Top Ten(ish) Books I Read in 2012

Reminder: This list refers to books I read in 2012, not necessarily books that were published only in 2012.

Best Overall:

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

I thought this was one of the best books I’ve ever read, and had difficulty doing it justice with a review. Other reviews go there first, and used the words that echoed my thoughts: exquisite; extraordinary; tough; damn near genius; heart-wrenching; brimming with joy; elegantly plotted; touching valentine to the human spirit; beautiful, shining sentences that you just want to underline in every single colour and cut out and put on the wall and glue onto postcards; freaking amazing….

Best Non-Fiction:

Devil in the Grove by Gilbert King

This masterful and riveting non-fiction book, subtitled “Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America” is about some of the bravest men in the history of this country. It is a useful corrective to anyone who thought (from reading The Help, for instance) that Jim Crow America wasn’t so bad. Or worse, those who thought that what was described in The Help was as bad as it got!

New-to-Me Author I Fell In Love With:

On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

I loved this intricately plotted, expertly structured book, which won the 2009 Michael L. Prinz Award for literary merit in a book for teens. The author impressed me so much, I immediately ordered her other books, and loved them as well, especially The Piper’s Son and its predecessor, Saving Francesca, both of which I also highly recommend.

Most notable writing:

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

This magical story drew me deep into its world with the enchanting, almost photo-quality sharpness and loveliness of the imagery. The author’s ability to chart the evolution of the marriage of the main protagonists is just extraordinary.

Best dystopia:

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

I loved this post-apocalyptic story; it has it all: adventure, bravery, love, danger, suspense, tenderness, betrayal, and loyalty. But the love is really the best part. And I don’t just mean the love between the adults, but also the tenderness and devotion between the adults and children. There’s something in this book for everyone, whether you like post-apocalyptic books, medieval tales of tribes and bravery, or just plain old swoony love stories.

Most Heartwarming – Middle Grade:

Flyaway by Lucy Christopher

A touching, uplifting, and all around wonderful story.

Most Stunning Impact:

Stolen by Lucy Christopher

I read this book with my mouth open and eyes wide the whole time! There are basically only two characters: 16-year-old Gemma, and 24-year-old Ty. The book is written in the form of a letter sent from Gemma to Ty. You won’t want to put down this absorbing portrait of two shattered people who navigate through their angst and fear and rage in search of healing and renewal, and you won’t soon forget it.

Most Twisted (Double Entendre):

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

The story offers a mordant commentary on the nature of relationships, putting in stark relief the Janus-faced possibilities of marriage: we want to be our best selves for our spouse, but it is also far too easy to disintegrate into our worst selves as well.

Biggest Surprise:

11/22/63 by Stephen King

This is not a stereotypical Stephen King horror book at all, but a time travel tale involving the assassination of President Kennedy and the desire to change history, and a beautiful and bittersweet love story. It is a very long book, so get ready to spend a lot of time with the characters – enough to miss them dearly when you are done reading.

Most Necessary to Read if You Follow the Series:

Phantom by Jo Nesbo

I hesitated to add this one, because it definitely should not be read as a standalone book, for reasons, needless to say, I can’t tell you!

This is the latest police detective thriller in the Harry Hole series, and it brings back a number of characters from earlier books. On the surface it is a dark, gritty tale about competing drug gangs in Oslo, but the story goes much, much deeper. It is a must read for Harry Hole fans, but don’t pick it up until you have read the books that precede it!

Overall Impressions

This was not the best reading year for me. Although there were a few gems, such as the books shown above, for the most part I could compile a much bigger list of “Most Disappointing” books.

Here’s hoping for a better 2013!!!

Sunday Salon – In Which I Actually Assent To A Personal Meme – Twenty Things About Me

Twenty Things About Me

1. I love orreries – the more unusual, the better. (An orrery is a model illustrating the relative positions and motions of the planets and moons in the Solar System.) If I could, I’d have them sitting and hanging everywhere.

This one shows Liverpool at the center of the universe, but except for that one aberration, it is a beautiful example of an innovative orrery

2. I love the word hermeneutics. If Jim and I ever get the two dogs we would like to have, I could see naming them Herman and U-ticks, although since we have already picked out names (Deuterium and Tritium, or, more familiarly, Doody and Tritty) we probably need FOUR dogs.

