My Reading Goals For 2012

I can not believe another year is about to come to a close. 2011 has been a year of many milestones for me. On the blogging front it was my second full year of blogging and it found me far surpassing my goal of reading 80 books, reading the most books I've ever read in one year, with 97 books total read! I also got to make it to the Book Blogger Convention in New York for the first time which was wonderful to get to enjoy meeting a bunch of other book bloggers and trade stories. On a more personal front, I turned 30 this year which was a big milestone for me and I celebrated that by going to Bali. I also got engaged to the love of my life, Rob, and we will be enjoying planning a fun wedding next year which I am really looking forward to!
So, now, without further ado, here are my reading stats for 2011:
In total I read: 97 Books!
Most Books Read in One Month: March, April, May, July, and August all tie for 9 titles each!
Total Number of A and B rated books: 74 (woohoo!)
Total Number of C, D, and F rated books: 23
Total number of pages read: 26,144 (1,801 more than last year!)
I am pleased with the above because this means I really achieved my goals from last year. One of the big ones was to continue to get to know myself as a reader. This blog and keeping a reading journal was supposed to help me better pick out the books that I love over and over again. Seeing that I enjoyed 76% of the books I read this year as compared to 68% last year means I am definitely improving my hit rate!
My other goal for this last year was to have fun with blogging and I most certainly did, and I have you to thank for that!
My Reading Goals for 2012. I can pretty much guarantee that with planning a wedding I won't be able to read as many books as I did in 2011. However, what I do hope is that I have continued success with the books that I read being books that I love. I want to be able to share books that are wonderful with you and to make the time that I do have for reading as enjoyable as possible.
Additionally, I hope to focus on the genres that I know I love and have always brought me enjoyment: women's fiction and historical fiction.

The Cobra by Frederick Forsyth

Those who remember the earlier works of the writer Frederick Forsyth will be keenly anticipating The Cobra. Those who haven't read him for a long time may afford to approach the book as a new reader. Though his reputation for writing page turners (so exciting in fact you would stay up late to find out what happened next) would definitely affect your judgment positively when you take a decision whether to read The Cobra or not.
Everything at His Disposal
At the same time, it must be said The Cobra is different from the earlier novels from Frederick Forsyth. The concept of the book is the first reason. The Cobra is the nickname of the retired CIA operative who is entrusted a task by the US president to destroy the drug cartels of the world. Cobra asks for carte blanche to accomplish the task (which means he doesn't believe the task is impossible). Men, money, resources – he has everything at his disposal.
First Stage Belongs To Preparation
He spends one year for the preparation of the task. For the readers, however, it means nothing exciting (no action) takes place in the first half of the book. Although the readers are aware the drug cartels are utterly ruthless and that they engage in plenty of violence, the book doesn't turn out to be that scary after all. The book is fairly detailed when it talks about the preparation stage, you would enjoy every detail given in the first stage of The Cobra.
Twists Are There In The Cobra
Those used to this genre of writing expect twists and you will find them here too (though you cannot confine the book to the thriller genre only). The climax is really surprising and you don't really know anything when you reach the end and you reach there unexpectedly. The Frederick Forsyth book will just fascinate you if you like to see details and keep track of all you have read. Several wheels have been put in motion in one go, and it takes work to keep track of them all. There is a handy list of the characters given in the book and you may need to refer to them time to time unless you have a great memory.
Is It Completely Fiction?
Remember, everything is not going to be obvious from the first page itself, you need to figure out many things as you read The Cobra. If you lose track of what some of the characters are doing there, there is a gist of the paragraph given which will help you find it out. Overall it is an international intriguing thriller and you never know which part is fiction and what has come from real life events.

Strange Tales Of Liaozhai Is A Well-Known Collection Of Short Stories

Strange Tales of Liaozhai is a well-known collection of short stories written by Pu Songlin (1640-1715 AD) of the Qing Dynasty. The work is called “the No.1 book about vixen spirits and ghosts“. The study of the author was named “Liaozhai“ (literally meaning “amake-do studio“), hence the name of the book. It is said that Pu Songlin ran a teahouse outside his home, offering tea free of charge to passers-by, from whom he gathered material for the novel in return.
In the Ming Dynasty, there was a pair of brothers in Shanxi, Wang Chongwen and Wang Chongwu. Chongwen became a scholar when he was young and he thought he could make rapid advancement in his career, but he failed time by time. In order to begin his official career, he turned to ghosts in hopes of good destiny. At night, Chongwen met a beautiful woman named Meiniang, who claimed to be the daughter of the education official and flee here to find her father after being forced to get married by her stepmother. Hearing this, Chongwen was very happy and hid Meiniang in the study, considering that he could take her to find her father as he took the imperial examination. But it turned out that Meiniang was actually an evil ghost with a painted skin. Chongwen slept with Meiniang, who drank his blood and fished out his heart. Thanks to Chongwu’s master, who arrived after being invited by Chongwu and killed the evil ghost through hardships and difficulties. Finally, Chongwen was back from the death and started a new life.
Strange Tales of Liaozhai contains a total of 491 short stories, all of which are fascinating and colorful, with vivid character portrayal. A lot of the stories are about the worlds of human beings, ghosts and spirits. The most well-known stories include Xiao Qian, Xi Fangping, The Cricket and The Painted Skin etc. These stories are extremely popular and widely spread.
Through the stories of vixen spirits and ghosts, Strange Tales of Liaozhai indirectly reflects the social contradictions and people's thoughts and wishes of the 17th century China. Since the 19th century, the work has been translated into a dozen or so languages, becoming spiritual wealth shared by all people in the world. It’s also been adapted into numerous movies and TV series.

Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix

When the book Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix came out, everyone was asking the same question – will the book live up to the expectations created by the media hype? The first book had already become a literary legend. More importantly, was it possible to enjoy the book even if the readers hadn't read through numerous pages of previous books? Thankfully, the answer was – YES!
The Habit of Reading Was Back In Vogue
The previous book Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire came out about three years ago accompanied with huge uproar of universal praise. The launch of Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix was really important in the history of reading, since the public libraries just lost their source of funding and the teenagers were gradually moving towards video games and movies. Parents were lamenting that kids were losing the art of reading. Suddenly all the kids were found partying around the idea of reading a book. That's not all; even their parents joined the fun.
Keenly Awaited
This is the fifth book of the series which was eagerly awaited due to the cliff hanger ending of the previous book. The ending of the fourth book created anticipation, due to return of Lord Voldemort to human form so he could rebuild his army. He was determined he would only allow the pure blood wizards to exist. The fourth book was darker and compelling. It only ensured the Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix was even greater in stature and in terms of the story.
Harry Is Not Flawless
The portrayal of Harry Potter in the movies tends towards obnoxiousness because he is treated as a symbol of perfection. In the books, he has never been flawless, in fact he also throws tantrums and he has been wrong in several cases. He feels abnormally awkward around the girls, though his flaws only improve the quality of the book. The readers feel that Harry is a character just like them and it only makes him more popular than ever.
The Government Doesn't Believe Harry
The followers of Voldemort are known as the Death Eaters and those who are fighting against them are known as The Order of the Phoenix. The government, however, doesn't believe what Harry is saying (about the return of Voldemort) as they think Harry is only trying to attract attention. The Ministry of Magic takes over the school and starts destroying all the real learning processes by inserting too many rules and censorship in the learning process. Overall, the book Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix is much more intense and it's a creditable achievement for J K Rowling to maintain her sense of humour in such a book.

The "Literary Tale In The Tang And Song Dynasties" Refers To Embryonic Form Of Short Novels

The "literary tale in the Tang and Song Dynasties" refers to embryonic form of short novels popular among the common people in the Tang and Song Dynasties in ancient China. Boasting complicated plots, structural integrity, beautiful writing, and vivid description, novels of this style have not only delicate and vivid description of the details, but also excellent psychological portrait. As for the characterization, a few words can contribute to the creation of distinctive persons. Diverse writing subject matters come up with chivalrous stories, ghost stories, historical stories, love stories, and so on, among which love, the eternal theme, dominates the largest number of novels, with the greatest impact on the future generations.
The "literary tale in the Tang and Song Dynasties" has been known as the legendary style by later generations, because these stories have bizarre and complicated plots, beautiful and elegant writing, with strong flavor of myth, carrying best wishes and ideals of the people at that time.
The legendary tales in the Tang Dynasty are mostly fictional stories, which give full play to the imagination of writers, who created vivid and distinct characters in the story; while the legendary tales in the Song Dynasty are mostly documentary stories with a unique way of writing. These tales are important bridges for the transition to classical Chinese novels in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and they are a very important part in the history of Chinese literature development.
The literary tale in the Tang and Song Dynasties is a wonderful work in the Chinese literature, the most beautiful part in the history of Chinese novel. As a literary heritage, it is an important source of classical Chinese novels, nourishing the creation of novels, Chinese operas, and other literature types in the following generations.

The Literary Value Of Romance Of The Three Kingdoms

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a classic historical novel of enormous influence, is widely known in China as one of the four great Chinese classic novels. Its author Luo Guanzhong, as the textual research goes, was a scholar lived in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, but his exact birth and death years are not known.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms is based on the history of the three kingdoms, Wei, Shu and Wu that strove to reunite the empire at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The history of this period is expounded in the renowned history book Three Kingdoms, and stories of the heroes and their deeds within have also come down from various folk tales, plays, ballads and verses. Out of historical records and folktales, Luo Guanzhong created the enduring historical and literary masterpiece.
The last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty was a period of chaos and disorder, with various military forces rising to fight with one another. The three forces led respectively by Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Sun Quan, which were stronger powers at that time, all wanted to take over the power and reunify China, so the political and military fights with one another were very fierce. Romance of the Three Kingdoms takes those historical events and combats among the kingdoms into account and gives a full range of vivid and poignant portrayal of the political stratagem and warfare, among which the stories of Three Heroes Swear Brotherhood in the Peach Garden, The Battle of Red Cliff, and The Stratagem of the Empty City etc. are so well received that they have been common subject matter of other literary genres like drama and exerted an ever expanding influence.
The literary value of Romance of the Three Kingdoms lies much in the vivid characters sketched in the novel: witty Zhuge Liang, valorous Zhang Fei, loyal Guan Yu, young hero Zhou Yu, and imposing Cao Cao who is full of duplicity. All these figures are so vividly portrayed that in the conception of Chinese people, the characters and their characteristics are firmly connected, and thus have gradually influenced the concepts and customs of the Chinese people in the long history. For instance, Guan Yu is revered by later generations as "the Martial Saint" ("the Literal Saint" is Confucius), the saint of loyalty and courage.

Song Of Mulan Is A Long Narrative Folk Song China

Song of Mulan is a long narrative folk song of northern China in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The song narrates the story of a girl named Mulan who disguised as a man and joined the army in place of her father. She feared no hardships and fought for ten years and made outstanding military feats. After return triumphal, she was unwilling to be granted the title of an official but only desired to recover her former status of a common woman. The song depicts the immortal character of Mulan, who is vivid and moving, and of legendary color as well. Mulan is a woman of outstanding ability, and a common person at the same time. She is not only a heroine but also a common girl. She is the combination of a brave warrior and a beautiful girl. She is industrious and kind yet fortitude and brave, honest and modest yet alert and energetic, loves her family yet makes her contribution for the country. She does not admire high post with handsome salary but is enthusiastic for a peaceful life. For over a thousand years, the story that Mulan went to the army in place of her father has become a household story in China and the image of Mulan has always been loved by people. The song has profound folk song character and described many life scenes and loves between the young people, so it is rich in the trace of life. In the long spreading process, Song of Mulan has remained the character of folk songs that is easy to remember and recite.
Song of Mulan is also a Yuefu poem. Yuefu (Music Bureau) was originally the music institution set at the reign of Emperor Wudi of the Western Han Dynasty. The responsibility of the institution was in charge of the music played in the palaces and to collect folk songs and music. After the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Yuefu became the name of a type of poems while the poems collected and sang by the Yuefu (Music Bureau) of the Han Dynasty were collectively called Yuefu poems. Yuefu poems are mostly the songs popular among the people and their forms can be in five words, seven words and irregular lyric. They pay close attention to narration; thus, demonstrate the social lives of the ancient times. Together with The Book of Songs, the Yuefu poems laid the realistic foundation for the Chinese poems. They are the precious heritage in the history of poem of China.
The Anthology of Yuefu Poetry compiled by Guo Maoqian of the Song Dynasty includes one hundred volumes. It is the most complete collection of Yuefu poetry that includes abundant materials. The collected works can be divided into two parts, i.e., the southern songs and the northern songs. Song of Mulan is selected from the collection.

The Book Of Dou E Yuan

Guan Hanqing was a famous Zaju (the Yuan Drama) playwright of the Yuan Dynasty, and one of the representative figures of ancient Chinese opera play writers as well. His best known work is Injustice to Dou E, which is one of "the four great tragedies of the Yuan Drama", the other three being Autumn in the Han Palace by Ma Zhiyuan, The Firmiana Rain by Bai Pu and The Orphan of Zhao by Ji Junxiang.
The period Guan Hanqing lived in was a time characterized by political corruption, social turbulences, and sharp class and national contradictions (mainly those between Meng and Han ethnic groups). People were living in great misery. Guan Hanqing's plays vividly reenact social reality and have a strong tinge of that period.
Injustice to Dou E exposes the dark side of the society of the Yuan Dynasty through the tragic death of a girl named Dou E. The heroine loses her mother at the age of 7 and is separated from her father at 10, when she was sold as a child bride to offset the debt. Not long after she grows up and gets married, her husband dies. Later she is subjected to the bullying and humiliation of hooligans and gangsters. As a result, she is wrongly accused of involvement in a murder case. Under the torture of the corrupt interrogating officials, she confesses to the false charge and is sentenced to death.
Being wronged, Dou E strongly condemns the corrupt officials, the heaven and the earth at the execution ground, vowing to retaliate against the injustice of real life. She makes three pledges before being executed - snowfalls in June, all her blood splitting on the 3-feet white silk sheet, and 3 years' drought in the local area. Through the depiction of Dou E, a kindhearted and unyielding girl resisting the feudal forces, the play expresses the author's heart-felt compassion for the oppressed people and strong denouncement against the dark side of society. It is an immortal treasure shining through the history of Chinese literature.