# Top Ten books you read in 2012 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 4, 2013, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-books-you-read-in-2012/646076 "2013-01-04T16:42:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-books-you-read-in-2012/646076/1 "2013-01-04T16:42:17Z")
Doesn’t matter when they were published, but you read 'em and loved 'em in the last calendar year. I’ll get the ball rolling now, and post my list later. A little busy here at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-books-you-read-in-2012/646076/2 "2013-01-04T16:52:07Z")
Thanks for the thread, **EH**! Hope you get your quota of message board time in today. 🙂 In looking at my Goodreads list, I see I didn’t rate anything five stars this year. I don’t like to give books the highest rating unless they like, _changed my life, man!_ So four stars only means I enjoyed them all to pieces. In no particular order: [The Wind Through the Keyhole](http://www.amazon.com/Wind-Through-Keyhole-Tower-Novel/dp/1451658907/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357309755&sr=1-1&keywords=the+wind+through+the+keyhole) by Stephen King [Cold Days](http://www.amazon.com/Cold-Days-Novel-Dresden-Files/dp/0451464400/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357307257&sr=8-1&keywords=cold+days+jim+butcher) by Jim Butcher, Dresden Files series [The Prophet](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=the+prophet+koryta) by Michael Koryta [The Big Book of Ghost Stories](http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Stories-Vintage-Lizard-Original/dp/0307474496/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357308209&sr=1-1&keywords=ghost+stories+otto+penzler) edited by Otto Penzler [The Fear Institute](http://www.amazon.com/Fear-Institute-Johannes-Cabal-3/dp/0755348001/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357308381&sr=1-1&keywords=fear+institute) by Jonathan L. Howard [The Vanishing of Katharina Linden](http://www.amazon.com/Vanishing-Katharina-Linden-Novel/dp/B008SLI69K/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357308482&sr=1-1&keywords=vanishing+of+katharina+linden) by Helen Grant [Wool](http://www.amazon.com/Wool-Omnibus-Hugh-Howey/dp/1469984202/ref=la_B002RX4S5Q_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357310097&sr=1-1) by Hugh Howey [Cold in July](http://www.amazon.com/Cold-July-Joe-R-Lansdale/dp/0753814374/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357310153&sr=1-1&keywords=cold+in+july) and [Edge of Dark Water](http://www.amazon.com/Edge-Dark-Water-Joe-Lansdale/dp/0316188433/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357310260&sr=1-1&keywords=edge+of+dark+water) both by Joe R. Lansdale [Lightspeed: Year One](http://www.amazon.com/Lightspeed-Year-One-Stephen-King/dp/1607013045/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357310346&sr=1-1&keywords=lightspeed+year+one), edited by John Joseph Adams Honorable mention to [Flashman and the Dragon](http://www.amazon.com/Flashman-Dragon-George-MacDonald-Fraser/dp/0452261910/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357310532&sr=1-1&keywords=flashman+and+the+dragon), part of a four-star series which I think we are all already reading or have read! [Beany Malone](http://www.amazon.com/Beany-Malone-Lenora-Mattingly-Weber/dp/0963960741/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357310634&sr=1-1&keywords=beany+Malone) by Lenora Mattingly Weber, if you like that sweet nostalgia sort of thing. [The Chicken Pox Papers](http://www.amazon.com/chicken-pox-papers-Susan-Terris/dp/B0006XFEUW/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357310747&sr=1-1&keywords=the+chicken+pox+papers), by Susan Terris, a rediscovered childhood favorite. [Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary “Jacky” Faber, Ship’s Boy](http://www.amazon.com/Bloody-Jack-Account-Curious-Adventures/dp/015205085X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357310995&sr=1-1&keywords=bloody+jack) by L. A. Meyer. This was an audiobook, wondrously read by Katherine Kellgren. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-books-you-read-in-2012/646076/3 "2013-01-04T16:57:21Z")
1. _ **Three Men in a Boat** _ by Jerome K. Jerome 2.\*\*\* Darkness at Noon\*\*\* by Arthur Koestler 2. \*\*\*The Nine Tailors \*\*\*by Dorothy Sayers 3. \*\*\*The Daughter of Time \*\*\*by Josephine Tey 4. \*\*\*Sister Carrie _**by Theodore Dreiser 6.**_ The Age of Innocence \*\*\*by Edith Wharton 5. \*\*\*The 39 Steps \*\*\*by John Buchan 6. \*\*\*The Old Wives’ Tale \*\*\*by Arnold Bennett 7. _ **The Woman in White** _ by Willkie Collins 8. \*\*\*Scoop \*\*\*by Evelyn Waugh ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-books-you-read-in-2012/646076/4 "2013-01-04T17:09:23Z")
