Books Read in 2012

This is the list of the 94 books I read in 2012, in the order that I read them, with links to the 52 reviews I wrote.

2012 was the first year in quite a while that I didn't read at least 100 books. I blame Whittaker Chambers, whose dense, 800+ page Witness sucked up a lot of reading time.  But the lower total was also intentional.  I made a reading resolution to concentrate on Witness and some other longer books and not pay attention to the number of books I read.

There is not much rhyme or reason to whether I review a book or not. Some of my favorite books go without a review.

I rate a book a 3 if I liked it but wouldn't think of recommending it and a 4 if I would recommend it to anyone. Lots of books get 3.5, which means that I liked it and would recommend it to people who like that genre or type of book.  For a full explanation of my rating system, see here.

If you have reviewed any of the books I reviewed, and you would like your review listed on mine, please leave a comment on my review post for that book with a link to your review and I will add it.

2012 BOOKS

The Coffee Trader by David Liss (3.5/5)

Tinkers by Paul Hardin (2.5/5) (reviewed here)

High Stakes by Dick Francis (3.5/5) (reviewed here)

Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth (4/5) (reviewed here)

A Case of Need by Michael Crichton (3/5)

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (3.5/5) (reviewed here)

The Mandelbaum Gate by Muriel Spark (4/5) (reviewed here)

Dracula by Bram Stoker (4/5) (reviewed here)

The Rubber Band by Rex Stout (3.5/5) (reviewed here)

My Grandfather's Son by Clarence Thomas (3.5/5)

Shroud for a Nightingale by P. D. James (3.5/5)

Living by Henry Green (2.5/5) (reviewed here)

Blood Sport by Dick Francis (3.5/5) (reviewed here)

Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe by Thomas Cahill (3.5/5) (reviewed here)

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré (3/5) (reviewed here)

The Innocents Abroad, Volume I, by Mark Twain (3.5/5) (reviewed here)

Serenissima by Erica Jong (3.5/5) (reviewed here)

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (3.5/5)

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (3.5/5) (reviewed here)

The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie (3.5/5)

The Pothunters by P. G. Wodehouse (3/5) (reviewed here)

What's So Great about Christianity by Dinesh D’Souza (4/5)

A Bell for Adano by John Hersey (3.5/5) (reviewed here)

Murder in Belleville by Cara Black (3/5) (reviewed here)

The Black Tower by P. D. James (3.5/5) (reviewed here)

Driving Force by Dick Francis (3.5/5)

The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie (3.5/5)

World Without End by Ken Follett (3/5) (reviewed here)

The World of Herb Caen: San Francisco 1938-1997 by Barnaby Conrad (3.5/5) (reviewed here)

The Black Book by Ian Rankin (3.5/5) (reviewed here)

A Month of Sundays by John Updike (3.5/5) (reviewed here)

Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope (4/5) (reviewed here)

Dressed for Death by Donna Leon (3.5/5)

Vie De France: Sharing Food, Friendship and a Kitchen in the Lorie Valley by James Haller (3/5) (reviewed here)

Out Stealing Horses by Per Patterson (3/5)

The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson (4/5) (reviewed here)

On the Town in New York: The Landmark History of Eating, Drinking, and Entertainments from the American Revolution to the Food Revolution by Michael Ariane Batterberry (3.5/5) (reviewed here)

Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table by Ruth Reichl (3.5/5) (reviewed here)

A Time of Hope by C. P. Snow (3.5/5) (reviewed here)

Christine Falls by Benjamin Black (3.5/5)

Home Truths by David Lodge (3.5/5) (reviewed here)

Other People's Children by Joanna Trollope (3.5/5)

Glittering Images by Susan Howatch (3.5/5) (reviewed here)

The Hapless Valet by Lenhardt Stevens (3.5/5) (reviewed here)

Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships by Daniel Goleman (3/5)

Spies of the Balkans by Alan Furst (3.5/5)

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (3.5/5) (reviewed here)

Trespass by Rose Tremain (3.5/5)

Greene on Capri: A Memoir by Shirley Hazzard (3/5) (reviewed here)

The Spectator Bird by Wallace Stegner (4.5/5) (reviewed here)

Starvation Lake by Brian Gruley (3/5)

Paradise Postponed by John Mortimer (3/5) (reviewed here)

Silver Swan by Benjamin Black (3.5/5)