3. I love raw dough. It is a struggle to get myself to finish baking cake or cookies or brownies when all that great raw dough is right there for the taking.

4. I love being surprised in a book. It could be because it is so good and I hadn’t expected that, or it could be a great twist (as with Fingersmith by Sarah Waters or Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn), or it could be that the book gave me a great insight. Or it could be that, like To Be Sung Underwater by Tom McNeal, (paraphrasing poet Seamus Heaney) it caught my heart off guard and blew it open.

5. I love when I plant something and it actually grows instead of dying. This is such a rare occasion it gives me the greatest joy.

6. I love conveniences that I don’t take for granted even though I was born at a time when we’ve always had these things: indoor plumbing, electric lights, heating and cooling, showers…..

7. Roadside wildflowers make me very happy.

8. I love toponymy (the study of the origin of place names). Whenever we go on a road trip, I take along a relevant book (such as one of my favorites that pretty much works for the whole southwest: The Place Names of New Mexico by Robert Julyan). Knowing the background for the names of, e.g., Truth or Consequences, New Mexico or Show Low, Arizona gives you a whole new insight into the place.

9. I love outsized stuff and undersized stuff: like baby vegetables or baby ketchup bottles or giant roadside attractions. (…which is, by the way, why I like Las Vegas, in spite of the fact that I don’t gamble, shows are too expensive, I’m allergic to cigarette smoke, and I get apoplectic over all the female exploitation going on. Because if you can ignore all that (LOL), there are all those miniaturized places that are so fun to see!)

10. I love book festivals. What a great opportunity for us to get to hear some fine minds in action!

National Book Festival in Washington, D.C., September 2011

11. I love magazines

12. I love street art

Seen while at BEA in New York in 2011

13. I love hot and cold together (e.g., hot fudge sundae)

14. I love racing my husband in puzzles and games – especially when I win.

15. I love encountering outstanding turns of phrase by an author. For me, no one beats Michael Chabon at that: take this example from The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay: “the trumpeting of foghorns and melancholy steamships” under a sky that is “a bright superman blue” and “cloudless but for one lost lamb overhead.” Great or what?

16. My favorite star is Betelgeuse.

Betelgeuse, a red supergiant, is expected to go supernova anytime now in the next million years! I check it regularly….

17. The person I’d most like to have a gossip session with is Cleopatra. She was purportedly not as attractive as the many women who have portrayed her in film, and probably looked like this coin that she approved:

But this amazing woman, the last Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, had affairs with both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, and supposedly had remarkable political savvy.

18. My favorite movie genre is musicals – usually, the older the better.

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers

19. We hold birthday celebrations for Isaac Asimov, Richard Feynman, and Galileo Galilei. (Unfortunately, Galileo’s birthday – February 15 – is also Feynman’s death day, so that’s usually double tribute day.)

A young Richard Feynman

20. If I could be a different person, I’d be one of those women who lived in an old-fashioned looking house (but with all the modern conveniences and wiring and so on) and it would be full of quilts (that I made, of course) and peonies (that I grew) and herb baskets and spices and jams and colorful everything, and it would always be clean (miraculously: not by my own efforts) and everything would be bright and breezy (wait, am I segueing into a song from The King and I?) and I would sort of waft through and gravitate from cozy chair to cozy chair with whatever book struck me at the moment except when I was making pasta from scratch for dinner which would only take 20 minutes or so because, after all, I would want time to sit out in the English country style garden with the lilacs and morning glories and poppies and snapdragons and so on, which I would be able to do without sneezing.

Bloggiesta Time and Help Wanted!

This year I will be participating in Bloggiesta, sponsored by Maw Books Blog, at least for today.

As Natasha of Maw Books Blog explains:

Some of you may be asking what is Bloggiesta? In short, it’s a blogging marathon. A opportunity to cross those nagging items off of your to-do list and improve your blog while in the good company of other awesome bloggers doing the same thing. Our awesome mascot Pedro (Plan. Edit. Develop. Review. Organize) is ready to break out the nachos, enchiladas, drinks, mariachi music and whack a pinata or two! It’s nothing short of an awesome fiesta!

