“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” - Dr. Seuss

~One thing that I learned this year is that the books I loved most were the books I heavily researched and read the reviews for before I spent good money on them. Generally, I saw them on several favorite book lists, not necessarily just the New York Times list.

~Just because it’s a favorite author doesn’t mean you’ll love everything they wrote. I can not believe the only book I couldn’t finish came highly recommended and by an author I have always loved. I may have to give that one another try, because I just can NOT believe I didn’t get through it. I am not a quitter. I am not a quitter. I am not a quitter…

~Anyone can become a best seller when they offer free, or nearly free, Kindle books. That doesn’t make them a memorable bestseller. And I can’t believe I fell for it over and over. But it’s not like I read them back to back. I need to learn to be a quitter without a guilty conscience..

~I should keep a reading journal. My Amazon shopping list does not sufficiently cover what I read. 80% maybe, but that’s not 100. I didn’t realize I had read so much this year, mostly by reading an hour before sleep, each night.

Books I would whole-heartedly recommend to anyone:

~ On Borrowed Wings – Chandra Prasad

~ When We Were Strangers – Pamela Schoenewaldt

~ Animal, Vegetable, Miracle – Barbara Kingsolver, Camille Kingsolver, Steven L. Hopp

~ Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption – Laura Hillenbrand

~ The Kitchen House – Kathleen Grissom

~ My Antonia – Willa Sibert Cather

~ The Widow of the South – Robert Hicks

~ Secret Daughter: A Novel – Gowda, Shilpi Somaya

~ Death Comes for the Archbishop – Willa Cather

~ The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane – Kate DiCamillo

~ Sarah’s Key – Tatiana de Rosnay

Totally entertaining reads:

~ My Own Country – Abraham Verghese

~ Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: A Novel – Jamie Ford

~ The Menopause Thyroid Solution – Mary Shoman

~ The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins

~ Catching Fire (The second Book of The Hunger Games) – Suzanne Collins

~ Mockingjay (The third Book of The Hunger Games) – Suzanne Collins

~ Blacklisted From the PTA – Lela Davidson

~ Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist’s Wife – Irene Spencer

~ A Tiger in the Kitchen: A Memoir of Food and Family – Cheryl Tan

~ The Mill River Recluse – Darcie Chan

I just may have had to look these books up, to remember what they were:

~ Lethal People (A Donovan Creed Novel) – John Locke

~ Lethal Experiment (a Donovan Creed Novel) – John Locke

~ Saving Rachel (a Donovan Creed Crime Novel) – John Locke

~ Vegas Moon (A Donovan Creed Novel) – John Locke

~ Maid to Match – Deeanne Gist

~ Close to Famous – Joan Bauer

I just couldn’t finish:

~ In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin – Erik Larson

As I was going through my Kindle archives I see I still have several unread books that I am looking forward to reading, in 2012, and several that I may just hit delete on and forget about feeling guilty….

What about you? What are you looking forward to reading this next year?