One book per week 2012: Made it!

At the beginning of last year, I set myself a challenge: read the equivalent of one book per week over the course of 2012 (i.e. 52 books). And oh my goodness, I made it! There was a period where I thought I wouldn’t, but logging into Goodreads to figure out what to read next, I saw I had indeed hit the big five-two.

Without further ado, here are the books I read in 2012 (not including comics):

1. In the Miso Soup by Ryū Murakami
2. Piercing by Ryū Murakami
3. Audition by Ryū Murakami
4. Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
5. Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin
6. This Perfect Day by Ira Levin
7. The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin
8. Off Season by Jack Ketchum
9. The Room by Hubert Selby Jr.
10. Crash by J.G. Ballard
11. The Woods Are Dark by Richard Laymon
12. The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosiński
13. The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson
14. A Severed Head by Iris Murdoch
15. The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham
16. Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry
17. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
18. Such a Long Journey by Rohinton Mistry
19. Push by Sapphire
20. Last Man in Tower by Aravind Adiga
21. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
22. Vernon God Little by D.B.C. Pierre
23. Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews
24. Petals on the Wind by V.C. Andrews
25. The Death of Vishnu by Manil Suri
26. A Streetcar Named Desire and Other Plays by Tennessee Williams
27. A Child Called “It” by Dave Pelzer
28. The Trial by Franz Kafka
29. Red Dragon by Thomas Harris
30. The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
31. Hannibal by Thomas Harris
32. Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo
33. Hogg by Samuel R. Delany
34. Ring by Koji Suzuki
35. The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
36. Frisk by Dennis Cooper
37. The Marbled Swarm: A Novel by Dennis Cooper
38. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
39. Imperial Bedrooms by Bret Easton Ellis
40. Transition by Iain M. Banks
41. The Minority Report by Philip K. Dick
42. Justine, Philosophy in the Bedroom, and Other Writings by Marquis de Sade
43. Parasite Eve by Hideaki Sena
44. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
45. The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson
46. The Bad Seed by William March
47. Q & A by Vikas Swarup
48. Erdgeist by Frank Wedekind
49. Spring’s Awakening by Frank Wedekind
50. Pandora’s box; a tragedy in three acts by Frank Wedekind
51. The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
52. The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas
53. Underground by Haruki Murakami
54. The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
55. Cosmopolis by Don DeLillo

Loved

• The Room: An insight into the disturbing thoughts of a petty criminal. It’s not the most disturbing book ever made as some claim it to be, but it’s up there.
• In the Miso Soup. I’ve read the book two or three times now and I’m always impressed with how Murakami manages to portray the sense of loneliness that permeates Japan under the surface. There’s a brilliant quote in Miso Soup about being surrounded by people, yet being able to feel completely alone. Piercing deals with a similar subject matter, but I think on a whole, Miso Soup is more shocking and in the end, gives a more definite finality
• Last Man in Tower: Speaking of culture, I also started getting into Indian fiction this year. I feel like I read tons of it, but I’m really just scratching the surface. Last Man in Tower was an interesting one that highlights the divide between rich and poor and just how damn important money is to people.
• A Fine Balance. Another book set in India, this one explores the intertwining lives of four people. Once again, poverty and class are a major part of the story, as are politics. Part of the reason why I liked this book so much is that it ended up stirring some very strong emotions in me – no small feat considering with books I tend to finish them and say, “Huh. The book’s finished. Ok.”
• Johnny Got His Gun: Possibly the most depressing book I read all year, an anti-war novel set in WWI. By the end, I could only think one thing: “Dang.”

Hated

• Petals in the Wind. The second in the Dollanganger series and sequel to Flowers in the Attic, Petals also stirred some emotions in me, but this time, those of frustration and outright hatred for the characters in the book. Flowers in the Attic saw the four Dollanganger children living hidden in an attic while their estranged mother tries to convince their grandfather to let her inherit his massive fortune. Peachy keen. It was quite entertaining. Petals, on the other hand, turns the main character, Cathy, into the biggest fucking Mary Sue I’ve ever come across. I won’t copy and paste my rambling here, which I posted on Tumblr back then. But, just… ugh.

And the others

• Cosmopolis is possibly the most nihilistic book I’ve ever read. I’ve yet to watch the film, but I expect something bizarre. It’s hard to think of it as a film.
  
• It was weird to read The Casual Vacancy. I descended into lulls where I would forget I was reading a J.K. Rowling book, and then remembered I was reading a J.K. Rowling book, and had to snap out of it.

That’s it for 2012! I’m not sure if I’ll do a one book per week thing this year, but there’s no doubt I’ll read some goodies and some baddies. Have you read any good or bad books last year? Let me know!