2011: Your Reading.

[bellatrix93]

We had a 'Share your Favourites' thread for 2010, so I thought to start a similar thread for the last year, .

So.. How was your reading? Have your reached the goal you set for yourself?
Have you read books for new authors?
What was your favourite book of the year? Least favourite?
Have you left any book unfinished?
What book would you recommend for others to read?

[lvngbooks]

So.. How was your reading? Have your reached the goal you set for yourself?
I read a lot of books in 2011! I made myself a goal of 100 at the beginning of the year, and thought it was ridiculously high aimed. I reached my goal in September I believe and eventually managed to read 130 books.


Have you read books for new authors?
Yes! To be honest, a lot of the books I've read were by authors I hadn't even heard of in 2010, mainly because I wasn't really into reading then. But I've discovered so many well known and also less well known authors.


What was your favourite book of the year? Least favourite?
You're asking me to pick one from 130 titles? *pulls hair out in frustration* I think it would be Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver as my favorite, but I also loved The Hunger Games, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Heroes of Olympus, Divergent, Angelfire, A Touch Mortal and Across the Universe, for example.

Least favorite was by far The Host by Stephenie Meyer. I tried to read it, I really did, but I felt like ripping the thing to pieces when I was halfway, so I put it down. It's the only book that got one star from me this year, even though it wasn't the only book I didn't finish.

Have you left any book unfinished?
Yup. Sad, because I usually push through and try to finish the book anyway even if I'm not really liking it (I'm weird like that, I want to know what happens). Like I said, I gave up on The Host, but I also gave up on Nightshade by Andrea Cremer. I had such high hopes for that book, but it was all about the stupid love triangle and I didn't like the love interest. I expected a werewolf book, but instead I got a romance book with a little bit about wolves.


What book would you recommend for others to read?
If I have no idea what that person likes, I'd recommend The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. That book had me literally on the edge of my seat and I was completely anxious while reading the Arena scenes. Definitely recommended.


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2011 was an amazing reading year Even though I technically refound my love for reading in 2010, 2011 was the year that I really took advantage of being able to read and I've read so many awesome books. It makes me curious to see what 2012 will bring!

[Wab]

Having finished some post-grad study I finally had a lot of time to read for pleasure and found myself re-reading a lot. But I'll take my selection from previously unread stuff.

Best Fiction: The Plot Against America, by Philip Roth & 11/22/63 by Stephen King which I just realised are both alternative histories.

Best Non-fiction: 36 Days, Hugh Dolan & Selling Hitler, Robert Harris

Worst Fiction: Digital Fortress by Dan Brown, but Garrison Keillor's Pilgrims was very disappointing. That said, that's of books I read to the end.

Worst Non-fiction: The Evolution of Australia Foreign Policy 1938-1965, Alan Watt. Not bad, but painfully dull.

[leah49]

Have your reached the goal you set for yourself?
My goal was 50 books and I read 53.

Have you read books for new authors?
New to me, yes.

What was your favourite book of the year?
The Mimic's Own Voice by Tom Williams

Least favourite?
You Don't Sweat Much For a Fat Girl by Celia Rivenbark

Have you left any book unfinished?
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley...that is if I tried reading it last year. I don't remember.

What book would you recommend for others to read?
The Mimic's Own Voice by Tom Williams

[RikuStark]

How was your reading? Have your reached the goal you set for yourself?
I've read quite a few books this year, but did not reach my goal. I was hoping to read 50 books, but only read 33! It seems like every year I read less and less, so little time and all that.
Have you read books for new authors?
Yes, plenty.
What was your favourite book of the year? Least favourite?
My favorite book this year is probably The Girl of Fire and Thorns. My least favorite is Hexbound because it did not live up to my expectations. The first book in the Dark Elite series was just so much better. I still read the third book though.
Have you left any book unfinished?
Oh, definitely! To name few, A Game of Thrones, The Demon Trappers Daughter, and In the Woods. I actually really hope to finish all of these Someday.
What book would you recommend for others to read?
A Girl of Fire and Thorns, Prisoners in the Palace, Jane. I know that's more than one book, but these were exceptionally good.

[bellatrix93]

How was your reading? Have your reached the goal you set for yourself?

I set a goal of thirty books at the beginning of the year, and I reached it some time in September, so I extended the goal to fourty, and I reached that as well. I had read 41 books in total. 2011 was much better than 2010, in reading. Also I had finished all Austen's novels last year, .

Have you read books for new authors?

Yes! Actually, most of the books I read this year were for authors I hadn't known about or read anything for, before. I had discovered some great authors including: Jerry Spinelli, Suzanne Collins, Sara Gruen and Kazuo Ishiguro. Even though I didn't like all of thier books, or had some problems with what I've read of their books, they definitely stood as out as original, .

