THE BOOKS OF 2012

THE BOOKS OF 2012

There were a lot of weird things about my reading in 2012.  I got really wrapped up in The Hunger Games right about the time the movie came out, and I think I read each book three times in one month because I couldn't get it out of my head.  I read a ton of children's books because I wanted to hand them out on Halloween at my school's Treats No Tricks Night, but I didn't want to hand out books I hadn't read.  I ended up giving out about 300 books, many of which I had not read.  I spent the rest of the year reading more children's books to give away at my school's spring book fair (to children who don't get money to spend there).  I also read a lot of dystopian fiction, especially from the YA racks.

I've done a lot of re-reads, too.  I think I read Fudge-a-Mania about four times, because I read it once myself, then read it again with several second grade classes.  I've been writing study guides to help Frank Long Elementary's students prepare for the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl, so I've read each book once, then again as I write questions for the book.  I haven't counted all the rereads, though.  Finally, there are a lot of things I read that don't make it onto the list--children's storybooks that are not chapter books, magazines, posts and articles at www.televisionwithoutpity.com, etc.  Because of that, and because of reading so many low page count books, my pages read average was way below my goal of 300 pages per book.  I read 196 books with a total of 45,960 pages, for an average of 234 pages per book. 

With no further ado, the books of 2012.

January
Howl's Moving Castle--Diana Wynne Jones (212)
Sweet Devotion--Felicia Mason (280)
She Walks in Beuaty--Siri Mitchell (399)
Cats--Elsa Z. Posell (46)
Toby Lived Here--Hilma Wolitzer (92)
If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where's My Prince?--Melissa Kantor (283)
Not Another Bad Date--Rachel Gibson (377)
Smooth Talking Stranger--Lisa Kleypas (372)
Snow Queen--Emma Harrison (377)
The Boy Next Door--Meggin Cabot (374)
Treachery in Death--J. D. Robb (372)

February
Jinx--Meg Cabot (262)
The Girl Who Stopped Swimming--Joshilyn Jackson (319)
Summer's Child--Diane Chamberlain (AUD)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban--J. K. Rowling, read by Jim Dale (AUD)
Lucy's Launderette--Betsy Burke (331)
Sinister Abbey--Elsie Lee (220)
Taken by the Prince--Christina Dodd (390)
The Haunting of Derek Stone--Tony Abbott (145)
You Want Women to Vote, Lizzie Stanton?--Jean Fritz (82)
The Early People of Florida--Eva Deutsch Costabel (34)
Famous Paintings: An Introduction to Art--A. Elizabeth Chase (120)
Bayou Dogs--Tony Abbott (130)
Lady Be Good--Susan Elizabeth Phillips (372)
Kiss an Angel--Susan Elizabeth Phillips (373)

March
The Search--Nora Roberts (472)
The Red House--Tony Abbott (129)
The Ghost Road--Tony Abbott (162)
Seven of Magpies--Doris E. Smith (187)
Out of My Mind--Sharon M. Draper (295)
The Twisted Room--Janet Patton Smith (154)
North American Racer Snakes--Adele D. Richardson (47)
Glass Slippers Give You Blisters--Mary Jane Auch (169)
Wesley the Owl--Stacey O'Brien (229)
The Princess and the Peabodys--Betty G. Birney (249)
Dear Lola--Judie Angell (166)
The Oxford Christmas Book for Children (160)
Scat--Carl Hiaasen (371)
St. Patrick's Day--Dorothy Rhodes Freeman (46)
Hoot--Carl Hiaasen (292)
Love Is My Reason--Mary Burchell (189)
The Other Linding Girl--Mary Burchell (192)
Silver Flame--Hannah Howell (383)
A Clash of Kings--George R. R. Martin (1,030)
The Hunger Games--Suzanne Collins (374)