1. **The Fourth Part of the World: The Race to the Ends of the Earth, and the Making of History’s Greatest Map** - Toby Lester 2. **Bridge of Birds** - Barry Hughart 3. **The Last Hero** - Terry Pratchett 4. \*\*Harpo Speaks \*\*- Harpo Marx & Rowland Barber 5. \*\*The Universe in a Nutshell \*\*- Stephen Hawking 6. **A Plague on Both Your Houses** - Susanna Gregory 7. \*\*Dodger \*\*- Terry Pratchett 8. **The Feud that Sparked the Renaissance** - Paul Walker (Brunelleschi’s Dome is a MUCH better book, but this was a good intro to the time period) 9. **Cloud of Sparrows** - Takashi Matsuoka 10. \*\*Blacklist \*\*- Sara Paretsky Hard to cull 10 out of 77 books read! Although I must admit finding 10 I would NEVER read again would be easy:D ---
**Author:** ![Sevencl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sevencl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevencl)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-books-you-read-in-2012/646076/5 "2013-01-04T17:14:03Z")
This has been a slow year for books for me. I got a kindle this year, but overwhelmed by choice, and not wanting to commit to a long book that will take ages to get through so I can read something else, I read nothing. It doesn’t help that I get distracted by the internet. 1. Gone series I read what’s been published so far of a series by an author I loved as a child - or well, he’s the wife of the “author”, but ghost-wrote a lot of the books. The series I read this year was Gone, and it’s by Michael Grant, who is married to K.A. Applegate, the author of the Animorphs series. So it’s “young adult” fiction, but by an author I was excited to read something new by. It was also pretty fun on its own merits. Nothing groundbreaking or award worthy, and has flaws, but enjoyable. 2. Magister trilogy I owned the first book in The Magister Trilogy before reading the full series this year, but never got around to it. The series is about a woman who is essentially a sociopath, and by virtue of this, is able to steal power from other peoples’ lifespans to use herself, killing them in the process. Definitely a villain protagonist, and the series gets novelty points for there being pretty much no “good guys”. Not even shades of grey guys. All the major protagonists and antagonists are equally evil. 3. Jennifer Government Jennifer Government is a book by a guy who made a quite neat online game called “NationStates”. It’s about an objectivist twenty minutes into the future America where capitalism is king. The government is nothing but another corporation and people can choose to buy into their services, or not. The book deals with corporate espionage, up to and including a coalition of corporations like Nike, IBM and Coca-cola all declaring war on what little laws remain, and the government. 4. The Night Circus The Night Circus is a book I read because I’d often seen it referred to as being similar to my favourite book (Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, if you’re interested). It wasn’t similar at all in my opinion, but it was enjoyable enough. It had a unique, almost onomatopoeic writing style: it dealt with a timeless, almost mystical and mysterious circus (it makes sense in context), and the prose definitely sets the mood all the way through. 5. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. Cory Doctorow’s Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. Another future-America pseudo-philosophical style book about a post-scarcity and immortal society where money has become obsolete and wealth is measured in the respect of your peers, in a literal currency called “whuffie”. It was okay for what it was. A bit preachy and seemed like its point was to talk about Cory’s ideal utopian society rather than telling a story. And… I can’t actually think of anything else I read for the first time this year. I’m sure I’m forgetting some, but mostly I re-read stuff this year and anxiously waited for it to be 2013, which is when a lot of sequels to series I’ve been enjoying are due to be released. EDIT: labelled and numbered, though they’re in no particular order. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-books-you-read-in-2012/646076/6 "2013-01-04T17:16:42Z")
I read other books, but these were the only five that stood out: 1. Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn 2. The Passage of Power (Years of Lyndon Johnson) - Robert Caro 3. The Presidents Club: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity - Nancy Gibbs 4. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking - Susan Cain 5. Manhunt: The Ten Year Search for bin Laden - Peter L. Bergen ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-books-you-read-in-2012/646076/7 "2013-01-04T17:17:54Z")
