BOOKING THROUGH THURSDAY: Best of 2011

What were your favorite books of 2011?
I found this meme that has been making the rounds, but here's a list of the top rated books I read this year. Ask me tomorrow, and it might change.

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares - Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
Light Lifting - Alexander MacLeod
Henrietta's War - Joyce Dennys
The Tales of Beedle the Bard - JK Rowling
The Redbreast - Jo Nesbo
The Lover's Dictionary - David Levithan
Annabel - Kathleen Winter
The Wife's Tale - Lori Lansens
Coventry - Helen Humphreys
Trackers - Deon Meyer
How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming - Mike Brown
Heads You Lose - Lisa Lutz and David Hayward
Full Dark, No Stars - Stephen King
Moonlight Sketches - Gerard Collins
Falling Angels - Tracy Chevalier

And now, the meme:

Best Book:
Heads You Lose by Lisa Lutz and David Hayward
This had humor, a mystery, and a concept that was so meta I wanted more. As the authors kept killing each others characters, and their relationship disintegrated, I couldn't stop laughing.

Worst Book:
In a Strange Room: Three Journeys by Damon Galgut (Booker Shortlist 2010)
I don't even know what this book was about. There were parts I kind of liked, but mostly, confused and bored.

Most Disappointing Book:
The Reinvention of Love by Helen Humphreys
After loving Coventry, I was not a fan of the characters or setting of Reinvention of Love

Most Surprising Book: 
Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King.
King took a revenge aspect and let (some) of the characters come out on top, without being destroyed. I was only surprised in that King's stories are as good as ever, and he hasn't lost his story-telling touch (and dash of gross) after all these years.

The Book Most Recommended to Others:
Pomegranate Soup by  Marsha Mehran. It was a nice, light book, about sisters in Ireland who came from Iran. I offered this most to my real-life friends, and for fans of Sarah Addison Allen.

Best Series Discovered:
The Janie Quartet by Caroline B Cooney (The Face on the Milk Carton, Whatever Happened to Janie, The Voice on the Radio, What Janie Found)
Once I started reading this young adult dramatics during the summer, I couldn't stop til it ended.

New Mystery Series:
Jo Nesbo's series starring Harry Hole. I only read one, The Redbreast, but as soon as I get a couple other series up to date and under control, I'm diving in to the rest of this great Scandinavian series.

Favorite New Authors Discovered (have to have written more than one book): 
Tana French, Helen Humphreys,

Most Hilarious Read:
Heads You Lose by Lisa Lutz and David Hayward


Most Thrilling, Unputdownable Book:
Trackers by Deon Meyer
An African thriller with several diverse threads that tied up wonderfully in the end

Most Anticipated Book:  
I seldom buy new books but these are two I bought as soon as they came out: 
Children of the Street by Kwei Quartey - second in the Ghanian Darko Dawson mystery series
Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick - beautiful blending of illustrations and story

Favorite Cover:Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. And the story was pretty cute too.


Most Memorable Character:
Mary Gooch in The Wife's Tale. Her life was falling apart, and she found the strength to turn it around and accept herself.

Most Beautifully-Written Book:
Alexander MacLeod's Light Lifting was a wonderfully written collection of short stories.



Book you Can't Believe you Waited Until 2011 to Read:
I didn't read much in the line of classics this year, so Patrick Taylor's Irish Country series has been given great reviews on the blogs for several years now, and I finally read a few.

Favorite Review You Wrote:
The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan

Best Book Event You Participated in During 2011:
Orange January/July
Jill does such a great job using Facebook and Librarything to connect all the readers. It's almost time for the next one.

Are any of my memorable books from your lists of this year? What were your favorites?

BOOK: Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier

Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier, 402 pages

What a great book to read over the holidays! I flew through this in one day, which shouldn't surprise me, as I have enjoyed all of Tracy Chevalier's books. Girl With the Pearl Earring, The Lady and the Unicorn, and Virgin Blue all were great historical reads, and all very different. I'm a little disappointed that I only have two more of her books to read - Burning Bright and Remarkable Creatures.

