Monday, January 14, 2013

Bookworms

So somehow I have read at least 50 books a year for the last five years and not burned the eyes out of my head.  Every year I pick a Top 10 favorite reads.  Below are the Top 10 for each year 2008-2012, reordered as a list of favorites from #1 to #50.  I might reorder them slightly if I were to do this again tomorrow but my top ten there are solid faves that either mean a lot to me or introduced me to new ideas or have stuck with me.  It's winter, read something!

Stars In My Pocket Like Grains of Sand by Samuel R. Delany

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Lunar Park by Brett Easton Ellis

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

The City and The City by China Mieville

The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo

Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin

Clans of the Alphane Moon by Philip K. Dick

The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon


 The Boy Detective Fails by Joe Meno

The Keep by Jennifer Egan

He Died With His Eyes Open by Derek Raymond

Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson

Nobody's Angel by Jack Clark

Robbie's Wife by Russell Hill

Rule of the Bone by Russell Banks

Nineteen Seventy-Four by David Peace

The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie


The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt

The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

The Painter of Battles by Arturo Perez-Reverte

Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks
 
The Tourist by Olen Steinhauer



Up in the Air by Walter Kirn

Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby

 Embassytown by China Mieville

Easy Money by Jens Lapidus

The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jessi Adler-Olsen

The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline






The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King


The Murderer Vine by Shepard Rifkin

Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill

An Evil Guest by Gene Wolfe


Babylon Babies by Maurice G. Dantec

Missing by Karen Alvtegen


 Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon
 
The Wandering Ghost by Martin Limon

The Wheat Field by Steve Thayer

 Real World by Natsuo Kirino

The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbo

Hypothermia by Arnaldur Indridason

 Amnesia Moon by Jonathan Lethem

 Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey

 Citizen Vince by Jess Walter

 Bossypants by Tina Fey
 
Blackmailer by George Alexrod

His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

Resolution by Robert B. Parker

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Favorites Reads of 2012

I narrowly skated into keeping my promise of reading 50 books in 2012, but made it at the end thanks to a couple of snowbound days right after Christmas.  I had vowed to try to read a little smarter, and thus maybe a little slower, but I think I have a good top ten list favorite reads to show for it.  And here they are:

Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt


The Dog Stars by Peter Heller


The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters


He Died With His Eyes Open by Derek Raymond

Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson


Easy Money by Jens Lapidus

The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jessi Adler-Olsen

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Happy Reading and I am off to 2013 and hopefully 50 more.