As an inveterate list maker, I can't help myself when it comes to keeping track of things, including what I read in a year. I continue to record titles and authors with a notation of which ones are worth reading more of their works, along with short reviews and comments just for my own use. I am, however, managing to read more books without taking notes and feeling that I need to post a review on the blog. I am also making every effort to live a life apart from the blog!
Nevertheless, a few thoughts on last year's books: I did read slightly more than a book a week but that included a lot of mysteries and trashy novels as antidotes to the big serious books, which is pretty much my standard procedure.
My favorite reads of 2012 were mainly history, biography and memoir like "The Beauty and The Sorrow: An Intimate History of the First Wold War," by Peter Englund, translated by Peter Graves, "The Churchills in Love and War" By Mary Lovell, "Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art," and the two books whose covers are pictured here.
My non-fiction reading benefited when I discovered an enthralling series of WWI novels by Anne Perry as well as the Anglo-Irish novels of Annabel Davis-Goff. So far 2013 is all about art and design with the first two titles under my belt being "Dreaming in Color," which is an autobiography by Kaffe Fassett and "Albert Hadley," a bio of the late great designer by Adam Lewis.
It's great to see you back with your yearly booklist. I don't read at nearly your pace; with non fiction I mostly putter. My big great adventure this year was with Moby Dick, which I LOved.
Posted by: Altoon | Tuesday, January 08, 2013 at 10:17 AM
Altoon — I remember reading some Hawthorne and other American 19th century lit mostly in high school. But I cant remember if Moby Dick was one of the books. You would think I would know for sure but, alas, that is not the case. I have a faint memory of the language but dont remember the outcome of the story. But its only a few favorite books that really manage to stand out after a lifetime of reading.
You are making art when I am reading. Thought I would get started on making art but it hasnt happened yet. My studio is currently filled with all the Xmas decorations that need to be put away.
Posted by: Linda Brazill | Tuesday, January 08, 2013 at 10:38 AM
I'm so happy to discover you are back again! You have recommended wonderful books in the past -- I look forward to discovering some new ones. My favorite recent read - read just a month or so ago but it came out a few years ago -- was The Paper Garden by Molly Peacock -- about Mrs. Delany and her botanical collages. While reading it, I became convinced that you had recommended it. I just tried to do a search for it on your blog and couldn't find it. I HIGHLY recommend it. Molly Peacock is a poet and the book is beautifully crafted. I love how she juxtaposes her own life and feelings with the biography of an 18th century woman. It reminded me of The Hare with Amber Eyes -- although in that case the author IS discovering his / his family history. I also believe Edmund deWaal, in addition to being a ceramacist is also a poet. Happy New Year to you and Mark! Susan
Posted by: S. Adler Sobol | Tuesday, January 08, 2013 at 12:51 PM
My sister just gave me a copy of The Paper Garden so its nice to have a recommendation!
Posted by: Linda Brazill | Tuesday, January 08, 2013 at 01:04 PM
So nice to see you again, Linda. Thanks for the book recommendations. I am having trouble getting into any reading - even with garden books it's more for the pictures and ideas. Oh well, when the time is right it will happen. I hope Mark's show went well in December.
Posted by: Barbara H. | Tuesday, January 08, 2013 at 01:31 PM
I actually read the text in the design books which is hard to do anymore. I find I devoured old garden books when there were few if any illustrations, but the more pictures the harder it is to concentrate on the words!
Marks show went very well. We just took it down yesterday. He had a big crowd for the opening and sold lots of work. So it was a nice end to the old year and beginning to the new.
Posted by: Linda Brazill | Tuesday, January 08, 2013 at 03:15 PM
Am glad to see you reappearing if only for book suggestions..on your recommendation I bought a couple of the Perry books but haven't settled down enough to go through the one I started. Since I'm grounded for a few weeks from shoulder surgery I look forward to catching up. Also I was leant some new (to me) books about WWI, British Butchers and Bunglers of World War One, John Laffin author, and Dreadnought, Britain, Germany and the coming of the Great War, Robert K Massie, author.
Posted by: sarah rpss | Tuesday, January 08, 2013 at 07:04 PM
Seeing you pop up in me Reader was a pleasant surprise! I'm a huge fan of lists...and book recs.
Posted by: mamaraby | Tuesday, January 08, 2013 at 08:58 PM
Linda, even though you've said this won't be a regular thing it was nice to see a post from you. And on one of my favorite topics, books. I may have retired but my inner librarian will never rest. I belong to a book group that does a round table of what everyone is reading and "Prague Winter" was a favorite of one of my friends(also a former librarian). I was an adult and young adult fiction librarian so fiction is my first love. My recent recommended read: Canada by Richard Ford
Posted by: Curt Heuer | Wednesday, January 09, 2013 at 09:45 AM
Linda, great to see your list. I managed only 48 books this year -- Great to see your list. My top 2 books were non-fiction: Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and Isabel Wilkerson's The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration. Happy Reading!
Posted by: Nicole | Saturday, January 12, 2013 at 11:28 PM