Another amazing year full of amazing books has come and gone. I officially completed my first blog book challenge in 2011, Books I Should Have Read in School, but Didn’t. I finished on the College Graduate Level. Not exactly the highest accomplishment, but not the lowest either. All in all, I am quite satisfied with my achievement and the books I discovered on my journey:
- Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller
- The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
- A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hanberry
I can’t say I have just one favorite book to comment on, but there are a few categories worth mentioning.
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was by far the most engaging series of the year. I loved the mix of action and reference toSweden’s governmental system.
- Water for Elephants gets my vote for best romance. Perhaps it is because I grew up in Baraboo,Wisconsin, home of the Al Ringling Circus, but the juxtaposition of the love affair with the obscure affairs of the circus was tantalizing.
- Deadline was my favorite piece of Young Adult Literature. It also happened to be my first Chris Crutcher novel.
This year I have decided to set a couple of reading goals for myself.
- Read at least 25 books. In 2011 I read 23 books. Instead of setting my amount much higher, I decided to create goal number two.
- Construct a blog review post on each book I finish in 2012.
- My favorite act of reading takes place during my two-year-old’s nightly bedtime ritual. I intend to include the books we explore together on my reading/blogging list this year.
- Complete two blog book challenges. This year’s challenges:
**2012′s first book: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: A Novel, Jonathan Safran Foer