Falling Angels was set during the Edwardian period, and chronicles the ten year events of two families, middle-class, dealing with the rapidly changing times. The idea of mourning - the book begins with Victoria's death,  is throughout, and not even just because much of the action takes place in a cemetery. By the time the book ends, mourning periods are not taken quite so seriously. The other aspect of the story was the suffragette movement. One of the mothers was not happy, very stifled, and very lost. She finds her purpose when she gets involved with the suffragettes.

Falling Angels was an easy, engaging novel that transported me to another time and place, and one I like to visit - England. Watching the two girls age from five to fifteen, and seeing the changes that occurred as they grew up was a nice history lesson.

BOOK: A More Perfect Heaven by Dava Sobel

A More Perfect Heaven: How Copernicus Revolutionized the Cosmos by Dava Sobel, 240 pages

Science Book Challenge

It's good to see Copernicus getting the headline over Galileo, as most people (based on my exposure to high school physics students) are not aware that it was Copernicus who first proposed the heliocentric theory of the planets. His book, On the Revolutions, was not published until he was on his deathbed, and Galileo took most of the heat, and thus fame, for promoting the idea.

Dava Sobel has a good writing style, and I've enjoyed all her books- Planets, Longitude, Galileo's Daughter. A More Perfect Heaven is divided into three sections - the history and biography of Nicholas Copernicus, then a play dramatizing the writing of his book, and finally, the aftermath of his book being published. The history and biography contained a lot of names and facts of life and politics in late 1500s Poland and Europe. As historic and accurate as it was, it was needed to set the characters for the play, "And the Sun Stood Still." The play was a great addition, and while dramatizing nonfiction and putting words in real people that cannot be known is often frowned upon, it makes history come alive, and the facts of the characters were established in part one.

After the play, it was the later chapters that I really enjoyed. That is probably because I teach about Kepler, Brahe, and Galileo in physics, so I was already familiar with much of their stories. Sobel includes many pictures and diagrams from the era, and the sense of life in Europe was conveyed well, including the font chosen for titles.

In Copernicus's day, astrology and astronomy were closed linked and Copernicus tried to separate the prediction stuff out of his planets. I also learned that Copernicus and his star measurements helped to realign the calendar, due to his precise measurements, which was also why his controversial book was never actually banned, because the data was too valuable. Great historical and scientific book.

I won this book through Librarything's Early Reviewer Program.

BOOK: The Canterbury Trail by Angie Abdou

The Canterbury Trail by Angie Abdou, 275 pages

Canadian Book Challenge 5; 2nds Challenge

 I've never read Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, although I believe we studied The Miller's poem in grade twelve, so I had to look it up a little bit, just to get all the references in Angie Abou's novel. Set in the ski town of Coalton, BC, a merry band of ski-bums, hippies, and red-necks pilgrimage to the back woods for the last week-end of skiing for the year.

The story is told with a cast of characters, and an introduction, with alternating characters the focus. At times, the characters started to blend on me, but the list at the beginning helped. I'm not sure why they blended, because there were all pretty distinct - skiing realtor, pregnant wife, hippie and her girlfriend, the ski-bums, but the snowmobiling red-necks were the ones I had the hardest time keeping straight. All the characters end up at a cabin that is free for anyone, and spend a crazy night together, dealing with their stereotypes and past relationships. And the drugs.

But in the end, Janet did nothing. She simply tried her best to ignore the whole drugged and horny reality that had enveloped Camelot. It all left Janet happy for her age and her traditional marriage, p237

As I was reading, I kept thinking how I just don't get the drug culture. I must be too old! One of the activities the campers try is to have a story telling contest, which is the point of original Canterbury Tales. Chaucer also used the Tales to comment on the class system, and Abdou has the ski-town classes conflicting here - the locals, the developer, the trustafarian, the working class. The plot meanders and is not linear, like the skiers ascending the mountain top, doubling back and taking different routes. Considering I'm not a skier, not a drug-taker, and never really lived my wild, partying twenties, I did enjoy the book. It's a world I know exists, but like Janet in the quote above, happy for my own reality.

Abdou's book, The Bone Cage was a Canada Reads nominee last year, and widely read (in Canada) but I liked this one better, both for its actual story, and for the literary parallels to its famous original.

Canterbury Tales picture above, and information about the story taken from wikipedia.