April
Catching Fire--Suzanne Collins (391)
Mockingjay--Suzanne Collins (288)
Hannah's List--Debbie Macomber (412)
Prom Nights from Hell--Stephenie Meyer, Kim Harrison, Meg Cabot, Lauren Myracle, & Michele Jaffe (319)
Nature Girl--Carl Hiaasen (306)
Mockingjay--Suzanne Collins (288)
Surrender to the Devil--Lorraine Heath (377)
Glory--Jodi Lynn (172)
Catching Fire--Suzanne Collins (391)
Girl with a Challenge--Mary Burchell (158)
Mockingjay--Suzanne Collins (288)
Sugar Daddy--Lisa Kleypas (371)
That Summer--Sarah Dessen (198)
Pearl's Promise--Frank Asch (152)
Glitter Baby--Susan Elizabeth Phillips (438)

May
Married by Morning--Lisa Kleypas (341)
The Rake--Mary Jo Putney (410)
Carnal Innocence--Nora Roberts (391)
Stay a Little Longer--Dorothy Garlock (372)
Return to Harken House--Joan Aiken (118)
Helen Keller: A Photographic Story of a Life--Leslie Garrett (127)
The Knife of Never Letting Go--Patrick Ness (486)
Dirty Martini--J. A. Konrath (347)
Children of the Wild West--Russell Freedman (107)
Living in Space--Judy Nayer (48)
Switching Well--Peni R. Griffin (218)
The Fetch--Laura Whitcomb (379)
Love in the Afternoon--Lisa Kleypas (341)
Ida B.--Katherine Hannigan (249)
The Ask and the Answer--Patrick Ness (524)
A Wallflower Christmas--Lisa Kleypas (216)
Explosive Eighteen--Janet Evanovich (311)

June
Because You're Mine--Lisa Kleypas (376)
Monsters of Men--Patrick Ness (603)
At the Scent of Water--Linda Nichols (416)
Just Down the Road--Jodi Thomas (329)
Another Summer-Georgia Bockoven (395)
Spun By Sorcery--Barbara Bretton (324)
Falling Awake--Jayne Ann Krentz (424)
Black Magic Sanction--Kim Harrison (561)
Wonder Women of Sports--Betty Millsaps Jones (71)
The Book of Baseball Greats--S. H. Burchard (64)
Through the Sheriff's Eyes--Janice Kay Johnson (255)
Simplify Your Life--Elaine St. James (239)
The Long Way Westward--Joan Sandin (64)
Second Sight--Amanda Quick (390)

July
Willow--Linda Lael Miller (374)
Darkly Dreaming Dexter--Jeff Lindsay (288)
Junior--Macaulay Culkin (201)
Royally Jacked--Niki Burnham (229)
Peaches--Jodi Lynn Anderson (313)
Joey's Father--Elizabeth August (217)
Draw the Dark--Ilsa J. Bick (338)
Antsy Does Time--Neal Shusterman (247)
The Far Side of Evil--Sylvia Engdahl (324)

August
Ninth Ward--Jewell Parker Rhodes
Amelia Bedelia and the Cat--Herman Parish (48)
The Precious Present--Spencer Johnson (74)
Years--LaVyrle Spencer (472)
Silver Lining--Maggie Osborne (348)
The Moon Looked Down--Dorothy Garlock (387)
A Creed in Stone Creek--Linda Lael Miller (384)
Frog and Toad Are Friends--Arnold Lobel (64)
The Other Side of the Island--Allegra Goodman (280)
Something BIG Has Been Here--Jack Prelutsky (160)
The Josefina Story Quilt--Eleanor Coerr (64)
More Stories to Solve: Fifteen Folk Tales from Around the World--George Shannon (64)
The Last of the Honky-Tonk Angels--Marsha Moyer (388)
Helen Keller: A Photographic Story of a Life--Leslie Garrett (127)
Enthralled--Melissa Marr, Kelley Armstrong, et al (452)
Close to Famous--Joan Bauer (265)
The Peach Keeper--Sarah Addison Allen (279)
Fudge-a-Mania--Judy Blume (146)
Ginger Goes on a Diet--S. P. Williams (48)
What's the Prize, Lincoln?--Dale Fife (64)
Little Critter's Bedtime Storybook--Mercer Mayer (45)
Who Is Neil Armstrong?--Roberta Edwards (105)
The Luck of the Buttons--Anne Ylvisaker (228)

