strange and random happenstance

So last year I did this end of year/beginning of the year tally to see what I've read, and also, what I remember and it turned out to be a ton of fun, so therefore, new tradition! As Terry Pratchett has said, twice equals tradition. Because the true strength of a book is not the impression right after you read it, but the impression that remains. You might think that a book you read yesterday was the greatest thing since sliced bread, but a month, or even a week later, you can remember nothing. So, without further ado, my 116... reads of 2012, and yes, that means I did reach my reading goal and beat last years total of 114 books! Yeah for sticking to at least one New Year's resolution! Sure it meant reading more than eighteen books in December, but I was game.

Also, stay attuned to this site, because for the rest of January I'll be counting down my best reads of 2012! That's right, you will get to read about the cream of the crop, the best of the best. The ones you can skip ahead and read and avoid all the really bad reads of the past year... because you can't have awesome books without a few bad ones, at least in my experience.

1) Something Borrowed, Brenda and Effie Book 2 by Paul Magrs: Loved that it expanded on Brenda's past and while I loved the more episodic nature of the first book, this style shift made room for a longer running series with more overall arcs.

2) Death Comes to Pemberly by PD James: So bad! I was hoping for some Wickham death, and what did I get? A live Wickham and hundreds of pages of Regency rural procedural law, snore.

3) The Adventures of TinTin Volume Two by Herge: So far, I'm not really seeing the appeal of TinTin... and why does a "kid" have a gun to thwart all these people who want to kill him? And why do they want to kill him? Just weird all around.

4) Cinder, Lunar Chronicles Book 1 by Marissa Meyer: Cinderella meets Firefly! I think I'm in love! Though boo for a cliffhanger I have to wait a year to get resolution to. Also, I have a feeling each book will be a cliffhanger till the forth and final book, so a few years of this to come. Also I got to meet Marissa this year and she's really nice.

5) Sweet Revenge, A Lady Arianna Regency Mystery Book 1 by Andrea Penrose: I thought it was a fun little Regency romp with yet another broody, drug riddled man to reform. Not sure I liked the interruption of the story with modern day chocolate recipes, but it's a current fad and they're easy to skip over. Will totally be picking up the second book.

6) The Girl Who Played with Fire, Millennium Book 2  by Stieg Larsson: Still not getting why these where such a hit. Plus, the only reason to read them is for Lisbeth, and she was MIA for, oh, the entire book, which ended on a cliffhanger I might add!

7) Shades of Milk and Honey, Glamourist Histories Book 1 by Mary Robinette Kowal: Jane Austen with magic! But so much more. I adore the world that Mary Robinette Kowal has created and how she has devised and explained her world's magic. I have high hopes for this series.

8) And Only to Deceive, Lady Emily Book 1 by Tasha Alexander: Since I was finally going to meet Tasha (yeah, Tasha is awesome), I figured I'd better get to work and read at least one of her books. I really enjoyed how much antiquities played into the story and I really really really wanted her husband to not be dead.

9) A Poisoned Season, Lady Emily Book 2 by Tasha Alexander: Tasha does a French themed version of Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone.

10) Bunny and Biscuits, A Very Dorrington Valentine's Day by Lauren Willig: Fabulous, and it felt like it was written just for me. Side note, I won the naming competition for this, and then name did influence a few things in the story, so yeah, it was like it was written for me! BEST VALENTINE'S GIFT EVER!

11) Timeless, The Parasol Protectorate Book 5 by Gail Carriger: Great ending to the series. So happy that Gail didn't drag it out and flog it like a dead horse. Also, love that it was in Egypt and that Prudence is like the cutest little monster in the world.

12) A Storm of Swords, A Song of Ice and Fire Book 3 by George R R Martin: Easily my favorite book in the series, aside from the random Lesbianism. Also Joffrey dies!

13) Silent in the Grave, Lady Julia Book 1 by Deanna Raybourn: Another Victorian series with another widow heroine? Please no.

14) Fables Volume 1: Legends in Exhile by Bill Willingham: Everyone's been telling me to read these Graphic Novels about Fairy Tales in the real world for years... kind of a shaky start.

15) Tintin in the Land of the Soviets by Herge: Ok, not as over the top evil Soviets as Eloise in Moscow, but still, easy to forget how scared we where of them for so long, even in the comics!

16) The Sandman Volume 5: A Game of You by Neil Gaiman: OK, am I just missing the boat here? I mean EVERYONE is always going on about how awesome The Sandman books are and I have yet to even slightly like them, and in most cases am freaked out or disturbed by them.

