Let me take this opportunity to offer a belated "Happy New Year!" to my tens of followers. I hope that 2013 is off to a good start for all.
Yes, I have been a bad blogger again. Life has been challenging. Blogging is time-consuming. And that's all I'm going to say about that. I thank you all for sticking with me, and I'll try to do better moving forward. That's what new year's resolutions are for, right?
One of my favorite things about the end of the old year and the beginning of the new one are all the top 10 lists. I have participated by posting a top 10 lists of my favorite books each year. This year was among the very hardest to narrow down due to the sheer number of books I read in 2012. In the end, these were my choices. It is my habit and tradition to only rank my #1 book. All others are listed in the order in which they were read.
1. Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon
The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson
Gods Without Men by Hari Kunzru
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
In One Person by John Irving
Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
This is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz
The Round House by Louise Erdrich
A Hologram for the King by Dave Eggers
Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rivka Brunt
*****
I have to tell you, I have spent the past several days crafting a fantastic blog post. I wrote a paragraph or more on why each book was selected. It had live links to the books, the authors, video I shot, and lots of cover art. I saved it dozens of times along the way, and I was almost finished. It would have been posted tonight. And then it just... disappeared. And only the tinest bit of it was recoverable. I don't know why. I'm fairly sick about it. And I don't have the energy to recreate the effort. So, I'm afraid all you get this year is a list. :-(
Suffice it to say, I cannot recommend these 10 books highly enough.
In brighter news, my next post will list all 202 books I read in 2012.
