Day: January 5, 2013

As promised, here is some in depth analysis on my books and movies/tv consumed in 2012.

BOOKS

Memorable Books from this year: This is not a definitive list by any means.

Worse Books Read this year: I read the Fifty Shades of Grey and the two sequels at the urging of a friend so that we could make fun of it. Oh, we made fun of it for two weeks, but my goodness, these books were horrible.

New-to-me Authors I look forward to reading more of: Erin Morgenstern, Haruki Murakami, Henry James, Laura Moriarty, and Georgette Heyer.

Books I found challenging to read: Bel-Ami because it was in French.

Classics Club update: In the first seven months of the Classics Club, I’ve completed 12 books. Off to a fine start.

Stats!

Author that I read the most this year: Georgette Heyer with 17. That’s 26% of the books read. While some of her books are slightly repetitive, they are generally very fun and addictive.

Poetry: 0. I really should read at least one poetry book for 2013. That’s usually my average.

Authors Split by Gender: Of the 65 books, 49 (75%) were written or edited by women and 16 (24%) were written or edited by men. This is the norm that I read more books written by women, but it was a particularly female year though. I don’t go out of my way to read any books by one gender though, but this is my first time really counting the split.

Nonfiction Books: 4 (6%). That’s an abysmal number so I really need to up it to at least 10% in 2013. The four books were on: reading, relationships, travel, and maths. That’s more or less my usual topics except I usually have a food book in there somewhere.

Total number of books read: 65. This isn’t a bad number. Let’s compare all book numbers for the last ten years for statistical purposes:
2012: 65
2011: 50
2010: 67
2009: 20
2008: 83
2007: 52
2006: 61
2005: 83
2004: 71
2005: 66
2002: 66

I did better than last year which wasn’t that hard, but I’m surprised I read less than 2010. Then again, I think I read more classics this year. I seem to stay within the same twenty book range. I should aim to go back up to 83 again, but I just want to read just as much or more as the year before so I’m sticking to 65ish for 2013.

Also, I went back and looked at my reviews for the ones I feel particularly proud of writing whether because I invested a lot time in it or that it was very personal and reflective.

Book Reviews of Note: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami, Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, and Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy.

MOVIES AND TV

I find it harder to write about TV than for books or movies. Perhaps I see that as even more escapist and distraction than movies or books. The latter of which is not only an escape but an exercise of the mind. Or maybe since I watch a lot of TV as it is airing, I have less time to write my complete thoughts on it.

Here are some TV shows from this year that I watched, followed, and in some cases, loved:

From America and the UK: “Homeland”, “Downton Abbey”, “Once Upon a Time”, “Hart of Dixie”, “Elementary”, “Switched at Birth”, “Boardwalk Empire”, “The Borgias” (S1) “Justice League” and “Justice League Unlimited”

From Korea: “Rooftop Prince”, “Sungkyunkwan Scandal” – Pretty much the only Asian dramas I saw this year. It was a low TV/movies year.

Memorable Movies from this year:

Labyrinth: No wonder this movie has a cult following.
Whisper from the Heart: Added to my ever growing list of Ghibli favourites. Definitely going to need a rewatch.
Shame. Just for the tone and Fassbender’s performance. It left an impression even though I don’t want to rewatch it.
The Secret World of Arrietty. Yet another lovely Ghibli film.
The Artist. Even though I had issues with the casting, I really loved this as a homage to an era that I really like.

Movie/TV Reviews of Note: Austen Adaptations, The Artist, and Sungkyunkwan Scandal

Finally, here is my complete list of books and movies read and consumed in 2012, ordered by month. If you want all the reviews of the books, go to the 2012 Books tag and for the movies, 2012 Movies.

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