1. Best Book You Read In 2012? (You can break it down by genre if you want)I gave 5 books 5 stars this year.
First a re-read, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I love this book and will actually re-read it again later this month still as I have the third book in this series now and want to re-read the first two before reading the third.
Second is Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. I was so pleasantly surprised by this book. I knew I would like it but that it would touch me as much as it did was a surprise. I liked the style and will for sure check out more by this author.
Third The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. I loved the combination of the story and the meaning of flowers. I think it was executed in a good way. I also felt that the author really knew what she was talking about.
Fourth, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. A lovely book with a sweet story. A light read despite the tough subject and with humor.
Last but not least, Terugkeer Ongewenst by Charles Lewinsky. A book I hope will be translated in English for the English speakers cause this was really a rare beauty. I did not really enjoy the first book I read by this author but there was something in his style I liked. When I saw this book being released and the subject I decided to give this author another try and I am glad I did.
2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?I think the most dissapointing book this year was The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman. I love zoo's and love books about WWII. But this was just not what I expected.
This year I read steampunk for the first time. In the form of The Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard. Though I had a hard time reading it due to the amount of details and the weird setting I really enjoyed this and happily continued the rest of the series.3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2012?
4. Book you recommended to people most in 2012?I am not sure but I guess that is between The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.
5. Best series you discovered in 2012?Best series might be a bit to much but I really enjoyed reading the Sookie Stackhouse books.
6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2012?I discovered so many new authors this year but I think the one I will for sure read more is Kristin Hannah. I read one book by her this year and was impressed by her style and have added more of her books on my list for upcoming reads.
7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?Again I have to go for The Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard.
8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2012?The most unputdownable books I have read this year was the Millenium series by Stieg Larson. I never read them before and was really pleasantly surprised. Once I started reading them I read all three of them in one go.
9. Book You Read In 2012 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year:That is probably going to be The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. Don't have my to read list for 2013 set but I will probably pick this up at some point.
10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2012?I totally fell for the cover for The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker. The Dutch cover that is. As soon as I saw it I was attracted and knew I had to have this one on my shelf
11. Most memorable character in 2012?I am afraid I have to say the most memorable and character I unfortunately cannot forget nor stop laughing about is the "inner goddess" from 50 Shades of Grey. That was a "character" I could have gone without but will probably not forget for a long time.
12. Most beautifully written book read in 2012?That must be Terugkeer Ongewenst by Charles Lewinsky. The use of language in that book was so strong and beautiful that it really made me think and reread sentences cause I was enjoying them so much
13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2012?That would be IQ84 by Haruki Murakami. It took me a couple of days to recover from that one
14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2012 to finally read?Again Millenium series by Stieg Larson. I am still asking myself why I was so scared to pick these books up.
15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2012?“Without death,' he answered, 'life is meaningless. It is a story that can never be told. A song that can never be sung. For how would one finish it?”( Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter ~ Seth Grahame-Smith
16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2012?The longest book was IQ84 by Haruki Murakami. Shortest was Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.
17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!I cannot really recall a scene specifically but I was really impressed with The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons. A lot of things where happing there that made me angry or sad or happy and I was really happy we where reading it in book club cause I was able to bother other people with my enthusiasm.
18. Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2012 (be it romantic, friendship, etc).The relationship that impressed me the most was the one between Tom and Isabel in The Light Between Oceans.
Shadow of the Night by Deborah Harkness. I really loved The Discovery of Witches and was happy to get the second book in this series this year.19. Favorite Book You Read in 2012 From An Author You Read Previously
20. Best Book You Read That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody ElseThat would be Dash & Lily's Book of Dares. Last year a lot of people told me it was so great and I read it this month and I really loved it.
Book Blogging/Reading Life in 2012 (optional)
1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2012?I started searching trough the book blogger world this year so discovered so many great blogs. I cannot really name one of even a few. Maybe next year I developed a taste for just a few but there are so many great ones out there I am not sure.
2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2012?I really don't know.
3. Best discussion you had on your blog?That would be Teaser Tuesday of The Time Traveler's Wife.
4. Most thought-provoking review or discussion you read on somebody else’s blog?
5. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?
6. Best moment of book blogging in 2012?Starting my blog
7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?The Literary Blog Hop
8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?All of them hahaha.. no. I love it when people pay attention to my posts but I love all of them and that is the most important to me.
9. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?I think all the book blogs I discovered. There are so many great reviews and recommendations out there. I love it.
10.Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?
I finished my A-Z challenge. Am still one book away from my series challenge. Am still a few books away from my Goodreads challenge but will participate in a read-a-thon still this week to make that.
Looking Ahead…
1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2012 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2013?The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, but I secretly hope to still be able to read it in the last week of this year
The Dutch translation of The Stockholm Octavo by Karen Engelmann.2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2013?
3. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging In 2013?I am actually going to set up for less Reading Challenges in 2013. I did not get to read some books I really wanted to read cause they did not "fit in". Therefore I only signed up for some very general ones and will not try to decide to early what to read.
In blogging I will try to get more people attached to the blog and make interesting posts.
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