CHALLENGE: Series Goals or The Ones I'm Targeting in 2012

Suziqoregon at Whimpulsive is a great blogger and she is always reminding me how much I like series by posting about her serial reading.  Now she is setting her goals for next year, and I am shamelessly copying her and her picture above. Thanks Suzi q!

I've got a few series I'd like to get up to date on, and a few I'd like to make a dent in their list.

Inspector Armand Gamauche by Louise Penny
The most recent release was in September, and I'd like to get up to date before the next one comes out.
A Trick of the Light
A Beautiful Mystery (August 2012) read in November

The Number One Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
I made a good effort this year, and it should be no trouble to finish up the last three books in this series. And now I see another will be released!
Tea Time for the Traditionally Built
The Double Comfort Safari Club review

The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party
The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection ( April 2012)




Darko Dawson/ Inspector Montalbano/ Detective Erlendur
I'm up to date on my three favorite series, but if they release books, as I expect them to, I'm reading them!
Murder at Cape Three Points (Darko Dawson) by Kwei Quartey (2012) *never got released
The Age of Doubt (Inspector Montalbano) by Andrea Camilleri  (May 2012) read in July
Black Skies (Inspector Erlundur) by Arnaldur Indridason (July 2012)

The Dublin Murder Squad by Tana French
Faithful Place March 2012

Broken Harbour (June 2012)

The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz
Revenge of the Spellmans
The Spellmans Strike Again
The Trial of the Spellmans (2012?)









Inspector Espinosa by Luis Alfredo Garcia-Roza
Only one of these that I have left to read may be available at my library.
Pursuit 
Blackout

Vish Puri by Tarquin Hall
I really liked the first book in this ongoing series, so let's stay on top of this one!

The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing  March 2012

The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken ( August 2012)







This next set of series will not get caught up, but I hope to make an effort in reading several in each.

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
Pardonable Lies
Messenger of Truth
An Incomplete Revenge
Among the Mad
The Mapping of Love and Death

Phrynne Fisher by Kerry Greenwood
There's no way I'll get caught up, but I'd like to read another four or five from this quick moving series
Blood And Circuses  May 11
Ruddy Gore  May 26

Urn Burial
Raisins and Almonds
Death before wicket
Murder in Montparnasse
there's still another six!

Harry Hole by Jo Nesbo
Nemesis
The Devil's Star
The Redeemer
The Snowman
The Leopard





Martin Beck Crime series by Per Wahloo and Maj Sjowall
4. The Laughing Policeman  4.5/5

5. The Fire Engine That Disappeared 4/5
6. Murder at the Savoy
7.The Abominable Man
8. The Locked Room
9. Cop Killer
10. The Terrorists

Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
Dexter in the Dark
Dexter by Design
Dexter is Delicious
Double Dexter

BOOK: Christmas With Anne by LM Montgomery

Christmas With Anne and Other Holiday Stories by LM Montgomery, 220 pages

Canadian Book Challenge; Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge

LM Montgomery was a very prolific author. Twenty novels, and tons of short stories; there have been eleven collections of her short stories published. Many are themed, like this collection of Christmas tales. LM wrote for the masses, selling her short stories where she could, often at the magazines request including a moral or lesson in her holiday stories. This makes some of her stories a tad predictable or sentimental, but readers do like these themes in their Christmas stories (see The Christmas Shoes), so if you are looking for Christmas stories, you can't go wrong with LM and her optimistic view and outlook, amidst the sad and downtrodden.

Christmas with Anne doesn't disappoint, including "Matthew Insists on Puffed Sleeves", and "Katherine Brooke Comes to Green Gables," chapters from the Anne series. Both bring tears when fans of the series read them, knowing all the back stories of Anne. When Katherine complains to Anne that [Anne] couldn't know what it was like to not be wanted, as Anne is ensconced in Green Gables full of love, fans know that Anne could very easily have turned out to be like Katherine. And Matthew buying Anne the puffed sleeves? Well, every mention of Matthew and his adoration of Anne does me in.

The other stories vary in success, but as a whole, they work. Collected  together, plot themes develop - feuds forgiven after accidental apologies, and awareness of the blessings in your life.Other than the Anne stories, my favorite was "The Unforgotten One", about not judging what others are thinking or feeling, or who they might be missing.

