Books Read and Audiobooked in 2012
Picture Books 12
Big Wolf and Little Wolf: Such a Beautiful Orange by Nadine Brun-Cosme
Celebritrees: Historic Famous Trees of the World by Margi Preus
Dog in Boots by Gormley
A Family for Old Mill Farm by Shutta Crum
Somewhere in Africa by Ingrid Mennen and Niki Daly
Tia Isa Wants a Car by Meg Medina
Mama’s Saris by Pooja Makhijani
Orani: My Father’s Village by Claire A. Nivola
Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes byLitwin
Pomelo Begins to Grow by Ramona Badescu
Rose Meets Mr. Wintergarten by Bob Graham
Waiting for the Biblioburro by Brown
(As I read many of these I lost track after only a few titles)
My Favorites
Upper Elementary/Young Adult 24
Adventures of Cat-Whiskered Girl by Daniel Pinkwater
After Ever After by JordanSonnenblick
Black Radishes by Susan Lynn Meyer Bachelder Award
Blue by Joyce Moyer Hostetter
Breaking Stalin’s Nose by Eugene Yelchin Newbery Honor Award
Bunheads by Sophie Flack
The Candymakers by Wendy Mass
Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun by Rhoda Blumberg Newbery Honor Award
The Crowstarver by Dick King-Smith Smarties Award Winner
The Corn Grows Ripe by Dorothy Rhoads Newbery Honor Award
Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick
Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
Fog Magic by Julia Sauer Newbery Honor Award
Good Luck Anna Hibiscus! by Atinuke
The Hoboken Chicken Emergency by Daniel Pinkwater
Ida B. by Katherine Hannigan
Inside Out and Back Again by Lai Newbery Honor Award
Lily Pond by Annika Thor
Ninth Ward by Julia Parker Rhodes Newbery Award ; CSK Award
One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street by Joanne Rocklin
The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle Pura Belpre Award and Newbery Honor
A Time of Miracles by Anne-Laure Bondoux Batchelder Award
A Traveller in Time by Alison Uttley (Wonderful old story)
Zora and Me by Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon CSK Award
Favorites
Adult books 5
Fragrant Rice by Janet De Neefe
The Land of Green Plums by Herta Muller A brilliant but painfully harsh story (Nobel Prize Winner)
Mao’s Last Dancer by Li Cunxin
The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
The Meryl Streep Movie Club by Mia March (A fun read for those who are Meryl Streep fans)
Favorites
Manga/Graphic Novels 3
Chi’s Sweet Home, vol.7 by Kanata Konami (New York Times Bestseller and Vol. 1 won the Kodansha Manga Award)
Chi’s Sweet Home, vol. 8 by Kanata Konami
Wonderstruck by Brian Selznik
Favorite
Audiobooks
Childrens 26
Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary “Jacky” Faber, Ship’s Boy by l.A. Meyer
The Boy Who Climbed Into the Moon by David Almond
The Dark is Rising, (book 2) by Susan Cooper
Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly Newbery Award
Greenwitch, bk. 3 by Susan Cooper
Finally by Wendy Mass
The Four Story Mistake by Elizabeth Enright
Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright
The Gray King, bk. 4 by Susan Cooper
Magyk, Septimus Heap series, vol.1 by Angie Sage
Masterpiece by Elise Broach
Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorenson Newbery
Over Sea, Under Stone, bk. 1 by Susan Collins
The Owl Service by Alan Garner
Piper Reed, Navy Brat, bk. 1 by Kimberly Willis Holt
Piper Reed, the Great Gypsy by Kimberly Willis Holt
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale – Newbery
Return to Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright
A Spiderweb for Two by Elizabeth Enright
The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright
Silver on the Tree, bk. 5 by Susan Cooper
Small Acts of Amazing Courage byGloria Whelan
The Sword in the Grotto, Araminto Spookie series, bk. 2 by Angie Sage
Then There Were Five by Elizabeth Enright
This Book is Not Good for You, The Secret Series, Bk 3 by Pseudonymous Bosch
Favorites
Young Adult 5
Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Notes From the Midnight Driver by Jordan Sonnenblick
The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen
Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler
Zen and the Art of Faking It by Jordan Sonnenblick
