LISTS OF STUFF! – Page 2

Biographies, poetry, and one graphic novel: My 2013 reading resolutions

As January chugs along, I’ve decided that 2013 should bring with it some book-related resolutions on my part, as I can no longer be trusted to pick up anything that doesn’t promise humor, action, or the cloyingly timid romantic advances of potentially supernatural young adults.

Believe it or not, this is the third year of Sorry Television, which either means I’ve finally settled into the routine of being an unpaid but extremely enthusiastic book blogger, or that I should discover a new hobby. Maybe both. Either way, I took a look back through the 115 books I’ve read since launching ST back in November 2010, and this is how it shakes out.

Fiction (mostly literary with a few mass-market choices): 37 books / 32%
Nonfiction: 22 books / 19%
Young Adult: 14 books / 12%
Memoirs: 11 books / 10%
Science fiction/Fantasy: 10 books / 9%
Essays: 9 books / 8%
Classics: 5 books / 4%
Trash (two Sookie Stackhouse books and three Fifty Shades): 5 books / 4%
Short stories: 2 books / 2%

All in all, a moderately diverse showing, but I see some definite room for improvement. Which is where you guys come in. Here are the literary genres I’d like to work into my 2013 reading list:

My [personal] top 10 books of 2012

Well guys, 2012 is drawing swiftly to a close and I have nothing to show for myself except a sweet new job and the collective knowledge of ~53 finished books (52.3 if I’m being honest about Les Mis, 58.3 if I count the Gone series and all three FSOG books). A productive year indeed.

Last week I posted the mathematically irrefutable Best Books of 2012, a labor on which I spent an undisclosed number of hours (like five) but after a little rest, relaxation, and weirdly mortifying perusal of my own ramblings from the last 12 months, I’d now like to share a more important list: the books I read this year that made the biggest impact on my little reality-TV-filled brain. Few of these titles were released in 2012, a byproduct of my resigned refusal to spend $27 on hardcovers, but sometimes it’s nice to read a book a few years after its release, when you can absorb it in the vacuum of irrelevance.

So here are the books that touched my shriveled-up heart this year, in dramatic countdown order. Happy reading!

The best books of 2012, as determined by rocket science and Excel and 17 other best of 2012 lists

It’s that time of year again, when you try to buy a cute little Christmas tree-like plant for your apartment—to be festive-like—and the cat knocks it over within like 0.3 seconds, so you spend the evening vacuuming up dirt and the bits of Christmas-tree-like-plant tendrils instead of basking in the feeling of accomplishment slash self-pity that comes with buying Christmas decorations probably only you yourself will see, but so you go out and buy a new mini Christmas tree plant anyway, decorate it, and Instagram it to feel better.

Also known as the holidays.

Cat lady moments notwithstanding, the end of the year brings with it a flurry of “Best of 2012” lists, designed to inform you of all the great writing produced over the last 12 months, and guilt trip you for not having read enough of it. How I’ve gotten through a book every week, and yet somehow managed to avoid reading even one of the NYT’s’ 100 Notable Books, is beyond me. In a related query, how could they have snubbed Sookie Stackhouse No. 12??

But really, who has time to read all of those lists, what with our busy holiday schedule of eating and napping and contemplating eating again. This is why you guys have me. By combining 17 different BO2012 lists — from, here we go, Publisher’s Weekly, NPR, NPR again, The New York Times, Michiko Kakutani, Janet Maslin, Dwight Garner, Slate, Goodreads, Goodreads again, The Washington Post, Barnes & Noble, Huffington Post, Amazon, The New Yorker, Buzzfeed and Oprah’s Book Club — I have created the ÜBERLIST, the definitive, mathematically and scientifically verified Best Books of 2012.

Top 10 things to do in your 20s

Earlier this week my friend shared with me this article from Thought Catalog on the “21 Ways You Should Take Advantage of Your 20s.” After getting past the fact that I couldn’t possibly accomplish 21 things in one decade—I have way too many reality shows to watch—I came to the conclusion that I am, by Thought Catalog’s definition at least, terrible at being young. The most enticing part of the whole article for me is the part where she talks about going home early and watching Parks and Recreation.

In any case, since I am such an influential thought leader and general source of worldly insight, I thought I might share my list of the Top 10 Things to Do in Your 20s, because I have opinions too, and because 10 is a much more manageable number than 21. So, here goes:

(Also I realize this has absolutely nothing to do with books, though Thought Catalog does include “reading nonfiction” as one of its 21 things. Ultimately, books are made up of words, and so are blog posts, so there. Relationship established.)

TOP 10 THINGS TO DO IN YOUR 20s
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