All in all, they are perfect for Christmas. Short, fluffy, full of love and pathos and Christmas spirit.As an added bonus, my edition was lovely. Nice sizing, with a sturdy cover - a cross between a mass market paperback and a trade paperback. It will become a new Christmas tradition.

BOOK: An Irish Country Village by Patrick Taylor

An Irish Country Village by Patrick Taylor, 420 pages

Irish Reading Challenge; 2nds Challenge

I meant to read An Irish Country Christmas this month, but I like to read my series in order and this had to be read first. I read the first in the series, An Irish Country Doctor back in March, and was completely charmed. The second book was actually a little better, as the characters were already met and established. The book picks up just days after the last book, and only continues for the next few weeks, as Dr Barry Laverty is still getting established in Ballybucklebo.

Not much really happens, but it was an easy, light read, perfect for picking up during this busy season, or when standing in line at a checkout. I've actually discovered I don't mind waiting at checkouts if I have a book with me, because I'm not there, noticing the time, or the bad service. I'm where ever my book is taking me - the tiny village of Ballybucklebo in Northern Ireland, circa 1964. I even turned down the opportunity to move up in a line when I only had one item, because I knew I'd enjoy the time in the book.

This book reminds me of some other book, or television show, which I can't seem to remember. It get compared to James Herriot's vet series. It's funny, predictable, charming, and a wonderful way to spend a week reading. I may get to that next book sooner rather than later.

BOOKING THROUGH THURSDAY: character or plot?

Booking Through Thursday (BTT) asks:  "What’s more important to you? Real, three-dimensional, fleshed-out fascinating characters?  Or an amazing, page-turning plot?  (Yes, I know, they are both important. But if you had to pick one as being more important than the other?)"

I'd have to say plot. Mysteries are my favorite genre, and they are all about the plot. Obviously, the best mysteries are character-strong as well, like in Trackers or continuing series like Inspector Montalbano of Sicily, but the plot gets the pages turning. Linwood Barclay writes terrific thrillers, with good characters, but the plot keeps going. The best example I can think of is The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown. Nothing dramatic about the characters in that one, but the mystery and plot are what get you turning the page.

Snazzy new button for BTT!

CHALLENGES: 2nds Challenge 2012

Katy at afewmorechallenges is hosting the 2nds challenge again. I like to keep track of these. Either second in a series, or second book by the author that you have read. Keep track all year long.

• Just a spoonful - Read 3 books that are 2nd in a series or the second time you’ve read the author. 
• A few more bites - Read 6 books that are 2nd in a series or the second time you’ve read the author.
• A full plate - Read 12 books that are 2nd in a series or the second time you’ve read the author.
• All you can eat - Read 20 books (or more) that are 2nd in a series or the second time you’ve read the author.

The Authors Who Should be Read Again:

Alan Bradley - The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag
Jo Nesbo - Nemesis
Qiu Xioalong - A Case of Two Cities
Stieg Larsson - The Girl Who Played With Fire
Georgette Heyer - Cousin Kate
Jasper Fforde's second book in the Chromatica series
Tom Perrotta - The Abstinence Teacher
Ruth Rendell - The Water's Lovely
Marsha Mehran - Rosewater and Sodabread
Helen Dunmore - House of Orphans
Emma Donaghue - The Sealed Letter

What I Read:

1. Stieg Larsson - The Girl Who Played With Fire (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo)
2. Anna Quindlen - Black and Blue (Every Last One)
3. Helen Dunmore - House of Orphans (The Spell of Winter)
4. Donna Leon - Death and Judgment (Death in la Fenice)
5. Sebastian Barry - On Canaan's Side (Secret Scriptures)
6. Tarquin Hall - The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing (The Case of the Missing Servant)
7. Maureen Johnson - 13 Little Blue Envelopes (Let it Snow)
8. Francesca Lia Block - Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys (Weetzie Bat)
9. Emma Donaghue - The Sealed Letter (Room)
10. Muriel Spark - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Symposium)
11. Anne Enright - The Forgotten Waltz (The Gathering)
12. Hilary Jordan - When She Woke (Mudbound)
13. Ann Patchett - State of Wonder (Bel Canto)
14. Richard B Wright - October (Clara Callen)
15. Dennis Lehane - Shutter Island (Mystic River)
16. Alan Bradley - The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag (The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie)
17. Wally Lamb - Wishin' and Hopin' (She's Come Undone)
18.

