As we begin the New Year (2013!)  I wanted to take a moment to look back on my year of reading and talk about the most memorable, the “so-so” and my new discoveries for this year.

I read 84 books this year, down a little from last year’s 87 and 2010”s 103 books. I seem to fluctuate like this depending on what goes on during the year and what books catch my interest.

I began the year by reading 1Q84 by Murakami. I  really wanted to like this book about an alternate universe with strange little people and a ominous religious cult, but I found it very difficult to get through its nearly 800 pages. Needless to say my year did not start out well!

But the the year was redeemed by Gruber’ s, The Good Son, a powerful book about terrorism and the events and experiences that can create in someone the will and mindset to do these acts. I hope to review this book more fully in the this year, but it was one that stayed with for quite awhile.

And then for completely different change of pace, I read a quiet grown up love story- Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Simonson. A lovely story about a retired English gentleman who falls in love with a lovely Pakistani widow and the cross cultural barriers and prejudices that they both have to surmount as their relationship deepens.

After that lovely book I am embarrassed to admit that I succumbed to all the hype and read the three volumes of Fifty Shades by E.L. James. They are as compelling as people say, because I read them like I was eating popcorn! They pull you in, move right along and keep your interest. I am  truly intrigued by this phenomenon. I find it quite amazing that in this post-feminist era the younger generation finds books which explore submissive sexual behavior by a woman so popular. At any rate, if you haven’t read them, I think they are of interest purely from a social phenomenon perspective. (Ahem!..just like you read Playboy for the articles!)

In the historical novel genre I seem to have concentrated on English history. I read several of Pennman’s series on England- Time and Chance and Devil’s Brood and Hollick’s The Kingmaking and I am the Chosen King. Although these authors may not be as well known as Bernard Cornwall, I really enjoy their style and find their books well written and historically informative. Cornwall’s Death of Kings was another great installment in his Saxon Tales series.  I also read the last two books in Iggulden’s Mongol Empire series, Khan: Empire of Silver and Conqueror which were fascinating. This is a series well worth reading if you want to read about something other than western history!

As for police procedurals, thrillers, or detective novels, whatever you want to call them, I heavily indulged in a recent discovery, Karin Slaughter.  She writes about a small town pediatrician living in Georgia who also serves as the county coroner. Sara is a wonderful character, richly detailed, neither strong or weak, saint or sinner, but a lovely person-someone you might want to invite to dinner. In each novel she is confronted with a new crime, and her involvement with the local police and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, in solving these crimes as well as her developing romantic interests are compelling and addictive. I read ten of her books this year. Triptych, Fractured, and Fallen were all extremely good! There is a new one out now, Criminal, which I can’t wait to read. (Hint!  Hint! I just want Amazon gift cards for my birthday!)

In addition to Slaughter’s books I found two new authors that I am really enjoying. Both are Scandinavian which adds an interesting cross cultural dimension to their books. Kaaberbol’s The Boy in the Suitcase opens with the chilling discovery of a young boy drugged and packed into a suitcase which has been left in a public locker. The main character is a woman who works with refugees especially woman and children who have been abducted or kidnapped and who wrestles with her own demons and compulsions which make her both motivated and vulnerable as she struggles to help this boy. Lackberg is the other author whose Ice Princess and The Preacher have made me a loyal fan. Her novels are set in a small coastal town of Fjallback where Detective Hedstrom and his wife Erika Falck work together to solve crimes. I read somewhere that Fjallback is a real town and that thousands of visitors come every year and tour the places mentioned in her books and I can attest that I am ready to go there on tour myself! I initially sought out both of these authors while going through Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series withdrawal and they more than lived up to my expectations!

Although I read mostly fiction this year I particularly enjoyed Manhunt by Bergen and the Mysteries of the Middle Ages by Cahill both of which I reviewed but who both deserve another plug. They were both extremely engaging and informative.

Well, that gives you some idea of how my reading year went! I hope that I will hear more from each of you on what books you enjoyed and whether my suggestions were informative, interesting or helpful!

Happy New (Reading) Year!

PS  Sorry for the  draft posting… still trying to figure things out!