Comfort Reads discussion

Hello comfy readers!
The end of 2012 is approaching and I'd love to hear about your favourite reads of 2012. They don't have to be comfort reads, I want to know what blew you away in any genre. Go!

Oh my, there are so many....

Mariana by Susanna Kearsley
The Rose Garden Susanna Kearsley
The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley
Her Highness, the Traitor by Susan Higginbotham
The Sumerton Women by D.L. Bogdan
Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir
Mary, Queen of France by Jean Plaidy
Epitaph for Three Women by Jean Plaidy

A historical fiction fan! Thanks, NayNay.

The Violets of March by Sarah Jio-so soo good! Got it for Christmas and didn't put it down until I finished it.

One for sure was my first read of 2012:



Just thought of more after reviewing my list:



; and

Wow, great question, Lee and all.

Diane and all, I finished Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl on 12/20/11; otherwise it would be on this list, if I'd finished it just a couple weeks later.

So:

Well there were probably almost a dozen vegan cookbooks, including Wild About Greens: 125 Delicious Recipes from Hearty Soups & Stews to Succulent Sautes & Smoothies.

and

The Fault in Our Stars

Trail of the Spellmans

The Invisible Bridge

The Art of Miss Chew

The Casual Vacancy

That Scatterbrain Booky

Address Unknown

and probably many more.

I read (and listened to) lots of great books in 2012. The ones which immediately come to mind are:

Cannery Row, The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, The Moon is Down and Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck (it's been a bit of a Steinbeck year for me);

Lolita (definitely not a comfort read!);

The Children's Book (lots of characters, lots of research);

Bring Up the Bodies and A Place of Greater Safety by the incomparable Hilary Mantel;

The Count of Monte Cristo (lots of fun and as unbelievable as the most OTT soap opera)

The Book Thief (which made me cry);

Sweet Tooth (I loved the clever twist);

Birds Without Wings (It took a while to get into, but really packed a punch);

Wives and Daughters (Such a shame that Gaskell died before finishing this book);

The Secret River (a must for Australian readers).

I'm so glad I asked this question, some great books are showing up!

Kim, The Book Thief is on my favorites list, and it made me cry too.

As Lee said, lots of great books. I'm hoping more people will post.

Lee, Let's do this every year!




ETA: Diane, Ditto Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close being read in an earlier year. Otherwise, it would have also made my list.

LOTs of books to go check out!

Lisa, I'm glad I'm including some of your favorites from earlier than 2012 :)

The WitnessThe Witness by Nora Roberts

Deep in the Heart Deep in the Heart by Staci Stallings

While You Were Dead& Dead Reckoningboth by CJ Snyder

The Blue Fire series by Scott PrussingBlue Fire Heat

The Years of Rice and Salt, by Kim Stanley Robinson

George, Nicholas and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I, by Miranda Carter

The Swerve: How the World Became Modern, by Stephen Greenblatt

The Beekeeper's Apprentice, by Laurie R. King

A Letter of Mary, by Laurie R. King

Bring Up the Bodies, by Hilary Mantel

The Grand Sophy, by Georgette Heyer

Persuasion, by Jane Austen

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis

In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote

Our Mutual Friend, by Charles Dickens

Dylan and Jesse by C.H. Admirand
Quinn by R.C. Ryan
Big Sky Country by Linda Lael Miller
Deep in the Heart by Staci Stallings

These have been my favorite books read this year:

Dancer
Let the Great World Spin
Birds Without Wings
Chronicle in Stone
A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary
Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness
Scribbling The Cat
Rules of Civility
Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948
Between Love and Honor
All That I Am
Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life

This may seem a lot, but I have read 157 books this year so far.