I plan to update links and tags, which means Google Reader will be inundated by me with “new posts” that aren’t really new. I hope you will check the dates of posts to distinguish between what is new and what isn’t! I may even try to weed out my Reader, which has grown into such a gargantuan creature that it is probably ready to develop consciousness! And for sure I need to back up my blog (which I forgot until I read Amanda’s to-do list).

 

Help Wanted!!!

What I really want to do the most, is to fix the genres I use to designate the whole suspense/mystery/cozy/crime/historical setting/Gothic/police-procedural/legal procedural/espionage/thriller/escapist thing. Right now I just use “mystery-cozy” and “mystery-thriller.” Obviously WAY inadequate! Anyone have any good ideas about the best way to divide these books so that you can actually tell one from the other? And should some be sub-categories of others? I need help!!! [Full disclosure: I went to library school, but, ummmm, I think I forgot to pay attention a great deal of the time...]

I did already ask Caite of A Lovely Shore Breeze, I should mention, since she is a big mystery buff and obviously has all her mental facilities in working order. She immediately came up with a GRID, no less:

Any other contributions on thoughts on this matter? What, for example, would you call the Stieg Larsson books?

Arm Chair BEA – How Do I Get to Actual BEA Next Year?

What’s an Armchair BEA, Anyway?

Armchair BEA is the “at home” version of actual attendance at the Book Expo America this week in New York City. So many bloggers who are going are excited about it, and so many who aren’t are sad, that several clever bloggers put together this program so that we all may attend, at least virtually. You can read more about Armchair BEA here. You can also find out who else is participating here.

My topic for Armchair BEA is:

How Can I Get There Next Year?

I figure on $1000 as a target budget. A lot will depend, of course, on how far away from New York you are, and whether you can take a train or a plane, etc. But let’s pick $1000. If it’s too much, and you reach that goal anyway, perhaps you can get front row seats to a Broadway play! But this amount means you need to save approximately $83 a month.

Step One – Keep a Record!

1. Set up a virtual savings jar. (You can use an actual envelope in the drawer, but these things have a way of disappearing.)

2. Set up a registry for your account. It can be a separate page in your checkbook registry or in a notebook.

Step Two – Saving the Money

1. We all buy books. Many books. For every book you do not buy, but instead, get from the library or on a free swap, put $15 (or actual price of book) in your virtual jar.

2. Wean yourself from Starbucks. For every time you pass it up, drop $3 in your virtual savings jar.

3. Stop going to movies and join Netflix. For every outside movie you skip, add $15 (or whatever the price difference is in your area) to your virtual savings jar.

4. Make your own pizza! (See instructions on the blog She Is Too Fond of Books here or on Steph and Tony Investigate, here.) If you, like Dawn, are spending up to $30 a week on take-out, this is a good thing. Think how much you can drop into your virtual jar after you subtract the cost of supplies!

5. Pack food for lunch. Put the equivalent of the money you save into your jar.

6. What the heck: you deserve an allowance! Put $5 a week into the jar “just because.”

Step Three – Make the Arrangements

1. Find a potential roommate – splitting the cost is important in a place like New York!

2. Make hotel reservations now. Why? Most hotels let you cancel up to 24, 48, or 72 hours before, so you are safe. More importantly, the prices go up as the time gets closer. [I watched this happen. I kept tabs on a hotel where a couple of bloggers were planning to stay. As it got closer to May, the price kept getting higher. They were among the lucky ones to reserve early.] A good place to check prices is Hotels.com.

3. When you are ready to make plane reservations, check services like Kayak and Mobissimo. They help you find the lowest prices.

4. If you have to rent a car, you can’t do much better than going through Costco – yes Costco! Go to their website, click on travel, and then on car rentals.

Step Four – Arrange for Babysitting

1. It’s never too soon to have the kids start showing Grandma what gems they are: homemade cards and birthday presents, “wish you were here” postcards, phone calls, etc.