What was your favourite book of the year? Least favourite?
I'm finding it a bit difficult to choose one favourite, because I came across a lot of beautiful books, but anyways, my favourites include: The Hunger Games, Love, Stargirl and Sense and Sensibility. There are other books which left an impression on me and left me thinking about for a long time, even though I didn't particularily love them, an example about that is Neve let me go. It was amazing. But disturbing.

My least favourite would probably be The Naming, by Allison Croggon and Until you by Judith McNaught. I'd been looking forward to read the first one and was deeply disappointed by its LotR-ishness. I love LotR, but the immitation was obvious and rather bad, in my opinion. Perhaps I might like it better if I read the sequel, but the sequel isn't high on my to-read list, .
The last one was a sequel to a randomly picked book that I liked, and I was puzzled at the difference between the two. I actually wondered if they were written by the same writer, .

Have you left any book unfinished?

Yes. I tried A Game of Thrones, but I couldn't get through it. I might pick it again some time, but again, it's not high on my to-read list.

What book would you recommend for others to read?

The Hunger Games is worth a read, in my opinion. So far I haven't seen anybody who read the book and 'disliked' it. Definitely not the first one. I would also recommend Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, and Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, (officially I finished this one in 2012, but I read most of it in 2011, so...). This book was...magical, .

[Yoana]

Have your reached the goal you set for yourself?

I was short by one - I read 24 books, my goal was 25.

Have you read books for new authors?

Yes.

What was your favourite book of the year? Least favourite?

My favourite book of the year and possibly ever was Jane Eyre. Least favourite was My Uncle Oswald by Roald Dahl.

Have you left any book unfinished?

No, I try not to do that.

What book would you recommend for others to read?

Jane Eyre, Eating Animals by Jonathan Safron Foer, The Blind Assassin and The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.

[yorkiedoodle]

Have your reached the goal you set for yourself?

I didn't have a goal - this year I do - I aim to read 30 books.

Have you read books for new authors?

Yes - I am a member of a book group - 1 of the joys of it is discovering authors I have never read before!

What was your favourite book of the year? Least favourite?

My favourite book of the year was Family Album by Penelope Lively. My least favourite was Betrayal by Helen Dunmore - not because it was badly written - it wasn't, but the subject matter was too grim!

Have you left any book unfinished?

No - I try to finish all books so we can have a proper debate at book group.

What book would you recommend for others to read?

Sacred Country by Rose Tremain and To kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee

[freelantzer]

How was your reading? Have your reached the goal you set for yourself?
I didn't reach my goal of 40 books. I finished 30 and am in the middle of another right now. I had my students writing essays every other week so I spent most of my year reading those. My book reading is done mostly in the summer and winter break.

Have you read books for new authors?
Yes, quite a few. I always have to reread the books I teach over and over each year, and I did a lot of rereading of personal books, too, but I did read quite a few new to me authors as well.

What was your favourite book of the year? Least favourite?
My favorite books were The Book Thief, which takes a while to get in to but is absolutely beautiful, and World War Z which is a series of interviews or vignettes about the aftermath of the zombie war written as though it were non fiction. Very cool.

I guess my least favorite would be Mockingjay and the whole Hunger Games trilogy really because it just didn't live up to the hype for me. They were good, but they had so much more potential that Collins didn't or couldn't capitalize on. She set up many issues that she just didn't or couldn't deliver upon. I was disappointed.

Have you left any book unfinished?
Yes, I had to leave Jim Butcher's Ghost Story unfinished when school started, though I will finish it some time soon. I also left The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig because of school, too. I might come back to this one, but it's not top priority. I'm in the middle of reading Peace Like a River but just didn't finish it in 2011.

What book would you recommend for others to read?
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, World War Z by Max Brooks, and even though I'm not quite finished with it yet, Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. And for people who enjoy young adult books, Unwind by Neal Shusterman.

[lilyrose]

Have your reached the goal you set for yourself?
Nope. I wanted to read 50, but I ended up with just 24, though admittedly I had a lot of (excellent) academic journals, papers to read that I haven't counted here. But it was a case of quality over quantity with the books I read, so I'm not really too disappointed. I also finally managed to finish reading Mansfield Park, which in my opinion, is an Austen worth reading for its unconventional story and characters.

Have you read books for new authors?
Yes. Authors new to me, that is. EM Forster, Helen Simonson, Elizabeth Gaskell (for Wives and Daughters), Dodie Smith, Alan Bennett, Rajmohan Gandhi and Anita Desai (for Fasting, Feasting) were my favourites.

What was your favourite book of the year? Least favourite?
Favourites:
Fiction: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith for being a beautifully written, unforgettable, coming of age novel. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett: a delightful treat for booklovers. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson: a sensitive, charming romance. A Passage to India by EM Forster: a classic that offers a useful perspective of the interaction between cultures that shaped the British Raj.

