Book Nook Cafe discussion

It's that time of year folks!

Here is the thread to post about your favorite reads and the ones you detested in 2012.

The book does not have to be published in 2012, only read by you in 2012.

If you could provide a link and a few words on each book that would be great.

LOL! I was just thinking about these books this morning, now that i have finished my Long Books. I wonder where the 600+ page tomes i've read this year will land on either list. :-) Looking forward to this!

My best books were
Shine Shine Shine This was about a math genius with social issues and a bald woman who marry and have very special lives. It's very funny and loving. A good antidote to what's been going on in the world.
The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code Great for anybody who fears that DNA is destiny. It's kind of destiny, but not totally. Fascinating.
The Gods of Gotham Great detective story and police procedural about the beginnings of the New York City Police Department. Interesting time, wonderful characters, and nice storyline. Sacre Bleu: A Comedy d'Art Very, very funny book set in Montmartre at the end of the 19th Century. The Impressionists get together to solve the murder of their friend, Vincent, and have adventures that include some spooky and occult stuff. The portrait of Toulouse Lautrec is priceless.
Brave Dragons: A Chinese Basketball Team, an American Coach, and Two Cultures Clashing Great book with startling revelations about Chinese culture. Loved the absurdity of Yao Ming having lived in an apartment building that he couldn't stand up in. I also loved Einstein, which we read together here.
My worst books were:
The Art of Fielding Didn't like this one from start to finish. Complete waste of time for me. Read it for a book club after avoiding it repeatedly for a year. Still Life with Woodpecker I rated this very badly. I do not remember it at all. Most of my other worst books were mysteries that I tried to see if I could find a new favorite detective. All flops. None worth mentioning.

My most disappointing book was The Round House by Louise Erdrich, which I thought was formulaic and embarrassing.

Here is my Best & Worst List for 2012


Favorites

- Hands down my favorite was Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945~David M. Kennedy I learned so much from this book. And the writing was excellent.

- Death of a Salesman~Arthur Miller - re-read. So heartbreakingly moving.

- In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin~Erik Larson Well written and fascinating story.

-Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President~Candice Millard Love the writing and enjoyed reading about a president I knew little about. Well done! I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.

-World War II With DVD ~R.G. Grant - really well done photo book of WWII. And it includes a brief DVD.

-Theodore Roosevelt: Champion of the American Spirit~Betsy Harvey Kraft
Made me realize the TR may be my favorite president. Bully good book !

-Suite Française~Irène Némirovsky read for book club. Well written and intriguing plot.

Disliked

- The Irresistible Henry House~Lisa Grunwald Read this for my f2f book club. Not a genre I enjoy

-This Burns My Heart~Samuel Park Read for book club. Not a genre I enjoy

-Please Look After Mom~Kyung-Sook Shin Read for book club. Not a genre I enjoy

-Four of a Kind~Valerie Frankel Read for book club. Not a genre I enjoy

-Next to Love: A Novel~Ellen Feldman Read for book club

-I Wore the Ocean in the Shape of a Girl~Kelle Groom read for book club. I like memoirs. However, I didn't care for the writing style of this book.

-The Possibility of You~Pamela Redmond Satran read for book club. I don't like the genre.

-Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail~Cheryl Strayed I couldn't relate to the author at all. I'm perplexed that Oprah selected this book for the re-launch of her "book club." I don't know if one can call it a book club if only 1 book a year is selected. I wish she would go back to a monthly selection.

- Oogy: The Dog Only a Family Could Love~Larry Levin I love dogs but this book was a chore. Should have been a brief magazine article.

-Bossypants~Tina Fey
Read for book club. I think this one takes the prize for my worst read of 2012. Boring, shallow and not funny. Deadly combo. To be fair, I don't watch the TV shows Fey is on nor have I seen her movies. I only know her for her terrific Sarah Palin skits. Perhaps if I followed her career more the book book would have had a little more appeal.

Arcadia~Tom Stoppard Read this with our group. The play just went over my head. I have no idea what the author was trying to convey.

Looking over my reading journal made me realize that most of the books I didn't care for were for a f2f book club. The books chosen I think were simply not the genre I like to read. I'm not sure what genre they fall into. Maybe something like chick lit or books for womens book clubs. Many in the book club liked these reads and a few loved them. So I wouldn't cross the books of your list because I didn't like them.

OK, here goes...