2. Do you live by other bloggers who are opting to be Armchair BEA attendees? Maybe you could arrange something…

3. Start (way in advance!) or join a Babysitter Exchange – get help here.

Step Five – Research the Best Deals in New York

1. Once you arrive, there are lots of ways to save. For some great ideas, check out sites that specialize in how to visit New York City on a budget. Some examples:

a. Trip Connect: “travel advice from a network of friends.” Here is an example of an entry: “New York City on a Budget.”

b. About.com: “Budget Travel Advice for New York City.” Here is an example of an entry: “Saving Money in NYC.”

This is just a start – many heads are better than one! Anyone else have good ideas about ways to get to BEA next year?

Note: Be sure to check the Armchair BEA website for Mr. Linky to see other posts on many topics!

Unfinished Friday – Bolaño’s 2666

Unfinished Friday is a meme made up by that fantastic writer of literary reviews, Marie at The Boston Bibliophile. The idea is to inform readers about books you did not finish, and let them know why.

If you peruse any menu at a top-rated restaurant, you will see entres like stuffed leg of guinea hen with duck liver and oysters, quail eggs with crispy bone marrow, rabbit brain soup, cod cheeks, and basically, all kinds of stuff I HAVE NO DESIRE TO EAT.

Give me a good grilled cheese sandwich and vanilla shake, or maybe a 4-cheese pizza (a.k.a. open-faced grilled cheese sandwich) and diet coke with lemons or a glass of cabernet, and I’m happy.

So why did I pick up this equivalent of rabbit brain soup with duck liver?

Time Magazine called Bolaño’s 2666 “The Best Book of 2008” claiming it was “a masterpiece, the electrifying literary event of the year.” The 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction was posthumously awarded to Roberto Bolaño for 2666. It was short-listed for the Best Translated Book Award. Powell’s recommends it as “The finest novel of our young century … an epic masterpiece that solidifies Bolaño’s reputation as a literary genius. It’s an entire world unto itself, one — not unlike our own — filled with horror, neglect, depravity, brilliance, and beauty.”


And a blogger I consider to be one of the most erudite not only participated in a readalong of this book but said “I look forward to reading it again in the future. It was tremendous.“

Well, I tried. It’s 898 pages, divided into five parts. As Time Magazine points out about Bolaño:

He’s addicted to unsolved mysteries and seemingly extraneous details that actually do turn out to be extraneous, and he loves trotting out characters — indelible thumbnail sketches — whom we will never encounter a second time. If three people spend the night at a hotel, you can count on Bolaño to stop the story cold for 10 pages while he describes each of their dreams.”

Others may call all that brilliant, I call it annoying. I made it through Part I only. Bring on the grilled cheese.

Unfinished Friday

Unfinished Friday is a new meme made up by that fantastic writer of literary reviews, Marie at The Boston Bibliophile. The idea is to inform readers about books you did not finish, and let them know why.

I don’t want to say too much about the books I didn’t finish, because I am not only not qualified to do so, but am in fact unjustified in doing so. This week I have two DNFs to report:

The first is, I hate to admit, Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace.

I know these books are wildly popular among bloggers, and that there are fan clubs and meetings and teas and all sorts of tributes and celebrations. I can only say that I never read this series as a child, and to try to read it now just didn’t work. I am undoubtedly too old. It bored me to tears and I quit very early into the book.

The second is Evidence of Murder by Lisa Black.

This book pretty much annoyed me from the outset with its inexcusably trite title and what appeared to be the beginnings of a most bizarre plot. For example, after a woman is murdered, a man other than her husband comes to the morgue and belligerently insists that since he [also] loved this woman, he has the right take the body away, and he wants it right now! Instead of the rational response, which might be to call the police, the forensic investigator meets with him to hear his argument. Shortly thereafter, it became clear that this was just a thinly disguised rehash of the Anna Nicole Smith story. At that point, I said “Forget it!”

And there you have it, my DNF’s for the week. Did anyone else have any negative reading experiences they care to share?

“20 Questions Meme”

In keeping with the theme on my blog this week of UK books, recently I discussed my favorite Britishisms, inter alia, on a guest post over at I’m Lost in Books, in which I tackle the 20 Questions Meme. I would love for any readers to stop by and offer your own responses to the 20 Questions!