September
The Water Wars--Cameron Stracher (243)
The Scorch Trials--James Dashner, narrated by Mark Deakins (AUD)
The Limit--Kristen Landon (291)
Icing on the Lake--Catherine Clark (358)

October
Lessons in French--Laura Kinsale (458)
Lucky Me!--Lisa Papademetriou (45)
Runaway Twin--Peg Kehret (197)
With the Might of Angels: The Diary of Dawnie Rae Johnson, Hadley, Virginia 1954--Andrea Davis Pinkney (334)
Springwater Wedding--Linda Lael Miller, read by Jenna Stern (AUD)
The Castle in the Attic--Elizabeth Winthrop (137)
Werewolves Don't Go to Summer Camp--Debbie Dadey and Marcia Thornton Jones (93)
Belle Prater's Boy--Ruth White (196)
Claim to Fame--Margaret Peterson Haddix (257)
A Time of Angels--Karen Hesse (277)
Barbie: A Sea of Friends--Rita Balducci (55)
Who Was Marco Polo?--Joan Holub (105)
I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916--Lauren Tarshis (106)
Brave Bear and the Ghosts: A Sioux Legend--Gloria Dominic (47)
Bear (The Puppy Place)--Ellen Miles 78)
Junie B. Jones and Some Sneaky Peeky Spying--Barbara Park (72)
We the Children--Andrew Clements (143)
Mick Harte Was Here--Barbara Park (90)
Her Evil Twin--Mimi McCoy (182)
The Devil's Arithmetic--Jane Yolen (170)
Radiance--Alyson Noel (181)
The Promise--Jackie French Koller (73)
Taylor Swift: Her Song--Riley Brooks (48)
Freedom Crossing--Margaret Goff Clark (148)
Heart Secret--Robin D. Owens (350)
The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall--Mary Downing Hahn (153)
Fame and Glory in Freedom, Georgia--Barbara O'Connor (104)
Mystery of the Runaway Sled--Erica Frost (44)
Valentine's Day--Elizabeth Guilfoile (64)
Beyond the Moon: Future Explorations in Interplanetary Space--C. B. Colby (48)

November
Merry Christmas, Miss McConnell!--Colleen O'Shaughnessy McKenna (155)
Diving Dolphin--Karen Wallace (32)
Teeny Tiny Animals--Lexi Ryals (32)
Pirate Mom--Deborah Underwood (48)
Spider-Man: The Amazing Story--Catherine Suanders (32)
Fancy nancy and the Mean Girl--Jane O'Connor (32)
After Glow--Jayne Castle (343)
Gabriel's Angel--Nora Roberts (288)
A Creed in Stone Creek--Linda Lael Miller (384)
It Had to Be You--Susan Elizabeth Phillips (376)
The Lost Night--Jayne Castle (339)
Land of a Hundred Wonders--Lesley Kagen (302)
Rescue Me--Rachel Gibson (373)

December
Peeled--Joan Bauer
Kung Fu Panda: Po's Crash Course--Catherine Hapka (32)
Understood Betsy--Dorothy Canfield Fisher (176)
Car Trouble--Jeanne DuPrau (274)
Trapped Beyond the Magic Attic--Sheri Cooper Sinykin (70)
On Mother's Lap--Ann Herbert Scott (38)
The Precious Present--Spencer Johnson (74)
A Place Called Home--Jo Goodman (411)
Judy Moody Gets famous!--Megan McDonald (127)
Elsewhere--Gabrielle Zevin (288)
Whiter Than Snow--Sandra Dallas (293)
No Regrets--JoAnn Ross (457)
The Courage of Sarah Noble--Alice Dalgliesh (55)
A Day in the Life of a Marine Biologist--David Paige (32)
Why Do Cats Meow?--Joan Holub (48)
Santa's Twin--Dean Koontz (64)
Wonderstruck--Brian Selznick (608)
Starstruck--Cyn Balog (245)
Glow--Amy Kathleen Ryan (311)
Such Good Boys--Tina Dirmann (245)
Jane--April Lindner (373)
The Skeleton Inside You--Philip Balestrino (34)
The Ghost and Mrs. Hobbs--Cynthia DeFelice (186)
A Temptation of Angels--Michelle Zink (439)