Friday, December 21, 2012

2012 book review + Snowpocalypse 2012!

Late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, Iowa got hit with "Snowpocalypse 2012," getting dumped on with 13 inches of snow accompanied by some crazy winds. All of the schools shut down and many businesses had a snow day as well. I spent the entire day inside reading and watching Christmas movies, except for the few times I had to let the dogs out and when I went to use the apartment complex's gym. It was kind of heavenly. After a crazy busy semester I am welcoming down time with open arms.

Also, I am loving that I am able to keep my blog up to date these days, I have missed writing and all of you lovely readers these past few months. I am still unsure of the fate of this blog once I graduate and begin teaching full time, but I promise I will always keep everyone in the loop.

Last year after being inspired by Lisa and Stephany I posted my top ten books read in 2011, and I just had to do it again. I loved looking back on the books I read in 2012! There were some definite similarities and trends from both years, mostly in the amount of YA I am consistently reading.

The rest of this post is pretty "bookish" so if you're not interested, stop here. ;)

On Goodreads, I made a goal for myself to read 60 books. I quickly blew that goal out of the water before the fourth quarter of the year began and then I changed it to 70. I am reading 68 and 69 right now, listening to 70 in the car and Little Women will hopefully be 71, which is our pick for #twookclub this month. Now that I am on winter break, I am a reading machine and am prepared to blow my revised goal out of the water! It is crazy how the simple act of setting a goal can completely change the outcome. My interest in reading has always been the same, but with a goal for a number of books I wanted to read, I was motivated to read even more! (Now, I just need to apply this theory to running... The boyfriend thinks my goal of "finishing a race with a smile" is not a good enough goal. ;) )

So, what did I end up reading in 2012?? Here are my top 10 picks of 2012.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
 

Looking For Alaska by John Green


The Fault in Our Stars by John Green


The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky


The Violets of March by Sarah Jio


Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio


Room by Emma Donoghue 


Bungalow by Sarah Jio
 

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan 


On The Island by Travis Garvis-Graves 

What were your favorite reads in 2012? 

Today I am linking up with Blond Undercover Blonde for Book Club Friday.

14 comments:

Lisa from Lisa's Yarns said...

I am glad Loving Frank ended up on that list as I heavily recommended it to you and was so nervous you wouldn't like it. So I was so glad when you liked it as much as you did!

I am impressed by the # of books you read! I am around 55, I think? My goal was 50, so I am happy with that! I will be doing a favorite books post next week!

Victoria said...

i read ROOM and all of Sarah Jio's books too and GONE GIRL. i loved GG until the end,that was just starnge and it left you hanging!

happy holidays!

Manon said...

I read 5 books this year.....and that number would have been 0 if I hadn't met you! I totally just added all of these books to my "want to read" shelf on Goodreads. Having a bookworm friend that likes the same stuff as you makes it uber easy to become a bookworm in training :)

Dara @ Not In Jersey said...

I'm going to have to look up many of these! I really want to read Gone Girl!

Shoshanah said...

I'm going to have to write a top books of the year post soon as well! (Funny how the end of the year managed to sneak up on me.) There's definitely some similarities here (Gone Girl & Perks will both probably be on my list.), and there's some that I really want to read. (Still haven't read anything by John Green or Sarah Jio, but really really want to.)

tara said...

the first 4 books on your list were some of my faves for the year! great books!

Stephany said...

Oh fun! I am doing this post next week. :) Some of those books will be on my list! I really need to get my hands on some Sarah Jio books. I hear great things about her!

Anonymous said...

I loved On the Island, also! I am going to read it again. And I just got a few John Green books to try. I live in Cedar Falls and we got 10 inches of snow with the storm. Yuck!

Becky said...

Great post! I've read a lot of these - and love that I recommended a few of these to you!!

Hope the snow has died down a bit!

The Many Thoughts of a Reader said...

I've read four of them. I need to read Room and The Bungalow and Blackberry Winter.

Anonymous said...

Room is one of my all-time favorites. So heartbreaking, but wonderful at the same time.

Great list, lady! Gone Girl is on my list..I'm waiting for it to go on sale on Amazon! :)

Janie said...

TFIOS is one of my absolute favorites. I've read Room too.

Kyria @ Travel Spot said...

Wow, 70 books! That's really good! I barely squeaked out 58 and the last month was especially bad. However, I did really like Gone Girl as well, and Room and The Perks. I still haven't read the Sarah Jio books but am looking forward to it!

Crazy Shenanigans-JMO said...

Oh I love days like that! Glad to hear you enjoyed it! Can you believe i haven't read any of those books! I had a goal of 50 but with the move I only ended up with like 38 read. This year though!!