Happy New Year!

Last year, Dan and I set a goal to each read 24 books by the end of the year.  That might not seem like very many books to some people, but 2 books per month seemed like a challenge to us.  We cut it pretty close, but we both reached our goal and completed 24 books during 2012.  We decided to list the books that we read in order from our favorites down to our least favorites (separated by Fiction and Non-Fiction...we know most people out there don't love Non-Fiction, and I really don't know anyone else who would want to read a book called I Love Charts, but we both read some good Non-Fiction this year that we would recommend for pleasure reading...really).  We read some pretty good books this year, and we hope our lists will help you select something to read this year.  What were your favorite books this past year? Happy Reading!    

Jorden's Fiction 2012

1) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

2) Peace Like a River by Leif Enger

3) The Princess Bride by William Goldman

4) The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

5) The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt

6) The Giver by Lois Lowry

7) The 13th Tale by Diane Setterfield

8) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

9) The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

10) Grimms Fairy Stories by The Brothers Grimm

11) The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest by Stieg Larsson

12) Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson

13) Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling

14) Divergent by Veronica Roth

15) Insurgent by Veronica Roth

16) City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

17) Stealing Mona Lisa by Carson Morton

Jorden's Non-Fiction 2012

1) Book of Mormon 

2) The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

3) 1776 by David McCullough

4) Leadership and Self Deception by Arbinger Institute

5) Anatomy of Peace by Arbinger Institute

6) The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

7) Angels Round About by Judy Olsen

Dan's Fiction 2012

1) Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

2) The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

3) The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt

4) The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

5) Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson

6) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

7) 11/22/63 by Stephen King

8) The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

9) The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

10) One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey

11) Agent 6 by Tom Rob Smith

12) I Don't Want to Kill You by Dan Wells

13) Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

14) Hollow City by Dan Wells

15) Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

16) Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling

Dan's Non-Fiction 2012

1) The Wall Street Journal Guide to Information Graphics by Dona M. Wong

2) Show Me the Numbers by Stephen Few

3) Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler

4) The Oz Principle by Roger Connors, Tom Smith, Craig Hickman 

5) The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell 

6) Switch by Chip Health and Dan Heath

7) The Big Miss: My Years Coaching Tiger Woods by Hank Haney

8) I Love Charts by Jason Oberholtzer and Cody Westphal