2012: A Year in Review

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2012 was my second full year of blogging. I continued my challenge-joining maniacal ways--joining and completing a grand total of 37. It felt pretty good to finish all of those challenges...especially since I joined the same number last year and failed on three of them.  I also enjoyed a full week at the end of the year where I was able to read whatever I wanted without worrying about whether it fulfilled a challenge or not.

I also continued as challenge host in 2012. The Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge continues to be popular and I'm still so very pleased to find so many out there in the interwebs who share my love of older mysteries. I also gave the Color Coded Challenge another run when several folks contacted me to say how much they'd like to see it go for a second year.  But the big surprise for 2012 challenges was the response to my Mount TBR Challenge.  For the first time I not only sponsored a challenge here on the blog, but I also ran a GoodReads version and the number of folks who wanted to scale their TBR mountain ranges was off the charts!  The blog participants totaled 196 and the GoodReads version gained another 91 members.  Thanks to everyone who joined me in my own personal brand of challenge-madness!

One of the regrets that I have this year is that somehow I managed to lose several hours of blog-surfing time.  As a challenge host, I was not nearly as attentive to the reviews that my faithful participants posted.  One blogging resolution for 2013 is to find a way to visit my fellow bloggers and comment a little more consistently.

Thank you once more to all of the wonderful people out here in the blogosphere--those who follow and just take a peek now and then, those who comment, and those who have become close blogging buddies--especially those of you who share my love of vintage mysteries; I have appreciated your knowledge and how much you've added to my TBR list. Thanks as well to all who sponsored the many challenges which helped feed my reading/challenge habit--they were all great fun!  I hope you all have a fabulous New Year!


And, finally, my year-end stat totals:

Total Books Read: 165
Total Pages: 41,639
Percentage by Female Authors: 40%
Percentage by US Authors: 50%
Percentage by non-US/non-British Authors: 8%
 
1 Italian
1 Australian
3 Irish
3 French
2 Swedish
1 Argentinian
1 Scottish
1 Danish

Percentage Mystery: 70%
Percentage Fiction: 92%
Percentage written 2000+: 23%
Percentage of Rereads: 5%
Percentage Read for Challenges: 100% Number of Challenges fulfilled: 37 (100%)


The Best Reads of 2012

Five Stars:

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 
From Sawdust to Stardust: The Biography of DeForest Kelley, Star Trek's Dr. McCoy by Terry Lee Rioux 
Some Danger Involved by Will Thomas
Titanic 2012 by Bill Walker 

Four and 1/2 Stars:
The White Forest by Adam McOmber 
Nine Man's Murder by Eric Keith