Brochettes is going for 50 once more in 2012

Last year I tried for 50 books in total and read 50 books in total. Not a great result, but considering current restraints upon my time, a realistic goal, so I am not going to change it.

I also included the sub-goals of reading at least five books from the 1001-list and five non-fiction books, and once again, I hit that target exactly.

I am having high hopes for 2012, as there are currently a lot of books I cannot wait to get started on, but as real life has a tendency to get in the way and I then have a tendency towards comfort reads, I am not making any promises, other than to do my best to enjoy whatever I am reading. I am also going to make a concerted effort to abandon books I hate, rather than forcing my way through them because I started them- life is too short, and too full of exciting books.




1001 books:

1. If on a Winter's Night a Traveller
2. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
3. Fifth Business
4. Wide Sargasso Sea
5. Things Fall Apart
6. Beloved
7. Memento Mori

Non-fiction:

1. Literary Feasts
2. Vegetarian Dishes from the Middle East
3. Help!: How to Become Slightly Happier and Get a Bit More Done
4. Queuing for Beginners
5. The Emperor of all Maladies

Early Reviewers:

1. The Dream of Doctor Bantam

Everything Else:

1. The Risk of Darkness
2. The Vows of Silence
3. Die Stadt der Träumenden Bücher
4. The betrayal of Trust
5. The Night Circus
6. Deadlocked
7. The Death of King Arthur: The Immortal Legend
8. Night's Edge
9. Angel & Faith- Live Through This
10. Lucifer: Devil in the Gateway
11. Lucifer: Children and Monsters
12. Mordsfreunde
13. For a Few Demons More
14. A Question of Identity
15. The Small Hand
16. Dolly
17. Childhood
18. Angel & Faith- Daddy Issues
19. Tintentod
20. Reflections on the Fall of Rome
21. The Killing Handbook
22. Grave Sight
23. Shakespeare's Landlord
24. Ihr Ergebener Diener

#1 The Risk of Darkness by Susan Hill

I started last year off with a book by Susan Hill, so it's nice to do the same again. I am still really enjoying this series, despite (or because?) it not being focused on the police/detective work as much as your average crime novel. Still very much a comfort read type of book for me, and I shall do my best to space the remaining ones in the series out a little to fully savour them.

#2 Literary Feasts by Barbara Scrafford

An entertaining little book, probably best enjoyed in small intallments. Once again I am not sure how many, if any, of the recipes I am actually going to try, but it is nice to have the option of recreating for instance the clam chowder in Moby Dick without having to do painstaking research first. On a slightly pedantic note, the editing could have been better- too many typos and misplaced apostrophies for such a slim volume.

#3 The Vows of Silence by Susan Hill

Loved it mostly. Only one left in the series for me to read, not doing too well with spacing them out...

#4 Vegetarian Dishes from the Middle East by Arto der Haroutunian

Normally, when I get a new cookbook, I end up wanting to try about a quarter of the recipes. In this case, about three quarters of the recipes are on my to-try list, as they sound both delicious and not too complicated. I can see quite a few of them turning into everyday favourites.

#5 Die Stadt der Träumenden Bücher by Walter Moers

Loved this- cute, clever, entertaining and a must-read for every bibliophile. I read this in small bits in order to savour it, and will hopefully manage to wait a little before I get started on the sequel for the same reasons.

#6 Help!: How to Become Slightly Happier and Get a Bit More Done by Oliver Burkeman

As I am normally highly suspicious of self-help books, I guess I was predestined to love this one- anything that encourages practising "extreme moderation", and manages to be both funny and provide genuinely useful advice is ok with me. Definitely a book that I'll keep around both for reference and encouragement to thouroughly embrace imperfection.

#7 The Betrayal of Trust by Susan Hill

I didn't enjoy this one anywhere near as much as the preceding ones in the series. The different story
lines interwoven with parts of the main characters' personal lives felt lacklustre this time round, and the treatment of the issue of assisted suicide positively heavy-handed. Time to move on to something else, methinks

#8 The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

A lovely book, which I enjoyed reading, both because of the evocative language used, and from a rather shallow perspective, because the hardcover edition is very pretty to look at.

All this being said, I don't quite get the hype about it- sure, it was a nice enough story, but it didn't touch me very deeply. I didn't really feel touched by any of the characters, and, a bit like my liking a book for its cover, it felt a bit superficial to me. Nothing wrong with that of course, but not really deserving of the effusive praise it currently gets either.

#9 Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris

Well, I enjoyed this more than last year's instalment. An easy read as always, nothing much happened, but at least this one feels a little bit more like it's working towards an ultimate goal, unlike last year, which just felt like complete and utter filler (from what I remember, although that isn't saying much). I guess it helped that this time round, my expectations were really low.

#10 The Death of King Arthur by Peter Ackroyd

A retelling of Malory's Morte d'Arthur, this is a simplified, modernised version of the original, and thus more accessible to the casual modern reader. However, one main problem I had as a teenager when reading the original was getting past the structure of the storytelling in the beginning- especially the Merlin parts seemed random and confusing, and that hasn't changed in this version, as of course the basic story has remained the same.

As Ackroyd is merely acting as a 'translator', there isn't really anything he could have done about this, but I think that despite the improvement in readability , my teenage self, having just come from reading more exciting, modern and coherent interpretations such as T.H. White's Once and Future King, would have been underwhelmed by this.

My grown up self, on the other hand, did enjoy coming back to this, albeit in small increments and accompanied by large cups of tea.

#11 Night's Edge by Charlaine Harris, Maggie Shayne and Barbara Hambly

Meh. Killed some time in some waiting rooms.