1. \*\*\*Longitude \*\*\*by Dava Sobel 2. \*\*\*Consciousness Explained \*\*\*by Daniel Dennett 3. _ **How God Changes Your Brain** _ by Andrew Newberg 4. _ **The Dress Lodger** _ by Sheri Holman 5. _ **Nicholas Nickleby** _ by Charles Dickens 6. _ **The Hunchback of Notre Dame** _ by Victor Hugo 7. _ **Albert Einstein - A Biography** _ by Albrecht Folsing 8. _ **Lord of the Flies** _ by William Golding 9. _ **The Reader** _ by Bernard Schlink 10. _ **A Country of Vast Designs** _ (basically, Polk’s presidency) by Robert Merry ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-books-you-read-in-2012/646076/8 "2013-01-04T17:21:48Z")
My favorite books this year: 1. [Silently and Very Fast](http://www.amazon.com/Silently-and-Very-Fast-ebook/dp/B00772YNV6/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1357319677&sr=8-1) by Catherryne M. Valente \*\* my favorite of the year \*\* 2. [Curse of Chalion](http://www.amazon.com/Curse-Chalion-Lois-McMaster-Bujold/dp/B001O9CF1I/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357319723&sr=1-1&keywords=curse+of+chalion) by Lois McMaster Bujold 3. [Paladin of Souls](http://www.amazon.com/Paladin-Souls-Lois-McMaster-Bujold/dp/0380818612/ref=pd_sim_b_1) by Lois McMaster Bujold 4. [Among Others](http://www.amazon.com/Among-Others-Jo-Walton/dp/0765331721/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357319822&sr=1-1&keywords=among+others) by Jo Walton 5. [Gone Girl](http://www.amazon.com/Gone-Girl-Novel-Gillian-Flynn/dp/030758836X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357319846&sr=1-1&keywords=gone+girl) by Gillian Flynn 6. [Ship of Destiny](http://www.amazon.com/Ship-Destiny-Liveship-Traders-Book/dp/0553575651/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357319874&sr=1-1&keywords=ship+of+destiny) by Robin Hobb 7.[Soft Apocalypse](http://www.amazon.com/Soft-Apocalypse-Will-McIntosh/dp/159780276X/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357319909&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=soft+apocalylpse) by Will McIntosh 1. [Moon Called](http://www.amazon.com/Called-Mercy-Thompson-Patricia-Briggs/dp/0441019277/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357319936&sr=1-1&keywords=moon+called) by Patricia Briggs 2. [Wool](http://www.amazon.com/Wool-Omnibus-Hugh-Howey/dp/1469984202/ref=la_B002RX4S5Q_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357310097&sr=1-1)by Hugh Howey (still reading the sequels) 3. [Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It](http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Get-Fat-About/dp/0307474259/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357320153&sr=1-1&keywords=why+we+get+fat) by Gary Taubes ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-books-you-read-in-2012/646076/9 "2013-01-04T17:24:11Z")
I’m just going to post my two favorite of the year. 2: [This Book is Full of Spiders](http://www.amazon.com/This-Book-Full-Spiders-Seriously/dp/0312546343/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357319961&sr=8-1&keywords=this+book+is+full+of+spiders). This is the sequel to John Dies at the End by one of the [Cracked.com](http://Cracked.com) writers. I enjoyed the first one quite a bit and the second was even better. It was much more focused and he was better able to play with some of the concepts he introduced in the first. 1: [The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian](http://www.amazon.com/Absolutely-True-Diary-Part-Time-Indian/dp/0316013692/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357320049&sr=1-1&keywords=the+absolutely+true+diary+of+a+part-time+indian+by+sherman+alexie) This book was part of my assigned reading for my Children’s Lit class. I wasn’t going to read it but my internet was down one night and I got bored. I’m so very glad I did, as I found it amazing and finished it that night. I’m applying to graduate school, as are a lot of my friends, and they, top students at a world class university, are _still_ feeling a lot of the issues that the protagonist in the book feel. Are they betraying their family and friends by potentially moving across the country? Are they betraying themselves? Their parents work hard to give them opportunities and yet don’t want their children to take them if it means leaving the area. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-books-you-read-in-2012/646076/10 "2013-01-04T17:32:42Z")
