• Welcome to BookAndReader!

    We LOVE books and hope you'll join us in sharing your favorites and experiences along with your love of reading with our community. Registering for our site is free and easy, just CLICK HERE!

    Already a member and forgot your password? Click here.

Best Book(s) 0f 2012

Peder

Peder

Well-Known Member
Best Book(s) Read in 2012

Yes, we read many books, but we seem not to have a thread to name the best book that we have read for the year. I know it is difficult because we read so many good ones. But, looking back, which one or ones stand out as the best you have read this year, irrespective of year published, according to your own definition of best in any genres you have read?

For me:

Fiction: What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank by Nathan Englander. Self-explanatory title. Short stories ranging upward from excellent to brilliant.

Non-fiction: The Particle at the End of the Universe by Sean Carroll. Crystal clear and comprehensve story of the discovery of the Higgs boson. I would call it The Science Book of the Year.

Which are yours?
 
Good idea, Peder!

2012 was a very good year in terms of books, here's my best-of list so far.

I'm naming two books because it's basically one story told in two volumes: Blackout and All Clear by Connie Willis. It is set in Oxford in 2060, where historians are routinely time-travelling for research purposes. Three of them travel to WW II-era England and suddenly find themselves trapped in time; their return portals seem to be out of order and they have to fear they'll never be able to go back to their own time. What I loved particularly about this book was the exceptionally vivid evocation of London during the Blitz, with a fantastic cast of characters that became very dear to me during the 1000+ pages I was with them. Willis also has a superb sense of wry humour and manages to stay on the right side of the fine line between sappy and emotional. Especially the second volume was a book I simply couldn't put down.

With Passage, a hard-to-describe but very good novel about the nature of near-death experiences, the Titanic, science vs. esotericism and other things, Willis provided another top read of the year.

I ventured into the world of drama for the first time in a long while and simply loved Tom Stoppard's Arcadia. Beautifully written. I'd have loved to see that one on stage, but I had enough fun just reading it.

My favourite classic this year was Middlemarch by George Eliot. I bought it because I'm a big fan of the 1994 BBC adaptation, and I have to admit that I was a trifle afraid of that brick of a 19th century novel - but I ended up loving it thoroughly.

Runners-up for this title were two books by Thomas Hardy, The Woodlanders and Far From the Madding Crowd.

My personal non-fiction top spot goes to Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends, the memoir of Bill Guarnere & Edward Heffron, two members of the original "Band of Brothers", a riveting piece of oral history telling some haunting wartime memories but also a few anecdotes that had me in stitches.

I also liked the original Band of Brothers book by Stephen E. Ambrose very much.

Two great re-reads shouldn't go unmentioned, A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (which I have read three times so far and would do it again) and The Weeping Ash by Joan Aiken, a great family-secret-meets-exotic-adventure novel that made a perfect holiday read.
 
In the best fiction category, I'd have to list these:

Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes. My first Barnes, but certainly not my last. His depiction of a man coming to terms and understanding his life, and the course it has taken is so on target, so accurate. Not to mention his beautifully poetic prose.

The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino is, I believe, the first of this authors to be translated to English from the original Japanese. One of the most interesting murder mysteries I've read. Not a whodunit, we know that from the beginning. No, it's the method and red herrings that are left by....a person involved for the police and the professor/amateur detective they work with to find. Most twisty.

Eclipse by John Banville. It's Banville, who is almost more Nabokovian than Nabokov. Gorgeous, painterly prose, and a story that is not in the least run of the mill.

Folly by Laurie R. King is not part of either of her series, instead it is a wonderful stand alone. The story follows a woman that is emotionally and possibly mentally unstable that takes an impressive stand to restore her to herself. A great mystery is, of course, attached.

Follow Me Down by Shelby Foote. Foote is a highly esteemed (American) Civil War historian, and a darned talented writer. This is one of his many fiction novels that I've just discovered. Good story, well told, true to life.

I've read more non-fiction lately, here are a few outstanding this year:

The Nazi Officer's Wife by Edith Hahn Beer w/Susan Dworkin is the story of a Jewess hiding in plain sight in Hitler's Germany. Fascinating story of survival under awful conditions told in very plain language.

Guts by Kristen Johnston. The woman that played one of the aliens on the old TV show, Third Rock From the Sun. Brutally honest, she holds nothing back. Literally the good, the bad, and the very ugly. Hurrah for her! Well told in a self-deprecating manner. Loved it.

A First Rate Madness by Nassir Ghaemi is a study of a wide variety of famous world leaders and why their maladies, whether it was depression, manic depression, or physical disease helped or hindered their leadership. Churchill, Ghandi, Kennedy, Sherman and more are profiled. Fascinating.

Of course there are more, but I don't want to take up the whole thread... :D
 
Hedwig,

I read the Willis last year, and enjoyed them, but didn't you get the feeling it could have been edited down into one book? As much as I enjoyed the stories, it seemed to drag and become a bit repetitious.
 
Yes, mybe a bit of editing might have been in order, but I didn't actually mind the repetitive parts, I was so engrossed with the characters and the lively portrayal of WW II England. (I have to admit to a special knack for time travel, World War II, London, Shakespeare and St. Paul's Cathedral - so Willis simply hit home for me with this one. I might have been less inclined to overlook the little faults of the book if I hadn't loved the setting and the little details and the character so much.)
 
