as i scrolled through my 2012 reading list, i kept thinking that i cannot possibly come up with a list of ten authors whom i discovered and whose books i enjoyed in the past year. nevertheless, i am going to give it a try.
1. peter mayle - suffering from severe wanderlust, this year i read a whole lot of travel books, especially ones set in france or italy. in april i finally took a year in provence off the shelf, and enjoyed it immenseley. then i could not resist hunting down the rest of mayle's books and trying to read them. although some of them i found a bit boring and disappointing, still, i think mayle is among the best travelogue authors.
2. szabó magda - well, hungarian author szabó magda is most certainly not a 'new to me author', as her classic young adult novel abigél is one of my favorite books ever and i have read it numerous times. still, i had never got around reading her adult books. then, as it was turned into a movie, i finally picked up az ajtó (the door). later on, i also read mondják meg zsófikának. the former i loved, the latter not so much, still, i will read other works of szabó magda, without a doubt.
3. gertrude stein - although i never got around writing about it, back in early january i loved the autobiography of alice b. toklas, and had a bit of a crush on gertrude stein upon reading her book. i should definitely dig into her works deeper.
4. w. somerset maugham - i bought the painted veil by accident (well, almost), read it immediately afterwards and loved the style of somerset maugham. his novels are in my 'to be read' pile.
5. ernest hemingway - shame or not, even though i am was an english american studies major, i had only read one of hemingway's works, the old man and the sea, and that was back in secondary school. (thinking of it, i have some vague memories reading the snows of kilimanjaro for some lit course, as well.) being obsessed with 1920s paris and the expats of the lost generation, i purchased and read a moveable feast. then in october i bought a farewell to arms, and i am planning to read it (as well as other works of mr hemingway) some time soon(ish).
6. meg cabot - curiosity got the better of me, and i thumbed through the hungarian translations of the first two volumes of the princess diaries series in september. i had fun reading it, so if i can find the original english version, i might reread the books or go on with the rest of the series.
7. kate jacobs - i loved the friday night knitting club, and planning to hunt down both the sequels and other works of kate jacobs.
8. stephanie perkins - although i have ambivalent feelings about her two novels - anna and the french kiss and lola and the boy next door -, i loved and will definitely reread the former and keep an eye out for her new books to come.
9. france mayes - similarly to peter mayle, she's an expat writer who decided to move to and settle down in some sunny mediterranean part of good old europe. i enjoyed under the toscan sun, then borrowed its sequel from the library, but then somehow i did not manage to read it. come next spring and my wanderlust awoken again, i might get back to mayes's other books.
10. mireille guiliano - my wanderlust and love of baking got me to her as well. she mostly writes about french lifestyle, especially the differences between french and american cuisine, while sharing her favorite recipes. her books are light as a soufle (are soufles light?) and fun as well, but a bit boring and repetitive after a while. after all, to us hungarians, the french way of living isn't such an enormous revelation (and isn't so very different from ours) as to it is to americans.
Gertrude Stein! College flashback!
ReplyDeleteA rose is a rose is a rose, right?
ReplyDelete