I've been out of commission as of late because we lost our internet connection here at the house, but now it's back and stronger than ever and I am determined to post every day this year... we'll see.
Looking back over 2012, I see that I set an all-time reading record for me: I read 111 books! (Obliterating my previous high of 77.)
Here are my 20 favorite books of the year, with 5 honorable mentions.
Top 20
(no order)
- The Devotion of Suspect X, Keigo Higashino (2011)
The best mystery I read all year; too bad the second Higashino novel I read, Salvation of a Saint, was utterly pedestrian by comparison.
- Any Human Heart, William Boyd (2002)
- The Talented Mr. Ripley, Patricia Highsmith (1955)
- The Way Home, George Pelecanos (2009)
- The Collected Stories of Richard Yates (2001)
Yates just might be my favorite writer of all time.
- The Keeper of Lost Causes, Jussi Adler-Olsen (2011)
My second favorite mystery of the year and the cream of the Norwegian thriller crop I encountered.
- The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris, David McCullough (2011)
- The Art of Fielding, Chad Harbach (2011)
I couldn't believe there was no Pulitzer for Fiction awarded this year, because this ambitious debut novel was certainly worthy.
- Emily, Alone, Stewart O'Nan (2011)
- Wild Child, T.C. Boyle (2010)
Far and away the best short-story collection I've read in a while - well, other than Yates'.
- The Chill, Ross Macdonald (1963)
A labyrinthine, twisty-as-hell, SoCal noir with a devastating final reveal.
- In Cold Blood, Truman Capote (1965)
- Behind the Beautiful Forevers, Katherine Boo (2012)
- When the Killing's Done, T.C. Boyle (2011)
- The Casual Vacancy, J.K. Rowling (2012)
Although it took me a while to get through, I guess I can say that I liked this profane, often scorching Our Town/Peyton Place updating a lot more than most people did.
- They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, Horace McCoy (1935)
A lost classic.
- Pick-Up, Charles Willeford (1955)
Again, a lost classic.
- Long Gone, Alafair Burke (2011)
A lot of fun.
- Deep Water, Patricia Highsmith (1957)
- (tie) XO, Jeffery Deaver (2012) and Defending Jacob, William Landay (2012)
Honorable mention:
- Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, Anne Tyler (1982)
- The Blunderer, Patricia Highsmith (1954)
- Down There, David Goodis (1956)
- Desperate Characters, Paula Fox (1970)
- Mr. Ives' Christmas, Oscar Hijuelos (1995)
Classics I Read This Year That Yes, Really Do Deserve to Be Classics:
- Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert
- Buddenbrooks, Thomas Mann
- Lord of the Flies, William Golding
- The Quiet American, Graham Greene
- The Naked and the Dead, Norman Mailer
Five Authors I'm Glad I "Discovered" This Year: (a.k.a. great writers who have been around but whom I now just getting to!)
- William Boyd
- T.C. Boyle
- Gillian Flynn
- Jussi Adler-Olsen
- George Pelecanos
Reading Goal For Next Year:
60 Books.
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