That last mouthful...

That last mouthful of a crisp beer on a warm summer evening.

James Squire 'Four Wives' Pilsener 

Silence breakers.

Some highlight reads from the past year, and a few classics to cross off the 'Books I really should read if I ever get around to it' list that everybody seems to have.
A bonus of this accomplishment is that I now have a few more books to talk about should I ever get into one of those really painful conversations with awkward, stretching silences with a new acquaintance who doesn't warm to verbal communication. In situations such as these a violent dose of verbal diarrhea on a subject that your acquaintance has little, or indeed zero interest in always seems the best solution.

The Catcher in the Rye J. D. Salinger

1984 George Orwell

The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy John le Carre

Frankenstein Mary Shelley

A Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway

Tess of the D'Urbervilles Thomas Hardy

Tender is the Night F. Scott Fitzgerald

I'll start with a list.

The Seventh Seal (1957) Ingmar Bergman

Filmmakers I discovered (and much enjoyed) in the year that was 2012:


- Michelangelo Antonioni

 l'Avventura (1960) Michelangelo Antonioni

- Ingmar Bergman

- Yasujiro Ozu

- Wong Kar-Wai

In The Mood for Love (2000) Wong Kar-Wai

- Christophe Honore

- Michael Haneke

- Steve McQueen

Shame (2012) Steve McQueen

Could a year possibly get any richer? I will get back to you in 11.5 months.