Monday, December 31, 2012

Books of 2012

It's time for the best books of 2012!
This has been a good year for reading.
As many of you know, normally my lists are simply in order of date read but this year I have tried to place my top fiction and nonfiction selections in order of preference. 
 
Fiction - top 10
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
Requiem for an Angel by Andrew Taylor (3 books)
Flashback by Dan Simmons
The Salt God's Daughter by Ilie Ruby
The Scar or Railsea by China Miéville
Shout Her Lovely Name by Natalie Serber
Too Bright to Hear Too Loud to See by Juliann Garey
 
honorable mention
The Odds by Stewart O'Nan
Oyster by Janette Turner Hospital
The Tortilla Curtain by T. C. Boyle
 
Nonfiction - top 5
Spillover by David Quammen
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Bullied by Carrie Goldman
The Discovery of Jeanne Baret by Glynis Ridley
Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher by Timothy Egan
 
 
2012:  93 books;  35,482 pages
The asterisks represent a very highly recommended book
 
January - 6 books, 2723 pages
*1. 11/22/63 by Stephen King, 864 pages, 1/2/12, very highly recommended
*2. The Five by Robert McCammon, 518 pages, 1/8/12, very highly recommended
*3. The Discovery of Jeanne Baret by Glynis Ridley, 304 pages, 1/14/12, very highly recommended
*4. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, 381 pages, 1/17/12, very highly recommended
*5. The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides, 416 pages, 1/29/12, very highly recommended
*6. Wilderness Tips by Margaret Atwood, 240 pages, 1/31/12, very highly recommended
 
February - 5 books, 1735 pages
7. Arguing with Idiots by Glenn Beck and Kevin Balfe, 336 pages, 2/5/12, highly recommended
*8. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen, 576 pages, 2/9/12, very highly recommended
*9. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, 247 pages, 2/12/12, very highly recommended
10. The Shack by William P. Young, 256 pages, 2/23/12, recommended
11. Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach, 320 pages, 2/28/12, recommended
 
March - 5 books, 2150 pages
12. Tritium Gambit by Erik Hyrkas, 230 pages, 3/3/12, highly recommended
*13. The Real Science Behind the X-Files by Anne Simon, Ph.D., 318 pages, 3/6/12, very highly recommended
14. A Song I Knew by Heart by Bret Lott, 336 pages, 3/11/12, recommended
15. Julie and Julia by Julie Powell, 352 pages, 3/15/12, recommended
*16. Requiem for an Angel by Andrew Taylor, 914 pages, 3/22/12, very highly recommended
 
April - 9 books, 3094 pages
*17. The Scar by China Miéville, 656 pages, 4/1/12, very highly recommended
18. A Partial History of Lost Causes by Jennifer DuBois, 369 pages, 4/5/12, highly recommended
19. The Day The World Ends by Ethan Coen, 128 pages, 4/6/12, recommended
*20. Don't Breathe a Word by Jennifer McMahon, 464 pages, 4/10/12, very highly recommended
21. The Song Remains the Same by Allison Winn Scotch, 304 pages, 4/17/12, highly recommended
*22. The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker, 368 pages, 4/21/12, very highly recommended
23. Tastes Like Human by Noel Boivin and Christopher Lombardo, 124 pages, 4/22/12, highly recommended
*24.The Chimera Seed by Matthew Tully, 384 pages, 4/26/12, very highly recommended
25. America Pacifica by Anna North, 297 pages, 4/29/12, highly recommended
 
May - 3 books, 1147 pages
26. Desolation Road by Ian McDonald, 363 pages, 5/5/12, highly recommended
27. Drowned by Therese Bohman, 224 pages, 5/9/12, highly recommended
*28. Flashback by Dan Simmons, 560 pages, 5/23/12, very highly recommended
 
June: 13 books, 4111 pages
*29. The Didymus Contingency by Jeremy Robinson, 296 pages, 6/4/12, very highly recommended
30. The Last Hunter - Descent by Jeremy Robinson, 282 pages, 6/4/12, highly recommended
*31. They Shoot Horses, Don't They? by Horace McCoy, 132 pages, 6/6/12, very highly recommended
*32. Movers, Dreamers, and Risk-Takers: Unlocking the Power of ADHD by Kevin Roberts, 250 pages, 6/11/12, very highly recommended
*33. The Odds by Stewart O'Nan, 192 pages, 6/9/12, very highly recommended
34. Moby-Duck by Donovan Hohn, 416 pages, 6/12/12, highly recommended
*35. Railsea by China Miéville, 448 pages, 6/15/12, very highly recommended
36. This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer, 239 pages, 6/16/12, recommended
*37. Oyster by Janette Turner Hospital, 400 pages, 6/18/12, very highly recommended
38. Every Last One by Anna Quindlen, 320 pages, 6/21/12, highly recommended
39. Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl, 528 pages, 6/24/12, highly recommended
*40. Shout Her Lovely Name by Natalie Serber, 240 pages, 6/26/12, very highly recommended
*41.The Tortilla Curtain by T. C. Boyle, 368 pages, 6/29/12, very highly recommended
 