Amy's Best Reads of 2012:
Fiction:
A Happy Marriage by Rafael Yglesias: A stunningly beautiful elegy to marriage and to the meaning of life and love itself. I had tears in my eyes from the beginning, and I was outright sobbing by the last page.
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach. A book that is ostensibly about baseball. But it's really about life, and how we react when life throws us a curveball.
Defending Jacob by William Landay. Well-written, in a style that reminded me of Scott Turow's "Presumed Innocent." A great read. Once I started, I couldn't put it down until the very last sentence.
This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper. A story about a dysfunctional family who gathers together to sit shiva after their father dies. As the week quickly spins out of control, longstanding grudges resurface, secrets are revealed, and old passions are reawakened.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. This book is about a marriage and how it can go horribly, horribly wrong. An incredibly addictive read.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the books I read this year by Thrity Umrigar: The World We Found,The Weight of Heaven and If Today Be Sweet: A Novel

Nonfiction:
My Own Country: A Doctor's Story by Abraham Verghese. Though it's a nonfiction account, it reads like a novel while providing a fascinating and unflinching look at how AIDS affected the gay community, how it made its way from the urban centers into the rural communities -- and how the American public responded to the public health crisis.
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo. A disturbing and compelling non-fiction account of a slum outside of Mumbai. The conditions are appalling, and the account speaks to the significant contrasts with the poor among us, but also the parallels. It’s not an easy book to read—mostly because you read the entire thing knowing that happy endings are not likely for anybody.
Hitlerland: American Eyewitnesses to the Nazi Rise to Power by Andrew Nagorski. Excellent account of the build-up to Hitler's march to power, told through personal testimonies, diaries, letters, and previously unpublished memoirs by American citizens and journalists who were living in Germany at the time.
Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity by Andrew Solomon. I just finished this one this week, and it is still resonating with me. Fascinating, thought-provoking, informative--everything you want in a good nonfiction read.

Amy's Worst Reads of 2012:
Fiction:
The Good Daughters by Joyce Maynard. I figured out how it was going to end by the time I got to page 8. And the plot strained credibility--there were too many convenient coincidences, and the resolution was not very believeable.
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence. I wasn't able to make any emotional connection with any of the characters, and I felt that without the controversial language and sex scenes that were obviously meant to shock the readers of 1928, this book would slipped into obscurity a long time ago.
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. I wanted to like this book. I started out liking this book. For about 100 pages or so, that is. And then ... nothing really major or important seemed to happen for another 300 pages. I felt the book could have been chopped in third and the story wouldn't have suffered for the heavy editing.
Swamplandia! by Karen Russell. This book came highly recommended by a friend; was named to the New York Times "10 Best Books of 2011" list; and was a finalist for this year's Pulitzer Prize in fiction. So I totally expected to love it. However, I am still puzzled as to why it was such a hit. I read somewhere that this book was originally a short story that was expanded into a novel. It probably worked better as a short story.

Nonfiction:
Some Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son's First Son by Anne Lamott. This book made me feel glad that Lamott isn’t the grandmother of my kids.

And two books --one fiction, one nonfiction--that didn't even hold my attention long enough for me to finish them, so I can't really comment too much on them: I Curse the River of Time by Per Petterson and The Memory Palace by Mira Bartok.

Michele, I'm adding these to my TBR list. I appreciate you posting your list.


Shine Shine Shine This was about a math genius with social issues and a bald woman who marry and have very special lives. It's very funny and loving. A good antidote to what's been going on in the world.

The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code Great for anybody who fears that DNA is destiny. It's kind of destiny, but not totally. Fascinating.

Amy, I have an arc copy of Defending Jacob and Gone Girl on hold at the library.

This Is Where I Leave You & Hitlerland - I put this on my TBR list when you posted about them. Thanks for reminding me about them.

I hope more people post their Best/Worst lists. I enjoy reading them. Especially when someone (like Michele) totally disagrees with my own choices! It's interesting to see that a book can show up on one person's "Best" list while simultaneously appearing on another's "Worst" list. That's what makes these discussions so thought-provoking, in my opinion.

Amy, i couldn't agree with you more about Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's etc. Indeed, when i was weeding my shelves this year, i decided to get rid of it because i figured i'd never read it. Lo & behold! i HAD read it & only 6 years ago! The post-its inside indicated i was quite frustrated with it, too. It apparently is one of those books which "led the way" and is thus remembered.

It's a pleasure to see everyone's list of favorites. I hold out hopes of still getting another "best", so will wait until next week to post mine. Meanwhile, thanks to all who are sharing.

Amy wrote: "I hope more people post their Best/Worst lists. I enjoy reading them. Especially when someone (like Michele) totally disagrees with my own choices! It's interesting to see that a book can show up o..."
I noticed that we were on opposite sides of the fence regarding The Art of Fielding. My book club was more positive than negative, though a couple of us were unimpressed. That happens quite a lot, actually, and I agree that disagreement is more enlightening sometimes than complete agreement.

My favorites are a short list.

Top of the heap - Beautiful Ruins. I had the Italy connection to this but the whole story was just good. I loved the inter-connected stories and where they ended up. Very enjoyable.

At the first of the year I read Death Comes to Pemberley and I was simply charmed by the book. I was lonely in my happiness with this book but since I'm already a huge fan of PD James I was willing to take the plunge. Her style is going to still be her style. There is no new Jane Austen. Impossible. I was happy to go with it.

One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson is wonderful. I would just love to meet Jackson Brodie. This series has great potential for the future. I look forward to reading the rest of Atkinson's books.

