What's the best book you read this year? This is always a tough one for me to answer, as I read a lot of gems. I'll go with the most recent, which was Various Miracles by Carol Shields. She is also my favourite new-to-me author of the year.
Any other reading highlights? I read a lot of books about people who own dogs. It was pretty exciting as I will be a dogowner again in the new year.
What's the most challenging book you read this year? London Under by Peter Ackroyd. I actually had to give up halfway through because I was so frustrated by his lack of citations, the way he floated about with bits of information that only vaguely tied in to the topic at hand and the way the whole book felt like a chapter in a larger book.
What's the worst book you read this year? The Devil Will Come by Glenn Cooper. It falls into the "Dan Brown" category of thriller and it was just baaaaaaaaaaaaaaad.
Which authors featured most prominently for you in 2012? Bill Richardson, I read a lot of his stuff this summer. And I discovered James Rollins, who I really enjoy. Also "Dan Brown" esque but far better!
Were you part of a reading challenge? Did you meet it? I am doing the 80 books in 80 countries, but it's not a time-sensitive challenge so it's still happening.
Are you signed up for any in 2013? The TBR Double Dog Dare.
What books did you get for Christmas? I got Harry Potter & History for my Kobo from my father in law. And my husband got me the Young House Love book. My husband's godmother got us a copy of Desperately Seeking Susans, a poetry anthology she is featured in.
What books are you going to buy next? I'm trying not to buy anything!
Which books are you most looking forward to reading in 2013? Anna Karenina. Oh yes!

What's the best book you read this year?

Tough one this.

I think I'll have to give it to Cold Days by Jim Butcher, but it's a close call.

Any other reading highlights?

Yes! Dodger by Terry Pratchett, House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz, Crucible of Gold by Naomi Novik and the first three Rivers of London books by Ben Aaronovitch

What's the most challenging book you read this year?

Probably Wild Swans by Jung Chang or The Long Song by Andrea Levy. Harrowing stuff, both of them.

What's the worst book you read this year?

Nothing truly awful, but the book I'd be least willing to reread would be The Knight of Dragons by Jason Hightman


Which authors featured most prominently for you in 2012?

The ones I read most of were Ben Aaronovitch, Tanya Huff and Peter O'Donnell

Were you part of a reading challenge? Did you meet it?
50 book challenge here on LJ, I managed 66.

Are you signed up for any in 2013?

I'll do the same again.

What books did you get for Christmas?

None, but I did get a book token, which leads nicely into the next question :)

What books are you going to buy next?

Depends what they have in Waterstones that's any good :) I shall be looking for some Robert van Gulik, as I saw the Detective Dee movie over Christmas and would like to read the literary version :)

Which books are you most looking forward to reading in 2013?


The next in the Dresden Files and Rivers of London series if they're out by then.

I read it aloud to my husband - that way we both get to enjoy it at the same time, plus I find I pick up on details more when I read aloud.

What's the best book you read this year?
I always have such a hard time with "best" of anything.
Fiction: Star Trek: The Next Generation Destiny trilogy or The Inheritance Cycle quartet
Non-Fiction: The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins

Any other reading highlights?
I read a number of good non-fiction books this year, my favorite genres were History of Christianity, Physics/Cosmology, and Cognitive Neuroscience

What's the most challenging book you read this year?
I wouldn't really label any of the books terribly challenging. I've read enough pop-physics books that I understand on a layman's level the material presented. Hoever, if I have to pick one, I'll pick Lisa Randall's Knocking on Heaven's Door: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World.

What's the worst book you read this year?
Hands down, the last Artemis Fowl book, The Last Guardian. I thought it was a horrible ending to an otherwise fun and enjoyable series.

Which authors featured most prominently for you in 2012?
There were a number of authors I read multiple books by this year, but Rick Riordan popped the most with the 5 Percy Jackson and the Olympian's books. Runners up were David Mack and Christopher Paolini.

Were you part of a reading challenge? Did you meet it?
I take part in the GoodReads challenge. Sadly, I did not meet my goal (by a lot), but I still managed to read 56 books for the year. (My goal had been 92...it's always set at one book more than was read in the prior year.)

Are you signed up for any in 2013?
I signed up for GoodReads again with a goal of 57

What books did you get for Christmas?
I received Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman in HC. I also received a "Book of the Month" from my mom and her husband. I'll be able to choose one new book each month!

