Some of The Independent's staff picked their favorites books of 2012. Find out which books made the cut!
Rebecca Meloan’s List of Books
The Cove by Ron Rash
An atmospheric and heartbreaking tale of Appalachian life during the First World War, this languid southern gothic mystery speaks to the heated political rhetoric of today.
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
Adolescent struggles can be hard enough. But try dealing with it when the earth’s rotation has slowed, days and nights are stretched by hours, and gravity is changed. With a looming apocalypse, this novel gives an imaginative twist to the standard coming-of-age tale.
Song of Achilles: A Novel by Madeline Miller
Patroclus and Achilles rival Romeo and Juliet for the title of literature’s greatest star-crossed lovers.
The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson
A carefully researched yet fictional account of suffering in North Korea. Cruelty, starvation, violence and corruption are juxtaposed with moments of tenderness, beauty and love.
A Good American by Alex George
A charming and sentimental saga about a family of immigrants, the roots they put down and the generations that follow.
The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis
Hattie’s “tribes,” her children, are children of the Great Migration. Each chapter is the story of a different child at a different time. Through their eyes we learn about Hattie’s demons, and her resilience. In Ayana Mathis’ beautiful writing, each character jumps to life, and the story grows richer as the years pass.
Harriet Dwinell’s List of Books
Canada by Richard Ford
The first two-thirds is breathtaking, the last third, not so much. Still, this is a memorable book that readers shouldn’t miss.
Josh Trapani’s List of Books
Billy Lynn’s Long Half-Time Walk by Ben Fountain
A finalist for the National Book Award in fiction, this book focuses on Iraq war heroes at an NFL game in a way that juxtaposes the war with what’s being fought for here at home.
The Signal and the Noise by Nate Silver
This book by the founder of the fivethirtyeight blog looks at what makes predictions good or bad.
A close runner-up:
Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel
Katie Dvorak’s Book
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Providing an honest and full look at cancer in young adults, this book is heartbreaking and poignant in its portrayal of those with cancer as real people with hopes and dreams — not just victims of a horrible disease.
David Stewart’s List of Books
The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson – A thrilling tour at breakneck pace of the psychoses of life in totalitarian North Korea, where the most important question on any government project is not what happened, but what you might be able to say happened. Brilliant.
Behind the Beautiful Forevers, by Katherine Boo – Every now and then the book that wins all the awards actually deserves them. A painstaking account of life in an Indian slum, It will enrage you, depress you, tickle you, and begin (only begin) to help you imagine the stress of everyday life in modern Asia.
The Floating Island, by Garrett Epps – The best novel on life in Washington, DC since Henry Adams’ Democracy. OK, it was published in 1985, but it’s laugh-out-loud funny today, and I read it this year.