Finally and not a least favorite at all: Defending Jacob. This was probably the runner up favorite. I liked it on many levels. Highly recommend it.

REally did NOT like:

Before Ever After. Made me feel as if I'd been conned. Not the book at all that I expected.

2 other stinkers -- The Butterfly Cabinet: A Novel & Savannah Blues. It could have been worse.

My favorites (so far) for this year are actually all older books written in the mid-20th century - rated 5/5:

The First Circle - amazing account of a "special" Soviet prison for scientists and engineers
The Bell Jar - honest and compelling account of a young woman trying to start out in life while battling mental illness
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter - beautiful story about a teenage girl and an isolated man both of whom are trying to understand themselves and their place in the world
Fer-de-Lance/The League of Frightened Men - the first of the Nero Wolfe books - just a delight

Another group that I really liked very much (4.5/5):

Water for Elephants - an old man remembers his time with the circus as an early adult
The Blind Assassin - three story lines that converge in an interesting way through a woman's life
The Hours - another one with three stories of women who are connected Mrs. Dalloway

Lots of books rated between 3 and 4, many of which were terrific reads and others were informative and interesting.

"Worst" reads for me:

How Georgia became O'Keefe - a Kindle lending library book (rating: 2/5) - sort of a Julie and Julia type of biography on Georgia O'Keefe that would have been better (IMO) without the author's "insights" from her own life
112 Mercer Street: Einstein, Russell, Godel, Pauli, and the End of Innocence in Science (rating: 2.5/5) - a bait-and-switch about these four scientists/philosophers who met at Princeton - it was supposed to look at their meetings (sort of like Copenhagen) but really just described their theories and other professional interactions; interesting but not what I hoped for

Lori wrote: "My favorites are a short list.

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Thanks so much for sharing your list with us, Lori !

I own Defending Jacob. I have to get to it this year.

Susan wrote: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter - beautiful story about a teenage girl and an isolated man both of whom are trying to understand themselves and their place in the world
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She was a terrific writer.

Best reads:
Then Again
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?
Rules of Civility
The Graveyard Book (who doesn't love Neil Gaiman though?)
Dean and Me:
Twenties Girl

Worst reads:
Nanny Returns
You're The One That I Dont Want (Actually I only got about 30 pages in before I put it back down)
Son of a Witch (really disappointed with this as a sequel book. It turned me off of reading the rest of the series altogether)

Thanks for sharing your list with us, Niki !

My f2f group selected Rules of Civility as a group read. I'm glad to see it mad your Best List.

I keep picking "Rules of Civility" up at the library and putting it back down again. I'm not sure what the hesitation is. I'm glad to hear it made your Best list--next time I'm over there and pick it up, I'm going to bring it home and read it!

Lori wrote: "My favorites are a short list.

Top of the heap - Beautiful Ruins. I had the Italy connection to this but the whole story was just good. I loved the inter-connected stories and where they ended up..."

First of all, thanks for this title & comments. It sounds good & i'm sure i wouldn't have noticed it otherwise. Or maybe it's just that Italy is calling me? Hurry, February!

I have wanted to read Kate Atkinson since i heard about her first, Behind the Scenes at the Museum. You mentioned the series, which i had no idea existed. It sounds as though i need to make certain i give her a try next year.

I felt you summed up P. D. James's version of Austen nicely. I knew i didn't dislike it but i also realized it wasn't Austen. Still, a nice attempt.

deb

Susan wrote: "My favorites (so far) for this year are actually all older books written in the mid-20th century - rated 5/5:..."

Isn't that interesting when we realize that about our books? A few years ago it dawned on my that my favorites were from 1930s & '40s, be they British or from U.S. authors. Usually i don't see my own trend until i wrap up the year, making this another reason to work up my own list.

I was just looking back over my list of books read in 2012, and I realized that I completely forgot to include Fifty Shades of Grey on my WORST list for the year!! I think it was just so terrible that my brain is attempting to forget that it was ever forced to participate in the appalling experience.

Madrano wrote:First of all, thanks for this title & comments. It sounds good & i'm sure i wouldn't have noticed it otherwise. Or maybe it's just that Italy is calling me? Hurry, February!

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First, I'm jealous.

Second, if you are looking for some books set in Italy, I posted my favs in the List folder.

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/6...

Amy wrote: I think it was just so terrible that my brain is attempting to forget that it was ever forced to participate in the appalling experience.
------------

:)

I have a fair share of books rated 5 (#27) and 4(#77). So I am not going to list my bests. However, my favorites for the year would be:

The Monk written in the late 1600's by a (wait for it..) 19 y.o. boy. Chronicles the life of a corrupt Monk whose holier than thou attitude is delusional.

Old Filth. Follows the career of a British lawyer though his years in Asia to his years as a judge in the British court.

The Master and Margarita. Satan visits Russia during the Stalin years and creates havoc. Audioversion was wonderful.