Here is my list:

Children's Books (including picture books)

Same Sun Here
Lucy Maud and Me
The Summer Gang
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit
Hungry Year
Olivia Bean, Trivia Queen
Anna All Year Round
Winds of L' Acadie
Beswitched
There You Are
The Margaret Trilogy
Hannah Waters And The Daughter Of Johann Sebastian Bach
That Scatterbrain Booky
With Love From Booky
As Ever, Booky
Plant a Little Seed
Winterberries and Apple Blossoms: Reflections and Flavors of a Mennonite Year
Full Moon Rising
My Diary from Here to There/Mi diario de aqui hasta alla
Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea

Academic and Non-Fiction Books

Exploring the German Language
... weil die Kinder nicht ernst genommen werden. Zum Werk von Christine Nöstlinger
Louisa May Alcott: A Modern Biography
The Horse, the Wheel and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World
The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales
Mysterious Britain
Common Poisonous Plants and Mushrooms of North America

Literature and Fiction

Murder by the Book
Alles kann ein Herz ertragen. Die weite Lebensreise der Elisabeth Thiessen
The Silmarillion
The Devil Is a Travelling Man: Two Plays by W.O. Mitchell
How I Spent My Summer Holidays
Wenn du geredet hättest, Desdemona
Mystery in the Minster

Here are mine:

The Presidents Club: Inside the World's Most Exclusive Fraternity - tremendous if you're interested in US presidents, heartwarming too!
The Casual Vacancy - I almost didn't read it, so glad I did
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - particularly if you're 40 plus
City of Thieves - gritty and real but funny too
To Be Sung Underwater - a romance and more, makes you think
Steve Jobs - here you have genius author and subject both
Mrs. Kennedy and Me: An Intimate Memoir - tearjerker and revealing
Small Island - may be my favorite of all, historical, dark, yet light
Please Ignore Vera Dietz - tremendous YA lit

Laura, I almost did not read The Casual Vacancy either and I'm with you - so glad I did. Thanks to the nudging of some GR friends :)

I have a whole new respect for her, beyond the fact I already thought she rocked. Same here, two friends' reviews convinced me to try it. I'm so glad. A book not to be forgotten.

Well it seems I read an awful lot of mediocre books this year because after taking a look at my shelves, I only found 2 books rated with five stars.


Rules of Civility
Tell the Wolves I'm Home

I set a goal to find 12 5-star reads this year and barely made it.

If anyone knows how to guarantee (or practically guarantee) a 5-star read, please tell me, because I'd like to learn to choose better.

I dunno, Laura; I only gave 5 stars twice in 2012; and it was more than I gave in 2011. (I tend to be very stingy with 5 stars, but generous with 4, for whatever reason.)

I don't think there's any way to guarantee finding a five star read. If a book has an average rating above 4.00, depending on the genre, than it may have more of a chance. Also, if you've read and loved an author's previous works, that's a good way to find excellent books. Reading is so personal though, it depends on what you like and how you rate the books. I don't rate for technical perfection because I don't have the expertise or knowledge to do that. I definitely rate books based on how much I liked/loved them, how much they resonated with me personally or if I learned a lot while reading. Also, if a book/story/character stays with me more than a day or two after I finish, that says a lot.

Susanna, I tend to be the same. Lots of fours and pretty stingy with my fives.

Having the average GR rating above 4 I think is helpful for me. Was helpful the past year. Maybe I just got lucky but I tried to choose really carefully.

I agree re the technical stuff, I tend to rate a 5 based on how it affected me, and whether I know it'll stay with me helps also.

My average rating is about 3.75 or thereabouts, so I'm very glad to have read so many 5 star books this year. Falling in love with Steinbeck's writing certainly helped with that process. Most of my 5 star books are ones which I'm still thinking about days after I've finished reading or listening to them. Most of my ratings are 4 stars, some are 3 and I read very few 1 or 2 star books. Mostly I know what is not going to appeal to me, so the books I won't like don't even get started.

We are all looking for books that we will love. My method is pick a book that has a subject that is interesting, something you want to know more about. Then if the author isn't that good, you at least have leaned something and you have not wasted your time.

My average is 3.52.

