Best of 2012

Another year on the blog has come and gone, and it's been a pretty good one. I admit I haven't been reading or posting as much as I should have for the last couple of months, but don't worry, it's only temporary. Things at work are always so hectic in the run up to Christmas that there haven't been too many hours left over for anything but sleeping lately, and I've also become a mite bogged down with all those challenges. 

Anyway, let's get down to the actual business of this post, which is to look back on the books I read, choose some favourites and amuse myself with a few nerdy stats. First of all, which were the ten best books I read in 2012? After much deliberation, I bring you...

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I had no trouble at all picking my favourite from 2012, this book was totally awesome in every way. Funny, deep and incredibly vibrant, this has made me realise that I actually love magical realism when it's done well. One Hundred Years of Solitude is quite possibly my new favourite book ever.

Umbrella by Will Self

This won't be everyone's cup of tea - it's dense, impossibly wordy and very, very daunting. Yet somehow it swept me away and left me in awe of Will Self's talent. One of the most memorable books I've ever read.

Gillespie and I by Jane Harris

This was the highlight of the Orange prize longlist for me, and I will never understand why it wasn't shortlisted. I loved its twisting plot and marvellous narrator; if you haven't read it yet, please do!

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

All the hoopla over the film means more people than ever are discovering this wonderful, multi-layered tale, which can only be a very good thing.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

For an intimidating Russian tome, this was remarkably accessible. I'm starting to believe I might manage War and Peace, after all!

Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King

After a lifetime of reading almost everything he writes, I thought I'd already discovered all Stephen King's best work, so it was a lovely surprise to find that I hadn't. This collection of four novellas is truly outstanding.

The Pigeon by Patrick Suskind

I adored this novella about a reclusive man whose ordered life is turned upside-down by the arrival of a pigeon outside his room. It's a shame Suskind isn't more prolific, he has such a fantastic imagination.

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

I can't believe I left it so long to read The Woman in Black. With so many horror films and books around it's hard to believe that such an old-fashioned ghost story could be so chilling, but it absoloutely is.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

People had been on at me for years to try Neil Gaiman and now I see what all the fuss was about. American Gods is now very high on my TBR for 2013.

The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas

Another fantasy story, incorporating elements of sci-fi and mind-blowing physics, was this amazing novel by Scarlett Thomas. Nobody was allowed to speak to me when this book was in my hand!

And now for the nerdy stats:

Total books read: 139
Ebooks: 80 (57%)
Hardbacks: 18 (13%)
Paperbacks: 41 (30%)
By male authors: 69 (50%)
By female authors: 70 (50%)
By British authors: 69 (50%)
Read for challenges: 74 (53%)

So, what's on the cards for 2013? Well, you already know I'm not planning to do any challenges next year, apart from the perpetual Stephen King challenge that's still running, but that doesn't mean I won't be pushing myself to read lots of good stuff. I enjoyed reading through the Orange and Booker longlists this year, so I'll probably do that again, though this time I think I'll stick to shortlists instead of the whole longlist. I also want to make sure I read a few classics, as it's easy to let those slide when you don't have a specific challenge to make you read them.

I'm having a slight crisis on the reviewing front at the moment, and finding it takes a huge amount of mental effort to make myself write them. I'm a terrible procrastinator anyway, but I'm hoping this is just a temporary slump and I'll get back into the swing once life and work returns to normal in the new year. I'll never be the sort of blogger who posts religiously every day, but that's OK, I'm not going to stress about it.

I do want to have a bash at a readalong, which is something I've never tried before, and I still want to take part in events like R.I.P., Dewey's read-a-thon and reading weeks like those I did for Muriel Spark and Beryl Bainbridge in 2012. Hanna from Booking in Heels has very nearly got me convinced to try Random Reads as well, which should help me chip away at my giant piles of books, both real and digital.

Book-wise, there are loads of things to look forward to. First among these is Maggie O'Farrell's new book which comes out next month. I also hear whisperings about Margaret Atwood finally finishing off her Maddaddam trilogy this year, which is hugely exciting. And will we ever get the Morrissey autobiography? It's supposed to be ready to go - I neeeed it!

For now, it just remains for me to wish you all a very Happy New Year. I hope it brings many good things, but especially lots of books and stories to get lost in.