Least favorite or worst is much easier. Ulysses made me crazy. Despite cliff notes, I had difficulty following it. Abandoned.
In the KitchenAudioversion. In all fairness the discs were damaged. Made it through the first 2 discs when the trouble started. But honestly, the story was a washout and the principle character obnoxious. Abandoned.
Father's Day: A Journey into the Mind and Heart of My Extraordinary Son. This was recommended by one of my patients as "wonderful". The author was a journalist for the Philadelphia Inquirer. He writes about his relationship with his adult autistic child. I felt it was both artificial and self-serving. I think it was his tone but I (as my father would have said) took exception to it.

I read a total of 150 books this year. Think I had a really good year with my choices which is why I have so many 4 and 5 ratings.

Of note I also read Trumanand Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President. Both very much enjoyed.

Thanks so much for sharing your list with us, Denise.

You are many books on the list that I've not heard of.

150 books read ! Wow !

Oh, Denise, I'm so sorry to hear about Ulysses - it's on my 2013 list! Yikes.

You have read an amazing number of books this year. I'm incredibly impressed.

The Master and Margarita is on my shelf and sounds great, but I'm giving Satan the year off. After Doctor Faustus, I need some space!

Amy wrote: "I was just looking back over my list of books read in 2012, and I realized that I completely forgot to include Fifty Shades of Grey on my WORST list for the year!! I think it was just so terrible t..."
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Amy, at the risk of making you run screaming into the night, I had to tell you what I just read on Twitter -

USA Today names E.L. James author of the year: she "ruled best-seller lists and heated up the genre"

Back in January 2008, Steve Jobs famously observed, "The fact is that people don't read anymore."

Not quite.

Fast-forward to 2012, when an unknown Brit proved that Americans can be passionate, feverish, even obsessive readers — at least those with double X chromosomes.

Which is why E.L. James is USA TODAY's author of the year.

After being acquired by a U.S. publisher, James' erotic trilogy, Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed, sold 35 million copies in this country alone in 2012.

Adore it as a sizzling romance bravely probing the forbidden side of sadomasochistic desire or loathe it as demeaning anti-feminist tripe, but James' series has proven that the novel — whether in print or e-book pixels — remains a heavyweight in the boxing ring of popular entertainment.

"I think women love a passionate love story," James tells USA TODAY. "That's it. Fundamentally, that's what (the trilogy) is." The "mommy porn" label is "misogyny in its finest form. I just ignore it."
None

James' 'Fifty Shades of Grey' spent 21 weeks atop USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list.

James' breathless depiction of the journey by virginal Anastasia and bad-boy billionaire Christian Grey to the farther shores of kinky sex introduced a once-Puritan nation to "the red room of pain." The series also mastered USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list for much of the year. Fifty Shades of Grey, the first book, spent 21 weeks at No. 1.

The series turned the entire erotic-romance category from tepid to torrid. As 2012 ends, James reigns as the queen, but there's a growing court of ladies in waiting (among them Sylvia Day) ready to seize her NC-17 throne.

This time last year, James was a little-known London TV producer who went by her real name, Erika Leonard. Today, she's one of Barbara Walters' 10 most fascinating people of 2012.

Alas, for James' detractors, neither she nor erotic romance is going away. There's a Fifty Shades of Grey movie in the works, and the author is working on a new series.

"I am rewriting the first book I ever wrote," says James with calm assurance. "It's another sort of passionate love story."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/bo...

2012's big book stories: Gillian Flynn, Oprah, Rowling

It was the year that J.K. Rowling, no longer writing about a boy wizard, returned to the best-seller list, and Oprah Winfrey revived her book club — for a digital age. Here's a review of 2012 in the book world, when Philip Roth announced his retirement and Gillian Flynn hit it big.

Sex, British style: Five years after her last Harry Potter novel, J.K. Rowling released her first novel for grown-ups, The Casual Vacancy, about politics in a British village. Despite mixed reviews, it landed at No. 1 on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list in September and spent four weeks in the top 10. (In 2007, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows also landed at No. 1 but spent 10 weeks in the top 10.) At an October appearance at New York's Lincoln Center, Rowling quipped about one of the differences between her novel and the erotic blockbuster Fifty Shades of Grey, by fellow Brit E.L. James: "People have sex in my book, but no one enjoys it."

You go, 'Girl': The year's breakthrough author was Gillian Flynn, whose third novel, Gone Girl, an addictive mystery about a husband suspected in his wife's disappearance, sold nearly 2 million copies after it went on sale in June. It propelled her earlier thrillers, Sharp Objects (2006) and Dark Places (2009), onto best-seller lists. If that's not enough, Flynn, a former TV critic at Entertainment Weekly, was signed to write the Gone Girl screenplay (with Reese Witherspoon attached) and three more novels — two for adults and her first for teens.

