It's my final post of 2012! And without further ado, the 3rd Annual End of Year Book Survey, hosted by Jamie at Perpetual Page Turner. I'm doing this from memory alone with the idea that it may give more honest answers. Of course I'll be kicking myself over the next few days for forgetting something!
Best Books of 2012.
1. Best Book You Read In 2012?
Germinal, by Émile Zola. But it had good competition from The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, and The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton.
2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
The Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire. I thought I would have loved it. Also The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe.
3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2012?
I'm on the last book of the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman: I've been dreading this and thought I'd hate it as I hated The Lord of the Rings but I am thoroughly enjoying it!
4. Book you recommended to people most in 2012?
Idle Thought of an Idle Fellow by Jerome K. Jerome. I can't see how anyone would fail to fall in love with it, and I told everyone about it!
5. Best series you discovered in 2012?
The Rougon Macquart cycle by Émile Zola, of course!
6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2012?
Zola again! And Anthony Trollope of course, Edith Wharton, Virgil, and E.M. Forster.
7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?
I haven't been terribly adventurous with reading out of my comfort zone, so I'll pick Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials books again, which as I say I haven't quite finished.
8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2012?
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle.
9. Book You Read In 2012 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year:
Germinal by Zola. I'm reading the Rougon Macquart cycle in order, and I want to re-read it, and I'm pretty sure I'll get to this, the thirteenth book, by the end of the year.
10. Favourite cover of a book you read in 2012?
11. Most memorable character in 2012?
Lily Bart in The House of Mirth, Maggie Tulliver of The Mill on the Floss, and Cécile from Bonjour Tristesse.
12. Most beautifully written book read in 2012?
The first that springs to mind is The Aeneid by Virgil. But so many...
13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2012?
Germinal by Zola. Now, I have mentioned Zola, haven't I?
14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2012 to finally read?
Ok, I won't mention Zola again... I'll go with Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt. I have had that book since it came out!
15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2012?
Any one of these! I did rather like this -
On the whole, though, the wisest thing is to stick with dead authors.
~ Proust, Cities of the Plain
And this -
Tittums is our kitten. She is about the size of a penny roll. Her back was up and she was swearing like a medical student.
It made me chuckle!
16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2012?
The longest - Remembrance of Things Past by Proust, and the shortest - Dictionary of Received Ideas by Flaubert.
17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!
18. Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2012 (be it romantic, friendship, etc).
Barnaby Rudge and his bird Grip!
19. Favorite Book You Read in 2012 From An Author You Read Previously
Any one of the Jeeves books. Also Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell.
20. Best Book You Read That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else:
The Best of Saki. One of my friends is a big Saki fan, so I thought I'd give it a try.
Book Blogging / Reading Life in 2012
1. New favourite book blog you discovered in 2012:
Ruby, I think. And I say I "think" because I'm pretty sure I discovered her in 2012, and my old favourites came from 2011.
2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2012?
3. Best discussion you had on your blog?
I don't seem to have discussions, I just tell people to read stuff and they say if they want to or not!
4. Most thought-provoking review or discussion you read on somebody else’s blog?
The most memorable review I read has to be Charlotte's posts on Ford Maddox Ford. As for discussion - Mabel's Editorial: In Response to William Giraldi, on the Relevance of Book Blogs.
5. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?
6. Best moment of book blogging in 2012?
The Book Blogger Appreciation week in September and being interviewed for The Classics Club - that was very exciting!
7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?
By views: The Canterbury Tales General Prologue by Geoffrey Chaucer Part I. By comments, it will be one of the readathons.
8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?
I think my posts got more love than they deserved!
9. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?
Robinson's book stall in Newcastle. Thank you, Sandy!
10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?
Yes, all of them.
Looking Ahead…
1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2012 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2013?
To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee.
2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2013?
Parade's End by Ford Maddox Ford and The Faerie Queen by Edmund Spencer, as well as my new Anthony Trollope focus-challenge.
3. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging In 2013?
I would like to complete my 100 Greatest Books Challenge, my Ought to Have Read by Now challenge, The Penguin Greats, reading The Canterbury Tales, and I'd like at some point to do a vlog.
******
And there it is, the last post of 2012... I prepared this post last night, but this I am truly writing on the last day of 2012. I'm surprisingly sentimental right now, and certainly was last night when I was talking the day and the year over with Big C. It was a good year, and a good reading year. I reckon I'll finish Philip Pullman today, so my last book of the year will be The Amber Spyglass, which will make my grand total 179 books. And, of course, I wish I could squeeze just one more in to make it a round 180! I'll be out all day with Big C, and there'll be a lot of time sitting by myself in the car whilst he's performing. Will I get the chance to get to 180? I'm not sure. It would have to be a tiny book. We shall see....
I hope everyone has a great night tonight, and I shall catch you tomorrow!
I was thinking yesterday night about your end of year book survey post I hoped you would write and.... what I thought was, what's going to happen once you read everything out there?! Thank you for being with us all this time and, Lord knows, in all areas of your life - best wishes for next year!
ReplyDeleteAwesome summary of your year of reading, with some terrific observations and annotations! Best wishes in 2013 to you, Big C, and all of your books! Keep up the good work, I do love stopping by and visiting your writing. Cheers! Chris
ReplyDeleteHere's to a 2013 full of Zola and Trollope - sounds fabulous. :)
ReplyDeleteHappy 2013 to you! After reading all about your love for Zola, I'm thinking I need to add some to my Classics Club list.
ReplyDeleteHappy new year! :)
ReplyDeleteAngela's Ashes! I haven't read that one yet but it's sitting on my shelf and I'll be reading it very soon. I can't believe I've waited this long...sigh.
ReplyDelete