Blogocentric Formulations

2012 Reading List

Another year has come and gone, and although I fell short of my goal of reading 50 books, I did reach my other goal of reading more nonfiction than fiction. I ended up listening to quite a few other things during the commute besides audiobooks (mostly podcasts), so I think that took a big chunk out of my "reading" time on the road. So my goal for this year is the same as last year... 50 books in 2013.

Here are the ones I read in 2012:

FICTION:

50 Shades of Grey by E.L. James
Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, The by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Clash of Kings, A by George R.R. Martin
Club Justice by Mara ♣ McBain
Divine Comedy, The by Dante Aligheri
Keeper of Lost Causes, The by Jussi Adler-Olsen
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Requiem: Book of the Fallen by Adriana Noir
Screwtape Letters, The by C.S. Lewis
Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
World Out of Time, A by Larry Niven

NONFICTION:

Autobiography of Black Hawk by Black Hawk
Belief Instinct, The: The Psychology of Souls, Destiny, and the Meaning of Life by Jesse Bering
Black Swan, The: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
City of Falling Angels, The by John Berendt
Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
Common Sense by Thomas Paine
Crack in the Edge of the World, A: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906 by Simon Winchester
Defining Moment, The: FDR's Hundred Days of Triumph and Hope by Jonathan Alter
Field Guide to Demons, A by Carol A. Mack
Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker by Kevin Mitnick
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond
Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, A by Dave Eggers
How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban
How to Write a Movie Script with Kick-Ass and Awesome Characters by Michael Rogan
Jesus Among Other Gods: The Absolute Claims of the Christian Message by Ravi Zacharias
Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son by Michael Chabon
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich
Power of Myth, The by Joseph Campbell
Simplexity: Why Simple Things Become Complex (and How Complex Things Can Be Made Simple) by Jeffery Kluger
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
Whole New Mind, A: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule The Future by Daniel Pink
Why Guys Need God: The Spiritual Side of Money, Sex, and Relationships by Michael Erre

OTHER:

COMICS - Batman: Arkham Unhinged #1-#43
COMICS - Grimm Fairy Tales: Beyond Wonderland (series)
COMICS - Grimm Fairy Tales: Escape From Wonderland (series)
COMICS - Grimm Fairy Tales: Return to Wonderland (series)
COMICS - Witchblade #1-#62
PODCAST - Nerdist Writers Panel (13 episodes)
PODCAST - Scriptnotes w/ John August & Craig Mazin (56 episodes)
PODCAST - Slate's Political Gabfest (15 episodes)
SCREENPLAYS - 57

Total 2012 Book Count: 34

Overall, my favorite books this year were Neverwhere and The Screwtape Letters for fiction, and Ghost in the Wires and Steve Jobs for nonfiction. City of Falling Angels was also very good. Looking back at the books I read though, I feel like the reading year was just okay. There are a lot of books that I enjoyed, but very few that I would rave about or wholeheartedly recommend to a friend. There were only a few books that I actually disliked, but fewer than I expected in terms of ones I would tell a friend, "You really need to check this out."

So in addition to the 50 books in 2013, I'm hoping to be able to come back and report that each and every one of them is a must read!

Happy New Year! I hope everybody reaches any reading and writing goals they may have in the new year.