Roth's complaint: Philip Roth, 79, burst onto the literary scene in 1959 with his novella Goodbye Columbus, an irreverent and humorous portrait of American-Jewish life, and shocked many with his sexually explicit Portnoy's Compliant in 1969. Now, he's announced that he's retiring after 31 books. He taped a note to his computer: "The struggle with writing is over." But he's cooperating with biographer Blake Bailey, whose books on Richard Yates and John Cheever were widely praised.

Welcome back, Oprah: Oprah Winfrey's cable TV network is struggling, but she revived her book club with more digital elements. The first two picks of Oprah's Book Club 2.0 climbed the best-seller list: Cheryl Strayed's memoir, Wild, hit No. 14 in June, and Ayana Mathias' debut novel, The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, is currently No. 41. But that hasn't matched the heyday of her original book club, when she had a syndicated talk show and many selections hit No. 1.

Gone but not forgotten: Ray Bradbury, 91, who died June 5, once said he didn't write Fahrenheit 451, his 1953 novel about censorship and book-burning, "to predict the future. I wrote it to prevent the future." Maurice Sendak, 83, who died May 8, "appalled the gatekeepers of the time who said he was too scary," with classic picture books such as Where the Wild Things Are (1963), said librarian Lisa Von Drasek. After the July 31 death of Gore Vidal, 86, whose best sellers include Myra Breckinridge (1970), a satire on transexuality, and Lincoln (1984), a blend of fact and fiction, his editor, Doubleday's Gerald Howard, said, "The world just became a duller place."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/bo...

Susan wrote: "Oh, Denise, I'm so sorry to hear about Ulysses - it's on my 2013 list! Yikes.

You have read an amazing number of books this year. I'm incredibly impressed.

The Master and Margarita is on my shelf..."
Susan; Please don't let my failure pave the way for your own. I think that there are some books that need to be read in a group or maybe class type setting. Another example would be the The Divine Comedy. It may well be that I was not in the right place for it now or I may never be. I will be trying Finnegans Wake some time in the future. I haven't given up on Joyce.

Alias Reader wrote: "Amy wrote: "I was just looking back over my list of books read in 2012, and I realized that I completely forgot to include Fifty Shades of Grey on my WORST list for the year!! I think it was just s..."

I may join Amy in her running....

Winter 2012 Reading List

Looking for some good winter reading options? Tis the season to stay in with a great book and some of your favorite Washington Week panelists are sharing their recommendations. If you're interested in politics, history, biographies or fiction, you're sure to find an interesting title to add to your library or give as a holiday gift.

"The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
(Scribner)
Convinced this would be a bummer, I put off reading this amazing 2010 book until now, fearing it would be too daunting, too depressing. And although it can be depressing, Mukherjee has such a gift for storytelling, that he has managed to make a scientific exploration read like a mystery novel.
- Gwen Ifill, Washington Week

On Her Trail: My Mother, Nancy Dickerson, TV News' First Woman Star" by John Dickerson
(Simon & Schuster)
Embarrassingly, I am just now getting around to reading Washington Week panelist John Dickerson's lovely and personal story of his mother Nancy, who was television news' first female star. Deeply affecting, I learn something on every page about the news business, the people who populated it, and about my friend John.
- Gwen Ifill, Washington Week

"Rise to Greatness: Abraham Lincoln and America's Most Perilous Year" by David Von Drehle
(Henry Holt and Co.)
Did Steven Spielberg leave you longing for more? Did you get the feeling that Lincolns' Presidency was operating on parallel tracks that a holiday movie could only glance at? You're right. TIME correspondent David Von Drehle -- one of the best writers in the business -- fills in the blanks.
-Gwen Ifill, Washington Week

After seeing "Lincoln" the movie, looking forward to reading Lincoln the history by David von Drehle, one of America's most talented writers, who looks at the critical year of 1862.
- Peter Baker, The New York Times
- Michael Duffy, TIME Magazine

"The Presidents Club: Inside the World's Most Exclusive Fraternity" by Michael Duffy and Nancy Gibbs
(Simon & Schuster)
I bought the audiobook to listen while I jogged on weekends along the C&O Canal and when I finished, I started it a 2nd time. Though I’m a life-long reader of history, for three decades a chronicler of presidents and personally familiar with three, I did not appreciate how many fascinating and consequential relationships had formed between and among the past and current holders of the world’s most powerful office, from Hoover to Obama.
- Jackie Calmes, The New York Times

"Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague" by Geraldine Brooks
(Penguin)
I was more than a decade late to this 2001 best-seller, but I made up for it by finishing it in a single weekend, pulled along by the story of the central character, Anna Frith. I favor non-fiction, histories and biographies, but this is fiction based on history – of a 17th century English village that quarantines itself to prevent spread of the plague in its midst, exposing the best and worst we humans are capable of.
- Jackie Calmes, The New York Times

Why Read Moby-Dick?" by Nathaniel Philbrick
(Viking Adult)
As a Moby-Dick fan who has read the book three times, I came to this slim volume almost as a lark. What a find! Philbrick’s enthusiasm, insight and joy remind me of the reasons I love the novel, and he points out innumerable subtleties and allusions I had missed. Inspired, I’m going to read Moby-Dick, yes, again. With joy.
- Charles Babington, Associated Press

Health Care Reform: What It Is, Why It's Necessary, How It Works" by Jonathan Gruber; illustrated by Nathan Schreiber
(Hill and Wang)
Obamacare (as everyone including Mr. Obama now calls it) is complicated. Hardly anyone understands what’s in it. So MIT economist Jonathan Gruber, an Obamacare enthusiast and one of its architects, explains it in an easy-to-follow comic book that captures the basics without avoiding the subtleties.
- David Wessel, Wall Street Journal

Cronkrite" by Douglas Brinkley
(Harper)
- John Harwood, CNBC

Oddly Normal: One Family's Struggle to Help Their Teenage Son Come to Terms with His Sexuality" by John Schwartz
(Gotham)
With same-sex marriage and broader issues of gay rights now before the Supreme Court, John Schwartz’s personal tale is especially timely. Yet he offers much more: this is a wrenching, timeless story about parents desperately trying to do right by a child who is different.
- Joan Biskupic, Reuters

"The Finish: The Killing of Osama Bin Laden" by Mark Bowden
(Atlantic Monthly Press)
A fast and compelling account of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden by the acclaimed author of "Black Hawk Down," who takes readers through the events of last year with cinematic drama.
- Peter Baker, The New York Times

"The Man Who Saved the Union: Ulysses Grant in War and Peace" by H.W. Brands
(Doubleday)
Long respected more as a general than as a president, Ulysses Grant comes across as a much better White House occupant as well as battlefield commander in this narrative reassessment by a premier historian.
- Peter Baker, The New York Times

"Ike's Bluff: President Eisenhower's Secret Battle to Save the World" by Evan Thomas
(Little, Brown and Company)
A thoughtful reexamination of Dwight Eisenhower as a president who essentially made nuclear war unthinkable at the dawn of the atomic era when that was not necessarily certain at first, as rendered by the author of other gripping American histories.
- Peter Baker, The New York Times

"After the Music Stopped: The Financial Crisis, the Response, and the Work Ahead" by Alan S. Blinder
(Penguin)
January 2013
Five years after the onset of the global financial crisis which provoked the worst recession in generations and a recovery so painful it doesn’t feel like one, a lot of people ask: What the heck just happened? In “After the Music Stopped,” to be published January 28, Princeton’s Alan Blinder, one of the most gifted writers among his generation of academic economists, offers a long (443 pages), but lucid and comprehensive, answer for non-experts. Blinders sums up the reporting of scores of others, makes clear his own views while acknowledging alternative views and concludes with a seven-step rehab program for policymakers.
- David Wessel, Wall Street Journal

"The White Queen" by Philippa Gregory
(Simon & Schuster)
I have spent much of this year escaping from the presidential campaign by indulging in the meaner and more deadly realm of European monarchies. I started with the "War of the Roses" Philippa Gregory's trilogy focusing on the three central female characters.

"The White Queen," which focuses on Elizabeth Woodville, a extraordinary beauty and commoner who marries young King Edward in secret and, ultimately, sees her two sons die mysteriously in the tower while under the care of her brother-in-law King Richard III.
- Jeanne Cummings, Bloomberg News

"The Red Queen" by Philippa Gregory
(Simon & Schuster)
The second book I've read is "The Red Queen," the story of Lady Margaret Beaufort, the keeper of the Lancastrian line's royal dreams, who manipulates husbands, adversaries, and events to secure the throne for her son, Henry VII and establish decades of Tudor rule.
- Jeanne Cummings, Bloomberg News

"The Victory Lab: The Secret Science of Winning Campaigns" by Sasha Issenberg
(Crown)
An absorbing history of the new (and, until now, almost unknown) science of persuading and mobilizing voters -- a factor that turned out to be one of the keys to Obama's impressive victory in November.
- Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times

"Six Months in 1945: FDR, Stalin, Churchill, and Truman--from World War to Cold War" by Michael Dobbs
(Knopf)
Catnip for 20th century history buffs: a beautifully-written narrative of the negotiations between FDR, Stalin, Churchill and Truman at the end of World War II and the dawn of the Cold War.
- Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times

"Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity" by Katherine Boo
(Random House)
- Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times

"The Insurgents: David Petraeus and the Plot to Change the American Way of War" by Fred Kaplan
(Simon & Schuster)
January 2013
A history of David Petraeus and the revival of counterinsurgency doctrine by Slate's national security columnist.
- Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times

"The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today" By Thomas E. Ricks
(Penguin)
I’ve been reading “The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today,” by long-time defense correspondent Tom Ricks, formerly of The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. It’s not exactly uplifting holiday reading, but the book is a fascinating examination of the apparent deterioration in the quality of U.S. military leadership from the lions of World War II (George Marshall, Dwight Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, et al), to the generals who stumbled badly during the past decade (with David Petraeus singled out as an exception that proves the rule). Ricks points to a lack of accountability as the chief culprit, noting that many generals were fired for ineffectiveness during World War II, while no general was relieved for the myriad failures of Afghanistan and Iraq.
- James Kitfield, National Journal

