reading

Looking back over what I've read in the past couple years, my reading has taken a major turn toward the classics. For several years, I didn't read much fiction at all, even though I've always been a lover of stories. It is so difficult to find good, meaty, non-crass/non-filthy fiction by modern authors, though, which is part of why I just didn't bother there for awhile (the other part being that my kids were little and I had precious little time to read during those early years of their lives).

Then, a couple years ago, I read all of Jane Austen, one after another. I then moved on to The Count of Monte Cristo (my favorite book of all time ... so far ;) and I was completely hooked on classics! So, 2012 involved an ecclectic mix of books for me, but my favorites and the ones I remember best were definitely the old ones.

Here's a Goodreads screenshot list of books read in 2012:

cover	title	author	avg rating	rating	shelves	date read	dateadded
	The Hobbit	Tolkien, J.R.R.	4.17		read [edit]	Dec 29, 2012[edit]	Nov 25, 2012	edit view »
	The Moonstone	Collins, Wilkie	3.87		read [edit]	not set[edit]	Nov 25, 2012	edit view »
	Mortal (The Books of Mortals, #2)	Dekker, Ted *	4.09		read [edit]	not set[edit]	Oct 20, 2012	edit view »
	Forbidden (The Books of Mortals, #1)	Dekker, Ted *	3.97		read [edit]	not set[edit]	Oct 20, 2012	edit view »
	Emily's Quest (Emily, #3)	Montgomery, L.M.	4.08		read [edit]	Nov 25, 2012[edit]	Oct 20, 2012	edit view »
	Emily Climbs (Emily, #2)	Montgomery, L.M.	4.11		read [edit]	not set[edit]	Oct 20, 2012	edit view »
	Emily of New Moon (Emily of New Moon, #1)	Montgomery, L.M.	4.08		read [edit]	not set[edit]	Oct 20, 2012	edit view »
	A Tangled Web	Montgomery, L.M.	3.87		read [edit]	not set[edit]	Oct 20, 2012	edit view »
	The Westing Game	Raskin, Ellen	4.03		read [edit]	Jul 30, 2012[edit]	Jul 25, 2012	edit view »
	Anna Karenina	Tolstoy, Leo	3.98		read [edit]	not set[edit]	Jun 30, 2012	edit view »
	Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life	Eliot, George	3.89		read [edit]	not set[edit]	Jun 14, 2012	edit view »
	The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment	Burroughs, Jeremiah	4.43		read [edit]	not set[edit]	Jun 14, 2012	edit view »
	The Boxcar Children (The Boxcar Children, #1)	Warner, Gertrude Chandler	4.01		read [edit]	Jul 25, 2012[edit]	Jun 14, 2012	edit view »
	A Celebration of Children	Schaeffer, Edith	4.14		read [edit]	Oct 20, 2012[edit]	Jun 14, 2012	edit view »
	Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine, #1)	Riggs, Ransom	3.71		read [edit]	Apr 09, 2012[edit]	May 11, 2012	edit view »
	North and South	Gaskell, Elizabeth	4.10		read [edit]	Jul 25, 2012[edit]	Apr 25, 2012	edit view »
	The Night Circus	Morgenstern, Erin	3.99		read [edit]	not set[edit]	Apr 25, 2012	edit view »

Clearly, I did not like Middlemarch, haha!

I also read Dracula this year. Loved it. After that I started looking into the history of vampire lore and it is pretty interesting. And I read The Hunger Games trilogy, which was obviously amazing.

This year, I have plans to read more classics! I'm currently reading James Michener's Chesapeake (very good, especially since I've been teaching U.S. History this year) and then I want to read Les Miserable, before I see the movie. And The Great Gatsby, also before seeing the movie.

You can see all of my Goodreads here. I'd love for you to "friend" me! I often pick books based on the recommendations of my Goodreads friends. I also joined a reading group on Goodreads, called Classics without all the class, which you too can join. Should be fun, although I know reading every month's selection won't be possible. They also have a podcast, which you can find on iTunes under the same name. I hope to get to January's selection, but I definitely want to read February's since there is a new movie out that I've heard is great!

Speaking of reading, I snapped a shot of my little bookworm this morning. This is the kid who fought me every. step. of. the. way. and made me think I just wasn't cut out for homeschooling when I was teaching her to read. Ha! Look at her now :)