I love time travel books as well, but I think I must be all WWII'd out. I glommed on that part of our history from the time I was a teenager through several decades. The Willis books did portray a different aspect though that I enjoyed.

Great thread Peder. :cool:
 
Peder said:
Non-fiction: The Particle at the End of the Universe by Sean Carroll. Crystal clear and comprehensve story of the discovery of the Higgs boson. I would call it The Science Book of the Year.

Which are yours?
Click to expand...

Peder would a non-scientist be able to understand it?
 
pontalba said:
Peder would a non-scientist be able to understand it?
Click to expand...

Well, much more than the Hawkings or Greene books. Carroll writes extremely clearly and in simple terms, so there is much history and narrative description that a layperson would understand. But, eventually, terminology does creep in and would probably bewilder a non-scientist. It used to bewilder this engineering scientist but, as tribute to Carroll, I now know what fermions and bosons are, and hadrons and leptons, dark matter and dark energy, even though I have seen the terms so many times before.

I would say that someone interested in learning about the significance of the recent Higgs discovery should probably give it a try. He is patient and covers detail with great clarity. And he is comprehensive. If you want to know the whole story on what all the fuss was about, I have not seen anything better. And you will understand it.

I have heard it said that the hallmark of a good science writer is to leave the reader with the impression that they actually understood what the author wrote. By that standard Carroll is an excellent science writer, and by comarison with other science writers as well.
 
I really loved The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, and reading that book got me really into him as an author. I read the Mistborn trilogy, Mistborn spin off and Elantris, all by him, after reading that first book. Definitely going to be one of my favorite authors for a long time, and I'm definitely going to read all his books.

Besides that, I really liked The Way of Shadows, The Night Angel Trilogy, by Brent Weeks. It was really edgy and something I've always wanted to see an author go for when doing an assassin type novel. I really enjoyed it.
 
My top 5 books of 2012 are:

1 The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
2 A Long,Long Way by Sebastian Barry
3 Toby's Room by Pat Barker
4 Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
5 The Infinite Tides by Christian Kiefer

also special mention:

The Hunger Trace by Edward Hogan
The Child Thief by Dan Smith
The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry
Pig Iron by Benjamin Myers
Devoured by M.E.Meredith
In The Province Of Saints by Thomas O'Malley
Lords Of The North by Bernard Cornwell
The Five by Robert McCammon
Neptune Rising by Jeffrey A Carver
Under This Unbroken Sky by Shandi Mitchell
 
shadforth,
I enjoyed Half-Blood Blues somewhat, especially the last half...it seemed to drag a bit in the beginning. I suppose it didn't help that we went on vacation in the middle of my reading of it. I loved the end.

Loved Pat Barker's Regeneration Trilogy, and have Toby's Room in the house now to read.
 
Shadforth : I read A long, Long Way, a few years ago and had forgotten it till I saw your post. That was a great read and I always meant to search out more by Barry but never got around to it. Maybe I will check out the Secret Scripture.

My three best for 2012

Salvage the Bones - Jesmyn Ward
This is how you Lose her -Junot Diaz
Drown - Junot Diaz
 
753C said:
My three best for 2012

Salvage the Bones - Jesmyn Ward
This is how you Lose her -Junot Diaz
Drown - Junot Diaz
Click to expand...

I enjoyed the Benjamin Black that you are reading.

I think I'll try This is How You Lose Her.

Thanks!
 
Ha! Just realized I haven't changed my "currently reading" in a loooong time. I finished that book sometime last summer I think. It was good!
Good luck with Diaz. I have become a pretty big fan of his.
 
753C said:
Ha! Just realized I haven't changed my "currently reading" in a loooong time.
Click to expand...

Har! I stopped listing mine. I was always fiddling with the list, as I started books and then put them aside after a short while to list new ones.

But Diaz is on the way.
Thanks
:):)
 
I can't pick just one, so allow me to be Steve Martin at the Oscars and introduce the winners by category


Best religious themed book:
I]Love Wins;[/I] Rob Bell

This was a very controversial book, particularly among literalist-inclined Christians. Rob Bell is a former mega-church pastor who writes about the "grey" areas of belief. I particularly enjoyed his argument that non-Christians can go to heaven and that they aren't automatically doomed to hell. He also invites readers to experience the Bible as a living, breathing document, as opposed to something that is doctrinaire and locked in a particular view of reading.

Best fiction:
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao; Junot Diaz

Finally got around to reading it, it was well worth the wait and expectation.

Best non-fiction

Blood Calls to Blood: Oscar Villalon

This book contains fiction and non-fiction writings about the drug war in Mexico. It definitely is gruesome in parts, but gives you a strong impression of the people of Mexico who trudge on, even with a government that won't take problems seriously, or that in some parts, is complicit in the deaths of its own people.

Best e-book

The Wowzer; Frank Wheeler Jr

This is a murder-mystery book and was one of amazon's top 50 books under $3.99. You won't put it down and there are more than a few twists to throw you off from when you have figured out the story. You will never look at a pair of yellow cleaning gloves the same again.;)

Craziest @$$ book

Candy; Terry Southern

I can't even explain it, you just have to read reviews of it and try it from amazon yourself. This guy was supposedly some great "new literature" guru in the 60's. You will read it and afterwards think to yourself: "What the hell?"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top