BOOK: Small Ceremonies by Carol Shields

Small Ceremonies by Carol Shields, 179 pages

Canadian Book Challenge

 This is the first of Carol Shields published books. Box Garden, her second, is a companion book, as each book is narrated by a sister. Here, Judith Gill is a biographer in Canada in the 1970s. Biographer is the key idea here - how do you ever know a subject? or even anyone else? Each person views the same event or life from their own perspective, so we all see everything differently. Even comparing the mother from both books is interesting, as Judith (Small Ceremonies)  and Charleen (Box Garden) see her from different views. Judith is writing about Susanna Moodie, the Canadian pioneer. (Note, Carol Shields went on to write a criticism on Moodie, Voice and Vision, in 1976. Did she write the Moodie book after doing research for this book, or did the research she did for the Moodie book give her background for this book?) Judith also tends to look at everyone, trying to find that biographer view of people.

Like in Box Garden, the little things, the small ceremonies of day to day life, are the main story. I was thinking jokingly that Shields was the original Seinfeld, writing about nothing. It's just that her nothing is about everyone, which is what makes Shields, and Seinfeld, resonate. Instead of looking through the telescope to the wide open skies, she turns it around and details the tiny things in a life. And while the characters are going along, with not much happening, there are events in the book that are not clear, a bit of a mystery. Often, as in life, they are not a big deal, but you keep turning the pages. It's the writing - Shields didn't win the Pulitzer (and the Orange) for nothing.

The Staircase Letters: An Extraordinary Friendship at the End of Life by Arthur Motyer, with Elma Gerwin and Carol Shields
149 pages

Canadian Reading Challenge

Arthur Motyer was a professor of Elma Gerwin's, who was a friend of Carol Shields. They all share a love of literature, and all worked with writing all their lives. Elma discovered she was facing cancer, as she knew Carol was, and cc'd Arthur and Carol, thinking they would all share in the writing of emails during their mutual fight with, what would become, their terminal illness.

Motyer writes the in-between and fills in much of the background for the emails - they lived all across Canada. The book felt a little awkward to start, a little Arthur-centered, but that fell away gradually, and the dignity and strength of the two women takes over the book. It could have turned into a bit of watching a train-wreck, but Motyer wisely focuses on each person's (i,e, your own) view of death and dying, referencing many literary allusions and poems. Eventually, it is all about your own perspective of life, and death, and happiness, and sharing Elma and Carol's letters felt like being bestowed with a little bit of grace.

EVENT: 2011 Advent Tour

This is my fifth year participating in the Virtual Advent Blog Tour. Here's a little recap of my past editions:

In 2010, I took a humorous look at some local events on Prince Edward Island.
In 2009, we played 'guess the carol'
In 2008, I played a game of 'guess the movie', and my favorite Christmas picture ever.
In 2007, it was the original 'guess the carol' game, with your vocabulary tested, and my whipped shortbread cookie recipe.

Well, I guess I like some guessing games! I wasn't feeling as creative this year, so instead, I will offer a recipe for fruitcake. I find as I get older, I am enjoying fruitcake more. This one is very delicious!

My Grandmother's Fruitcake Recipe

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups dried fruit
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup brown sugar
• juice of one lemon
• 8 oz nuts
• 1 full bottle of Irish whiskey  (or Scotch if you really prefer)

1. Sample the whiskey to check for quality
2. Take a large bowl
3. Sample the whiskey again to be sure it is of the highest quality
4. Pour 1 level cup and drink. Repeat
5. Turn on the electric mixer
6. Beat a cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl
7. Adda teaspoon of sugar and beat again
8. Make sure the whiskey is still OK
9. Cry another tup
10. Turn off the mixerer
11. Break two legs and add tot he bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit
12. Mix on the turnerer
13. If the fried druit gets stuck in the turnerers, pry it loose with a drewscriver
14. Try the whiskey again to check for tonsisticity
15. Next, sift two cups of salt or something
16. Who cares, check the whiskey, now sift the lemon juice and strain your nuts
17. Add - One table - Spoon
18. Of sugar or something
19. Whatever you can find
20. Grease the oven
21. Turn the cake tin to 350 degrees
22. Don't forget to beat off the turner
23. Throw the bowl out the window
24. Chick the whiskey again
25. Go to bed
26. Who likes fruitcake anyway

My grandmother actually sent me this recipe many years ago.
Merry Christmas! Happy Holiday! I hope you all find a lovely book to read under the tree.

( Please wait for the Intense debate comments - sometimes it takes a few seconds to load.)

BOOK: Tide Road by Valerie Compton

Tide Road by Valerie Compton, 230 pages

Canadian Book Challenge

He came through the door like a thunderclap, like a breeze. Hey! he yelled. Or, Hey, he said. He let the door slam. He eased it shut. 

Which way had it gone? She couldn't be sure.page9

The opening lines of this novel set on Prince Edward Island drew me into the story immediately. How do we remember things? Sonia struggles with the grief of her missing daughter, Stella all the way to the beginning of her missing - does she even remember that correctly? Stella goes missing (presumed drowned) in the winter of 1965, which sends Sonia reeling back in memories to 1941, the summer she worked alone at the lighthouse on Surplus Island. Sonia needs to come to terms with her life and the choices she made (or had made for her) before she can really deal with Stella's disappearance.

Part of the appeal to me is obviously the location. When Compton mentions places or things, they have a meaning for me living on Prince Edward Island. I remember Roger's Hardware, the Rollaway lounge; the road between Winsloe and Rustico is the road I lived when we were first married. The descriptions of the shore and the water continue the tradition of LM Montgomery and the connection to nature here on this island. The writing is poetic and wispy and full of images.This connects even more to the characters, as Sonia could be/was an artist, and Stella has vision issues.

There is a bit of a mystery as to what actually happened to Stella. Suspicion falls on Stella's husband, adding an extra layer to the family's grief and anger. Sonia's denial about this aspect of Stella's life make her believe that Stella has just run away and Sonia puts her energy into finding Stella instead of dealing with her grief.

The strength of the book is in the character of Sonia who was very real, a woman from the middle of the 1900s, with very few choices. She struggled to get by with a husband who was abusive, with children that kept coming, the hard, violent life on a farm, striving to discover her voice. The book and her grief are about her struggle to realize she even had a voice, a vision for herself.

Grief and memory are two common themes in literature. Two other books I read this year (that I never reviewed) also tackled these themes. February by Lisa Moore was also about grief, after the Ocean Ranger disaster in Newfoundland.  The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes was an old man remembering events from his past and his role in them. Tide Road was a blend of the best of both books. Sonia was dealing with her grief by looking to the past to make sense of her daughter's life. "You still have to solve your own life if you want to be of any help to [your children]" (from p 190) seems to be the advice that starts Sonia on her way.

I hope more people can discover this wonderful book.

CHALLENGE: Aussie Author Challenge 2012

 Some challenges are really challenges! I've tried twice to read the higher level of this challenge, and failed both times. Booklover Book Reviews is hosting, with the sign-up page and lots of info, found here.

Challenge Period: 1 January 2012 – 31 December 2012
OBJECTIVE Read and review books written by Australian Authors – physical books, ebooks and audiobooks, fiction and non-fiction!
Challenge Levels:
TOURIST – Read and review 3 books by at least 2 different Australian Authors
DINKY-DI – Read and review 12 books by at least 6 different Australian authors
‘Dinky-Di’ is Australian slang meaning ‘true or genuine’.

What will I be trying this year?
Kerry Greenwood - (Phrynne Fisher series) Blood and Circuses, Ruddy Gore, Urn Burial, Raisins and Almonds
Peter Temple - (Jack Irish series) Bad Debts, Black Tide,
Jaclyn Moriarty - The Murder of Bindy McKenzie
Kate Grenville - The Secret River, Lillian's Story
Kate Morton - The Forgotten Garden
Tim Winton - Breath (library, 217 pages)
Thomas Keneally - Schindler's Ark

What I read in 2012:

1. Blood and Circuses - Kerry Greenwood
2. Ruddy Gore - Kerry Greenwood
3. Breath - Tim Winton