2012 Reading List Review

As 2012 draws to a close, i have been looking over all the books i read during the year!

I used Goodreads to keep track of the books i’ve read, and set myself a challenge to read 80 books in 2012. I only realised just before Christmas that i wouldn’t be able to meet the target in time, so i reduced it to 70, which is still a reasonable target!

The good news is that i miscounted and actually read 71 books in 2012!

There has been a wide range of genres which i have covered over the year, and i have tried to review the books when i finished them (the only exceptions are Harry Potter and Twilight and a few others).

To see the full list, check out My 2012 Reading List

My favourite books i’ve read this year include ”The Hunger Games” trilogy

The Hunger Games (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Starcrossed” and “Starcrossed: Dreamless” by Josephine Angelini

I read a few classics which i’ve never read before now (or read properly), and my favourite of these was “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens! (see my book-review)

It was nice to read a lot of the classics outside of an academic environment, which i think made it a more enjoyable reading experience!

I’ve also re-read a few favourites from when i was younger, from Beatrix Potter’s Tales, through “I Capture The Castle” by Dodie Smith, to Grimm’s Fairy Stories”.

Books which i was either disappointed with or thought were awful include “Fifty Shades of Grey” (which i only read the first book of and got annoyed with), and “The Nightlife: New York (The Nightlife Series)” by Travis Luedke (too much sex, and has put me off reading the Vampire genre for a while!)

I have also read 8 translated fiction titles this year! For the full list, complete with links to my reviews, see my Translated Fiction page!

Hopefully, in 2013 i can beat the target 0f 70 books and hopefully get above 80!

I hope you’ve had a good year of reading, and that my list inspires you to read more of these excellent books!

My Latest Book Stuff

I’m afraid I’ve been a little bit neglectful of this blog for a little while, mainly due to going on holiday, working constantly and visiting people during my days off!

I recently bought the Harry Potter series on DVD, having only watched a few of them as I much preferred the books to the films.

Harry Potter 1-8 DVD Boxset

However, I have come to the conclusion that actually the films aren’t that bad, even though they leave out a lot of important details. I understand that they can’t include everything but some things which were left in don’t always make sense when a related detail has been taken out, for example, in the last film when Harry tells the spirit of Lupin that he is sorry he will not see his baby son, when actually nowhere in the film mentions that the baby even existed until now. Maybe it’s just me being all English-Student-Critic-y about it, but I could quite happily pull out a bunch of things wrong in the films! It’s quite hard for me to NOT analyse film adaptions of books! It means that most of my friends refuse to go to the cinema with me because I ruin it by saying what was wrong with the film!

Exciting news: I won a competition on Twitter! Stork Press (http://www.storkpress.co.uk) ran a comp to win a copy of Noémi Szécsi’s “The Finno-Ugrian Vampire”, asking Tweeters to complete the sentence “Vampires are…”. I was on a train into Birmingham at the time i spotted this comp and spent the (short!) journey composing my answer of “Vampires are… dark, brooding & sexy creatures, understood by few, loved by some & abhorred by the religious.” Happily, those few minutes spent trying to wake my brain up on the morning train gave me a winning sentence and I have just received my copy of the book! I’m so excited to read it, having discovered it a few months back and have been eagerly waiting for its publication!

My shiny new copy of “The Finno-Ugrian Vampire” by Noemi Szecsi!

I am also intrigued about J.K. Rowling’s new book for adults, “The Casual Vacancy” which was published recently. I have been wondering whether or not to read it, but I guess my curiosity about Rowling’s foray into adult fiction is winning despite the mixed reviews! So the book is now on my To-Buy-Wishlist!

The Casual Vacancy – J.K. Rowling (via Amazon)

Last Thursday (11th October) was “Super Thursday”, the day when publishers release their books ready for the Christmas rush. This year brings more celebrity biographies, but also some London Olympics-inspired books. Personally, I haven’t found many of these hardbacks suiting my taste, but I already have a list of books which I hope will appear under the Christmas tree in just over 2 months time!

Book Quote of the Day

At that moment, Harry fully understood for the first time why people said Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort had ever feared. The look upon Dumbledore‘s face as he stared down at the unconscious form of Mad-Eye Moody was more terrible than Harry could have ever imagined. There was no benign smile upon Dumbledore‘s face, no twinkle in the eyes behind the spectacles. There was cold fury in every line of the ancient face; a sense of power radiated from Dumbledore as though he were giving off burning heat.

 

- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling

Alphabet Author and A Book Challenge – R

Alphabet Author and A Book Challenge

Day: 18

Letter: R

Author: Rowling, J.K.

Chosen book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Read or To Be Read: Read

Thoughts: The final book in the phenomenal bestselling series! All the ends tied up, the villain vanquished, several sad moments, several joyous moments, and the glimpse into the future!