July - 10 books; 3521 pages
42. Moonlight Mile by Dennis Lehane, 324 pages, 7/2/12, highly recommended
43. The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell, 341 pages, 7/3/12, highly recommended 
44. Earth Unaware: the First Formic War by Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston, 368 pages, 7/6/12, highly recommended 
**45. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, 432 pages, 7/7/12, very highly recommended
*46. Safe People by Henry Cloud and John Townsend, 208 pages, 7/12/12, very highly recommended
*47. The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker, 288 pages, 7/17/12, very highly recommended
*48. The Devil Colony by James Rollins, 672 pages, 7/21/12, very highly recommended
49. The Human Disguise by James O'Neal, 368 pages, 7/22/12, so-so
50. The Double Human by James O'Neal, 336 pages, 7/22/12, so-so
*51. I Hardly Ever Wash My Hands: The Other Side of OCD by J.J. Keeler, 184 pages, 7/26/12, very highly recommended 
 
August: 12 books, 4634 pages
52. House of Shadows by Rachel Neumeier, 352 pages, 8/2/12
**53. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski, 576 pages, 8/3/12, very highly recommended
54. A Killing in the Hills by Julia Keller, 384 pages, 8/5/12, highly recommended
55. Primeval by David L. Golemon, 368 pages, 8/10/12, highly recommended
*56. The Last Plague by Mark Osborne Humphries, 380 pages, 8/13/12, very highly recommended
57. Legacy by David L. Golemon, 624 pages, 8/17/12, highly recommended
*58. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce, 286 pages, 8/21/12, very highly recommended
59. Whiplash River by Lou Berney, 320 pages, 8/22/12, highly recommended
*60. On a Farther Shore: The Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson by William Souder, 512 pages, 8/25/12, very highly recommended
61. The Three Day Affair by Michael Kardos, 256 pages, 8/26/12, highly recommended
62.
Sharp: A Memoir by David Fitzpatrick, 368 pages, 8/28/12, highly recommended
*63. The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler, 208 pages, 8/29/12, very highly recommended
 
September: 8 books, 2640 pages
*64. Sulan by Camille Picott, 296 pages, 9/7/12, very highly recommended
*65. Things Your Dog Doesn't Want You to Know by Hy Conrad and Jeff Johnson, 9/10/12, 240 pages, very highly recommended 
66. The River by Michael Neale, 320 pages, 9/14/12, highly recommended
*67. Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon, 480 pages, 9/17/12, very highly recommended
*68. Planet Taco by Jeffrey M. Pilcher, 320 pages, 9/19/12, very highly recommended
69. The Whipping Club by Deborah Henry, 312 pages, 9/24/12, highly recommended
70. Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier, 320 pages, 9/25/12, highly recommended
*71.The Salt God's Daughter by Ilie Ruby, 352 pages, 9/27/12, very highly recommended 

 
October: 8 books, 2544 pages
*72. Bullied by Carrie Goldman, 368 pages, 10/4/12, very highly recommended
*73. Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher by Timothy Egan, 384 pages, 10/8/12, very highly recommended
74. Married at Fourteen by Lucille Lang Day, 352 pages, 10/11/12, so-so
75. Frozen by Mary Casanova, 264 pages, 10/12/12, recommended
76. Not Famous Anymore by Michael Loyd Gray, 236, 10/18/12, recommended
77.Blood Line by Lynda La Plante, 480 pages, 10/23/12, highly recommended
*78.Plague by H.W. "Buzz" Bernard, 250 pages, 10/26/12, very highly recommended
79. Stranded by Anne Bishop, Anthony Francis, James Alan Gardner, 210 pages, 10/28/12, highly recommended
 
November: 7 books, 2661 pages
80. One Moment In Time by Glenn Snyder, 270 pages, 11/6/12, recommended
**81. Spillover by David Quammen, 592 pages, 11/7/12, very highly recommended
82. The Hollow Man by Oliver Harris, 470 pages, 11/13/12, highly recommended
83. Lasso the Stars by L.L. Nielsen, 260 pages, 11/20/12, so-so 
*84. San Miguel by T. C. Boyle, 384 pages, 11/21/12, very highly recommended
85. A Slow Cold Death by Susy Gage, 293 pages, 11/22/12, highly recommended
86. Lunch with Buddha by Roland Merullo, 392 pages, 11/30/12 highly recommended
 
December: 7 books, 2261 pages
*87. I Am Lucky Bird by Fleur Philips, 273 pages, 12/3/12, very highly recommended 
*88. Confessions of Joan the Tall by Joan Cusack Handler, 260 pages, 12/4/12, very highly recommended
89. Never Hug a Nun by Kevin Killeen, 189 pages, 12/13/12, very highly recommended
90. Invisible by Carla Buckley, 400 pages, 12/20/12, highly recommended
91. Hard Twisted by C. Joseph Greaves, 304 pages, 12/23/12, highly recommended
92. Retribution by Andy Harp, 546 pages, 12/25/12, highly recommended
*93. Too Bright to Hear Too Loud to See by Juliann Garey, 289 pages, 12/26/12, very highly recommended

2 comments:

Literary Feline said...

It looks like you had a great reading year, Lori! I haven't read any of the books on your top ten list, but they all sound good. I've been especially curious about China Mieville.

Have a Happy New Year!

Jane said...

I was glad to see The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski on your top ten. I picked it up at goodwill a couple months ago & it's almost to the top of my tbr pile. :) I missed your review on it, I'll have to go find it.