2012 Reading Challenge - 50/50 :)

Yay!!! Its still only Christmas eve and I have finally laid down my 50th read of the year 2012. Here is me patting myself on the back for the achievement :) .

Highlights of what I read this year :

• Harry Potter - All 7 books and yes for the very first time. Better late than never :)
•  Jack Reacher - 7 of them Lee Child novels. The first 6 and then jumped to the 9th only because I wanted to prime myself for the Tom Cruise flick. Though now I am not sure I will even watch it considering the lukewarm reception it is getting in the face of The Hobbit. Also I am highly critical about the casting of Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher
•  Read quite a few freebies out of Amazon. Yeah the ones which cost you exactly $0.00. Also fell prey to the marketing strategy where the first novel of a series is free and then the second and third are priced. Folks buy the remaining two as they are hooked onto the story thanks to the first and want to finish the series just for closure sakes. Case in point - The Mind Readers series by Lori Brighton.
•  Was introduced to the concept of the novella. Something which is not as elaborate as a novel but also not as short as a short-story. Eg : The Wool series, a set of 5 sci-fi novellas based in a post apocalyptic world. Also Legion by Brandon Sanderson
•  Special mention to Neil Gaiman and the magic I got to read in Stardust and Anansi Boys.  

There were also a few failure along the way. Could not make head or tail of 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' and gave up within the first 80 pages. Finally watched the movie and consoled myself. The Cloud Atlas and Joseph Anton, similarly were started and left mid way. Those will be tried again at a later point in time. Same applies to Vikram Chandra's 'Sacred Games'.

As Dr. Seuss puts it - Be Awesome, be a book-nut! Happy Reading!!!