Book Quote of the Day

“Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all those who live without love.”
― Albus Dumbledore , Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling

My Book Status – July 2012

1. The last book I’ve read is … “Zeina” by Nawal el Saadawi

2. The book(s) I’m currently reading… “H10N1″ by M.R. Cornelius, and “The Queen’s English” by Bernard C. Lamb

3. The last bestseller I’ve read is… “Fifty Shades of Grey” by E. L. James

4. The last book I’ve bought/received is… “Starcrossed: Dreamless” by Josephine Angelini (ebook)

5. The book(s) I’ll be buying soon is/are… “Moranthology” by Caitlin Moran

6. My favorite children’s book is … “The Valley of Adventure” by Enid Blyton

7. My favorite Shakespeare piece is… “Romeo and Juliet”

8. Best period of literature: … The Victorian era

9. Emily Brönte or Jane Austen?… Jane Austen

10. My favorite poet(s) is/are… Gerard Manley Hopkins

11. My favorite literature character is… Cassandra Mortmain from “I Capture the Castle” by Dodie Smith

12. A book I could reread a thousand times is… The Harry Potter series!

13. A book I hated is… Never really hated a book, it’s more the characters!

14. If my life were a book, it would be… “Little Women” by Lousia May Alcott

15. My ritual when reading a book is… find a quiet corner and read it

16. Best places to buy books: Waterstones and Amazon.

17. The language(s) I read most of my books is… English.

18. Do you write? If so, what?: Occasionally, mainly poems, but sometimes stories.

19. Recommend a book: “Replica” by Lexi Revellian

Book Quote of the Day

“‘It doesn’t mean defeating death in the way the Death Eaters mean it, Harry,’ said Hermione, her voice gentle. “It means… you know… living beyond death. Living after death.”

But they were not living, Harry thought: they were gone. The empty words could not disguise the fact that his parents’ mouldering remains lay beneath snow and stone, indifferent, unknowing. And tears came before he could stop them, boiling hot and then instantly freezing on his face, and what was the point in wiping them off, or pretending? He let them fall, his lips pressed hard together, looking down at the thick snow hiding from his eyes the place where the last of Lily and James lay, bones now, surely, or dust, not knowing or caring that their living son stood so near, his heart still beating, alive because of their sacrifice and close to wishing, at this moment, that he was sleeping under the snow with them.”

- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling

15 Years of Harry Potter!

Today marks the 15th anniversary of  the publishing of the first Harry Potter!

Harry Potter 1-7 boxset (via Bloomsbury.com)

I remember the first time i came across Harry Potter: I was in Year 5 and about 10 years old. Our teacher had bought the first book and started reading it to us during Reading Time at the end of each school day. We were all magically silent and fascinated by the story, and i personally was impatient to read it by myself!

Funnily enough, i didn’t buy the first book for good few years: I ended up with Book 2 when i was off sick, and then started buying the rest as soon as they came out! I eventually bought Book 1 just before Book 4 came out! When my mum ordered Book 4 for me and my brother, i was so excited when it finally arrived that i couldn’t put it down all day, which wasn’t good when i was visiting my grandad and was completely distracted from what was going on around me!

The books just got better and better, and i was so sad when i went to buy my copy of the final book (a few days after it was released when the initial rush was over!).

The Harry Potter series is by far my favourite set of books, and i don’t care that my mum says i should have moved on from them by now (i’m in my 20′s!), i will always love them and never plan to get rid of my lovingly battered books! (Mum never read them, but plenty of adults have so i don’t know why i’d ever grow out of them!)

So, i will share some of my favourite things from the book series:

1. I loved: Ron and Hermione finally get together, after all the fighting and bickering!
2. I was pretty much in tears when: Dumbledore died and during his funeral. And when they killed off Fred!
3. I was very moved when: Harry finally got to visit his parents’ graves. And when Dudley showed how much he appreciated Harry saving his life.
4. Funny moment: When Dumbledore described finding the Room of Requirement full of toilets when he had “an exceptionally full bladder”. (A bit of toilet humour never goes amiss!)
5. My highlights: Hermione slapping Malfoy!
6. I never expected: To feel sorry for Aunt Petunia when she got rejected from Hogwarts for being a Muggle.
7. Biggest surprise: Snape turning out to be the hero.
8. I hated: Bellatrix Lestrange, particularly when she killed Sirius Black.

I’d like to send a big thankyou out there to J.K. Rowling for creating such a gem all those years ago!

J.K. Rowling ( via Bloomsbury.com)

What are your favourite things about the Harry Potter series?

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Related News:

Bloomsbury is running a competition to celebrate 15 years of Harry Potter by finding the biggest HP fan! See the link below for more information!

http://harrypotter.bloomsbury.com/hptrade