Grade Your Reading

A new year calls for a time of assessment. I want to go beyond those silly 2011 Best and Worst lists and consider my 2011 reading. As I do, I resolve to keep track of the books I read in 2012 as I read them.

In December 2011, I read 11 books and listened to 5 on CD. My two favorite December mysteries: THE TWISTED THREAD by Charlotte Bacon and SISTER by Rosamund Lupton. My non-mystery favorite novel: THE SOLDIER’S WIFE by Margaret Leroy. This novel is set during WWII on the Channel Islands, the only English-speaking territory occupied by the Nazis.

My nonfiction fav for 2011 would have to be IN THE GARDENS OF THE BEASTS by Erik Larsen because it was the only book of nonfiction I read during 2011. I love my fiction! (Do you see a pattern in what I like to read about?)

From the NY TIMES 2011 Best Mystery/Thriller list, I had read only three: A DROP OF THE HARD STUFF by Lawrence Block, THE FIFTH WITNESS by Michael Connelly, and Denise Mina’s THE END OF WASP SEASON. In the past I’ve done better than this, but my mystery reading may be off their grid now, not necessarily a bad thing.

So tell me what you read in 2011 that has stayed with you.

What are your reading resolutions for 2012?