One of my goals for 2012 was to read 40 books. I finished 42. Hurray. My goal this year is to read 45. I read a lot of good ones this year so it was really tough to just pick five. You can see the whole list here on my blog.
My top 5 in no particular order:
- Beautiful Ruins, Jess Walter – This was probably my favorite book of 2012 that I read and the only one that I gave five stars to. I really loved the story and how the author jumped back and forth between so many characters, settings and periods. It made me happy reading it.
- The Dog Stars, Peter Heller – I have been reading several post apocalyptic novels over the past year or so by some random chance and I really liked this one – recommended by Courtney (who reads twice as many books as I do). This novel is told from the viewpoint of a man whose brain has been fried by whatever caused 99.9% of the population to die in the world. At first it is tough to understand, but once you get into it – it is beautiful.
- The Round House, Louise Erdrich – I have been a Louise Erdrich fan for many years and have read most of her books. Her latest is by far her greatest. A great story, beautifully written, suspenseful and also won the 2012 National Book Award for Fiction.
- Salvage the Bones, Jesymn Ward – This book was recommended by Stephanie Maxwell – fellow blogger, and always reliable for good book recommendations. This novel is set in the deep south during hurricane Katrina from the viewpoint of a dirt poor 13 year old girl. Again…beautiful book, very disturbing and was really hard to put down.
- Truth and Beauty, Ann Patchett – Ann Patchett didn’t have a new novel this year – again one of my favorite authors – but I somehow stumbled upon this old one of hers that is actually more of a biography of sorts of one of her friends who is also an author. Again – beautifully written and really hard to put down.
A couple of other 2012 top books lists to check out:
Eat On Edgecliff 