52 Books in 52 Weeks - Year End Wrap up

Here is my complete book list for 2012 in reverse order from December back to January:

Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by Thomas Newman

Blue Christmas: Now with More Holiday Cheer (New Recipes Too!) by Mary Kay Andrews
How I Came to Sparkle Again by Kaya McLaren
The Three Incestuous Sisters: An Illustrated Novel by Audrey Niffenegger
Calling Invisible Women by Jeanne Ray
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene Dubois
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
The Endless Forest by Sara Donati
The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Fire Along the Sky by Sara Donati
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
Lake in the Clouds by Sara Donati
Dawn on a Distant Shore by Sara Donati
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich
Freed to Live by Anne White
Perfect Nightmare by John Saul
Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich
Plum Lovin' by Janet Evanovich
The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown
Visions of Sugar Plums by Janet Evanovich
Trial by Fire by Anne White
Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson
Home by Toni Morrison
How It All Began by Penelope Lively
Tears of Autumn by Charles McCarry
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56 by Rafe Esquith
Things Fall Apart by Chinụa Achebe
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The True Memoirs of Little K by Adrienne Sharp
Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy by Nancy Leigh DeMoss
Insurgent by Veronica Roth
An Unexpected Guest: A Novel by Anne Korkeakivi
Letters from the Corrugated Castle by Joan Blos
Lethal by Sandra Brown
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Maid by Kimberly Cutter
Sarah Bishop by Scott O'Dell
The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta
This Beautiful Life by Helen Schulman
Book of Dreams by Davis Bunn
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
11/22/63 by Stephen King
New Found Land by Allan Wolf
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore
The Sunflower by Simon Wiesenthal
The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson
Why Read Moby-Dick? by Nathaniel Philbrick
The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern
Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund
Celia Garth by Gwen Bristow
Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich
Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich
Sketches by Eric Walters
Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love by Dava Sobel
The Tower, the Zoo and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Ladies' Night at Finbars Hotel edited by Dermot Bolger
How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill
The Ring by Bobbie Pyron
The Art of Racing in the Rain: A Novel by Garth Stein
The Midnight Zoo by Sonya Hartnett
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz

1) How many books did you read this year? 75

2) Did you meet or beat your own personal goal? Yes, my personal goal was 52 books read. One book a week seemed like it might be a stretch because I never kept track of my reading like this before.

3) Favorite book of 2012? Yes, you can list more than one and even break it down by genre if you choose.
Fiction:  Calling Invisible Women by Jeanne Ray

Inspirational: Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy by Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Historical Fiction/Poetry: New Found Land by Allan Wolf

4) Least favorite book of 2012 and why?
In fiction it would be The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
It wasn't nearly brief or wondrous enough for me.

Here is my complete review.  I didn't totally  pan it but I wanted to like it more.

My least favorite non-fiction pick would be A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson.  The only thing I discovered with Bill was that he was full of complaints and not very engaging.  If you want to read a good book on a walk in the woods try Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed.


5) One book you thought you'd never read and was pleasantly surprised you like it?
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

6) One book you thought you'd love but didn't?
The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene Dubois


7) One book that touched you - made you laugh, cry, sing or dance.
Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy by Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Calling Invisible Women by Jeanne Ray


8) Any new to you authors discovered and you can't wait to read more of their stories? Erin Morganstern, Veronica Roth, Sarah Blake, and Jeanne Ray


9) Name the longest book you read? Shortest?
Moby Dick seemed like the longest.  I read but didn't list Sarah, Plain and Tall and its sequels.  The kids and I loved these stories.

10) Name the most unputdownable book you read?
Calling Invisible Women by Jeanne Ray

11/22/63 by Stephen King
The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern

11) Book that had the greatest impact on you this year?
Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy by Nancy Leigh DeMoss


12) What book would you recommend everybody read?
Fiction:  Calling Invisible Women by Jeanne Ray
11/22/63 by Stephen King
The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern


Historical Fiction/Poetry:  New Found Land by Allan Wolf

Nonfiction:  The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson


13) Share your most favorite cover(s)
I really don't remember the covers.  I only remember the titles because I made the list.

14) Do you have a character you fell in love with?
There were so many memorable characters in Ahab's Wife and also I loved Uncle Tom.
15) What was your most favorite part of the challenge? Did you do any of the mini challenges?
 I loved keeping track of my reading and watching the list grow. 
I read Ahab's Wife and Moby Dick as part of a challenge.  I wouldn't have read either book otherwise.  I think I also read The Great Gatsby as part of a challenge.  I started reading Dr. Zhivago but bailed on that before I finished.  Too much snow and too many long train rides.


16) What are your goals for the new year? To read more non fiction? To dip your toes into a mystery or a urban fantasy or horror or romance? What book are you most looking forward to reading in 2013?
For 2013 I want to continue to read 52 books in 52 weeks.  More than that is really just gravy.  I also want to continue to read what I consider to be classics.  I added quite a few to my list this year and I like doing that.  I've been reading them as my children work through their history cycle.  They make me feel smarter.

The books I'm waiting for from my reserve list at the library are Gone Girl and Notorious Nineteen.