My 19 of ’12

Hemingway, Miller, Collins, McCarthy, Flemming

For 2012 I made a few resolutions for myself, including the goal to read at least one book per month. I made a post about it here, Resolve to Read, at the first of the year. I made another keeping up with my progress, Make the Most of the Middle Mark. 

I can’t say I met each goal I set, but as far as reading goes, I definitely surpassed it. I’m glad to say I read 19 books throughout the year.

• Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea – Jules Verne (Free)
• Everything Ravaged; Everything Burned: Stores – Wells Tower
• Through My Eyes – Tim Tebow (Hardcover)
• Edge of Sadness – Edwin O’Conner
• Cowboys, Mountain Men, & Grizzly Bears – Matthew P. Mayo
• The Girl Who Played With Fire – Steig Larson (Paperback)
• Dr. No – Ian Flemming
• Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad (Free)
• The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway
• The Island of Dr. Moreau – H. G. Wells (Free)
• A Million Miles in a Thousand Years – Donald Miller
• Outer Dark – Cormac McCarthy (Paperback)
• Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
• The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest – Steig Larson
• Crazy Love – Francis Chan
• Thunderball – Ian Flemming
• Call of the Wild – Jack London (Free)
• The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins (Paperback)
• Catching Fire – Suzanne Collins

At first glance, I couldn’t believe the list was this long. It didn’t feel like it because I really don’t just sit around and read. I usually take my Kindle with me throughout the day and read on my breaks and lunches at work. I also carry it with me when I run errands on weekends or just read a few paragraphs during commercial breaks.

And that’s the real reason I’ve read so much this year, the Kindle Fire. I had a previous version of the Kindle that was nice but seemed a little too bulky to carry around everywhere. But for Christmas my wife bought me a Kindle Fire. I’m pretty cheap (that’s an understatement) so I wasn’t about to buy one myself, but after reading just a few books this year, it had already paid for itself since the majority of Kindle versions are cheaper than paperback. Not to mention the several free books I’ve read. I’ve already read one this year.

Overall I have to say I was satisfied with every book I read last year. I read masculine classics like Steinbeck, Hemingway, Fleming, and Conrad to young adult fiction of The Hunger Games Trilogy to non-fiction authors like Donald Miller. Each one left a different impression on me and each left me with a sense of accomplishment that I had spent my time wisely.

Have you read any of the books listed? Or maybe another book by the same author? What books did you read last year?