So I'm doing a quick inventory of all the books I read last 2012, according to the date I finished them:
The Messenger by Daniel Silva
The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
Panic Zone by Rick Mofina
The Summons by John Grisham
The Testament by John Grisham
The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
The Last Dickens by Matthew Pearl
Inheritance by Christopher Paolini
Ang Mga Kaibigan Ni Mama Susan by Bob Ong
Lumayo Ka Nga Sa Akin by Bob Ong
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
The Pelican Brief by John Grisham
The Sands of Time by Sidney Sheldon
Star Girl by Jerry Spinelli
It's Not That Complicated: Bakit Hindi pa Sasakupin ng mga Alien ang Daigdig sa 2012 by Eros Atalia
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Fifty Shades of Gray by EL James
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling
Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie
Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn
So all in all I read 31 books last year, just a single book more than my reading goal this year. So what does it tell about my year 2012?
Fact: Books are a huge part of my life. They helped in shaping who I am today, which is not much, and I'm sure that without books I won't have much value just by being myself.
Which is why it should come as a surprise if a month has gone by without me reading or finishing a single book. Or if I read just one or two books. On normal months I can read four 300 page novels, three if the going really gets tough.
The books I read tell more than just the stories within their pages, they also tell the story of my life.
You will notice that January and March had been good reading months for me. I finished six books on each month, but there was a dry spell in February, where I only read two books- and both are just children's book at that!
That's because I started reading The Messenger, one of the books I finished in January, last December 2011. Kate DiCamillo's books were children's books and so they were short and easy to finish. However, for January, three of them are legit 300 page novels- Panic Zone, The Summons, and The Testament. So I could say that January was a normal month, I read just a tinny bit more.That month was my nesting period with Sykes- and so I wasn't stressed out with the demands of work yet.
February I finally hit the floor "live" meaning that I'll be already working the same as everybody else. Even though I was on day shift, the volume of calls was still high so I can't read while at work, and by the time I get home I'll be so tired and stressed out that I wouldn't want to read anymore.
March was a good one, because I was given a schedule that starts just before noon and finishes early evening. There weren't a lot of calls then so I had time to read while at work. Bob Ong's books weren't really long so I read and finished them at home, but Inheritance was a fairly long one so I read it at work too.
April was, well, a month of heartbreak for me, so I read just one book. Plus I was transferred to another team, so I was given a different schedule -graveyard shift- so aside from being heartbroken I was also being hammered at work. Oh sorrow.
So May I read two books, but you will notice that I didn't read any book at all last June. By May I still worked night shift, so I really didn't have time to read, but also, that was when my Team Leader pulled me aside for a one on one coaching session and gently broke the news that I wasn't to be confirmed for regularization because of my poor performance. I didn't take the news hard because really, I was burned out from work and was already looking for a way out.
And so my June was spent job hunting. If I found a job sooner then I would've read a book or two for June, but finding a job, especially with my history with my previous company, wasn't that easy. Plus there was news that broke my heart that month.
So July I was just getting back on track - I just started with work but then.. It was another month of heartbreak for me. So two short books only.
August I can say that things were going back to normal. Even though I worked on night shift there weren't that much calls in the evening so I can read in the office. And since I was just again adjusting to my newly-employed status, I wasn't really able to read at home.
And then come September I took another job, aside from the one that I already have, and my schedule got crazy I didn't have the time to read anymore. I slept on my full time job and my learning curve for my part time job was almost flat-lining it's embarrassing. So that's another book-less month for me.
October I gathered the courage to quit my part time job and just focus all my energies on my full time job, which proved to be a wise and safe decision. I started to get back to my life, and my reading, again. I finished four books and started another one, A Game of Thrones, which I finished in November. I finished 3 more books in November, and started A Clash of Kings.
By December I was still reading A Clash of Kings. I didn't want to read anything else until I finish it, but sometimes I didn't feel like reading. It was already January when I finished it. I must say, the books in George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series are reeeaaally loooooong they will consume all your time. If I didn't read those two books I would have read five or seven more books in their place.
And so that's it. My 2012 in books. It's been filled with bumps and potholes, highs and lows, but all in all it's still been a good reading year for me. I just hope 2013 will be even better.
