Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012

Blog 2011

So my fellow bookworms it is time to say goodbye to 2011 and hello to 2012! Happy New Year!

What better way to spend New Year’s Day then to reflect on what we read last year, now I’m never very sure how best to sum up a whole year’s reading material, but last year I gave this meme a go and it seemed to work great. So the meme returns this year too. I apologise that some of the questions I have answered with more than one choice…it was just SO hard to choose just one in some cases!

Best Book of 2011: The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins and Emotional Geology – Linda Gillard

Worst Book of 2011: Native American Myth & Legend – Mike Dixon-Kennedy [Part-Read]

Most Disappointing Book of 2011: The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower – Stephen King

Most Surprising (In A Good Way!) Book of 2011: Mr Monster – Dan Wells

Most Recommended-to-Others Book of 2011: Emotional Geology – Linda Gillard

Best Series You Discovered in 2011: Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan.

Favourite New Authors Discovered in 2011: Dan Wells, Rick Riordan, Linda Gillard, and Suzanne Collins.

Most Hilarious Read of 2011: Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons

Most Thrilling, Unputdownable Book of 2011: The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins

Most Anticipated Book of 2011: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest – Stieg Larsson

Favourite Cover of a Book You Read in 2011: Persuasion – Jane Austen

Most Memorable Character in 2011: Lisbeth Salander from Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series but with strong competition from Katniss Everdeen from Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games trilogy.

Most Beautifully Written Book of 2011: Emotional Geology – Linda Gillard

Book That Had the Greatest Impact on You in 2011: The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath

Book You Can’t Believe You Waited Until 2011 to Read: Persuasion – Jane Austen and The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins

For a comparison why not check out my 2010 Reflection as well. Now for a few more interesting stats:

Books Read: 45 (down 3 from last year)

Books Reviewed: 38

Books Re-Read: 3

Fiction: 38

Non-Fiction: 2

Poetry: 5

Multiple Reads of an Author: Rick Riordan (5), J K Rowling (3), A M Harte (2), Allan Richard Shickman (2), Dan Wells (2)

Ambitions for 2011: My ambition for this year was to read more non-fiction and poetry which I succeeded in, but only in small amount so for next year I would like to continue to grow this.

Overall I feel 2011 has been a wonderful reading year for me. I have read slightly less than last year but my reading has been far more diverse; thanks to my own personal goals of reading more poetry and non-fiction but also due to the two reading challenges I took part in. What about all of you?

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18 thoughts on “Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012

  1. This is a great wrap up post – well done!

    Interesting that your two most memorable characters this year are both women, and strong, fighting women as well. I’ve only watched the movies but I love Lisbeth Salander. She is so kick-ass and individual.

    Also, The Bell Jar. It’s one of my favorite books. I remember being completely blown away by the writing and the subject matter and thinking, man, I wish I could write like that haha.

    This year I def. want to read more non-fiction and poetry, so I’m going to take a leaf out of your book and make that my reading resolution.

    You seem like you’ve had a great year reading wise, very diverse choices. Looking forward to seeing what you read this year 🙂

    1. Aw thank you Toni!

      I hadn’t really thought about it before, but your right both my favourite characters are strong women, that probably says something about me lol. I haven’t seen the original film adaptations but I am looking forward to the new one with Daniel Craig in 😉

      With us both having similar reading resolutions, we will have to keep a close eye on what each other are up to. Good luck for the new year!

  2. I must know, what made The Bell Jar have such an impact on you?

    Good job with your reading! Your diversity has really increased since we first became book blogging friends. 🙂

    1. Through out the MIA reading challenge I read a lot of books that I easily sympathised with, however The Bell Jar I didn’t at first, and it is that fact that made me realise I was not as open minded as I thought I maybe was. So in turn I think The Bell Jar is the book I personally learnt the most from.

      I think that I’m reading a more diverse selection of books is what I’m most proud of from starting this blog 🙂

    1. I found Emotional Geology to be a really refreshing read, and I am not the only one, quite a few blogs I read all enjoyed this and other books of Gillard’s. So definitely someone you might want to try.

      Happy New Year to you too 🙂

  3. Overall a good year Jessica. Thanks for introducing the MIA challenge. Did you notice your book covers are all very striking? Happy New Year to you and your family.

    1. Thank you Jo! Actually yes but I didn’t notice till I came to picking a favourite cover and suddenly realised I had read lots of books with really interesting covers…I can be a real sucker for a cover though 😛

      Happy New Year to you and your family too Jo.

  4. You have read a wide range of books, a lot of them I do not think I would have picked up!

    I am glad you liked Linda Gillards work – do try and read House of Silence if you get the chance this year!

    1. Oh I am certainly planning to read House of Silence as Linda was kind enough to provide me with a review copy, watch this space as I don’t think I’ll wait long to get around to it!

  5. For some reason, I stopped reading the Percy Jackson series after the third book. I should remedy that! One of my goals is also to read more non-fiction. 🙂 I’m glad this year was wonderful reading for you and I hope 2012 brings you more of the same!

    1. Thank you Meghan! And yes you should definitely give Percy Jackson another go, I think I remember the middle book not being the best maybe that put you off a little? But trust me I think it really picks back up in book 4 and 5 🙂

  6. Wow! What an amazing start to 2012! Thank you so much, Jessica, for citing EMOTIONAL GEOLOGY in all those categories. It’s a great honour to be featured in your end of year list and in such illustrious company. :-)))

    Since you enjoyed COLD COMFORT FARM (I too love that book), you might also enjoy my HOUSE OF SILENCE which was written as a sort of homage to CCF. I wondered how CCF might have turned out if it had been done “straight”, ie not as an uproarious comedy.

    1. Your very welcome Linda, Emotional Geology did really deserve to be mentioned as one of my favourite reads of the year. The more I hear about House of Silence the more I can’t wait to read it 🙂

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