Non-fiction:
Rajmohan Gandhi's biography of his grandfather Mohandas: A True Story of a Man, His People and an Empire is a superb, painstakingly-researched masterpiece, that is as brutally honest about its subject as the Mahatma would have wanted it to be. I'd pick this for my 'book of the year'. The Great Partition by Yasmin Khan: A must-read for anyone who wants to understand India and Pakistan. Gender in International Relations by J Ann Tickner, for being one of the definitive works on the subject. Just and Unjust Wars by Michael Walzer who is an authority on the topic which seems to grow more important by the day.

Least favourite:
Jackdaws by Ken Follett. It was so predictable and reminded me why I haven't been reading Follett for long.

Have you left any book unfinished?
Unfortunately, I've left many a book unfinished in 2011.

What book would you recommend for others to read?
I'd recommend all the books I've mentioned as my non-fiction favourites, for people who are interested in the topics they deal with. Fiction-wise, I'd certainly recommend I Capture the Castle, A Passage to India and The Uncommon Reader.

[Morning_Star]

How was your reading? Have your reached the goal you set for yourself?
Every year, my goal is to read more books than I did the year before. I read about five books more in 2011 than in 2010, so yes, I reached my goal.

Have you read books for new authors?
Depends on what you mean with new authors. New to me: yes. Newly published: I don't think so. Though I did start a book near the end of 2011 that I think is from a new author.

What was your favourite book of the year? Least favourite?
Hmmm. I'll answer the easiest part of that first: Least favourite book was Popular Music from Vittula by Mikael Niemi. I had to read it for school, and I don't know why, but I really didn't like it. At all. It wasn't my kind of book, which might have something to do with it, but the story wasn't that good, and the writing was rather poor in my opinion. Apparently, it's won some awards or got nominated for some, and most of the critics I've read loved it, but I have a hard time seeing why.

Now for the hard part. I loved reading Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book for my brother, but I've read it before, so I'm not sure it counts - and I read so many other great books last year. Same goes for Tolkien's The Silmarillion, and Gaiman's Sandman books.

I read a couple of series that I loved, A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, and The Dark Tower by Stephen King, and a few Terry Pratchett books, all of which I really liked. I also read some of Brandon Sanderson's books, but I don't think any of them reach my lists of favourite books, though I'll be very interested to see where his Stormlight Archive series goes.

I've made up my mind. Favourite books (can't pick just one) I read in 2011, are The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, and The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams.

Have you left any book unfinished?
I don't do that. If I start a book, I mean to finish it, and I'm too stubborn to stop no matter what. In my whole life, I've only left one book unfinished. So, no, I haven't. Though I haven't finished all of the books yet - I started about 7 books in 2011 that I didn't have time to finish before the end of the year, but I'm working on them now. I would do better if I read one book at the time, but I have so many excellent books I haven't read yet, I can't choose which one should get all my focus!

What book would you recommend for others to read?
All of them, except the one I didn't like. No, I'm joking (not really, except I'd like someone else's opinion on Popular Music from Vittula), but I really recommend The Salmon of Doubt. It was excellent. Probably not as much if you're not a fan of Douglas Adams, but I think it would still be interesting.


That was fun - I had to look up all the books I read on Shelfari in 2011 (not all of them are there, Shelfari isn't very good when it comes to Norwegian books), and I just realised how many amazing books I read in 2011. I seldom read books I don't like (I'm amazing at finding new books that I end up really liking), but I think bookwise, last year was the best year of my life.

[SusanBones]

So.. How was your reading? Have your reached the goal you set for yourself?
My only goal was to keep a list of books I had read so that I would be ready for a list like this. I read a lot of good books this year. Some of them were recommendations from people here at CoS, some of them my coworkers or family recommended. A few were books that were made into movies, and I wanted to read the book first.

Have you read books for new authors?
All of the books were from authors that I hadn't read before. I had read a lot of series in prior years, and I wanted to get away from series this year. Some of the books were the author's first book, a few of them, like Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park), Vladimir Nabokov (Lolita) and Wallace Stegner (Angle of Repose) were from authors who had published quite a few books.

What was your favourite book of the year? Least favourite?
I had read a lot of good books this year, but my favourite of the bunch was The Sunne in Splendor by Sharon Kay Penman, a historical fiction about Richard III. I love historical fiction, and this was a good one. There were a few light-hearted stories with a wonderful "feel good factor" that I loved, like Major Pettigrew's Last Stand and The Uncommon Read, too.

My least favourite book was Lolita. I wasn't fond of the characters at all. I since I don't speak French, the inclusion of French throughout the book was annoying. I read this book because I always like to include a book that is a famous, "must read" book. Well, now I can check this one off the list.

Have you left any book unfinished?

Cleopatra - The author began the book by telling us how little we actually know about Cleopatra, and then proceeded to tell us all these things that he assumed she did. That statement invalidated the book for me, and I couldn't enjoy it. I will stop reading a book that I don't like and I may have returned one or two others that I didn't write down in my list.