Pausing 2012 to remember 2011

A year in books. 2011 marked the harrowing battle of reading vs. teaching. Even so, I managed to find time to read. The issue was never so apparent as when during one week of teaching break I read three books (completely for my enjoyment only). Oh the rapture.

Let's look back now over the entire year. It would seem this was a year of the series (Wallander, Game of Thrones, Dune, etc.) I've boiled my list down to my top three per category. It would seem, however, that I only read one happy/funny book this year. I feel pretty OK with that.

Here goes:

Favorite

Must Read

Not for Me

Page Turner

Feel Happy and Laugh

Wallow and Cry

Makes you Think

Entertaining Fluff

All the Rest
A Clash of Kings - George R.R. Martin
A Lesson Before Dying - Ernest Gaines
Batman / Superman / Wonder Woman: Trinity - Matt Wagner
Batman: The Long Halloween - Loeb & Sale
Batman: Year One - Miller & Mazzuchelli
Chapterhouse Dune - Frank Herbert
Children of Dune - Frank Herbert
Deogratias: A Tale of Rwanda - Stassen
Drood - Dan Simmons
Dune Messiah - Frank Herbert
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
Faceless Killers - Henning Mankell
Fahrenheit 451 (graphic adaptation) - Tim Hamilton
Firewall - Henning Mankell
God Emperor of Dune - Frank Herbert
Good Wives - Louisa May Alcott
Heretics of Dune - Frank Herbert
Hole in My Life - Jack Gantos
How Did You Get This Number - Sloane Crosley
I am an Emtional Creature - Eve Ensler
Inherit the Wind - Jerome Lawrence & Robert E Lee
Italian Shoes - Henning Mankell
Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
Mare's War - Tanita Davis
Marvel 1602 - Neil Gaiman
More Book Lust - Nancy Pearl
Murder in the Marais - Cara Black
One Step Behind - Henning Mankell
Promethea Vol. 1 - Moore, Williams & Gray
Promethea Vol. 2 - Moore, Williams & Gray
Promethea Vol. 3 - Moore, Williams & Gray
Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse
Sidetracked - Henning Mankell
Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut
Storm of Swords - George R.R. Martin
Swim the Fly - Don Calame
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
The Books of Magic - Gaiman & Bolton et al.
The Dogs of Riga - Henning Mankell
The Fifth Woman - Henning Mankell
The Imperfectionists - Tom Rachman
The Last Wish - Andrzei Sapkowski
The Man Who Smiled - Henning Mankell
The Weight of Winter - Cathie Pelletier
The White Lioness - Henning Mankell
Touching Spirit Bear - Ben Mikaelsen
When the World Was Steady - Claire Messud
Wonder Woman - Picoult, Dodson, Johnson, & Diaz
Wonder Woman Archives Vol. 1 - DC Comics