So as the year is coming to an end, I’ve busied myself with finishing the last novel I will read this year, Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. I made it and it was a delightful way to end the year. As I’m writing this, it’s the second to last day of the year, the Christmas tree is still looking pretty with it’s lights, flags and other decorations, the kids and the dog are asleep and even though it’s raining, it just feels so calm and peaceful. A perfect night to look back on what has been and forward to what will be.
This year saw me reading my way 44 books. Even though I had hoped to reach 52 books for the year, I’m happy to make it to 44, especially since I read a lot of chunksters. December saw me finishing 4 books.
- Jonathan Littell: The Kindly Ones. The genocide of the Jewish people during World War II told from the point of view of a SS-officer. Violent, boring, extremely long, fascinating. A very uneven book but with various redeeming factors. 3 stars.
- Elie Wiesel: Night. Night is the total opposite of The Kindly Ones. Extremely short, beautiful, haunting. A single Jewish survivor of various Concentration Camps bears witness to what he lived through during the last few years of the war. 5 stars.
- Ramona Ausubel: No One Is Here Except All Of Us. The people in a tiny Romanian village try to cope with the impending doom as the Nazis are getting closer. They shut themselves off from the world and try to start over. Not completely selling me on the premise but I liked it. 4 stars.
- Neil Gaiman: American Gods. Does a god exist if no one believe in him? Is there room in America for gods? Join Wednesday, Shadow and various people and gods, dead and alive, on this thrilling ride to discover whether the Americans believe in the old gods or in the new gods of Media, Internet and so on. 4 stars.
So that was it this month. Three books connected to World War II and then one last book which was something completely different. I enjoy it that way – both the themed reading as well as the changing of pace and theme.
But this picture is not really making me all that proud of myself. I really thought I would make it to 52 books this year. The previous years I’ve challenged myself to read 100 books but with two kids, I finally realized that was impossible. So instead I challenged myself to 1 book a week. And failed. I still believe I could have made it if I didn’t read all those chunksters, but hey, the most most important thing is to read the books one wants to read so I’m not going to sit down and cry about this. 2013 is another year 😉
And according to Goodreads, I did read 22.845 pages – so that’s pretty good, I think.
Anyways, a Year in Review post will follow so if you feel like it, you can see all kinds of statistics and other stuff, I felt like looking into about my reading in 2012.
(And yes, I know I’m still behind on writing reviews, but I promise, I will get them written!)
Related posts:
- October and November – ‘Monthly’ Wrap Up
- September 2012 – Monthly Wrap Up
- August 2012 – Monthly Wrap Up
- July 2012 – Monthly Wrap Up
- June 2012 – Monthly Wrap Up Post
- May 2012 – Monthly Wrap Up
- April 2012 – Monthly Wrap Up
- March 2012 – Monthly Wrap Up
- February 2012 – Monthly Wrap Up
- January 2012 – Monthly Wrap Up
The Literary Bunny 