I want to learn and I want to be emotionally moved. I have found very few authors who can write more than one really exceptional book, but you do get tempted to try another when one blew you over. I LIKE trying new authors and genre because you never know what is out there! What if you are totally missing something!

I wasn't referring to my GR rating, I meant choosing books whose GR rating was above 4 seemed to help me find better books (which Lee suggested). I think that definitely helped, and being a numbers person, I think I gravitate to the higher rated books.

My GR average is 4.04, but that's probably because I give up if I don't like a book, and I tend to shy away from something I think I won't like. If I gave up or didn't finish, I almost never rate it on GR or log it in as read.

Laura, I agree that choosing books with a rating above four is always a good bet....but not fullproof!

Very true.

I tend not to rely on average ratings, I tend to put more of an emphasis on reviews. And because many of the books that interest me, are not all that commonly read (and are sometimes quite academic and subject specific in nature), I often have to decide on reading a book simply by the title (as there are very few ratings and/or reviews). Actually, if I am not sure about a book, especially a book of fiction, I often try to get it from the library and will only purchase a copy, if after reading about 50 pages of the library book, I still enjoy the book.

Here is my list:


Heart of War by John Masters

The Eden Passsion by Marilyn Harris

The Black Velvet Gown by Catherine Cookson

Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens

The Invisible Mountain by Carolina de Robertis

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy

Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon

The Towers of Silence by Paul Scott

A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor

Sissi : L'Impératrice anarchiste by Catherire Clement

Ride with Me by Thomas B. Costain

To Serve Them All My Days by R.F. Delderfield

Elizabeth and Her German Gardenby Elizabeth von Arnim

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

I tend to trust good ratings from friends who like the same sort of books I do.

Thanks, Laura. I am going to check out some I do not recognize at all. A Time of Gifts is exceptional, but it will not fit everyone. What a different world there was then.

I was surprised to see that I gave forty books five stars this past year. It was partly because I re-read a bunch of old favorites and read a few new books by favorite authors, but - forty! I won't take up the room here - I listed them on my blog:
http://agoldoffish.wordpress.com/2013...

If I had to pick just a few, though, my favorite reads were:
Brat Farrar – Josephine Tey
Bride of the Rat God – Barbara Hambly
Dracula – Bram Stoker via Craftlit
Dust and Shadow – Lyndsay Faye, audiobook read by Simon Vance
Golden Feathers Falling – Marcin Wrona
Her Majesty s Will – David Blixt
The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins
Moon Over Soho (audio) – Ben Aaronovitch, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
My Loving Vigil Keeping – Carla Kelly
River Marked – Patricia Briggs
Royal Street – Suzanne Johnson
The Sandcastle Girls – Chris Bohjalian
and last but the opposite of least -
Unspoken – Sarah Rees Brennan

Wow, 40 five star ratings. That's incredible, Tracey. It must have been a pleasure to read so many wonderful books. I'll take a look at the full list on your blog.

My best non-fiction was Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity .

Favorite fiction books were Gone Girl , The Woman in Black , and Replay

None were comfy reads, hmmmm.

Bratt Farrar is available at eBooks@Adelaide, thanks to remind me.

Somehow that was the one Tey I'd never read before - it was terrific.

I do love Tey's books, thanks for sharing Tracey.

Tracey wrote: "I was surprised to see that I gave forty books five stars this past year. It was partly because I re-read a bunch of old favorites and read a few new books by favorite authors, but - forty! I won't..."

Tracey, I plan to read The Sandcastle Girls this year.

I hope you love it, Diane! It blew me away.

My favorite book so far this year is definitely The Silver Linings Playbook. I just picked up the DVD at the library yesterday - can't wait to watch it!

Fern Michaels Godmother series. They were all great!

This year I discovered 2 new authors that I love: W R Gingell, and R. Cooper. Cooper writes parnormal romance and Gingell writes fantasy and urban fantasy (my go-to genre). Both are good writers and both have shown me original and entertaining things. And both are prolific.... yay!