What books are you going to buy next?
I have a number of books on pre-order...
Ever After (Hollows #11) - Kim Harrison
Red Velvet Cupcake Murder (Hannah Swensen #16) - JoAnn Fluke
Calculated in Death (In Death #36) - JD Robb
The Kill Room (Lincoln Rhyme #10) - Jeffery Deaver

Which books are you most looking forward to reading in 2013?
I am quite behind in my reading. I'm looking forward to catching up on the Scarpetta novels, the Star Trek TNG/Titan books, and finally getting to the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher. Plus, I'm excited for all of the new books coming out (see pre-order list). And, of course, to finishing Cold Days (Dresden Files #14) which I just started a couple of days ago.

How timely, I'm trying to fill out another 2012-in-review meme right now.

What's the best book you read this year?
I hate to choose this when I read SO MANY amazing animal books (both fiction and non), but right now I'm seriously riding a high from the last book of the year, so: Where You Are, J.H. Trumble

Any other reading highlights?
I discovered my state has Interlibrary Loan and learned how to use it -- I AM OBSESSED. All the books are belong to meeee! *cough*

Other books on my long short list of favorites include:
Is Everybody Hanging Out Without Me? - Mindy Kaling
Oink: My Life with Mini Pigs - Matt Whyman
Blue Smoke - Dorothy Lyons
The Dog Who Wouldn't Be - Farley Mowat
Dear Readers and Riders - Marguerite Henry
Lock and Key - Sarah Dessen
And Kim Culbertson's Songs for a Teenage Nomad gave me an amazing playlist on top of a good story.

What's the most challenging book you read this year?
I didn't challenge myself... Part Wild was probably the most difficult nonfiction book to get through, for density.

What's the worst book you read this year?
Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone, Kat Rosenfield -- boring as could be with way too much sex; I was baffled as to how it got labeled YA rather than general fiction.

Which authors featured most prominently for you in 2012?
I read three apiece from Dorothy Lyons and Sarah Dessen -- both authors I enjoy, but hadn't picked up in a while -- and hunted down three Marguerite Henry books I'd somehow never read.

Were you part of a reading challenge? Did you meet it?
I set a goal of 100 for the year on Goodreads, then upped it to 150; topped out at 156.

Are you signed up for any in 2013?
It'll be my standard 100 again.

What books did you get for Christmas?
Where You Are

What books are you going to buy next?
I'm still trying to convince myself to part with $10-15 all at once for The Land of Stories, so realistically it will be whatever book catches my eye in the library sale room.

Which books are you most looking forward to reading in 2013?
Walking With Sausage Dogs, if a print version ever appears in the U.S., and The Land of Stories. (there might be 2 books by the time I get around to the first one...)

You totally should, Interlibrary loan is the *best*!

I will also note, it's free at the library system in my county, but I've heard that some libraries charge for the shipping of the books, so be sure to look for notes like that.

What's the best book you read this year?

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Any other reading highlights?

Yep! City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare and anything I could find in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. Plus of course The Dresden Files. There's probably more but I'm never very good at remembering what year I read books in.


What's the most challenging book you read this year?

Probably Mockingjay. It was challenging in the sense that it was hard to keep reading when I realised I didn't like the way it ended.


What's the worst book you read this year?

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling!


Were you part of a reading challenge?

No.

Are you signed up for any in 2013?

Only in the sense that I have over ten books that I'm currently reading and I want to finish them all this year.

What books did you get for Christmas?

None, surprisingly.


What books are you going to buy next?

I'm not going out of my way to buy anything because my reading list is getting out of hand but I may trade for something when I've finished a few books.


Which books are you most looking forward to reading in 2013?

Out of all the books that I'm currently reading, I'm most looking forward to finishing The Diviners by Libba Bray.

What's the best book you read this year?
The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andric for fiction
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson for nonfiction.

Any other reading highlights?
Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon
Last Man in Tower by Aravind Adiga
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

What's the most challenging book you read this year?
El ruido de las cosas al caer, by Juan Gabriel Vazquez, because I'm still working on my Spanish-language comprehension

What's the worst book you read this year?
That I finished? The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, by Edgar Allan Poe.