Favorite
Adult 44 1/2
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Anarchy and Old Dogs, Doctor Siri Palboun bk. 4 by Colin Cotterill
Angels and Insect by A.S. Byatt
Badgers in My Vest by Dylan Thomas
The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory
The Coroner’s Lunch, Doctor Siri Palboun series, bk. 1 by Colin Cotterill
Curse of the Pogo Stick, Doctor Siri Palboun bk. 5 by Colin Cotterill
Disco For the Departed, Doctor Siri Palboun series, bk. 3 by Colin Cotterill
Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens
Duchess of Death: The Unauthorized Biography of Agatha Christie by Richard Hack
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (read part-listened to part)
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
Escape From Camp 14: One Man’s Remarkable Odyssey From North Korea to Freedom in the West by Blane Harden
Footsteps in the Dark by Georgette Heyer
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, Millennium Trilogy, book 3 by Stieg Larsson
The Golden Mountain by Irene Kai
How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn (I had read this years ago)
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (didn’t finish)
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson
Jeeves in the Offing by P.G. Wodehouse
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Killed at the Whim of a Hat by Colin Cotterill
Last Man in Tower by Aravind Adiga
Life and Times of Queen Elizabeth 1 and 11
Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain (most of it)
Love Songs From a Shallow Grave, Doctor Siri Palboun bk.7 by Colin Cotterill
Marriage Made in Heaven by Erma Bombeck
The Merry Misogenist, Doctor Siri Palboun bk 6 by Colin Cotterill
Miss Mapp by E. F. Benson
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
Queen Lucia by E.F. Benson
River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by Candice Millard
River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh
Shash and Burn, Doctor Siri Palboun bk. 8 by Colin Cotterill
Sir Harry Hotspur by Anthony Trollope
Spinsters in Jeopardy by Ngaio Marsh
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Thirty-Three Teeth, Doctor Siri Palboun bk 2 by Colin Cotterill
Tied Up in Tinsel by Ngaio Marsh
Travels With Charlie by John Steinbeck
Well of Lost Plots, Thursday Next series, book 3, by Jasper Fforde
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (again!)
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Favorites
This is the first of a mystery series of 8 books about a coroner in Laos in the ’70’s!
Movies
Kung Fu Panda 2
Chico and Rita
The Secret World of Arrietty
The Descendants
Albert Nobbs
The Iron Lady
The Hobbit
Favorite
Movies for Television
Downton Abbey, season 2
Downton Abbey, season 3
Both wonderful!
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Year End Thoughts
I forgot to write down titles…some of which I only remembered today!
I was shocked at how few hard copy adult books I read. I must say though that I am working on three large books which I haven’t finished, so hopefully they will show up on next year’s list.
Next year I want to be more careful about my selections! There are so many wonderful books to read and I believe that I could have chosen better.
Have you read any of these books? What are your thoughts about them?
~Heidi
The Birdman by Veronika Martenova Charles
A Calf for Christmas by Astrid Lindgren
The Elephant’s Friend and Other Tales from Ancient India retold and ill. by Marcia Williams
Mother’s Love: Inspiring Stories from the Animal Kingdom by Melina Gerosa Bellows
Taka-Chan and I: A Dog’s Journey to Japan by Runcible as told to Betty Jean Lifton
The Apothocary by Maile Meloy
The Audrey of the Outback Collection by Christine Harris
Jenny Goes to Sea by Esther Averill
Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage (Newbery Honor)
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow
Glaciers by Alexis M. Smith
The Pickup by Nadine Gordimer
The Sound of the Mountain by Yasurari Kawabata
Unformed Landscape by Peter Stamm
A Game for Swallows: To Die, To Leave, To Return by Zeina Abirached
Sumo by Thien Pham
