Books For 2012

Resolutions. Many people make them. It's a new year, it's time to make resolutions for how  you will make 2013 a better year.
Last year I resolved to track the books I read. This was actually a challenge from one of the  students in our speech league.
So, here are my 2012 results!

This past year, 2012, I read a total of 123 books. Leopards Kill was the first book I read this year. I enjoy Jim DeFelice's writing. His stories are categorized as action-packed military thriller and spy novels, and that is no exaggeration! DeFelice has written over three dozen military and techno-thrillers and I believe I have read at least half of them. Good 'hold-your-attention' author!

As I look back over my list, I seem to have focused primarily on two types of stories - not even remotely related in storylines. I seemed to read a lot of 'mail order bride' stories, balanced with a load of 'military action/terrorism/techno-thriller' type stories. My favorite mail order bride author was Cheryl St. John. Easy reads that didn't require a lot of thought (sorry, Cheryl) or concentration. Some days you just need to have that.

My favorite author for military action books was actually the team of Dale Brown and Jim DeFelice. Their Dreamland Series is excellent! Brown was a former US Air Force captain where he served as a navigator-bombadier. He brings a lot of authenticity to the stories. DeFelice doesn't bring that experience to the team, but he does bring award-winning writing skills which you can clearly see as you read through the series. 

Sadly, that brings me to my most disappointing read of the year - Tiger's Claw by Dale Brown. This book is part of Brown's Patrick McLanahan series which I have been reading and investing myself in for a couple years now. There are 18 books in the series. Along the way I've come to really enjoy the character of Patrick McLanahan, his brain works like no one else's. He isn't afraid of anything and will take a challenge head-on, make a decision, and implement the attack without second-guessing. Coming from my law enforcement background I really like his decision-making skills. So I was really looking forward to this new book, having pre-ordered it. As soon as it was available I started reading. The storyline was excellent, lot of sub-plots to follow and keep in order as I read through. So as not to spoil the book for any of you interested in reading Dale Brown, I was severely disappointed with the ending. Severely. To the point that I have vowed never to read another Dale Brown book, and this being after I've read at least 18, plus the ones he wrote with DeFelice. I realize I probably won't hold to this vow, but for right now I don't even want to see another cover with Brown's name on it. Juvenile? Probably.

With that being said, I had two highly anticipated books this year. The first being Michael Connelly's The Black Box. Connelly's background comes from being a crime reporter/journalist for the Los Angeles Times. He's written two series: the Harry Bosch Series (19 books) and the Mickey Haller Series (5 books.) I've read every one of them. Probably Connelly's most popular book was The Lincoln Lawyer which was made into a movie starring Matthew McConaughey, Marisa Tomei, Ryan Phillippe, William Macy, and country singer Trace Adkins. I waited months for this book to be released. I pre-ordered it literally six or so months ahead of time. The morning it became available I downloaded it to my kindle and started reading. Michael Connelly outdid  himself on this one! I texted my husband that I was spending the day with a new Harry Bosch story. Sweet!

Dee Henderson has forever been my favorite Christian fiction author. Well, maybe not 'forever' because she isn't that old, although I do have every book she's written and read them all at least twice. It has been six years since Dee released her last book, so this was a highly anticipated release in the Christian fiction world. Full Disclosure did not disappoint! The book actually fills out a pre-storyline to one of Dee's series and answers a lot of questions I had about other characters. Definitely worth a read - especially if you are into law enforcement, military, and romance.

The final book for 2012 was Vince Flynn's The Last Man, the most recent release in the 14 book Mitch Rapp Series (I've read all 14.) Flynn has an interesting bio as a dyslexic author who received many, many rejections before his first book came out in print. His works are read by presidents, foreign heads of state, and intelligence professionals across the globe. His novels are taken very seriously by the CIA as sources of ways to wage the war on terrorism. This was an excellent read!

It's been a good book year for me. I plan on starting a new list for 2013, starting with a David Baldacci book The Forgotten.

Should you be interested in seeing my read 2012 list, you can find it here.