December 2011 Stats

Books read: 5
Pages read: 1,417
Books reviewed: 6

December was a good month for me. Thankfully, I had time off to relax, which of course means I was able to read and review several great books. I’m feeling rejuvenated heading into a new year; I’m confident 2012 will be even better!

Books reviewed

I reviewed some really great books this month, several of which appeared on my Top 10 Books of 2011 list. I hope 2012 holds just as many wonderful reads!

5 out of 5 stars

4.5 out of 5 stars

3.5 out of 5 stars

Top Ten Tuesday

December was a month of looking back, both at childhood classics and at more recent favorites with my Top 10 Books of 2011. I also posted a list of the books I’d hoped Santa would bring; I’d been waiting to buy these books until after Christmas, just in case!

I also made a list of 11 books I hoped to finish by the end of 2011. Unfortunately, I only finished two on this list–The New New Journalism by Robert Boynton and Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri–but I also made a lot of progress on The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein; The Grace of Silence by Michele Norris; and Slouching Toward Bethlehem by Joan Didion.

Wordless Wednesday

Tinker made two more appearances on the site in December, once when she was rolling very adorably on the floor with her toy and once when I caught her napping in her new hiding place, the hall closet. But she’s starting to get a big head–the other day, she asked me how many hits she’d gotten–so maybe I should lay off the animal pics for a while…

I also posted a photo of the Hahnemann Memorial, a monument that I discovered on a particularly stressful day that immediately made me feel more  peaceful–and more aware of the big picture, so to speak.

In My Mailbox

I had a good number of books arrive in my mailbox recently. From memoirs by Donia Bijan and James A. Reeves to books about journalism by David Maraniss, Marc Weingarten, and Truman Capote, I’ve been shoring up on some great nonfiction.

I also received several interesting review copies of books, including The World We Found by Thrity Umrigar. And, while Jack received more books than I did this year for Christmas (!), I received a total of three gift cards to bookstores–so there will be many more books coming my way soon!

Giveaway

In December, I hosted a giveaway of The Personal History of Rachel DuPree by Ann Weisgarber, a work of historical fiction that hit all the right notes for me.

And the winner is… Karen Bunting! Congratulations!