December was not a good month for reading for me — (especially compared to November’s) — whether it was just the hectic end of year “wrap everything up” obsession at the Office, or the frantic insane craziness of working in a retail establishment in the weeks leading up to Christmas*, it just seems like I really dropped the ball in terms of quantity of reading. Fortunately, the final week of December proved to be a bit of a catch-up. Here’s what I read:

Shadows of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Night Over Water by Jack Follett
The Adventures of TinTin by Herge
How The States Got Their Shapes by Mark Stein

December marked my second attempt to read Shadows of the Wind, and while I fared better than my first attempt, I was unable to complete the book. By all rights, it’s a novel I should enjoy: it’s a mystery that centers heavily around books, and secret libraries, where a fictional villain becomes real; but while I pushed considerably further forward than I did on my first attempt, I finally gave up around 150 pages in. When you find that you have to force yourself to keep going into a book, it’s probably a sign just to give up.

I picked up Night Over Water for some light reading, based strongly on my appreciation for Pillars of the Earth, which I read in the fall of 2008. Night Over Water is no Pillars of the Earth, however, although it is a solid thriller, about a diverse cast of characters (many with sinister intent) winging their way to America on the eve of World War II.

The Adventures of TinTin, which I blogged about a week ago or so, is an (almost) complete collection of the graphic novels written and illustrated by Herge, really Georges Remi, a Belgian cartoonist. I was a fan of these as a kid, and I devoured all 21 in about five days. Some were mundane, some were amazing: all brought back fond memories. Don’t be too surprised if these make a repeat appearance on my January Booklist post.

Twice a year of so, the Bookstore gets a whole slew of remainders in stock, and we sell them fairly cheaply — $3.99 for paperbacks, $5.99 for hardbacks. There are usually books that publishers can’t get rid of — titles returned by other stores, etc. — so they’re desperate to be rid of them. I made some great finds in this batch, including Making The Corps by Thomas Ricks and Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman, but you’ll have to wait until next month to read my thoughts on them. My last December read was one of these finds: How The States Got Their Shapes, which is a remarkably quick history read about the various political wheelings and dealings which determined the state lines of all fifty (and DC). Here’s an interesting factoid: in every single border dispute in which it engaged, Maryland lost.

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Hopefully this time next year, in addition to doing a December wrap-up, I’ll also be doing a Reading Recap of 2010. I’ve never really tracked what I’ve read in this manner before, so it’ll be interesting to see not only how many books I’ve read in that time span, but also how they can be broken down: will I read a lot of classics, contemporary fiction, or non-fiction?

My own goals for 2010 are both to read more non-fiction (history, especially); and to read the classics. I’ve got copies of 1984 and Brave New World ready to be torn into, and a whole stack of non-fiction (including Generation Kill, and Imperial Cruise) waiting in the wings.

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Finally, don’t forget to check out Literary Lollapalooza, and Lusty Reader, for other books you should be reading. Although, honestly, if you’re not a woman who reads lots of romance, maybe you should just skip Lusty’s.

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*Also could possibly have something to do with me watching Lost Season Five in its entirety over the course of a week.