**Trapped** by Marc Aronson **Arguably: Essays** by Christopher Hitchens **Bossypants** by Tina Fey **Life Itself: A Memoir** by Roger Ebert **A World on Fire** by Amanda Foreman **The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood** by James Gleick **2312** by Kim Stanley Robinson **No Easy Day** by Mark Owen **Life of Pi** by Yann Martel **Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker** by Jonathan Little ---
**Author:** ![Implicit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Implicit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Implicit)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-books-you-read-in-2012/646076/11 "2013-01-04T17:45:22Z")
_The Daughter of Time_ by Josephine Tey - part mystery, part history (her other Alan Grant books are good too) \* Slow Horses\* by Mick Herron - British spy spoof, witty and ironic _11/22/63_ by Stephen King - a trip… back to the 60’s \* Bruno, Chief of Police\* by Martin Walker - the subject matter is dark, the detective is cuddly, the small village in France is charming, plus Walker can write _The Remains of the Day_ by Kazuo Ishiguro - beautifully written story about a butler’s regrets _Still Life_ by Louise Penny - mystery series set in rural Quebec with quirky characters \* The Bell Jar\* by Sylvia Plath - a revelation _A Short History of Nearly Everything_ by Bill Bryson - hard to put down history of science _Ethan Frome_ by Edith Wharton - tragic and dark _Unbroken_ by Lauren Hillenbrand - harrowing true story of survival set in the Pacific in WWII ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-books-you-read-in-2012/646076/12 "2013-01-04T18:00:56Z")
Great thread idea! It looks like I read a lot of stinkers this year, but I did manage to find ten I liked: Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson Heroic Measures: A Novel, by Jill Ciment 11/22/63, by Stephen King Winter’s Bone, by Danial Woodrell Reamde, by Neal Stephenson The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson Poetry of the American West, by Alison Hawthorne Deming The Atrocity Book, by Joan Colby Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer ---
**Author:** ![Rala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@Rala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rala)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-books-you-read-in-2012/646076/13 "2013-01-04T18:14:48Z")
1. [American Gods](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/567724.American_Gods) by Neil Gaiman 2. [Alien Emergencies: A Sector General Omnibus](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/318390.Alien_Emergencies) by James White 3. [The Robots of Dawn](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/528298.The_Robots_Of_Dawn) by Isaac Asimov 4. [The Left Hand of Darkness](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/831874.The_Left_Hand_of_Darkness) by Ursula K. Le Guin 5. [Blackbringer](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6383491-blackbringer) by Laini Taylor 6. [General Practice: A Sector General Omnibus](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/318392.General_Practice) by James White 7. [To Say Nothing of the Dog](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24981.To_Say_Nothing_of_the_Dog) by Connie Willis 8. [Archangel](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97961.Archangel) by Sharon Shinn 9. [Right Ho, Jeeves](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8200888-right-ho-jeeves) by P. G. Wodehouse 10. [The Tell-Tale Brain](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12014762-the-tell-tale-brain) by V. S. Ramachandran The first six on this list are the ones I rated five stars, 7-10 are the best of the ones I gave four stars. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-books-you-read-in-2012/646076/14 "2013-01-04T18:22:08Z")
1. 11/22/63 by Stephen King 2. The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens …and the rest in no particular order: Tom Jones by Henry Fielding The Warden by Anthony Trollope Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope Phineas Finn by Anthony Trollope The Virginians by William Makepeace Thackeray The Newcomes by William Makepeace Thackeray The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain Bossypants by Tina Fey It might look like I’m a big fan of Anthony Trollope, but note that I read twelve of his books this year and only three made the top ten list. Also note that I read Three Men in a Boat this year as well, but it didn’t make the cut. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-books-you-read-in-2012/646076/15 "2013-01-04T18:36:41Z")
• Main Street, by Sinclair Lewis. This was a re-read. It’s my favorite book of all time. • Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster, by Jon Krakauer. • The “Little House on the Prairie” series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I re-read these in preparation for reading Wendy McClure’s “The Wilder Life.” It was fun to revisit them as an adult. • Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell. This was another re-read. • The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern. • Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, by Seth Grahame-Smith. • Twisted Tree, by Kent Meyers. • A Night to Remember, by Walter Lord • Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen. And yet another re-read. • The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie, by Wendy McClure. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-books-you-read-in-2012/646076/16 "2013-01-04T18:59:41Z")