Which authors featured most prominently for you in 2012?
No one author seemed to dominate my book or short story reading, although I did read two books by:
Kobo Abe- The Face of Another and Secret Rendezvous
Thomas Pynchon- Mason & Dixon and The Crying of Lot 49
George R.R. Martin - A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons
and several Shakespeare plays.

Which books are you most looking forward to reading in 2013? Whatever shows up at the local library! I hope they get Mark Binelli's new novel someday.

Goodness sakes, I posted the questions and then forgot to link back to my answers!

http://catyah.livejournal.com/340246.html

What's the best book you read this year? Either With Liberty and Justice for Some by Glenn Greenwald and Twilight of the Elites by Christopher Hayes

Any other reading highlights? I found a couple of promising new series.

What's the most challenging book you read this year? I don't know that I had one.

What's the worst book you read this year? The Map of Time

Which authors featured most prominently for you in 2012? Chris Hayes

Were you part of a reading challenge? Did you meet it? Yes. Sadly, no.

Are you signed up for any in 2013? Yes

What books did you get for Christmas? Sherlock: The Casebook by Guy Adams and The Complete Sherlock Holmes

What books are you going to buy next? I don't know. These days I'm much more likely to get a book from the library rather than purchase it.

Which books are you most looking forward to reading in 2013? I don't think there's anything in particular I'm looking forward to.

What's the best book you read this year?
Robinson - 'Spiritual Combat' Revisited

Any other reading highlights?
Pollan - Food Rules: An Eater's Manual
Wong - John Dies At The End
Sallis - Drive
Pinch - Egyptian Muth: A Very Short Introduction
Taylor - Buried Soul: How Humans Invented Death
Beckett - Sister Wendy On Prayer
Weir - Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy
Weil - Gravity & Grace
Bornstein - Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives To Suicide For Teens, Freaks & Other Outlaws
Koontz - Odd Thomas
Maples - Dead Me Do Tell Tales: The Strange & Fascinating Cases Of A Forensic Anthropologist

What's the most challenging book you read this year?
Wittgenstein - On Certainty

What's the worst book you read this year?
Ishiguro - Nocturnes

Which authors featured most prominently for you in 2012?
St. Francis De Sales and Bret Easton Ellis XD

Were you part of a reading challenge? Did you meet it?
Yes (two) and yes.

Are you signed up for any in 2013?
Yes.

What books did you get for Christmas?
None, but I didn't ask for any. *shrug*

What books are you going to buy next?
(from the list of what I could be buying next on my shopping list, won't necessarily buy all of them in the same order :) :)
Bacigalupi - The Windup Girl
Ship Breaker
Pump Six
Backgammon For Dummies
CHRISTIANE F
Crane - The Red Badge Of Courage (penguin)
DeLillo - Libra
DMZ 7 - 10, 12
DK ETG: San Francisco & Northern California
Ebert - The Great Movies I, II, III
Foer - Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Gaskell - North And South (Penguin)
Greer - The Female Eunuch
Kaling – Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?
Koontz - Sole Survivor
Kostova - The Historian
Lee - To Kill A Mockingbird
Luddington - Lancelot's Burden
100 Bullets 6 - 13
Renault – The Charioteer, Fire From Heaven + The Persian Boy, The Last Of The Wine, The Mask Of Apollo
Smith - The Way He Lived
Takemoto - Kamikaze Girls
Westerfeld - Leviathan

Which books are you most looking forward to reading in 2013?
I plan to read some books that everybody except me sees to have read... made a long list *lol*

What's the best book you read this year? - Triss by Brian Jacques (re-read because it's that good)
Any other reading highlights? - As for Me and My House by Sinclair Ross
What's the most challenging book you read this year? - In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje
What's the worst book you read this year? - It's not the worst, but it definitely isn't a pleasure read: The Street by Mordecai Richler
Which authors featured most prominently for you in 2012? Margaret Atwood
Were you part of a reading challenge? Did you meet it? I'm currently planning to read 25 books in 2013.
Are you signed up for any in 2013? Answer is above
What books did you get for Christmas? A Chronicles of Narnia box set (love it!)
What books are you going to buy next? MadAddam by Margaret Atwood (set to be released in 2013
Which books are you most looking forward to reading in 2013? Answer is above