A masterful and critical study of the art of generalship from World War II through Iraq and Afghanistan by one of the smartest military experts out there, made all the more relevant by the recent scandal involving David Petraeus and John Allen.
- Peter Baker, The New York Times

"The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration" by Isabel Wilkerson
(Vintage)
It is the story of the six million black Americans who left the South for the North and West. The stories in this book are heartbreaking, moving and give you a deep sense of the personal bravery and anguish of the Americans who took the leap to move.
- John Dickerson, Slate Magazine/CBS News

http://www.pbs.org/weta/washingtonwee...

The Emperor of All Maladies is one I've been meaning to pick up. Year of Wonders and Six Month in 1945 sound really interesting, as do On Her Trail and Cronkite - for some reason, I like books about journalists and journalism!

Ohmmm ... ohm .... don't go to Amazon ... ohm ....

This is a terrific discussion, which I have yet to make my way through as I have been having trouble with my computer in our recent hot conditions. I will put my best and worst up soon.

Alias Reader wrote: "Amy, at the risk of making you run screaming into the night, I had to tell you what I just read on Twitter ..."

I guess I can't argue with the fact that the book/series DID make people read--particularly people who don't read often or at all. And that's never a bad thing. I just wish those people would pick up a book that is well written! "50 Shades" literally gave me a headache from plodding through the horrible writing, ridiculous plot and unbelievable dialogue. If I hadn't been forced to read it for my f2f book club, I would have thrown it out the window by chapter 2. If I even made it that far.

But having said that--if the book made people pick up the next book, and the next book, and then another book that seemed similar, and then another book after that...well, I guess it has some value. As much as it pains me to admit it.

But I will still run away screaming if I have to read the phrase "inner goddess" ever again.

Susan wrote: "The Emperor of All Maladies is one I've been meaning to pick up. Year of Wonders and Six Month in 1945 sound really interesting, as do On Her Trail and Cronkite - for some reason, I like books abou..."

"Year of Wonders" was a really good read! I would have to say it's my favorite by Geraldine Brooks.

Amy wrote: ""Year of Wonders" was a really good read! I would have to say it's my favorite by Geraldine Brooks. ..."

Ditto.

Amy, you make a good point about James's books & getting people to read. With luck, a number of those readers will find their imaginations &/or curiosity sparked enough to follow up with Real Literature, well written and worth the time taken to read. Which isn't to say her books aren't, as i haven't read them. I just wish i'd read someone say they actually liked one. Am i forgetting someone? Has someone here read & liked the books?

Alias, that list is a real hodgepodge of fiction, non-fiction & self-help. Also, thanks for the reminder of books you read featuring Italy. I liked that idea for a thread, as it's easy to locate.

Susan wrote:Ohmmm ... ohm .... don't go to Amazon ... ohm ...."
-------------
:)

Amy wrote: "Alias Reader wrote: "Amy, at the risk of making you run screaming into the night, I had to tell you what I just read on Twitter ..."

I guess I can't argue with the fact that the book/series DID ma..."

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I don't know if I agree that reading something is better than nothing. To me, it just the same as brain candy TV. It's not good or bad, just is.

I seem to recall reading a study done regarding adults who read Harry Potter. It didn't make the people who didn't read before expand their reading horizons.

My favorite books read in 2012:

Death of a Salesman
Cloud Atlas
The Fault in Our Stars
The Light Between Oceans
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
The Scent of Rain and Lightning
The Language of Flowers
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin
The Things They Carried
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
The Night Circus
Cutting for Stone
Olive Kitteridge (reread)
The Grapes of Wrath (reread)

My least favorite books:

Table Manners
Friday Nights: A Novel
Fifty Shades of Grey

There were some other books that I stopped reading after a few chapters. Life is too short to read uninteresting books, especially when you have as long a TBR list as mine.

Alias Reader wrote: "I don't know if I agree that reading something is better than nothing. To me, it just the same as brain candy TV. It's not good or bad, just is..."

I have four brothers. Three of them actually brag about the fact that they have not read a book since graduating from high school 20-25 years ago. If one or all of them picked up the Harry Potter books and read them--and then never read another book again--I would still consider that a success. I'm of the viewpoint that any reading is beneficial in some way, however small. It expands your vocabulary. It improves your spelling. It helps you understand different ways of life. It helps you understand different ideas. It expands your imagination. If one of my brothers asked me to buy him a comic book or even a cereal box so he could read the back of it, I would. And I would cheer the fact that he is reading SOMETHING instead of watching Honey Boo Boo on TV.

Connie wrote: "There were some other books that I stopped reading after a few chapters. Life is too short to read uninteresting books, especially when you have as long a TBR list as mine.
..."

