Books I read in 2012

When I finished my Ph.D. in Comparative Literature in 1991, I felt like I would never read a book again! I'd read so many books the past 7 years in so many languages, that reading no longer appealed to me. But since 2009 I've started reading again and so far 2012 was the year where I read more books than ever since 1991. I read novels, poetry, manga, books for children, non-fiction etc. etc. and I read books in both English and Danish - but no German this year! Here's a complete list:

Abrahamowitz, Finn: "Smertens Mester"
Bang, Herman: "Det grå Hus"
Bang, Herman: "Det hvide Hus"
Bang, Herman: "Haabløse Slægter"
Chabun, Michael: "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh"
Cooper, Dennis: "My loose Thread"
Falkenberg, Lise Lyng: "Build Me a Bridge"
Falkenberg, Lise Lyng: "Greatest Hits 1996-2011"
Falkenberg, Lise Lyng: "Souls Astray"
Falkenberg, Lise Lyng: "The Monkees - caught in a false image", second edition
Flint, Helen E.: "The Betty Fairy Book"
Gilbert, David; "The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter"
Gomez-Arcos, Agustin: "The Carnivorous Lamb"
Hatori, Bisco: "Ouran High School Host Club", vol. 17
Hollinghurst, Alan: "The Line of Beauty"
Leavitt, David: "While England Sleeps"
LeRoy, J. T.: "Sarah"
LeRoy, J. T.: "The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things"
Lindgren, Astrid: "Kati i Amerika"
Lyng, Ajatsa: "Jin Boys" vol. 1
MacPhail, Catherine: "Tribes"
Murakami, Maki: "Gravitation vol. 1"
Murakami, Maki: "Gravitation vol. 2"
Murakami, Maki: "Gravitation vol. 3"
Murakami, Maki: "Gravitation vol. 4"
Murakami, Maki: "Gravitation vol. 5"
Murakami, Maki: "Gravitation vol. 6"
Murakami, Maki: "Gravitation vol. 7"
Murakami, Maki: "Gravitation vol. 8"
Murakami, Maki: "Gravitation vol. 9"
Murakami, Maki: "Gravitation vol. 10"
Murakami, Maki: "Gravitation vol. 11"
Pidgeon, John: "Flame"
Reuter, Bjarne: "7.a."
Reuter, Bjarne: "Shamran"
Takahashi, Mutsuo: "A Bunch of Keys"
Takahashi, Mutsuo: "Parting at Dawn"
Takahashi, Mutsuo: "Poems of a Penisist"
Takahashi, Mutsuo: "Sleeping, Sinning, Falling"
"The Mammoth Book of Modern Ghost Stories" (edited by Peter Haining)
"The Penguin Book of Gay Short Stories" (edited by David Leavitt and Mark Mitchell)
Trudeau, G. B.: "Welcome to Club Scud!"
"Victorian Ghost Stories" (Senate edition)
Willumsen, Dorrit: "Bang. En Roman om Herman Bang"
"You, Me and a Cup of Tea" (edited by Tetley Tea)

Some of the books were quite new to me, others I've read a million times. Apart from my own books, the ones I return to most often are the books by the Danish impressionist author Herman Bang (1857-1912). His books are just wonderful and he's among my five favourite authors (myself not included), Hans Christian Andersen, Soren Kierkegaard, H. C. Branner and Knud Holten being the other four. If you're able to get hold of any book by Herman Bang, read it! You won't regret it.
Other than that my favourite book this year was Agustin Gomez-Arcos' "The Carnivorous Lamb". This brilliant, black humour family saga of love, power, politics and decadence thrilled me to bits and I'm sure I'll read it again. And again. And again!

Hopefully 2013 will bring as many literary highlights as 2012 did!