What I Read This Year

Many thanks to Sierra Godfrey for inspiring me to write a similar post about the books I’ve read this past year. While I might characterize 2012 as my Writing Year, or my Publishing Year, I did read a ton of books, especially on my iPad. Hey, I read print books, too, and I don’t think one is better than the other. Print books are marvelous; I enjoy picking them up, flipping through pages, spending hours lost in a bookstore. I also read e-books; I can increase font size for less eyestrain, I can load up my e-reader with a variety of books before traveling, and I can read more e-books because they’re less costly. This blog post isn’t to debate the merits of one versus the other.

And in making this list, I realized a few things. This year, I read almost exclusively books written by women. Will try to change that in 2013. Men write good books, too! I read a lot of books written by my new author friends, and that is a good thing. Many of these authors publish independently, and could use your support. Finally, I read some books that really weren’t very good (typos, grammatical errors, not well-written). I didn’t include those. Being the recipient of two one-star reviews on Amazon for my book, I understand how much it can hurt, and have chosen simply to not review those books.  What did you read this year?

I Don’t Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson

Life’s a Beach by Claire Cook

I Think I Love You by Allison Pearson

The Mill River Recluse by Darcie Chan

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

The Getaway Car by Ann Patchett

Sleeping with Paris by Juliette Sobanet

Kissed in Paris by Juliette Sobanet

Finding Margo by Susanne O’Leary

Rules for Virgins by Amy Tan

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

Decades by Ruth Harris

Grand Isle by Sarah van Arsdale

The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins

Night Swim by Jessica Keener

Fifty Shades of Gray trilogy by EL James

The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett

On the Island by Tracey Garvis-Graves

The Wander Year by Mike McIntyre

Flat-Out Love by Jessica Park

Must Love Dogs by Claire Cook

The Valley of Heaven and Hell by Susie Kelly

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Happy Hour by Anne Mitchell

War Brides by Helen Bryan

Signs of Life by Natalie Taylor

Girl Unmoored by Jennifer Gooch Hummer

Breaking the Rules by Cat Lavoie

The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani

From Dunes to Dior by Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar

Every Last One by Anna Quindlen

Life Drawing for Beginners by Roisin Meaney

Finding Lucas by Samantha Stroh Bailey