with 49 books for the year.  I am pretty proud of getting that close to the goal I set for myself...and even more importantly, I enjoyed every minute of it.

In no particular order, here are my favorite books from the past year (or so...a couple might have been from late 2010):

•   A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness  It has vampires, but the grown-up, non-sparkly kind.  With plenty of history and strong, capable female characters, this one was definitely near the top of my list for the year.  

• Dead Until Dark, by Charlaine Harris  This one may be cheating a little, because I don't know if this is my favorite of the Sookie Stackhouse series or not.  It is the first one though, and since the series consumed the bulk of my summer reading, I feel it's only right to count it somewhere.  Are these books great literary treasures?  No, but they are some of the most entertaining books I have read in years.  I only wish there were more books already out so I would never have to stop reading them.

• The Truth About Forever, by Sarah Dessen  This was my first Sarah Dessen book, and I think I started with the best.  I loved every word of this book, and reading it really kicked off a YA trend for me this year.

• What Happened to Goodbye, by Sarah Dessen  Dessen's latest is nearly as good as The Truth About Forver.  She definitely has a personal style and pattern to her books, and she works it well.  I love that minor characters often recur in other books; it's fun to see who will turn up next.

• The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins  I think this one may have been read in late 2010, but it is fresh on my mind due to all the talk surrounding the upcoming movie.  When I first started hearing talk about this book, I was not at all sure I would like it.  In fact, I waited until I could get it from my library because I didn't want to spend money on it.  As a stand-alone, the first book may not have made my list, but the trilogy has definitely stayed with me.  (Yes, I am among the many looking forward to the movie, and I may very well reread the books before I see it.)

• The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield  Again, pretty sure this one was late 2010, but oh my, it is one my favorites.  It is just a story, plain and simple, and once you get to the end, you want to start all over and pick up on all the clues that you missed.

• Next to Love, by Ellen Feldman  This was the last book I read in 2011, and I never expected it to be one of my favorites.  Beautifully written.  Full review here.

• The Lincoln Lawyer, by Michael Connelly  I love a good action-packed suspense novel sometimes, and this one absolutely delivered.  It's a lot like the style of John Grisham, but with a much faster pace and less depressing introspection.

• The Summer I Turned Pretty, by Jenny Han  Why don't we just call this the year of the YA trilogies?  I gobbled this series up in less than a week.  I wanted to strangle some of the characters at times, but let's be honest, when does that not happen?

• Pack Up the Moon, by Anna McPartlin  I might not have remembered this one if I hadn't looked back at my Goodreads list for the year, but I really enjoyed it.  It was both funny and very emotional, without venturing into the melodramatic, which was a good combination for me.

 What were YOUR favorite books in 2011?  Have you read any from my list?

Friday Night Five

1.  I decided to take the plunge and participate in NaBloPoMo this year.  Yep, that's the reason for my dashing out a quick post at 11:00 on Friday night!  I want to increase my post frequency to at least 3-4 per week on a regular basis, so I figure posting every day for a month is a good way to get in the habit.  Are you (officially or unofficially) participating?

2.  Jeremy and I went on a spur-of-the-moment and much-needed date tonight.  We got home around 10:40 and guess who was waiting up for us?  This is officially the latest my children have ever been up...I am hoping we can sleep til 9 or later in the morning!  At least our dinner was good.  Except for the couple at our table (it was a hibachi place, so we shared the table with other couples) who seemed to be incredibly strung out on something...that was interesting.

3.  If you live anywhere that has a football team in the SEC, you might have heard that there's this little game tomorrow...well, it's kind of a big deal.  Alabama (#2) is playing LSU (#1), and it's pretty much all the Bama fans around here have talked about for weeks.  You know we love our college football here in the South, and it's serious business.  I love this article from an LSU sports writer that explains a little about the history and tradition of Alabama Crimson Tide football.  Sample quote:  Alabama is an easy team to hate for one simple reason: they win.  They've won a lot, and it seems like they will continue to win.  Hopefully, that will include a win tomorrow night...but either way, it should be an exciting game.

4.  Still on the football topic, this article about an Alabama player who came from absolute poverty to be a star on this year's team and who will likely go on to play in the NFL next year.  I read it this afternoon at work and I couldn't stop the tears.  It's just....well, even if you don't care about football one little bit, you should read it.  I dare you not to cry.

5.  Speaking of tears, here's one more good link for weekend reading:  On Parenthood, written by tech blogger Jeff Atwood.  Sample quote:  The highs are so incredibly high that you'll get vertigo and wonder if you can ever reach that feeling again. But you peak ever higher and higher, with dizzying regularity. Being a new parent is both terrifying and exhilarating, a constant rollercoaster of extreme highs and lows. Isn't that the absolute truth?  And twin parents, I think you'll feel a bit of particular kinship for the guy when you see the bottom of his post. 

Happy weekend, and ROLL TIDE!  I'll be back to post something-or-other tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day (I hope!).