Have you chosen your first read for 2012?

I am mulling it over and checking the shelves. No decision yet.How about the rest of you?

As every year, it will be whatever my husband gives me for Christmas. I make myself wait until New Year's Day to start it. I suspect it will be Stephen Sondheim's Look, I Made a Hat. But after that, it's my own choice - either Infinite Jest if the proposed new group read goes ahead, or else Kokoro for the Japanese author theme challenge. I figure if I start with something really hard/serious, I can move on to lighter stuff straight after without feeling guilty!

I'm thinking either The Son of Neptune or Ready Player One

My 1st will be The Invisible Bridge. I've had a brand new copy sitting on my Must Read Now shelf. It's about time.

Wow.. what an intriguing list of books so far! This is what I was hoping for :)
At least a few books that I haven't heard of to look at and consider !

I doubt I will get to select one. It will probably be something I didn't finish before the end of the year... Probably, at this point, Before They are Hanged

Yes. Dissolution by C.J. Sansom

Feelin' all historical-like.

That's a good one, Richard! I might do something similar and read another one from that series - Revelation - though I am not very good at planning ahead, or rather not good at sticking to any plans, so I may read something else entirely!

I've had it on my bedside pile for two years at least, Genny, and I've gotten some nudges to raise it above the pile here lately. It seems to me I'll really get on with Matthew Shardlake.

#3 - Nathan - both are so good, but I would choose Ready Player One.

I have to wait to see what Santa brings me for Christmas! :)

>10 weejane: Oh dear oh dear, Santa spilled the beans and I now know that The Night Circus is coming my way this week...may have to revise the reading schedule...it's a nice problem to have, though, eh Brit?

I'm starting with...

hangs her head to try to hide

The Help.
I have a reading group and it's what we decided to start the year with.

I have one Net Galley Pure, that I'll finish this evening...depending on whether Insomnia strikes..i'll start another Net Galley The Quiet Twin...tonight or tomorrow morning...that's it for the eBooks, for a while. I haven't read a "real" book in too long a while...my next choice? whatever jumps into my hands!

Richard...you WILL take a shine to Matthew Shardlake!

;-}

Received Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick for my birthday this month. So it will be my first read of the new year.

Oh, way too far away to tell! I may be getting some books for Christmas that would be contenders.

I've decided on The Snowman by Jo Nesbo for my first 2012 read..... that or 1Q84 by Murakami, both of which are already in my TBR Tower and will start off my main 2012 challenge of reading more books than I buy.

LOL @ Cheli :)

continueing the list of good choices I see :)

rdear...you will enjoy that one, I think :)

The Snowman was pretty good caro..but I won't be following that author.. too many series on my radar now..

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell starts the year for me as a long planned group read with Nancy, Carsten and several others. Will be concentrating on my 12 in 12 next year but hope to manage a few TIOLI challenges along the way.

I have not decided which one it will be. I've got several options that all look equally good to me, but it may depend on how much I read between now and December 25 and if I receive additional books for Christmas that end up with that spot.

Ooh... North and South was such a great read!

Heck no, I'm waiting for the TIOLI challenges to get posted :)

If I receive one or both of the ER books I'm waiting for before the end of the year, my first 2012 book will probably be one of those. Other possibilities are Lady Vernon and Her Daughter, Jane Fairfax, Scones and Sensibility, or Murder at Longbourn if I don't complete any of them before the end of this year. I'm leading a book club discussion in January on books inspired by Jane Austen and I need to read at least a couple of these before the club meets.

>12 cyderry: Cheli! NO! Do not do it to yourself FIRST THING! Read something, ANYthing, else first!

*mourns Cheli's lost reading happiness for 2012*

Richard, don't worry. I'm actually looking forward to the Help. Everyone seems to like it so much. I'm just ashamed I'm so far behind everyone else.

And it won't be my only book at the start of the year - I'm also reading The Count of Monte Cristo, Dead Cat Bounce and Crunch Time (which I've been waiting for since the beginning of last year)!

Every year, the first book of the year sort of sets the tone for the year. In 2012, I'd like to read more nonmystery fiction, which is something I rarely do, yet I'd also like to read plenty of the types of books I enjoy.

So, for 2012, I'm planning to make the highly-regarded baseball novel, The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach my first book of the year.

Sorry, what's TIOLI?

I haven't read The Help. Don't plan to. *shrug*
I never read Water for Elephants either.. don't plan to.

I myself have no idea what my first read will be.. I am thinking one of you might inspire me .

I was disappointed with The Help. But I'm dying to read The Art of Fielding! If I don't get it for Christmas, then I hope I get some extra spending money to buy it. The only question is to buy the book, or get the e-book. . . decisions, decisions.

Can you get the e-book from the library?

TIOLI is Take It or Leave It Challenge:

http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/TIOLI_FAQS

>26 dragonaria: Every month, a 75er thread is set up where everyone is welcome to post a challenge to themselves and other interested readers called Take It Or Leave It. It's become super-popular!

