Reading in the year 2012.

Reading in 2012 produced 59 books. (23,464 pages) Not my greatest amount, but it does seem to be average for me.

I began 2012 with a book Debi sent me: The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A McKillip.... and guess what… I am ending 2012 with a book Debi gave me: The Dead Secret by Wilkie Collins!  I have come to really like Wilkie Collins.  He may have written a lot less then his friend Charles Dickens, and may not have been as famous.. but I like his writing better than Dickens! (but still like Dickens). I only read 2 Wilkie Collins books but I also did read one that was a small biography of Wilkie by Peter Ackroyd, and one book (Great Expectations) by Charles Dickens this year but I am pleased that I have come to like and read any of them!  Keeping with classics I also read Frances Burnett’s Secret Garden and Little Lord Fauntleroy. I think I did well with Classics in 2012!

This year is also the year I read more “reality” books such as autobiographies and history related books.

I read The Secret of Crickley Hall by a new author to me named James Herbert. And a few books by another author I had never read before, named Andrew Taylor which began with An Unpardonable Crime. Both very enjoyable reads.

I also read some series including, the Hood trilogy by Stephen R Lawhead , the Amber trilogy by Margaret Weis, and The Scions of Shannara series by Terry Brooks.  I also concluded a series I have been enjoying over the years by reading Michael Scott’s Enchantress.  I hated to see the end of that YA series which I enjoyed immensely!

Lastly, I re-read some of my Favorites! Drood by Dan Simmons (which I enjoyed every bit as much the second time around!).   The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien which I had wanted to read over before the movie came out, and my absolute favorite books ever: Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonflight, Dragonquest and the White Dragon.

As for Favorites :

For New Authors I liked Blacklands by Belinda Bauer and And Unpardonable Crime by Andrew Taylor.

But I have to say my absolute favorites are my rereads of Drood and The Dragonriders of Pern trilogy.  I doubt anything will ever top Anne McCaffrey, and so in a year where I reread them no one else stands a chance!

I want to give special mention to Michael Scott’s Enchantress, and I Am Half Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley because I have so enjoyed both series.

There were 2 books that surprised me that I even read them :, Citizens of London by Lynne Olson. It’s about as far away from fiction as one can get, recalling the time before and during WWII  when President Roosevelt entered the war to help Churchill/ England. The Other book is called Sisters by Mary Lovell and it’s about the Mitford Sisters.  I had never even heard of them before but they are quite famous in England.  One became the Duchess of Devonshire and another was in love with Hitler! Again, both were excellent reading.

As for movies:

I went to only 1 movie this year… but I did go twice. (heh) Of course it was The Hobbit.  How I love Peter Jackson’s version of The Hobbit.  I love it every bit as much as I loved his versions of Lord of the Ring. He always manages to take me right to NZ and to the Shire and keeps me entranced until his movie is over. I am so glad I lived to see the day that someone could make a fantasy movie as well as he has done.

Since I only went to one movie I feel a need to count television ..for only 2 reasons.

1)   11 hours straight of Roots! (I haven’t seen it since it aired in 1977 and it held up beautifully!) I had forgotten how many wonderful actors and actresses were in that movie and how fabulous everyone was!

2)   Lord of the Rings back to back trilogy.  After seeing the Hobbit it was good to see LoTR again. (yes, I own the movies but when movies I like come on tv I sit and watch!)

I guess that’s it for this year.  I set no goals in my reading for 2013… just that I enjoy whatever I read! 

So here’s a toast to 2013

…and to next May when Star Trek comes to the theaters

…and next December when the Hobbit returns!!!