Best book(s) you read in 2012?

The two that made me go "Buhbuhbuh" in 2012...

The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

And one that made me go "Zomgswtfturnthepagenow"...

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

There were others that were pretty great, but those were the three that blew my mind.

Zone One, by Colson Whitehead, is the one that popped into my head immediately.

If I thought about it, I could name a couple of others, but too much work to think today.

For me, it was nonfiction. Based on the book that was most informative and thought-provoking, Under the Banner of Heaven, by Jon Krakauer.

caw

Last year I read 39 books.

I have this problem where I really dont like starting something new. I like sticking to hte books that I know and love. It's really difficult for me to reach out and start something new. Even if all the reviews are great and I get advised by my book store friend to read them.

The black Dagger Brotherhood series - But thats the best series of every year for me.

The Crossfire series was really good. By Sylvia Day. It's out of my regular genre of Urban fantasy/paranormal romance, but it was a really good real nonethelesss.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. When I finished the last page, I immediately wanted to read the entire book again from cover to cover. I love this book and the author. It's one of my favorite books!

Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson, The Bloggess

Any time I'm feeling down or blue, I fire up her blog and within moments she'll have me in stitches.

An entire book? I was laughing until I wheezed.

The Cormorant (can't recall the author) for its brooding, nearly suffocating sense of wrongness. great subtle horror.

Frankenstein and Dorian Gray for their use of language; Shelley was lyrical, Wilde was brilliant in Lord Henry's needles and ripostes.

I fell in love with Sarah Dessen's novels in 2012

Hmmm, I'm trying to think of what all I read last year. I enjoyed The Judas Strain, it was a mixture of The Hot Zone and DaVinci Code and good for a fast read you don't have to think too much about. I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max was a good study in how to write (I'm sure embellished) real-life accounts, even if Tucker is a toad of a human being (a designation he would surely be proud of). Bah! It's always tough to come up with a list on the spot.

I'd have to say that my favorite books last year, not counting re-reads are Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson, and Divergent and Insurgent by Veronica Roth (can't wait for the third book, already pre-ordered it!)

Eleanor Rigby said:

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. When I finished the last page, I immediately wanted to read the entire book again from cover to cover. I love this book and the author. It's one of my favorite books!

Click to expand...

I have had two people recently recommend it to me. I really must pick it up.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.

I loved The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and also The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. I highly recommend both!https://www.google.com/search?hl=en...=X&ei=rj9KUZe_B6KGyQGAvYCIAQ&ved=0CKMBEJsTKAI

Red Leaves (forgot the author's name) was a sad unreliable narrator account of a man trying to cope when his son is accused of a horrible crime. Very good, but sad.

The Cormorant (also forgot author) is a horror story about a family that inherits a menacing pet. The book is "slow" but in a good way--every page gets a bit more oppressive and creepy than the last....

Mira Grant's Newsflesh trilogy was among my favorites in 2012. I love these books. They're smart, scientific, and thoroughly enjoyable.

Gorky Park-Martin Cruz Smith

Scorched Earth: How the Fires of Yellowstone Changed America-Rocky Barker

Awakening-S.J. Bolton

I read a ton, and those were the ones that really stuck with me.

The best book I read last year would have to be War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. I don't think there are many novels that can come close to it, but to each his own I guess.

Some honorable mentions:
Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke (I highly recommend this one to SF fans)
All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Remarque

Graceling, by Kristin Cashore. Very few books have absolutely arrested me like this one has.

I read Stuart: A Life Backward by Alexander Masters in December. Absolutely brilliant, and one of the best books I've ever read. I want to be able to write memoir/biography like him someday.