17) Fair Game, Alpha and Omega Book 3 by Patricia Briggs: While no Mercy Thompson this year (sigh) at least Briggs delivered a strong story set in the same world, and firstly, really gripping serial killer story, secondly, the last few pages, man, that's going to throw this universe into turmoil. I can't wait!

18) Chi's Sweet Home Volume 8 by Kanata Konami: Whenever I'm in need of a kitty fix, this is where I go. Meow.

19) Soulless the Manga Volume 1 by Gail Carriger: Great manga adaptation of Gail's first Parasol Protectorate book, also great recap if you're starting to get a little fuzzy on the details.

20) A Feast of Crows, A Song of Ice and Fire Book 4 by George R R Martin: Ok, so better than I remembered, because, well, mainly I was just pissed last time that I only got half a book.

21) Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie: The thing I find interesting about Christie is that you are always in the moment with the book, totally loving it and following all the twists and turns, but a short while later, you've totally forgotten it, so you can re-read it at leisure.

22) Coraline by Neil Gaiman: Re-read for school (I know, sometimes homework is so awesome). Also, the book throws into stark relief how bad the movie was, story wise. You just don't mess with the perfection of a Neil Gaiman story (at least a Neil Gaiman story that is perfect, like this one is.)

23) Fables Volume 2: Animal Farm by Bill Willingham: Getting better, though I could do without the headless pig... just saying...

24) A Dance with Dragons, A Song of Ice and Fire Book 5 by George R R Martin: Five years and this is what I get!?! You're dead to me GRRM, hear that? No resolutions, just more mysteries and you are so never finishing this. So therefore, you are dead to me. 

25) Glamour in Glass, Glamourists Histories by Mary Robinette Kowal: Awesome! Just the way Mary Robinette Kowal has continued to build her world and also create not just the most romantic couple out there, but a loving couple that works together and takes care of each other. Also, the heroine kicks some serious ass. The French history and all that is just an extra awesome bonus.

26) A Bride's Story Volume 3 by Kaoru Mori: The problem I have with this series is that quite literally all the characters look the same, and therefore I get horribly confused. So the story may be awesome... it just requires a more dedicated person than me. I mainly by them for the hilarious afterwards now.

27) The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim: Hated it. Oh, everyone's life is so hard at this magical villa that makes everything perfect in the gorgeous Italian seaside. Poo on you all.

28) Fables Volume 3: Storybook Love by Bill Willingham: Snow White hooking up with The Big Bad Wolf... interesting, not sure if I by it.

29) Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed: I still don't get why this book was so popular. It was a quick read, but if I wanted to read about a woman who cheated on her husband, did heroin and had an abortion and then ended up eating her own mothers ashes... I wouldn't have picked up a book about HIKING! Bait and switch and eww. Also, changing her last name to Strayed... seems a bit too, "I'm a precious artiste" for me.

30) Start and Run a Graphic Design Business by Michael Huggins: Mildly boring but mostly helpful guide to working as a freelance graphic designer, and yes, I read it for school, how did you guess?

31) Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, Dirk Gently Book 1 by Douglas Adams: Amazing how little I remember of this book, which I picked up as a re-read after my interest in Dirk was rekindled by the amazing new tv series. Thanks for cancelling that stupid BBC.

32) Dead Reckoning, Sookie Stackhouse Book 11 by Charlaine Harris: Obligatory re-read of the previous Sookie book to prepare for the new one... fairies are up to something... some other things happen... Eric is engaged, right? See, at this point, it doesn't really matter.

33) Deadlocked, Sookie Stackhouse Book 12 by Charlaine Harris: I like the clearing of the decks mentality of this one. All unnecessary supes and characters dead or gone. Come on happy ending with Sam! Also, so happy that there's only one more book, sometimes a series just needs to end.

34) Introducing Aunt Dimity Paranormal Detective: The First Two Books in the Beloved Series by Nancy Atherton: The first book was so blah I couldn't understand why people liked it, but the second was far more entertaining and kind of like British Gothic mystery light in Cornwall with some Du Maurier overtones. Don't know if I'll read more though, especially if the rest star the protagonist of the first dull as dishwater book.

35) Fables Volume 4: March of the Wooden Soldiers by Bill Willingham: Wooden soldiers that are just as creepy as Pinocchio... at least his creepy level in this series I should say.

36) Princess Academy by Shannon Hale: Loved the re-read to prepare for the sequel, which I still have to get around to reading. I love when a book is just as good or better than second time around.

37) The Reincarnationist by M.J. Rose: So, so stupid. Firstly, the title is impossible to say, secondly, just totally invalidate everything your book set out to do in the last page and give us no ending. Oh, and don't forget the steamy shower sex scene, with the hero... with just the memories of sandalwood and jasmine. That's right, time for some sexy masturbation with memories of your past life love. Eww.

38) Some Girlfriends Can by Stephanie Burgus: Boring and stupid story about a girl whose boyfriend's ex is a Greek goddess and how this makes said girlfriend feel inadequate. Lesson, just don't date anyone still into their ex, especially if they where a goddess. Ok, note taken.

39) The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones: Was so excited when this took a supernatural bent, but then it went on too long. Would have been a great novella or short story, look to Shirley Jackson and editing.

40) Seriously, Just Go To Sleep by Adam Mansbach: Not funny. The "cleaned up" version of Mansbach's hilarious book was just dull.

41) A Discovery of Witches, All Souls Trilogy Book 1 by Deborah Harkness: I really liked the beginning of this book with a kick ass independent heroine into books and rowing, then she became all damsel in distress and it was like an adult version of Twilight... so, things to love and hate about it. 

42) The Sandman Volume 6: Fables and Reflections by Neil Gaiman: Again, still not digging The Sandman.

43) Fables Volume 5: The Mean Seasons by Bill Willingham: Bigby's back!

44) Fables Volume 6: Homelands by Bill Willingham: The Fables' homelands are a little more interesting to me than their new community in our world.

45) Fables Volume 7: Arabian Nights (and Days) by Bill Willingham: Blah. Could have been interesting but came off kind of racist.

46) Fables Volume 8: Wolves by Bill Willingham: Bigby's dad, while not really a nice guy, is awesome, mainly because his dad is the North Wind!

47) Phoenix Rising, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Book 1 by Philippa Ballantine and Tee Morris: So so awesome. New series to love. I just love the hero's book nerdiness that covers his past of hard military training and a harsh life with no love, couple with the feisty heroine, perfect combo, hope the writer's play out their relationship right...

48) Tales from the Archives Collection 1, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences by Philippa Ballantine and Tee Morris: Mixed bag, several very awesome. Wish there was an appendix for all these extra agents.

49) Tales from the Archives Collection 2, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences by Philippa Ballantine and Tee Morris: More of the same.

50) Tales from the Archives, Sins of the Father, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences by Tee Morris: Wellington's father is not nice, end of story.

51) Tales from the Archives Collection 3, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences by Philippa Ballantine and Tee Morris: More mixed bag.

52) Tales from the Archives, A Swan in Siam, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences by PJ Schnyder: All I remember is I didn't like this one.

53) Tales from the Archives, Women of the Empire, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences by JR Blackwell: Really stupid one which is all about vibrator jokes... lame.

54) Tales from the Archives, The Emperor's Fist, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences by JR Murdock: Was this the one with the monkey? Sometimes reading a lot of short stories in succession isn't the best because you forget things.

55) Marine Biology by Gail Carriger: Such a cute story about a young gay werewolf finding his place in the world. Extra love because it's in the same "world" as Gail's series!

56) Ender's Game, Ender's Saga Book 1 by Orson Scott Card: Hated! Racist, hate spewing doggerel with Scott Card's own homophobic feelings exuding from the pages. It was hard to even finish it. Also, boring.

57) Jack of Fables Volume 1: The (Nearly) Great Escape by Bill Willingham: Why does Jack get a spin off? He's such a boring character. Also, I'm sorry, but I don't think Jack and the Beanstalk could ever get a Lord of the Rings like following... just saying.

58) The Janus Affair, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Book 2 by Philippa Ballantine and Tee Morris: Totally let me down. High hopes, but if they are coming stateside, I don't think I will like it...

59) Everyone's Reading Bastard by Nick Hornby: Stupid and pointless short story about a jackass and how his ex exploits him in the media. Also ended very abruptly.

60) Tales from the Archives, The Wrong Camera, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences by Catherine Ford: I kind of want a camera that can show the future... only kind of mind you.

61) The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter: So good I forgive Terry for blowing up my home town. Also, I can't wait to see where this goes, as this was kind of an introduction to the world Terry and Stephen have created.

62) A Midsummer Tights Dream, The Misadventures of Tallulah Casey Book 2 by Louise Rennison: Gaw. I need to stop. I thought these would be good, but they're falling prey to the same faults of Rennison's first series only faster. Also, again, only a few weeks for the story... she needs to write more mature and longer material. Make it substantive!

63) The Arctic Marauder by Jacques Tardi: Ok, I read this because of his shout out in his other series where he was obviously pissed that no one bought this. I get why no one bought it, it's a boring story about an iceberg that is really a ship, the end, nothing else happens.

64) Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall by Bill Willingham: So amazing! I have always thought that the failings of the Fables comics was in the traditional and boring handling of the interior artwork. Here other artists where given free reign and it is a work of art. Words and images in perfect synch. LOVE.

65) Shadow of the Night, All Souls Trilogy Book 2 by Deborah Harkness: Unlike most people, I liked this more than the first. I enjoyed the history and was interested, though I could have done with a few less icky sex scenes.

66) Fables Volume 9: Sons of Empire by Bill Willingham: Um... don't really remember this one, was the war starting?

67) Conjugal Rites, Brenda and Effie Book 3 by Paul Magrs: Frank is back for Brenda, and it doesn't go how anyone expected, making it all the more fun!

68) Jack of Fables Volume 2: Jack of Hearts by Bill Willingham: Vegas, Gary and his disappearing/reappearing mustache using lady luck, who is real and not figurative. So don't cheat at slots, because fables get mad at you.

69) Fables Volume 10: The Good Prince by Bill Willingham: About the Frog Prince, Ambrose, who is one of the more interesting characters in these comics.

70) The Shrinking of Treehorn by Florence Parry Heide: Ok, if my kid started shrinking I would take him to the hospital, not ignore him.

71) Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides: So well written, but just all the different varieties of stories and how sometimes each section was wrapped up too fast ended up turning me off the book. Dare I say it might have worked as different volumes or as a longer book?

72) Warehouse 13 Graphic Novel by Ben Rabb: Horrid. Everyone out of character and not looking anything like the actors. One of the, if not the worst graphic novel from tv series I've ever read. That's including all the bad Dr Who and Kevin Smith stuff I've read.

73) Boneshaker, Clockwork Century Book 1 by Cherie Priest: Ok... not that I had a fear of zombies before, but I think I might now. Amazing worldbuilding, and totally claustrophobic.

74) The Guild: Knights of Good by Felicia Day: More fun! Don't know why they didn't include the Fawkes one-shot though.

75) Hell's Belles, Brenda and Effie Book 4 by Paul Magrs: Horror films with curses plus Brenda and Effie equals their best book yet!

76) Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell: Funny and cute and really not as dull or full of death as the miniseries made it appear.

77) My Lady Ludlow by Elizabeth Gaskell: So long and boring, I didn't need a treatise on every member of Lady Ludlow's staff or a couple hundred pages on the French Revolution. Pick one and stick with it. And pick the Revolution, because the servants are dull as dirt, Julian Fellowes you aren't.

78) Tales from the Archives, A Trick of Strong Immagination, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences by Alyson Grauer: Write a rip off of The Night Circus only 1000 times worse, why not, I'll never read it again.

79) Chi's Sweet Home Volume 8 by Kanata Konami: Kitty!

80) Mr. Harrison's Confessions by Elizabeth Gaskell: Wow, Mr. Harrison is full of himself and really annoying. So far improved for the miniseries, which I find shocking.

81) Glitches, Lunar Chronicles Prequel by Marissa Meyer: Backstory on Cinder! So interesting seeing her first interactions with her "evil step-mother". Oh, can't wait for the next book!

82) The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: Awesome. Also, re-reading, you can see so much foreshadowing about Marco and Celia's fate that I'm shocked I didn't see it the first time.

83) The Affinity Bridge, Newbury and Hobbes Book 1 by George Mann: Didn't expect to love it so much, but I did. Also I never ever want robots or cyborgs or any kind of automaton ever, thank you. 

84) The Bride That Time Forgot, Brenda and Effie Book 5 by Paul Magrs: Brenda goes B.C. in a very camp way. Not my favorite, but still a ton of fun.

85) 666 Charing Cross Road by Paul Magrs: I'm all for Helene Hanff parodies, but this sometimes dragged a bit. Like it was going to be more books and instead all these ideas where shoved in one. Also, apparently high fatalities...

86) The Angel's Kiss: A Melody Malone Mystery by Justin Richards: A book that is like reading River Song's mind. A MUST for all Dr Who fans!

87) The Ninnies by Paul Magrs: Evil Roald Dahl! LOVE IT!

88) The Frozen Deep by Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens: Arctic expedition actually made interesting through creating a love interest and paranormal aspects.

89) Dodger by Terry Pratchett: Terry Pratchett perfectly re-creating Dickens's world with a very artful Dodger at it's center. Pure Dickens and pure Pratchett combined together wonderfully. I hope he writes more.

90) Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach: Mary Roach, despite at the end declaring herself a believer, seems skeptical and hostile to many people she meets, especially Allison Dubois, who the show Medium is based on. Also, you will NEVER get the images from the ectoplasm chapter out of your head. NEVER!

91) Speaking From Among the Bones, Flavia De Luce Book 5 by Alan Bradley: Another great Flavia installment, which was nicely twisty and turny and had a doozey of an ending.

92) Etiquette and Espionage, Finishing School Book 1 by Gail Carriger: Wanted to love it, ended up hating it. Just too cliched and... just not what I was expecting. Juvenile and blah.

93) Where's My Cow by Terry Pratchett: Because Sam Vimes teaching his son an Ankh Morpork version of "Where's My Cow" is awesome. Buggerit.

94) Tales from the Archives, The Cross of Columba, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences by Doc Coleman: Awesome Loch Ness monster story, made all the better because I read it with a kitty asleep on my lap.

95) The Warden, The Chronicles of Barset Book 1 by Anthony Trollope: Dull... not as dull as I thought it might be, but church minutiae is dull. Funny the cracks against Dickens that Trollope makes.

96) The Inheritance by Louisa May Alcott: Boring tale of girl finding true love despite thinking she was a penniless orphan... I liked the tv movie better.

97) The Dangerous Alphabet by Neil Gaiman: So cool how not only it's dark and bleak, but if you look carefully, there are so many awesome words starting with each letter in each section. Look for some shrunken heads and dead penguins!

98) Kaoru Mori: Anything and Something by Kaoru Mori: So odd. Many of the items where so random and oddly assembled, that I couldn't get any entertainment out of it.

99) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Book 1 by Douglas Adams: One of THE books that got me really into reading. Re-read it for book club and I can see that I don't think I'd recommend anyone to read it later than their teens, it loses something if it's not already a part of you.

100) A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens: I finally read something fully Dickens! And it was dull.

101) How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You by Matthew Inman: Bobcats alone are worth the price of this book. Everything else is just awesome extras. MUST OWN for people who are the servants of cats.

102) Silent in the Sanctuary, Lady Julia Book 2 by Deana Raybourn: Ok, I was really digging the Christmas vibe but the fact that the ending played out exactly as I had guessed AND ripped off Agatha Christie pissed me off.

103) Tales from the Archives, In the Spirit of Christmas, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences by Tee Morris: A Christmas Carol parody! YES! I needed this after my first reading of A Christmas Carol and being bored to tears.

104) Jack of Fables Volume 3: The Bad Prince by Bill Willingham: Umm... I know I just read this, but it's just more of Jack being Jack... they where in the Grand Canyon right? Oh wait, this had the funny sword in the stone stuck through him!

105) Daughter of Smoke and Book, Daughter of Smoke and Book Book 1 by Laini Taylor: Really wanted to fully love it, came close, and did make me desperate for the sequel. Also, I want to be surrounded by friendly monsters.

106)  Fables Volume 11: War and Pieces by Bill Willingham: Finally, once we have the war we won't have to deal with it anymore right?

107) Jack of Fables Volume 4: Americana by Bill Willingham: Not what I was expecting, which was Jack in the olde thyme US, not a fable "homeland", so boo for that.

108) Jack of Fables Volume 5: Turning Pages by Bill Willingham: Wow, they are now having war over in this one too... war war war, too much war.

109) Tales from the Archives, Curtain Call, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences by Shaun Farrell: Horrid, creepy and ick. Avoid.

110) Doctor Who: Devil in the Smoke by Justin Richards: Dr Who Victorian style, I love it! Also, Strax, last seen in A Good Man Goes to War, best comic relief ever!

111) Jack of Fables Volume 6: The Big Book of War by Bill Willingham: War again, sigh.

112) Fables Volume 12: The Dark Ages by Bill Willingham: War over... and now it's repercussions of war, sigh, new story line please.

113) Soulless Manga Volume 2 by Gail Carriger: Just as great as the first manga, but not my favorite, mainly because this is my favorite book and it just couldn't do it 100% justice. It's close...

114) Days of Blood and Starlight, Daughter of Smoke and Book Book 1 by Laini Taylor: I could not put this down!

115) Peter and Max by Bill Willingham: Just an amazing book set in the Fables world, but you don't need to have read those comics to get this awesomeness in your life. So amazing and gripping, like Fairy Tale serial killers!

116) A Friendly Game of Murder by JJ Murphy: The newest Algonquin Road Table book didn't fail to delight. What I loved about this was it was basically a locked room mystery in a locked room mystery all set on New Year's Eve with Arthur Conan Doyle as the guest start!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM