Sean's 2012 book list

I read all of the time. I read on buses, trains, airplanes, waiting at airports, sitting in my hotel room. Books serve as a meaningful occupier of my time between my many tasks, something I'm proud of doing. I love my books. During 2012 I managed to finish seventeen books, listed below with short reviews:

1. Shadows in Flight - The most recent of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game series  specifically being the most recent addition to the Shadow sub-series. While I was glad to see beloved characters again, I have to say this book was maybe 1/4 the length of what a novel should be - roughly comparable in length to a pre-teen novel. It felt like an intro to a longer story, which made it very disappointing when I turned the last page and failed to see "Chapter 1" printed on the next.
2. Red China Blues: My Journey from Mao to Now - Admittedly, this book was required for my Comparative Politics of China course at BYU, but I loved it like a book I'd chosen to read on my own. Fascinating auto-biography of a Canadian woman of Chinese decent who went to China as an exchange student during the 1960s and 1970s, absolutely caught up in Mao's take on communism. She walks the reader through her ecstasy of living the Maoist dream and then her experiences as that euphoria crumbled as she slowly realized how terrible Maoism was not only for the Chinese people but also for herself.
3. Yes or No - Short, semi-goofy business-ish book on making better decisions quicker. The jist: in order to make good decisions, one must listen both to his heart AND his mind. Neither input should ever trump the other. The book got the point across very well but I felt like I was watching a poorly scripted and acted training video.
4. Wild Grass - Also required for my Comparative Politics of China course, but, again, I loved it so it's on the list (books I trudged my way through don't make the cut). Fascinating compilation of several shorter stories of common people's struggle to get equal rights and fair treatment in China. Most of it was very sad... Chinese communism <> power of the people. 
5. The Great Divorce - Amazing book by C.S. Lewis. It's a drawn out parable of what matters in life: letting go of yourself (divorcing yourself from the World) and accepting the love and grace of God. Beautifully written, very thought provoking. Certainly my favorite example I've read yet of why some people who were "great" on Earth may not choose to follow God in the here-after and why many whom are less than great will. I listed to this in audiobook form.
6. The Abolition of Man - A complicated philosophical treatise from C.S. Lewis that was anything but enjoyable to listen to. I think he was defending the concept of morality, but I'm not quite sure. The premise was C.S. Lewis' attack on a grammar book that had a morally ambiguous statement in it. I only listed the whole way through because I was driving in the middle of nowhere and had nothing else to listen to (Eastern Oregon / Western Idaho following our Washington trip) and so it could be on this list. Is that shallow?
7. The Great Divorce - Loved it so much I listened to it twice. It's short.
8. Good to Great - The pre-eminent business book, both in terms of content and in dryness. Basically, the author identified a number of good companies that became great and described their turnarounds. I might have enjoyed the book more had half of those companies not gone belly-up in the 10 years that have followed since the book's publishing.
9. The Life of Pi - Read at the suggestion of many a family member and friend (although my mind gives my sister-in-law, Natalie, the credit for some reason). If you haven't heard of the story yet (in either book or movie form), repent. It's a beautiful if heartrending story of faith, determination, and love. 
10. The Night Circus - Enthusiastically suggested by my lover after she read if for a book club she's in. Honestly, her description of the book sounded so odd and convoluted I started reading the book just to rectify my confusion more than out of interest in the story. I was soon enchanted by the story and I can't say enough good things about it. I'll tell you the premise if you promise to read it if it sounds even remotely intriguing - you won't regret it. It's about two magicians competing to the death who, predictably,  fall in love, all told in the backdrop of a rather magical circus travelling among us Muggles (to quote JKR, not EM). Great read.
11. Pastwatch - After being disappointed by Orson Scott Card's "Shadows in Flight" I decided to try one of his non-Enderverse books. I was well rewarded. I'll spare you the premise because it's pretty confusing, but basically Card's characters and plot lead a fascinating discussion on the impacts of the European colonization of the Americas, focusing on the slaughter of the natives and the enslavement of Africa. His plot unfolds a world that might have been if Columbus hadn't made his great discovery, or if he had, what the world would be like if he hadn't made it in such a "conquering" way, but rather as an equal. The book has many moments of fuzzy science and simplifies many points for argument's sake, but it was deeply moving and eye opening nonetheless. It was especially impactful since I read this only weeks before going on a cruise to central america and seeing so many natives living on the droppings of us Westerners...
12. We Die Alone: A WWII Epic of Escape and Endurance - Another first for me: a non-fiction war novel. The tale of a Norwegian who fled Norway in the wake of Nazi Germany's invasion, who returned to Norway on a British mission to lead a sabotage effort against the Nazis. His team was quickly caught and destroyed, he being the sole person to escape. The story of his survival in the unforgiving Norse winter, possible only thanks to the help of many kind strangers who risked their lives to help him. Gritty, sad, and inspiring all at once. A great read.
13. A Heart for Freedom - The incredible auto-biography from Chai Ling, the young woman who led the protests at Tiananmen, who miraculously escaped the slaughter there, who equally miraculously escaped to America, who had to forgive herself for being raped by friends, for having several abortions, for "abandoning" her comrades at the Square, who ultimately came to God and finally found peace after years of intense inner-personal struggle. Eye opening to many worlds beyond my experience, heat wrenching, sickening, inspiring, faith building. I was expecting to read the story of the massacre at Tiananmen but instead I found myself reading a book about a very broken woman finding healing by accepting God and forgiving herself.
14. Earth Unaware: The First Formic War - Another Orson Scott Card book (I'm a fan, if you can't tell), this one being in the Enderverse again, serving as part one of the prologue to Ender's Game. A little on the short side but a fun read. That said, it, like most of OSC's recent Enderverse books, seems to be void of the deep-thought philosophy and human poetry that made the first four books so great.
15. The Alchemist - Read this one in Spanish. Going into it I didn't know it was a "self-help" kind of book... The message: follow your dreams. Thankfully, the "self-help" content is very well wrapped up in a long parable about a boy seeking his treasure, and, because of his diligence in doing so, finding far more wonderful things along the way.
16. Cat's Cradle - In stark contrast to "The Alchemist"'s optimism, "Cat's Cradle" proved to easily be the grittiest, most sarcastic and pessimistic book I've ever read. That juxtaposition was not intentional, but it is kind of funny in hind sight. It's the story of a journalist piecing together the lives of an eccentric family after the father (a famous, if mad, scientist) died and really finding nothing. The author seems to be arguing that life is meaningless and even when supposed great life lessons appear, it's all a farce and won't come to anything (for good or evil). I don't support that message, but it was a hilarious book and I often found myself lol-ing.
17. The Hobbit - I read this in middle school, but I had to re-read it before I'd let myself see the movie. Mission accomplished. Fun story, fun characters. If I can be a critic, though, of this great work, I did find the "sheer luck" of the company to be rather trying. Bilbo and company were often little more than stubborn, blind idiots bumbling about on their quixotic quest to recover lost treasure and seemed to only make it "there and back again" because of a lot of dumb luck (and eagles). I still loved the book and am currently reading "The Fellowship of the Ring" but I feel like Tolkien cut a few corners in this story.