I totally agree, Connie! I try to give a book at least 80-100 pages. If I can't make it that far, or if I get that far and I'm still not enjoying it, out it goes. Because there's always another book (or 12) waiting its turn!

Connie wrote: "My favorite books read in 2012:

Death of a Salesman
Cloud Atlas
The Fault in Our Stars
The Light Between Oceans
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
The Scent of Rain ..."

I like your list of favorites and I do agree about not continuing with books that just don't click. I don't think that we need to include them on the worst book list, though. This year I was really on a roll with books that I couldn't finish. I have found that directly after reading a really excellent book, the followup is tough. I have no tolerance for a crummy book after reading something great.

Amy wrote: "If one of my brothers asked me to buy him a comic book or even a cereal box so he could read the back of it, I would. And I would cheer the fact that he is reading SOMETHING instead of watching Honey Boo Boo on TV. ..."

I hear ya! I feel that way about my sister, who, up until this year, hadn't read a book since high school, unless it was with her children (which i give her kudos for doing). Then, this year she read a couple of biographies of movie stars. I was taking what i could get, encouraging her. Two weeks ago she called to ask me what my "book friends" (knowing they are all online) thought of the "50 Shades" books. I told her that i couldn't recall anyone here reading & liking the books. Fortunately she wasn't interested in reading them but had run into a friend who was praising them! LOL! I'm SO relieved she asked me first! So, i guess i'm at odds with myself. Like Amy, i'd buy her cereal boxes but am not sure i could talk reasonably about the "50" books. And this without reading a single word of them.

Connie, your first two books of favorites are sure to be on my list. I'm so glad to have read the play with this group. And just so relieved to have found Cloud Atlas as rewarding as i'd been led to believe.

deb

Lori, I agree with you about not putting books we haven't finished on a "worst book" list. I never rate or write a review of a book that I haven't finished because it wouldn't be fair to the author. Some books do get better as you get further along in the plot.

Lori wrote: "Connie wrote: "My favorite books read in 2012:

Death of a Salesman
Cloud Atlas
The Fault in Our Stars
The Light Between Oceans
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
The..."

Connie wrote: "Lori, I agree with you about not putting books we haven't finished on a "worst book" list. I never rate or write a review of a book that I haven't finished because it wouldn't be fair to the autho..."

I rarely abandon books. I have an abandoned shelf on which there are a grand total of 4 books. For me to abandon a book it must really not interest me at all or be difficult to read. Unfortunately, there is no abandoned button on Goodreads so I feel I need to mark it as read (not really true since i abandoned it). If I mark it as read then I also feel it should be rated. The one star rating is fair with "didn't like it".

You are both correct in that I probably should not have rated
Ulysses or In the Kitchen as the worst since I did not complete them. Ulysses, however, was a really tough read for me. As I remarked earlier, my failure should not be cause for another not to try. Since
In the Kitchen has an overall rating of 2.6, I will not be returning to it or recommending it.And based on what I heard of it, it was not going to improve.

Some of my favorites for the year are...
Incidental Happenstance

The Unwanted Wife

A Song for Julia

Savage Cinderella



Silver Mine

Inked Magic

Connie wrote: "My favorite books read in 2012:

The Light Between Oceans

------------
I have this on hold for me at the libary. I'm happy to see it made your best of list.

Thanks for sharing your list with us, Connie.

Tala wrote: "Some of my favorites for the year are...
Incidental Happenstance

The Unwanted Wife

A Song for Julia

Savage Cinderella
--------------------

Thanks, for joining in and sharing your best/worst list with us Tala!


Silver Mine

Inked Magic"

Susan wrote: "My favorites (so far) for this year are actually all older books written in the mid-20th century - rated 5/5:

The First Circle - amazing account of a "special" Soviet prison for scientists and eng..."

I'm adding The Things They Carried to my 4.5/5 group. It's a bit of a surprise, as I started this book earlier in the year and just couldn't get into it. This time, it only took me a few days to finish it - just needed to be in the right mood, I guess. This is a wonderful book of memories about a group of American guys fighting in Vietnam.

Susan wrote: I'm adding The Things They Carried to my 4.5/5 group. It's a bit of a surprise, as I started this book earlier in the year and just couldn't get into it.."
--------------
I always see this on Must Read Lists. I thought I read it, but I don't see it in my reading jnl. I'll put it on my list.

Alias Reader wrote: "Connie wrote: "My favorite books read in 2012:

The Light Between Oceans

------------
I have this on hold for me at the libary. I'm happy to see it made your best of list.

Thanks for sharing you..."

I hope you enjoy The Light Between Oceans. I like books that involve making ethical decisions. Years ago, I took a Medical Ethics course, and we had to read the newspapers for three months looking for examples of medical ethical problems and keep a journal about it. I really became more intuned to how decisions were not black and white, and not just in the medical arena. Religous decisions, political decisions, decisions made during wartime, the list goes on.....

It was really difficult to write that paragraph without using the phrase "shades of grey" which has its new connotation. :)