Wednesday, January 2, 2013

My 2012 in Books

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope you had happy, healthy, fun, safe holidays.  Mine were crazy and chaotic and so much fun!  However, they detracted from my blogging time and from my reading time.  But now that it is January, I am back in the swing of things!  I promise.  Anyway, here is my aforementioned Best of 2012 list, by month.  Let me know what your favs from last year were.

Best Books of 2012
January One For The Money (Stephanie Plum, #1) Admittedly, I didn't read much in January.  I had surgery on the 12th and then was on pain pills for the rest of the month.  Ever tried reading, or concentrating, on pain pills?  Yeah, it doesn't work so much.  However, in January, I discovered the Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich.  Lighthearted and fun, they were perfect books for recovering from surgery.  Except when they made me laugh.  Laughing hurt.  Good for the soul, tho.

February - Um, according to Goodreads, I didn't read anything in Febraury.  I find this hard to believe, but I'm pretty good about updating my Goodreads account, so I can only assume this is correct.  Shocking but correct.  Yikes.

March The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1) My biggest fault is stubbornness.  I can be so bullheaded at times, and for at least a year, I was adamantly refusing to read The Hunger Games.  I know, I know.  I can only blame this on my stubbornness.  Anyway, while visiting friends in Atlanta, I was cajoled (read: nagged) into reading them.  And wow.  I fell hook, line and sinker.  LOVED.  And forced the books down everyone else's throats.

April The Strangers on Montagu Street (Tradd Street, #3) The third in a series I just love, I just couldn't wait for The Strangers On Montagu Street.  It's a ghost story set in Charleston, but has some romance thrown in there, too.  I loved it and can't wait for book 4!

May Wilde's Fire (Darkness Fall... May is always a big reading month for me, and last year was no different. I read 14 books that month (I guess I was making up for February).  But most exciting was a book I had technically read in 2011 (I beta read it) was released: Wilde's Fire.  I love this book, I love the author and was so happy to see its gorgeous cover for the first time.

June Wilde's Army (Darkness Falls, #2) When Maidens Mourn (Sebastian St. Cyr, #7)Also a big reading month for me, I'm choosing two books.  The second in the Darkness Falls series, Wilde's Army and When Maiden's Mourn, number 7 in the Sebastian St. Cyr mystery series.

July Divergent (Divergent, #1) I had planned on reading a ton on my week off before my brother's birthday.  Little did I know that I was about to remodel my parent's kitchen for them.  Worst vacation ever.  However, I did manage to read some fantastic books, one of which being Divergent.  Love love love this book.

August Wilde's Meadow (Darkness Falls, #3) Ever (Ever, #1)Although it didn't get released until November, I beta read Wilde's Meadow in August.  Most of my month was dedicated to mystery series (the remaining Stephanie Plum novels and the Body Movers series by Stephanie Bond) but the most exciting thing was to read the ending to this fabulous series by Krystal Dehaba.   I cried at the end, and loved every second of it.  It was hard to say goodbye to Encardia, but the loose ends up were tied up nicely so I wasn't disappointed.  I also got to proof read Ever by Jessa Russo and ended up staying up until 2 or 3 am to finish it.  I loved it and can't wait for book 2.

September Shadow of Night (All Souls Trilogy, #2) At the end of September, I finally started this blog!  I didn't read a ton because I was trying to figure out how to review books well, and have good content on here, but I did read a series I really enjoyed.  Even though book 1 was read in September as well as its sequel, it doesn't make the best of list.  That honor goes to Shadow of Night, book 2 in the All Souls Trilogy, the vampire-witch time travel romance.

October Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna, #1) This begins my first Netgalley reads, as well as banned book month and a ton of book reading.  I had a hard time picking a favorite for this month.  In fact, can I skip it?  I read too many fantastic books!  Ok, I guess I'll give October to Anna Dressed in Blood.  But only because you're making me choose.

November Ready Player One I was a child in the 80s and all my favorite movies are from that decade.  Not a huge fan of the music or the fashion, but I still have such warm, nostaligic feelings for the 80s that reading Ready Player One was a fun trip down memory lane...while being set in a dystopian future.  It was fun and lighthearted and would have made an awesome movie in the 80s.  Right up there with The Last Starfighter.

December The Twelve Clues of Christmas (Her Royal Spyness Mysteries, #6) I would like it known that I read 2 fantastic books this month, but neither of them have been published, so I can't put them up.  But I would like it to be noted that I will review them eventually, so be prepared for awesomeness. Luckily, I also read some other great books, and my December pick revolves around Christmas is from one of my favorite series: The Twelve Clues of Christmas.  Seriously, go read about Lady Georgie.  They're such fun books with a hint of humor and romance.

12 comments:

  1. Yay! I'm featured on here...and Jessa! I think I nagged you to read Hunger Games, but you ignored me! I'm pretty sure I got you to read Divergent, too. You coerced me into reading Anna Dressed in Blood, which I loved. So many good books; so little time.

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    1. You did tell me to read Hunger Games and yes, I did ignore you. But since then I've listened to everything you've told me to do. :) And I can't remember if you got me into Divergent or not. I think it might have been on my list from a Goodreads review, but honestly, I don't remember.

      Yay for Anna!

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  2. Yay! Thank you for including me! <3

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    1. You are welcome! You can thank me by writing book two. :p

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  3. Great list - Hope you have a great 2013!

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  4. I think this is a much more interesting way to wrap up 2012 than some of the surveys that just seem to go on forever! Shadow of Night and Divergent are two I've been meaning to read and I really want to get to in 2013.

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    1. Thanks! I read one of those surveys and yeah, it went on and on and on...I have too short of an attention span for that. LOL. Doing 1 book per month almost took too much attention!

      Divergent was so very very good. Shadow of Night is good, but it the series kind of reminds me of Outlander, but with vampires, witches and demons. Only not 800-1000 pages per book.

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    2. Well I LOVE Outlander so now I'm thinking I need to read that Shadow of Night even more :)

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    3. Well read book 1 first: A Discovery of Witches. Hope you enjoy!

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  5. Hey Sus!

    Great to see you again!! :) Glad to hear that you are recovering well.

    Some awesome books on the list!! Hunger Games is amazing, isn't it?

    If you love the eighties, I would recommend checking out "The Catastrophic History of You and Me" I thought it was going to be too young for me. I read mostly YA, but this book seemed like it was on the younger spectrum of YA, where I usually prefer the older.

    However, I checked it out and it was such a fun, cool read that it ended up being one of my absolute faves of 2012. The author (Jess Rothenberg) has the voice of a teenage girl SO down!! And the girl in the book loves the eighties, so there are a ton of fun pop culture references to that time period.

    You should definitely check it out sometime. Happy New Year and hope you have an awesome 2013!

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    1. Happy New Year, Tamara! :)

      I will definitely look into that book. Sounds like it's right up my alley. Thanks so much! If you have any other book suggestions, always feel free to toss them my way.

      Sus

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