Oh dear, I am doing really badly this year! Well, I'll just do what I can for now and maybe try to get away for a holiday later in the year where I can just focus on quiet and hopefully large amounts of reading...

#12 If On A Winter's Night A Traveller by Italo Calvino

Interesting. I didn't find it as enjoyable as I'd hoped from the way it started, but still a challenge- in the good way.

Well, at least the next one didn't take me a month!

#13 Angel & Faith: Live Through This by Christos Gage and Rebekah Isaacs

The first in a new series following from the events in Buffy season eight from Faith and Angel's point of view. Unlike Buffy season eight, which mostly annoyed me, especially in the later parts, this is actually showing some real promise. The drawing is pretty consistent as well, in the sense that the characters are recognisable. Well, in the Gage/ Isaacs parts at least- in the Harmony one-off, the only character I would have been able to identify out of context was Clem, for obvious reasons. Still, I can honestly say that unlike with Buffy's virtual seasons (I'll be giving season nine a miss), I am looking forward to what's coming next.

#14 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

A very quick and enjoyable read. I love the author's style and will look out for more of her books.

#15 Lucifer: Devil in the Gateway by Mike Carey

I was hoping to enjoy this as I love the Sandman books and found the Lucifer character to be the most interesting of the secondary characters in that series. However, as this one is a spin-off without direct Neil Gaiman involvement, I was a little wary. I needn't have worried, I'm loving it so far and will probably struggle with sticking to my usual rule of limiting myself to buying only one comic book a month.

#16 Lucifer: Children and Monsters by Mike Carey

Oh dear, it's September already and I'm not even halfway there! Here's to hoping for a quiet autumn with lots of reading time...

I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first in the series, but enough to carry on with it.

#17 Fifth Business by Robertson Davies

A lovely book, and beautiful in its restraint. I shall definitely keep an eye out for the next part in the trilogy.

#18 Queuing for Beginners by Joe Moran

A quirky book that looks into the small actions and habits that make up our daily lives, and the social history behind them. It certainly makes you look differently at things like meetings at work and commuting. It also shows how interesting it can be to observe people's daily habits, and how much (and little) has changed over the years.

#19 The Dream of Doctor Bantam by Jeanne Thornton

I received this book as part of the LibraryThing Early Reviewers programme; and I have to admit that at first I found it quite difficult to get into, mostly due to the speech patterns and not very clearly defined dialogue. As I knew I had to write a review, I persevered, and I am very glad I did as this turned out to be a very enjoyable read.

I guess I would describe it as a coming of age story with a difference, with our anti-heroine Julie learning to deal with loss, her budding sexuality and somehow negotiating between staying true to yourself while at the same time having adult responsibilities.

Through the major flaws and weakness she sees in others, starting with her older sister's suicide, Julie figures out at a relatively young age that she only has herself to rely on, and embarks on a predictably messy journey of self- discovery. While making some spectacularly bad decisions along the way, her common sense and intelligence are clearly apparent all along through her humorous observations and biting self-awareness. Unlike most of the other characters in the book, who seem to carry auras of damage and doom around with them, Julie always gives the impression that she will come out OK in the end.

#20 Mordsfreunde by Nele Neuhaus

Some fluffy regional crime fiction to mark my 20th book read this year. Neither bad nor particularly remarkable, but the backdrop of the Taunus region sounds lovely.

I doubt very much that I'll manage to magically plow through 30 more books in the remaining 2 1/2 months, but I shall give it my best shot. Here's to a quiet autumn.

#21 For a Few Demons More by Kim Harrison

#22 A Question of Identity by Susan Hill

Since the time of year is demanding a good gloomy crime novel, I gave Susan Hill another go, and while this one didn't engage me as much as her earlier ones, I enjoyed it more than her previous effort in the series. Now on to some spooky books I meant to read for Halloween, but which didn't get to me on time.

#23 The Small Hand by Susan Hill

A relatively gentle little ghost story- while all the classical elements were there, I wasn't as frightened as I felt I could have been. Still, nice for the time of year, and goes well with a nice cup of tea.

#24 Dolly by Susan Hill

I really hate dolls, always have, and this book certainly didn't make the heart grow any fonder. Still, nowhere near as creepy as it had the potential to be.

#25 Childhood by Anthony Burgess

Meh. It must be the night of the book titles I am unable to find touchstones for. Better stop reading.

#26 Angel & Faith Vol 2: Daddy Issues by Christos Gage et al

Really enjoying this so far.

#27 Tintentod by Cornelia Funke

Preferred this to the second in the series, but the first remains my favourite. Still, a nice and neat tying up of loose ends. Fairly brutal in places for something that's billed as a children's book though.

#28 Reflections on the Fall of Rome by Edward Gibbon

#29 Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

#30 Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Oh good, only 20 more books to read if I want to hit the 50- book mark! Not giving up just yet though.

#31 The Killing Handbook: Forbrydelsen Forever by Emma Kennedy

#32 Beloved by Toni Morrison

#33 Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris

#34 Shakespeare's Landlord by Charlaine Harris

#35 Memento Mori by Muriel Spark

#36 Ihr Ergebener Diener by Daphne Du Maurier

#37 The Emperor of all Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddartha Mukherjee

Well written, well researched. Strikes the right balance between making a complex subject accessible to the lay person without being patronising or oversimplifying things. Thoroughly recommended.

Well, in terms of quantity, this was a really rubbish year for me. I can't feel too bad about this though, as this was a result of a very busy year which help me achieve my goals in other areas, and at least I really enjoyed the majority of books that I did get round to reading. Here's to a happy 2013!