A YEAR IN BOOKS!!

That’s right. I’m going to go through all of the books that I read in 2012, in no particular order, excepting the first series. Finishing this post was like trying to remember everything I've eaten since last January.  The new year started out with myth and magic and Quidditch. And I’ll start… NOW!

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling- Sometimes when you’re young… and me, you don’t get on board with all of the trendy books; that was a bad idea. I’ve decided I’m going to run off and attend Hogwarts… even if I'd be a little too old to be a first year.  Honestly, the characters and the beautiful writing were just as magical as the plotline, and all of the charms in Hogwarts, with plenty of gut-wrenching character deaths to keep things interesting.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte- I thought this book would be scary. But it was dark and romantic and kind of morbidly hilarious. So I read it, and reread it, and I still laugh at all of the wrong times; it’s kind of one of my most favorite books now.

The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening by L. J. Smith- Where the heck was Ian Somerhalder? Haha, no. It was so different from the show, I mean, it was kind of it's own world- no universe. But I have to give it credit for spawning a brilliant tellivision show and I'm setting out to finish the series.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver- At Samantha’s urging I read this book… and I would say I fell in love with it, but that’d mean I’d face some serious surgery in this lovely dystopian world. I mean, I’m reading this book and then everything explodes- love.

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver – AND THEN I READ THE SEQUEL! In practically a few hours, which I’m sure is horribly unnatural. This is the series one must read when they’re facing withdrawal from The Hunger Games.  

Divergent by Veronica Roth- Books with typology attract people- or maybe, again, this might just be me. But either way, this was a year of Dystopian novels, and this one was also explosive (Aside from being descriptive and fun and terribly frightening).

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchel- Scarlett, for being a bitch, is one of the most hilarious, honest characters. And when I say honest I mean to herself- to her audience. Rhett and Ashley didn’t know the half of what went through that girl’s head. BAH! I just want to own Tara and marry Rhett Butler and tell Melanie that she is a fantastic person! Books. They do this to me.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold- Well this was tragic. One of the many tear-jerkers I divulged in this year. And boy did I cry! It was a beautiful, horrible tragedy, a dream-like book with an ending that just makes everything in the entire freaking world worthwhile.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green- Ah! Here’s another one of those beautiful tragedies. Literally. Have you ever cried for half of a book? And I don’t mean shed a tear. I mean you couldn’t FREAKING see the words on the page and you had to stop reading to calm yourself down before you could finish. And you just doubted everything in the world and everything was sad. But this book was more than that it was funny and dreamy and wonderful.  

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas- 5000 odd pages of craziness. It was told in such a way that made the pages fly and made you feel like you were really living on the edge.  I mean what would you really do with a butt-load of money and a ton of enemies that had totally wrecked your life? Well just go at them! And then in the end, do something ridiculous, because you freaking can.

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones- I initially doubted my decision to read a book written in the eighties for sixth graders. And by initially I mean, before I began. And then I read it and bleh! I fell in love with a narcissistic wizard and just want to live in this fairy tale world forever. I mean, this is one of the best books I read this lovely year, albeit designed with a much younger audience in mind.

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordin- I fell in love with Mr. Rick Riordin’s amazing interpretation of Greek and Roman Mythology, when I thought I wouldn’t. It had been so long wince I read Percy Jackson and the Olympians that I didn’t realize how much I loved these books. Everything is right again.

Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan- It was the weirdest Christmas book I’ve ever read. Well… not the weirdest. I mean, it was a story with an epic mismatch of personalities. And a love story that came together in a beautiful, nerdy way.

Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton- it was a brutally honest book, and although I might not give it enough credit, it was required reading after all, it was sort of enlightening, in a weird way. I mean it was about a spiritually aware man that had more than his share of faults trying to come to terms with everyone else’s faults, but better than my explanation of it.

Night by Elie Wiesel- This was one of the most depressing things I’ve ever read. Not in a sob-fest sort of way, just a ‘well there is no hope for humanity’ sort of way, which is awful. But it was all true. Which is even more awful.

The Unidentified by Rae Mariz- It’s a Dystopian novel… I think… it was really, really cool, and completely atypical. It’s kind of that wild, crazy, amazing dream. You go to a mall every day to follow this really loose interpretation of ‘learning’… what could go wrong? But really. Can I live in this book?

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan- This was freaking hilarious and kind of perfect. I mean  it’s John Green, right. So perfection- bound to happen. But honestly, it was clever and cute and beyond hilarious. It was a rough start. I mean, I liked one Will Grayson better than the other. And then I realized they were both sidesplitting, so all was well.

Flash Burnout by L. K. Madigan- I read depressing things. This is a conclusion I have recently come to. This book was indeed, sad. Most of the book felt kind of hopeless, but it was a book about the beauty in your struggles and the hopefulness of friendship, only in more words.

I Saw Zombies Eating Santa Claus by S. G. Browne- Haha, this was the weirdest Christmas book I've ever read. And yet, as promised in all the reviews it was endearing, and funny. It really got me thinking about more plausible zombie apocalypses, ya know? (I am obsessed with zombies o_O)

I feel like I should have read more books than this. Perhaps I’m just slacking… or maybe my memory is awful and I have read more. Who knows? Here’s a funny quote from a book I’ve never read.

 “It struck me as pretty ridiculous to be called Mr. Darcy and to stand on your own looking snooty at a party. It's like being called Heathcliff and insisting on spending the entire evening in the garden, shouting "Cathy" and banging your head against a tree.” ― Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones's Diary

Just keeping it interesting. I’m a sucker for a good quote, and I admit, I’m a sucker for Heathcliff, even though he’s a freak. Sorry for posting so late! And happy almost birthday Sam!

~Sara