I have no idea what my first read of 2012 is going to be, but it is likely to be trash as will be most of my reading next year. I suspect, what with reading textbooks for school, my brain is going to need the break!

Thanks!

I have no clue what the first read of the year will be, but I know two I'm taking on the plane with me for the holidays. I've scored these at the used books at the library or the BookNook:

Cutting for stone
The reluctant fundamentalist

and a third novel whose title I can't remember, about the internment of Japanese in Canada during World War II.


ETA: I don't blame you Stasia - reading is supposed to be fun, and textbooks are not!

I think it might be Hand Me Down World by Lloyd Jones, since it's an Early Reviewer book that I have to get to (and it fits into one of my 12 in 12 categories.) If not that, then one of the 12 Coetzee novels I plan to read in 2012.

Well it's Orange January so I'll be starting with an Orange Prize winner or a book that was shortlisted or longlisted for the prize. I'm pretty sure I'm going to start with Gail Jones Sorry, from the 2008 longlist, which I've wanted to read for quite some time. But then again I might start with the 2005 shortlisted Old Filth or The Observations from the 2007 shortlist. One of those three anyway. Anyone who's interested in joining in can find more info about Orange January and Orange July (along with the FB page) right HERE

The short answer for me is no. I like to see what I get given for the holidays.

My first audiobook will be wither Factory Girls or World and Town, both of which are very long, and I'll probably start them this year and finish the next. As for my first read book, hm. I really want to read The Rape of Nanking but that seems pretty disturbing for a start to the year. My RL reading group which seems to pick a fair number of books I don't like will be reading The Art of Fielding some time this year. Hallelujah!

#38: The Rape of Nanking is excellent, Joyce, but you are right - the subject matter is very grim and extremely disturbing.

#34

Markon,

I can't think of two better books for you to read, Cutting for Stone and The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Reading them on a plane will be great since it will allow you to concentrate well. I envy you.

I'll probably start with 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami, or possibly Silence by Shusaku Endo.

I'm tentatively planning to start with Graveyard Dust by Barbara Hambly, #3 in the Benjamin January series. That will almost certainly be an early read, if not the first. The 12 in 12 category challenge has a secondary challenge to read a book each month relating to the name or number of the month; I opted for a character named January.

It looks like my choice has made itself, I'll be listening to World and Town by Gish Jen. I'm still not sure which book will be my first read. I have The Sense of an Ending out from the library. I imagine that will be it.

Too many possibilities...probably The Hunter by Julia Leigh as that slots into Orange January, my 12in12 challenge and possibly a January TIOLI challenge. I'll also start a chunkster, not sure which one yet, possibly King Hereafter.

#43 - I read World and Town earlier this year and really liked it. I see not many LT'ers have read it, and reviews are mixed - I hope you're in the "like" camp.

It's not so much what I'll be starting in 2012, but what I'm continuing from 2011. I'll probably still be in the middle of Our Mutual Friend. I've heard many say it was their favorite Dickens, but it's taking a while to get into.

Since I will be at my mother's house and will have my Kindle I'll probably start with When the Emperor was Divine for Orange Jan.

#22 - I always wait to see what Santa brought but if those are your pics i definitely recommend 'Lady Vernon and Her Daughter'. I thought that that book and 'A Match for Mary Bennet' were two of the best Jane Austen inspired books. Kept to the style and tone of Austens writing. If you are looking for Darcy romance novels or zombies these are not the books for you but imho they did the best job of bringing back the Austen spirit.
# 46 - I liked 'Our Mutual friend' a lot but it is very complex. It was made into a pretty good BBC production some years ago and worth watching.

I just picked up Camptown Ladies, and it may well be my first read....
I enjoyed her first book Greetings From Jamaica, Wish You Were Queer so much,
that I thought a book that would make me LOL would make for a good start.

I started Volcano by Shusaku Endo on Tuesday, and I won't finish it until tomorrow. Thus, it will be my first book of 2012. I had intended to read The Warmth of Other Suns next; instead, I'll start A Disease Apart: Leprosy in the Modern World by Tony Gould later today. I'll also start 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami tomorrow.

I look forward to hearing what you think of 1Q84, Darryl.

Although I have Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman because of the holidays, and Unbroken from the library, I'm going to start 2012 with Cannery Row for the Steinbeckathon.

Either Cat's Cradle or Dark Enquiry, whichever I finish first, will be on my list as No. 1. Then my sis is coming home and bringing 11-22-63 with her, so that will be my 3rd read, with Night Circus, which should be on the hold shelf at the library by then, being 4th.

This is typical of me ~ so organized at the start of the year, with great hopes of remaining that way, until everything falls into chaos usually before the end of January.

Well, by default, I guess it will be the two books I'm currently working through - Ender's Game and The Family

I'm listening to 2 books World and Town and The Leftovers and will continue doing so through the next few days, so they'll be my first audiobooks. My first read books will be The Sense of an Ending and The All of It both due back at the library in the next few days.

Will be starting the year with dead tree version of Iago an ER book I've received and on my e-reader Black Lung Captain. Loved his first, so really looking forward to this one!