Tag Archives: © 2012 Book Chatter

Best of 2012: My Favorites

Best of 2012

Happy New Year!

2012 was a tough year of reading for me. I enjoyed many books, but when it comes to my “best of” list, the books needed to be more than just entertaining or elegantly written. They had to spark something within me. That said, some of my choices may seem odd to you but they all meant something to me at the time and they are the ones that I often think about, even now.

Here’s my list, in the order in which I read them:

1.Then Again (audio) by Diane Keaton
2.Wish You Were Here by Stewart O’Nan
3.Heft by Liz Moore
4.A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
5.The Starboard Sea by Amber Dermont
6.The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
7.The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
8.So L.A. by Bridget Hoida
9.The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
10.The Lighthouse Road by Peter Geye
11. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami (added at the very last minute!)

Looking at this list which is is all fiction with the exception of the first title, I can honestly say that the characters won me over. Each of them complex, richly developed and memorable. If you are looking for a great read, you can’t go wrong with any of these.

Here’s to another year of great reading!

Books Reviewed in 2012

This is a list of the books read in 2012. Links take you to the my review of the book.

1. The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories by Joseph Gordon-Levitt
2. The Lost City of Z by David Grann
3. The Odds by Stewart O’Nan
4. The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
5. The Technologists by Matthew Pearl
6. Then Again (audio) by Diane Keaton
7. Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
8. Wish You Were Here by Stewart O’Nan
9. The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds
10.  The Cat’s Table by Michael Ondaatje
11. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
12. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
13. Heft by Liz Moore
14. Stay Awake by Dan Chaon
15. The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi Durrow
16. Alien vs. Predator by Michael Robbins
17. The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson
18. The Iguana Tree by Michel Stone
19. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
20. Emily Alone by Stewart O’Nan
21. Nightwoods by Charles Frazier
22. We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
23. Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
24. The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami
25. The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance & Survival by John Vaillant
26. The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan
27. Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O’Nan
28. The Starboard Sea by Amber Dermont
29. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
30. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
31. The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompso Walker
32. The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones
33. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
34. Words Get In the Way by Nan Rossiter
35. Looking for Alaska by John Green
36. Whatever You Love by Louise Doughty
37. Jaws by Peter Benchley
38. Wild by Cheryl Strayed
39. The City & The City by China Mieville
40. The Redbreast by Jo Nesbø
41. The Bird Saviors by William J. Cobb
42. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
43. The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
44. Hummingbirds by Joshua Gaylord
45. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
46. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
47. Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer
48. So L.A. by Bridget Hoida
49. 12-21 by Dustin Thomason
50. Divergent by Veronica Roth
51. The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
52. The Longest Way Home by Andrew McCarthy
53. Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio
54. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
55. IT (audio) by Stephen King
56. The Lighthouse Road by Peter Geye
57. The Lost Art of Mixing by Erica Bauermeister
58. 1222 by Anne Holt
59. Because You Have To by Joan Frank
60. Cold Light by Jenn Ashworth
61. Swimming Home by Deborah Levy
62. The Round House by Louise Erdrich
63. The Leopard by Jo Nesbo
64. The Twelve by Justin Cronin
65. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami