"Far From the Tree" by Andrew Solomon was very interesting. It's an intense and in depth, well researched look at children who are different from their parents for a myriad number of reasons. He looked at deaf culture, dwarf culture, prodigies, other disabilities, children who become criminals, and more. He made a very interesting point early on in the book, about how as we mature and become teenagers and young adults we take pride in how different we are from our parents, but then as we become parents ourselves we mourn when our children aren't like us. It's amazing to me that despite all the things that could go wrong with pregnancy and childbirth, the human race keeps on procreating anyway.
"How to Look Expensive" by Andrea Pomerantz Lustig could have been called "How to look well put together", which was really more what I was interested in. It was very helpful, and she had a lot of good tips on hair, makeup, and facial care that I've tried to incorporate into my own routine.
"Cinderella: Fables Are Forever" by Bill Willingham was a fun graphic novel looking at the hidden life of Cinderella, Fabletown's most infamous spy. She's been in a decades long quest to best Dorothy Gale of Wizard of Oz fame, surprisingly enough.
"Victorian Undead: Sherlock Holmes vs. Zombies" by Ian Edginton is another graphic novel featuring Sherlock Holmes in Victorian England, fighting a herd of zombies created by none other than Moriarty.
"Ten Big Ones" by Janet Evanovich is a reread of a pretty decent Stephanie Plum book, where she stays at Ranger's safe house because the gang has hired a hit man to take her out. I like how Sally Sweet saves her in the end rather than Joe or Ranger, it was a nice change.
"Clash of Kings" by George R. R. Martin is the second in the Ice and Fire series. I really enjoyed the first one, and this one was just as good. I'm actually up to date on the HBO series now, too, taking advantage of HBO On Demand. The story continues in this book with Dany and her newly born dragons traveling to find a way to cross the sea so she can retake the Iron Throne. Jon Snow and the rest of the Night's Watch on the Wall are dealing with all kinds of ugliness, in the form of giants, wildlings, and free people who are out to take down the Wall. Tyrion is busy in his new role as the King's Hand hatching schemes and plots to save King's Landing for when Stannis Baratheon comes to claim the throne. Robb Stark is still unbeaten on the field, heading south for King's Landing when terrible news from north in Winterfell makes him pause to consider his options.
"Cathy's Book" by Sean Stuart was a YA book I've wanted to read for awhile now. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it, though, as it took an odd turn. It started out normally enough: Cathy is 17 and has been dumped by her much older boyfriend Victor without reason. Cathy and her friend Emma think he might have been cheating on her with a woman he worked with. Cathy sets out to find out why Victor left her, and resorts to some shady things, like stalking and spying. That's all normal enough, but then it turns out that the reason Victor left her is because he's immortal. Huh? So there's a guy after Victor trying to learn the secrets of immortality. And Victor worried for her safety. Okay. It was a neat book: it's styled like a journal, so there's drawings and artwork throughout, and there was an attached clear envelope in the front with all the "proof" Cathy has gathered against Victor. It's just the storyline that threw me for a loop.
And finally, I closed out 2012 with a reread of one of my favorites: "Lonesome Dove" by Larry McMurtry. I managed to make 200 this year--I ended up reading 219. On to 2013!
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