September 18, 2009 BBAW Post: Goals for the Blog

Today’s BBAW question is:

Setting Goals!
 Write in 50 words or less…what do you like best about your blog right now and where would you like your blog to be a year from now?

What I like best about my blog Rhapsody in Books is that many students access my pieces on history. I also love working on legal history pieces with my husband for our sister blog, Legal Legacy. These aspects of the two blogs are unique, in the sense that the blogosphere is overrun with book reviews of fiction but not so much with reviews of books focusing on lesser-known aspects of the history of America. While I also enjoy doing fiction book reviews, I hope to get back to my “roots” and concentrate on non-fiction, historical books.

This means that I will probably not be blogging every day, but I am hoping that quality will compensate for quantity!

ABC’s of Me Meme

Rhapsody in Books in Action

Available or single?


Is this an either/or question? I’m married but both my husband and myself are available if a suitably wealthy nonagenarian comes along.

Best Friend?


Ideally, it would be a dog. Can’t beat that unconditional love.

Cake or Pie?


Cake — but needs ice cream on top. Unless it’s carrot cake, which needs not to have raisins or coconut in it.

Drink of choice?


If this refers to alcoholic beverages, I would say cabernet for everyday, kahlua in hot chocolate for dessert, and margaritas for southwest restaurants.

Essential item for every day use?


Three way tie: Internet, indoor plumbing, reading glasses

Favorite color?


Blue

Google?


Yes, in spite of knowing many other search engines. It’s fast and easy, and I’m lazy.

Hometown?


I was born in Washington, D.C., but I also lived in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and now Tucson, Arizona.

Indulgences?


Very severe sweet tooth. Cookies come to mind…

January or February?


Don’t like either one, but if I had to pick: February. February at least has some good holidays.

Kids and their names?


No kids for me. If I could, I would have two dogs and name them Deuty and Tritty (for deuterium and tritium). (And then you’d get the double entendre thing going with Deuty.)

Life is incomplete without…?


Good enough health to enjoy it.

Marriage date?


We definitely were on a date when we got married.

Number of siblings?


I’ve got one whole female sibling and two half female siblings. Not half-female, but female half-siblings.

Oranges or apples?


Apples, most preferably in a crumble. Heated, with ice cream on top. (Bad sweet tooth)

Phobias and fears?


I am totally neurotic, I am told, but arachnophobia is a special problem in Arizona.

Quote for the day?


“In the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make.” John Lennon.

Reason to smile?


Beating my husband at a game.

Season?

Early Fall

Tag 3 people?


But I want EVERYONE to answer this!!

Unknown fact about me?


I ended up being a law librarian, but I always wanted to be a children’s librarian.

Vegetable you hate?


Not too fond of cabbage

Worst habit?


Worrying.

Xrays you’ve had?


Many

Your fave food?


Pizza, but really it’s more appropriate to identify my fave food group, which is cholesterol.

Zodiac sign?


Libra, fair and balanced.

So what are you waiting for? Jump in and answer these for yourself and let me know the ABCs of you!

September 16, 2009 BBAW Post – Reading Meme

Today’s BBAW question is:

Reading Meme: We encourage you to be creative with this! Please choose one or two questions to answer or try to answer all the questions in five words or less. Or choose a picture to answer a question! Brevity is the goal of today!

Do you snack while you read?

Not always: I’d be snacking all the time!

If so, favorite reading snack?


Munchy things

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of
writing in books horrify you?


Non-fiction: underlining; Fiction: stickies

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears?
Laying the book flat open?


Bookmark! Dog-earring is anathema!

Fiction, Non-fiction, or both?


Both

Hard copy or audiobooks?


Audiobooks for the car; otherwise hard copy; ebooks: not for me

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you
 able to put a book down at any point?


Any point

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away?


Yes

Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can
 you read more than one at a time?


Always more than one

Do you have a favorite time of day and/or place to read?

After dinner on the couch

Do you prefer series books or stand alone books? 


Love series books if available

How do you organize your books? (By genre, title, author’s last name, etc.?)

Non-fiction: first by discipline; next, chronologically or by author; Fiction: alphabetically by author

The never-ending process of organization