January: Indu Sundaresan's The Twentieth Wife and Dan Brown's Digital Fortress. Talk about two very different books. Both long, but Indu's beautiful story was based on actual people and was thick with historical information while Dan's techie thriller was a fast and fun read in present day.
Ah, I like all kinds.
By April I had long been planning our family trip to Europe. Knowing I would be in Paris, I read Baxter's lovely The Most Beautiful Walk in the World. I took a few notes, but no quotes. I also read The Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick to the kids. I like to read those young adult fantasy books every once in awhile.
And then In May I read A. S. Byatt's Possession. Captivating. It does possess you.
page 21: She had enticed them in like an old witch.
page 97: "I make but a stammering companion, I have no graces."
page 99: "It might put a cat among the pigeons."
page 116: ... have heard the bloodless cries of the vanished and given them voice.
page 161: Lady Bailey changed the subject to hunting, which she discussed with Maude and her husband, leaving Roland to an inner ear full of verbal ghosts and rattle of his spoon.
page 185: - the only life I am sure of is the life of the imagination.
page 196: "Now I must discipline myself... or we are swallowed up, both of us, in frippery imaginations, and vain speculations."
page 508: How true it is that one needed to be seen by others to be sure of one's own existence.
During this time I also read Kimberly Brubaker Bradley's For Freedom - The Story of a French Spy to the kids. I'd gotten this from the library with the whole Europe trip in mind. Then in June it was The Secret of Castle Cant by K. P. Bath, also to the kids. My sister had given me The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen to return to our exchange sister in Germany (we would be staying with her much of the time there.) I decided to read it before returning it, and actually finished it there. Interesting story. What characters and description.
page 33: He was clutching Denise's umbrella in his fist without opening it, and still is seemed not his fault, that he was getting drenched.
page 146: Outside the weather was curdling.
page 158: And the posture of the older oak trees reaching toward this sky had a jut, a wildness and entitlement, predating permanent settlement; memories of an unfenced world were written in the cursive of their branches.
Our trip was for three weeks mid July through the first week of August. I had two guide books along, one about Paris and one about Germany. We flew in to Zurich and were met by my exchange sister and her son. Their home outside of Frieburg became our home base. My kids attended a day of school there; we visited Haut-Koenigsbourg Castle and Struthof concentration camp, both in France. We went mountain biking and shopping and swimming. We spent several days in the Black Forest with her extended family. We took a train to Berlin to visit another old friend of mine and stayed with his family a few days, visiting all over Berlin and Potsdam. A highlight there was the Holocaust Memorial. From there we flew to Paris, staying only two nights, but seeing the Louvre, the Ferris Wheel, Notre-Dame, Sainte-Chappelle, the Musee d'Orsay, the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. A train took us back to Germany and our home base. My sister took us to the Swiss Alps and we hiked all day in, stayed at the Faulhorn, and hiked out the next day. Everything went perfectly. It was amazing and unforgettable.
Back in the U.S., I decided to read Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer because a high school class I subbed for in September was reading it. He was a strong character, with his big opinions on abstraction and security and material greed. In November I finished Anita Diamant's The Red Tent. It was the theme for a women's retreat I went to. I'd read it before. Still love that book. I also finished The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe, which my German friends had recommended. Yikes, talk about disintegration of a life.
In November I read to my kids A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle. Wonderful of course. I did a paper on that book in high school. Also read Stephen King's The Eyes of the Dragon to the kids. Wait - reading Stephen King to the kids? He wrote it for his daughter and it was suspenseful and delightful. Page 167: In those years, Thomas discovered two things: guilt and secrets, like murdered bones, never rest easy; but the knowledge of all three can be lived with. He's a pretty amazing author. Several years ago I read his book On Writing and learned a ton. I took lots of notes on that, including "Life isn't a support-system for art. It's the other way around." and "It's always about the story." and "fear is at the root of most bad writing." His lasting impression on me was "Write a lot and read a lot." "Just start." I was inspired. I didn't start writing my book until a few years later though.
December went quick with Dust by Arthur Slade. Interesting, but felt too brief. I read Roland Smith's Peak to the kids. What an excellent story! And a great time of year to read about all that snow. I got a white elephant gift at a Christmas party of Bared to You by Sylvia Day. (The gift came with a set of handcuffs!) Okay, that was different. I couldn't help but feel sorry for those messed up characters. Then it was winter break and I finished the year by reading Hunger Games to the kids, which they of course loved and have reread for themselves a couple of times.
I think my favorite book from 2012 was The Corrections. What's a favorite book of yours?
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