So one of the reasons I feel the need to be more Vital! and Useful! this year is because I spent most of 2012 on my butt, reading.
In my defence: I do happen to think that reading is what I was put on earth to do; much like Annie Dillard's principal of hallowing creation by marveling at everything--from microorganisms to cherry blossoms--I notice what writers make. As a writer-in-training, I'm filled with admiration for the people who can write books, even books that aren't to my taste, or books that I actively dislike. This writing business is harder than I thought it would be. It's also much deeper magic than I thought it would be; two years in to a daily writing practice, it's become part of the natural (dorky) rhythm of being me.
The books on this year's list don't include books I used in my own research, nor the page proofs I read for friends whose names will be on my list next year, nor the books that I just couldn't finish. Lots of YA this year, as I research what other writers are doing in the genre; my usual weird blend of crime fiction, poetry, British diversions, sci-fi, alternate history, aspirational textbooks (hello, "Front Yard Gardens") (honestly, I am such a nutter), and urban fantasy. I've put my faves in bold.
Most of these I've listed on goodreads, but my favorite virtual bookshelf is LibraryThing--because I ADORE the "tags" feature. (I'm LBV123 on LibraryThing, if you're interested):
1.
Nightwoods: A
Novel--Charles Frazier
|
|
2.
Daughter of
Smoke and Bone--Laini Taylor
|
|
3.
Uglies--Scott
Westerfeld
|
|
4.
Pretties--Scott
Westerfeld
|
|
5.
On the
Spartacus Road: A Spectacular Journey Through Ancient Italy—Peter Stothard
|
|
6.
A Matter of
Life and Death or Something--Ben Stephenson
|
|
7.
Behemoth:
Illustrated by Keith Thompson--Scott Westerfeld
|
|
8.
Myths of
Origin: Four Short Novels--Catherynne M. Valente
|
|
9.
Throne Of The Crescent
Moon--Saladin Ahmed
|
|
10. Clockwork Phoenix: Tales of Beauty and Strangeness--Mike
Allen
|
|
11. The Folded World--Catherynne M. Valente
|
|
12. Front Yard Gardens: Growing More Than Grass--Liz
Primeau
|
|
13. The Cat’s Table--Michael Ondaatje
|
|
14. The Magician King: A Novel--Lev Grossman
|
|
15. Restless--William Boyd
|
|
16. Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: (A Mostly True
Memoir)--Jenny Lawson
|
|
17. One Million Tiny Plays About Britain--Craig Taylor
|
|
18. Specials--Scott Westerfeld
|
|
19. Queen Lucia--E. F. Benson
|
|
20. King Of The Badgers--Philip Hensher
|
|
21. A Book of Secrets: Illegitimate Daughters, Absent
Fathers--Michael Holroyd
|
|
22. A Dance to the Music of Time: First Movement--Anthony
Powell
|
|
23. The Song Of Achilles--Madeline Miller
|
|
24. The Cove: A Novel--Ron Rash
|
|
25. Graceling--Kristin Cashore
|
|
26. Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk--Ben
Fountain
|
|
27. Brazzaville Beach--William Boyd
|
|
28. Cosmic--Frank Cottrell Boyce
|
|
29. The Nearest Exit--Olen Steinhauer
|
|
30. An American Spy--Olen Steinhauer
|
|
31. The Tourist--Olen Steinhauer
|
|
32. Waiting For Sunrise--William Boyd
|
|
33. Edge of Dark Water--Joe R. Lansdale
|
|
34. The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year--Sue Townsend
|
|
35. This Dark Endeavour: The Apprenticeship Of Victor
Frankenstein--Kenneth Oppel
|
|
36. Glamour in Glass--Mary Robinette Kowal
|
|
37. Antigonick--Anne Carson
|
|
38. Broken Harbour--Tana French
|
|
39. The Sugar Frosted Nutsack--Mark Leyner
|
|
40. Monoceros--Suzette Mayr
|
|
41. Jamrach’s Menagerie--Carol Birch
|
|
42. Istanbul Passage--Joseph Kanon
|
|
43. The Stranger’s Child--Alan Hollinghurst
|
|
44. Swimming Home--Deborah Levy
|
|
45. The Coldest War--Ian Tregillis
|
|
46. Team Human--Justine Larbalestier
|
|
47. Divergent--Veronica Roth
|
|
48. The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness
Industry--Jon Ronson
|
|
49. Witches on the Road Tonight--Sheri Holman
|
|
50. Where’d You Go, Bernadette: A Novel-- Maria Semple
|
|
51. Shine Shine Shine--Lydia Netzer
|
|
52. Tell the Wolves I’m Home--Carol Rifka Brunt
|
|
53. Heart-shaped Bruise--Tanya Byrne
|
|
54. Some Kind of Fairy Tale--Graham Joyce
|
|
55. The Age of Miracles--Karen Thompson Walker
|
|
56. Tigers in Red Weather--Liza Klaussmann
|
|
57. Little Face--Sophie Hannah
|
|
58. A Lonely Death: An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery--Charles
Todd
|
|
59. Insurgent--Veronica Roth
|
|
60. Divergent--Veronica Roth
|
|
61. Embassytown--China Mieville
|
|
62. Fragile Things--Neil Gaiman
|
|
63. Railsea--China Mieville
|
|
64. Incarceron--Catherine Fisher
|
|
65. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen--
|
|
66. Alif the Unseen--G. Willow Wilson
|
|
67. Glittering Images: A Journey Through Art from Egypt
to Star Wars--Camille Paglia
|
|
68. The Roundabout Man--Clare Morrall
|
|
69. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry--Rachel Joyce
|
|
70. The Raven Boys--Maggie Stiefvater
|
|
71. The Scorpio Races--Maggie Stiefvater
|
|
72.The Last Policeman--Ben Winters
|
|
73. Life As We Knew It--Susan Beth Pfeffer
|
|
74. Iran Awakening: From Prison to Peace—Shirin Ebadi
|
|
75. The Perks of Being a Wallflower—Stephen Chbosky
|
|
76. Crocodile on the Sandbank—Elizabeth Peters
|
|
77. Blackwood—Gwenda Bond
|
|
78. Days of Blood and Starlight—Laini Taylor
|
|
79. Ender’s Game—Orson Scott Card
|
|
80. Silently and Very Fast—Catherynne M. Valente
|
|
81. The Pledge—Kimberly Derting
|
|
82. Reamde—Neal Stephenson
83. Shadow and Bone--Leigh Bardugo |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment