Louise's Belated Best of 2012

Yes, this is belated; Here's my personal Best of 2012:

* I could say that just surviving the past year with two toddlers is a
best accomplishment. No kidding.
* Joe earned his Ph.D. in neuroscience. I'm married to a doctor.
* I took up running and experienced racing for the first time in my
adult lifetime. I did a 5k and a 10k, and that has whet my appetite
for more. I used to hate running, but had to find a good alternative
for biking while Caitlin was too young for a bike trailer. (Now
Caitlin is plenty big enough, but still running).
* I learned to mop—that is, more than once in a blue moon. Yes, it's a
small accomplishment, but considering the state of our floors, it's
significant.
* I did not leave the state of Texas at any time during 2012 nor get
on any airplanes. I'm finding it hard to believe myself and keep
racking my brain wondering if I could be making a misstatement. My
list of countries visited remains at 7 and US states visited is umm,
24 I think (although I'm not going to sit and count them all again in
my head right now)
* The best movie of 2012 was Les Miserables. I think it captures the
flavor of the book even more richly than the play.
* I read a ton of books (mostly audiobooks while I'm doing dishes).

I'm surprised and a tad disappointed to see how few nonfiction I read,
but so far 2013's fiction to nonfiction ratio is looking better.

2012 42 books (Sorry if I misspelled or omitted any authors and only
wrote notes about a few. Any numbers indicate my star rating out of
five.)

The Doctrine and Covenants
The Book of mormon
Daughters in My Kingdom, worth rereading for sure.
Ready Player One, a fun fantasy/adventure/quest-type read for anyone
who lived through the 80s.
3 Bossy Pants
3 One shot, it was good, but not all that memorable
4 11/22/63 by Stephen King, fiction about time travel to change JFK's
assassination.
4 One Second After (Very intriguing fiction about what would happen if
an electro magnetic pulse, EMP knocked out all electronics in North
America.)
3 The light between oceans, ML Steadman 2012 australia, I read it
because it was about Australia, but not all that memorable.
4 The hobbit by JRR Tolkien (A great book, mostly for the songs and
riddles. Nobody should pass through young adulthood without reading
this one.
4 Swallows and amazons, by Arthur Ransom (an awesome book for boys and
adventurous young girls. Highly recommended for young readers)
4 Swallowdale, by Arthur Ransom
3 The full cupboard of life
4.5 The pillars of the earth, by Ken Follett (Few books stir me to
tears, but this one had me bawling just a half an hour in. It's a long
book, BUT A PAGE TURNER. YOU MIGHT WANT TO TURN THE PAGES A LITTLE
FASTER TO GET PAST THE RACEY STUFF THOUGH, BUT IN THE AUTHOR'S
DEFENSE, ANY EXPLICIT DESCRIPTIONS DO SERVE THE PURPOSE TO CONTRAST
BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL MEN. Twas an interesting look at war-time
England, the middle-ages, the cast system, the Catholic church, and
masonry.
4Who moved my cheese?
4.5 Tess of the D'urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy
4 A World Without heroes, first book in the Beyonders series by Brandon mull
2 Rebecca by Daphne DeMoye (compelling descriptions of the sights and
smells of the landscape, but characters were hollow. I can't think why
it was on the BBC top 100 except that it was like a cheap murder
mystery film)
4 Corelli's Mandolin by Louis D'bernier? (some sensuality but
compelling characters, rich writing and an interesting look at a place
and time foreign to me)
4 What the most successful people do before breakfast, by Laura
Vanderkam, a short and potentially life-changing read for all
repentant time-wasters like me.
4 A tree grows in Brooklyn (written back when people could speak
English and their writing was more developed and less seeming like it
was written for a TV script)
5 Fablehaven by Brandon Mull (If you've ever liked fantasy, you'll
love this one)
5 Rise of the Evening Star
5 Grip of the Shadow Plague
4 Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary
4 Keys to the Deamon Prison
4 Anne of Green gables by LM Montgomery
4 Anne of Avonlea
4 Anne of the island (I just keep rereading the last page
3Anne of windy poplars
4 Anne's House of Dreams (this one might be my favorite)
4 Anne of ingleside
4 number 1 ladies detective agency
3 the android's dream
3 dauntless
4 the power of habit
3 A Commonwealth of thieves: the Improbable birth of Australia (The
low star rating is more a reflection of the reader than the writer)
4 A Light in the Window
3 These High Green Hills
3 Out to Canon
4 Hands On Parenting: A Resource Guide for Parents Who are Blind or
Partially Sighted
4 In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror and an American Family in
Hitler's Berlin