I liked a lot of the titles already mentioned, especially _The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie_ (I was really laughing out loud at some parts of this, and I’m not usually a “laugh out loud” reader) and _The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian_, I love Sherman Alexie. I don’t think _Gone Girl_ was one of the BEST books I read this year, but it was probably the biggest page-turner. My top ten for 2012: _Kraken_ by China Mieville _Code Name Verity_ by Elizabeth Wein _Mightier Than the Sword: Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the Battle for America_ by David Reynolds _Train Dreams_ by Denis Johnson _The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains_ by owen Wister _The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet_ by David Mitchell _The Family That Couldn’t Sleep: A Medical Mystery_ by D.T. Max (and a recommendation I got from the SDMB) _A Dance With Dragons_ by George R.R. Martin _The Fault in Our Stars_ by John Green _Red Seas Under Red Skies_ by Scott Lynch ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-books-you-read-in-2012/646076/17 "2013-01-04T19:09:27Z")
I’m at work so don’t have time to put down ten (or even think through the choices), but I do know my top five for now: 1. [HHhH](http://www.amazon.com/HHhH-Novel-Laurent-Binet/dp/0374169918/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357325742&sr=1-1&keywords=hhhh) (Laurent Binet) - an account of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich who, evidently, was known as ‘Himmlers Hirn heisst Heydrich’ in German (‘Himmler’s brain is called Heydrich’ in English), hence the HHhH title. The only work of history in which I’m aware the author keeps confessing to the reader sentiments to the effect of “I’m not really sure this is the way it happened, but it would be appropriately tragic”. 2. [Destiny of the Republic](http://www.amazon.com/Destiny-Republic-Madness-Medicine-President/dp/0767929713/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357325801&sr=1-1&keywords=destiny+of+the+republic) (Candice Millard) - many things: a heart-wrenching biogrpahy of James Garfield, a chronicle of US politics circa 1880, a scathing look at “Medicine” of the era. Outstanding in every way. 3. [The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America](http://www.amazon.com/Big-Burn-Teddy-Roosevelt-America/dp/0547394608/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357325944&sr=1-1&keywords=big+burn) (Timothy Egan) - live and learn; I had no idea about this HUGE forest fire nor was I aware what an anachronism Teddy Roosevelt was. He would fit in well with the Green Party today. 4. [To End All Wars](http://www.amazon.com/End-All-Wars-Rebellion-1914-1918/dp/B008PIC0T8/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357325899&sr=1-1&keywords=to+end+all+wars) (Adam Hochschild) - WWI as experienced by the minority who opposed it. Remarkable stuff. All of it new to me. 5. [Agent Zigzag](http://www.amazon.com/Agent-Zigzag-Story-Espionage-Betrayal/dp/0307353419/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357325969&sr=1-1&keywords=agent+zigzag) (Ben MacIntyre) - Ostensibly true, the story of a truly remarkable double-agent (Zigzag) with nerves and balls of steel. He did as much damage to the Germans as radar and Ultra! ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-books-you-read-in-2012/646076/18 "2013-01-04T19:14:42Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > 1. [The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America](http://www.amazon.com/Big-Burn-Teddy-Roosevelt-America/dp/0547394608/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357325944&sr=1-1&keywords=big+burn) (Timothy Egan) - live and learn; I had no idea about this HUGE forest fire nor was I aware what an anachronism Teddy Roosevelt was. He would fit in well with the Green Party today. Just added to my TBR pile. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-books-you-read-in-2012/646076/19 "2013-01-04T19:23:49Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Just added to my TBR pile. Good move. You won’t be disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-books-you-read-in-2012/646076/20 "2013-01-04T19:31:57Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Just added to my TBR pile. Mine, too! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-books-you-read-in-2012/646076.md?page=2)