Up and Coming Book List 2012

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Can I give my first confession of 2012? As a reader I was a total fail for 2011. I committed to reading something like 30 books which at the time seemed really tame for me and it worked out to be that I read like half that. Now to be fair, as a teacher I actually read a bazillion books a year however they're mostly made up of titles such as "Knuffle Bunny" and "Messy Bessy" and not so much the latest Haruki Murakami novel. So without including the countless childrens books I read and professional texts my pleasure reading total came down to something closer to 15. With that being said I've now entered the Good Reads 2012 Reading Challenge with a more realistic goal of... 15. Yes the same number I read this year. Now I hope that when I redo this list next year I will be happy to state that I exceeded this total. Then again, I could start including the many blogs I read everyday as part of my reading time right??

Those of you that haven't read it before here is my former column on The Up and Coming Book list and here

The 2011 List included...

Buddha: A Story of Enlightment – Deepak Chopra
The Dive from Clausen’s Pier – Ann Packer
Kafka on the Shore – Haruki Murakami
Open House – Elizabeth Berg
The Liar’s Club: A Memoir – Mary Karr *read a different Mary Karr book instead
The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver
The Friday Knight Knitting Club – Kate Jacobs
The Life Before Her Eyes – Laura Kasischke
The Thirteenth Tale – Diane Setterfield
Go Ask Alice – anonymous
Life is a Mixtape: Life and Loss, One song at a time – Rob Sheffield
Life is So Good – George Dawson
The God of Small Things – Arundhati Roy
Flower Children – Maxine Swann
The Bright Forever – Lee Martin
Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life – Steve Martin
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen *read it*
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest by Stieg Larsson
Autobiography of Mark Twain by Mark Twain
Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead
Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins *read it and the sequels*
One Day by David Nicholls
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Room by Emma Donoghue
What Alice Forgot by Loriane Moriarty

Hmmm... clearly I didn't get to a lot of these books but I did read the following as well: Where She Went by Gayle Forman, Flying Changes by Sara Gruen, How To Train Your Dragon (not my usual kids stuff so I'm including it as I did read it outside of my classroom), Lit by Mary Karr, Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro Kazuo, Little Bee by Chris Cleave, Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult, Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger, and Vampire Academy (I know, I know, for shame) #2-4.

2012 List now includes...

Divergent by Veronica Roth *read it today- I'm off to a good start*
The Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness
Add More ~ing by Gabrielle Bernstein
Spirit Junkie by Gabrielle Bernstein
This World Needs Your Kid by Craig Keilburger
Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie
Promise Not to Tell by Jennifer McMahon
Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Carrier by Bonnie Rough
Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
Fraud: Essays by David Rakoff
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
Don't Breathe a Word by Jennifer McMahon
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff by Christopher Moore
Uglies by Scott Westerfield
Loving Che: A Novel by Ana Menendez
Always Looking Up by Michael J Fox
Look Me in the Eye by John Elder Robinson
Matched by Ally Condie
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult
The Gaggle by Jessica Massa

Yes I realize this list has more than 15 books but I like to give myself options. See something I really should be reading? Comment! I love a great book suggestion!

Here's to not failing your New Years Resolutions right out the gate!