Big Book List 2012
Well it’s that time of year again when we get to review things. First up for me is always what books I’ve read. I didn’t get through as many in 2012 as I have in pervious years, but then I knew that wasn’t going to happen. Goodreads - which is a fun place - tells me that I managed 45. Here they are, grouped how much I enjoyed them rather than just a random list, and if you want any information on any of them or want to chat about them, fire away! Books are love.
Fantastic = the best of the best. The ones that I felt the urge to tell everyone bout, multiple times, including strangers on the bus. The ones that I bought other people because I had to share. The ones that I really, really enjoyed.
Great = the best of the rest. Books that I would reread, or lodged themselves in my head so thoroughly that rereading might be redundant.
Good = books that I enjoyed, but since book-lovers can't afford everything these ones you could save your money on and find them in the library.
Okay = books are books and therefore wonderful, but I can't help feeling that these ones could have been better.
The Bottom of the Pile = well if you have nothing else to read
Fantastic
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Deathless by Catherinne M. Valente
Thirteen by Kelley Armstrong (last in series)
The Usual Rules by Joyce Maynard
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
Black Widow: The Name of the Rose by Liu and Acuna (graphic novel)
Great
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (first of series)
Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch (third of series)
Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah
Dear Zoe by Philip Beard
Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O’Brien
Divergent by Veronica Roth (first of series)
Insurgent by Veronica Roth (second of series)
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
The Mouse That Roared by Leonard Wibberley
A Storm of Swords: Steel and Snow by George RR Martin (fourth of series)
Selected Poems by Simon Armitage (poetry)
Rapture by Carol Ann Duffy (poetry)
Black Widow: The Itsy-Bitsy Spider by Grayson, Rucka, and Jones (graphic novel)
Under the Big Top: A Season with the Circus by Bruce Feiler (non-fiction)
Good
The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter
Team Human by Sarah Rees Brennan and Justine Larbalestier
Ultraviolet by R. J. Anderson
Guantanamo Boy by Anna Perera
Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan
The Calling by Kelley Armstrong (second in trilogy)
The Hunter and The Hunted by Kelley Armstrong
Of Mutability by Jo Shapcott (poetry)
Circus Mania! by Douglas McPherson (non-fiction)
Black Orchid by Gaiman and McKean (graphic novel)
Avengers: The Intiative (1) Basic Training by Scott and Caselli (graphic novel)
Avengers: The Initiative (2) Killed In Action by Scott and Caselli (graphic novel)
Okay
Chocky by John Wyndham
The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
Obernewtyn by Isobelle Carmody (first of series)
Bullyville by Francine Prose
Children of the Dust by Louise Lawrence
We All Fall Down by Eric Walters
After The Bomb by Gloria D Milkowitz
The Last War by Martyn Godfrey
X Men Origins by Sean McKeever et al (graphic novel)
X Men Origins II by Stuart Moore et al (graphic novel)
The Bottom of the Pile
If Winter Comes by Lynn Hall
Avengers: Road to Marvel’s Avengers by Peter David et al (graphic novel)
Previous Big Book Lists: 2011, 2010, and 2009.
I’m not sure what the big book releases of 2013 are going to be, but I’m keeping an eye out for: The Rising by Kelley Armstrong, which is the last book in a YA trilogy; the first book in Kelley Armstrong’s new series; the third (and final) Divergent book by Veronica Roth; the third (and final) Justin Cronin and Patrick Rothfuss books (although I think those will be a while coming); and I believe Neil Gaiman has a new novel on the way.
I got Dodger by Terry Pratchett for Christmas and after reading Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies I hunted down the rest of that series in a discount bookstore, so those are currently at the top of my to-read pile. What are everyone else’s to-read lists looking like?
Fantastic = the best of the best. The ones that I felt the urge to tell everyone bout, multiple times, including strangers on the bus. The ones that I bought other people because I had to share. The ones that I really, really enjoyed.
Great = the best of the rest. Books that I would reread, or lodged themselves in my head so thoroughly that rereading might be redundant.
Good = books that I enjoyed, but since book-lovers can't afford everything these ones you could save your money on and find them in the library.
Okay = books are books and therefore wonderful, but I can't help feeling that these ones could have been better.
The Bottom of the Pile = well if you have nothing else to read
Fantastic
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Deathless by Catherinne M. Valente
Thirteen by Kelley Armstrong (last in series)
The Usual Rules by Joyce Maynard
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
Black Widow: The Name of the Rose by Liu and Acuna (graphic novel)
Great
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (first of series)
Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch (third of series)
Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah
Dear Zoe by Philip Beard
Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O’Brien
Divergent by Veronica Roth (first of series)
Insurgent by Veronica Roth (second of series)
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
The Mouse That Roared by Leonard Wibberley
A Storm of Swords: Steel and Snow by George RR Martin (fourth of series)
Selected Poems by Simon Armitage (poetry)
Rapture by Carol Ann Duffy (poetry)
Black Widow: The Itsy-Bitsy Spider by Grayson, Rucka, and Jones (graphic novel)
Under the Big Top: A Season with the Circus by Bruce Feiler (non-fiction)
Good
The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter
Team Human by Sarah Rees Brennan and Justine Larbalestier
Ultraviolet by R. J. Anderson
Guantanamo Boy by Anna Perera
Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan
The Calling by Kelley Armstrong (second in trilogy)
The Hunter and The Hunted by Kelley Armstrong
Of Mutability by Jo Shapcott (poetry)
Circus Mania! by Douglas McPherson (non-fiction)
Black Orchid by Gaiman and McKean (graphic novel)
Avengers: The Intiative (1) Basic Training by Scott and Caselli (graphic novel)
Avengers: The Initiative (2) Killed In Action by Scott and Caselli (graphic novel)
Okay
Chocky by John Wyndham
The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
Obernewtyn by Isobelle Carmody (first of series)
Bullyville by Francine Prose
Children of the Dust by Louise Lawrence
We All Fall Down by Eric Walters
After The Bomb by Gloria D Milkowitz
The Last War by Martyn Godfrey
X Men Origins by Sean McKeever et al (graphic novel)
X Men Origins II by Stuart Moore et al (graphic novel)
The Bottom of the Pile
If Winter Comes by Lynn Hall
Avengers: Road to Marvel’s Avengers by Peter David et al (graphic novel)
Previous Big Book Lists: 2011, 2010, and 2009.
I’m not sure what the big book releases of 2013 are going to be, but I’m keeping an eye out for: The Rising by Kelley Armstrong, which is the last book in a YA trilogy; the first book in Kelley Armstrong’s new series; the third (and final) Divergent book by Veronica Roth; the third (and final) Justin Cronin and Patrick Rothfuss books (although I think those will be a while coming); and I believe Neil Gaiman has a new novel on the way.
I got Dodger by Terry Pratchett for Christmas and after reading Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies I hunted down the rest of that series in a discount bookstore, so those are currently at the top of my to-read pile. What are everyone else’s to-read lists looking like?