I got all excited about this idea, because I love making lists. List writing is my THING. And I also love demonstrating my worldly, well-read knowledge. As my Christmas mug from my roommate says, “I like big books and I cannot lie.”
And then when I sat down and started writing my 2012 list of reading material, I was devastated. I’VE ONLY READ 16 BOOKS?
What has happened to me? Writers are supposed to EAT literature. INHALE IT. How can you be even a mediocre writer if you don’t READ? There is a science in words that only some people understand, and the rest of the world rarely appreciates.
/rant
(Okay, I know like one person who does this brilliantly. But that’s about it.)
So here’s what I read.
1. Little Women – Louisa May Alcott
2. The Olive Grove – Katherine Kizilos
3. Suzanne Collins – The Hunger Games
4. Suzanne Collins – Mockingjay
5. Suzanne Collins – Catching Fire
6. Matador Network – No Foreign Lands
7. Abby Heugel – Abby Has Issues
8. Graham Greene – The Power and the Glory
9. Jeffrey Eugenides – Middlesex
10. Donna Morrisey – Kit’s Law
11. Wayne Johnston – The Custodian of Paradise
12. Bobbi French – Finding me in France
13. Tatiana de Rosnay – Sarah’s Key
14. Gigi Griffis – And, Also, My Palms are Sweaty
15. John Mole – It’s all Greek to Me!
16. Charles O’Keefe – The Newfoundland Vampire
My goal for 2013 is to double that list, or at least get to 30. My love affair with books has been ongoing since I was a wee child at seven years old, bringing home my first novel (The Babysitters Club: Claudia and Mean Jeanine) and being skeptical about enjoying anything without pictures. After that, I’d bring home at least 5 books a week from the library (the limit) and eeny-meeny-mony-moe them because I couldn’t figure out which one to read first.
My friends will tell you I’m pulled to used bookstores like a magnet. Books are more than just great literature for more…their physical selves are important. Which is why I abhor both the e-book and the audio book. Such blasphemy.
Anyway. I ramble. Some notes on my reading list.
Favourite book(s) of 2012
The Hunger Game series. Seriously, I was blown away. I avoid over-hyped books like the plague, and tend to judge people who read them (i.e. Twilight). But these books were so amazingly well written and smart and wonderful and ACTION PACKED. I read them all within two weeks, and was devastated when the experience was over.
The book that made me want to be a better writer
Middlesex. Wayne Johnston better watch out, because he’s got some competition from Eugenides as my new favourite author.
Least favourite book
Little Women. I’m sorry, those girls were just terrible. If I knew them in real life, I’d kick each one in the shin.
Best travel literature
Bobbi French’s Finding me in France. She’s a fellow Newfoundlander, with all the wit to boot. Read it. READ IT.
Most surprising book
Kit’s Law. I’m wary of a lot of Newfoundland literature, because as I said before, most of it is hyped. Newfoundlanders tend to work within their own circles, and so I find a lot of the writing here insanely repetitive. BUT Kit’s Law was a great, fun read and I devoured it on the plane from Montreal to St. John’s. It made me happy to be home.