The Gate House by Nelson DeMille (3.5/5) (reviewed here)

The Edge by Dick Francis (3.5/5)

Writing Places: The Life Journey of a Writer and Teacher by William Zinsser (3.5/5)

The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly (3.5/5)

Witness by Whittaker Chambers (3/5) (reviewed here)

Mr. Sammler's Planet by Saul Bellow (3/5) (reviewed here)

Brother and Sister by Joanna Trollope (3/5)

Swan Peak by James Lee Burke (3.5/5) (reviewed here)


The Comedians by Graham Greene (3.5/5) (reviewed here)
 
Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil by Tom Mueller (3.5/5) (reviewed here)

How to Read and Why by Harold Bloom (2.5/5) (reviewed here)

Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morely (3/5)

Ring for Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse (3.5/5)

The Folks That Live on the Hill by Kingsley Amis (3.5/5)

Death at the Bar by Ngaio Marsh (3.5/5)

Venetian Mask by Mickey Friedman (3/5)

The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers (3.5/5) (reviewed here)

Monsieur Pamplemousse Investigates by Michael Bond (3/5) (reviewed here)

The Man with the Golden Arm by Nelson Algren (3/5) (reviewed here)

Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler (3/5)

Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 by Simon Winchester (3.5/5)

Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey (3/5) (reviewed here)

The Imperfectionists by Tm Rachman (3.5/5)

The General's Daughter by Nelson DeMille (3.5/5)

Evolutionaries: Transformational Leadership: The Missing Link in Your Organizational Chart by Carmen E Voillequé and Randy Harrington (3.5/5) (reviewed here)

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak (3/5) (reviewed here)

Death at the President's Lodging by Michael Innes (3.5/5)

May We Borrow Your Husband? & Other Comedies of the Sexual Life by Graham Greene (4/5) (reviewed here)

Fortune's Deadly Descent by Audrey Braun (3.5/5) (reviewed here)

Death of an Expert Witness by P. D. James (3.5/5)

Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time by Susan Scott (3.5/5)

The Honourable Schoolboy by John le Carré (4/5) (reviewed here)

The Book & the Brotherhood by Iris Murdoch (4/5) (reviewed here)

A Personal Odyssey by Thomas Sowell (3.5/5)

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni (3.5/5)

The Children of Men by P. D. James (3.5/5)

About Face by Donna Leon (3/5)

Lift by Kelly Corrigan (3/5)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (4/5)

Friends and Lovers by Helen MacInnes (3/5)

See's Famous Old Time Candies: A Sweet Story by Margaret Moos Pick (3/5)

State of the Blog: Part One, the Lists

One of my blog New Year's resolutions is to abandon a couple of my routine posts and concentrate more on reviews. The biggest "tradition" I am going to give up are these State of the Blog posts.  I've used these quarterly blog assessment posts to keep track of the progress I've made on my various lists -- Prize Winners and Must Reads, Favorite Authors, and Challenges.  They have been useful for me because they make me update my lists, but they are not particularly interesting posts.


So I am going to do one final set of State of the Blog posts to wrap up my 2012 reading.  Then I will think of some other way to stay organized and keep my lists updated. 

This first part addresses the book lists. Part Two, coming soon, will take a look at the author lists.  Part Three will deal with the challenges I joined in 2012.

My book lists are over in the right-side column. These are divided between Prize Winners and Must Reads and include lists of books I have read or intend to read for some reason or another. Also in the right-side column are lists of my favorite authors. I add to these lists of lists from time to time.

I only listed a list below if I read a book from it in 2012.


NOTE: If you are working on any of these lists, please leave a comment here or on the post for the list (click on the title below or in the right-hand column) and leave a link to any related post. I will add the links on the list post. 

THE PRIZE WINNERS

EDGAR AWARD

Books read in 2012: A Case of Need by Micheal Crichton (as Jeffery Hudson)

JAMES TAIT BLACK MEMORIAL PRIZE

Books read in 2012:  

• The Mandelbaum Gate by Muriel Spark (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, British Version); and
• The Honourable Schoolboy by John le Carré (reviewed here; read for the 2012 Battle of the Prizes, British Version).

MAN BOOKER PRIZE

Books read in 2012 (both for the 2012 Battle of the Prizes, British Version):

• The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson (reviewed here); and
• Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey (reviewed here). 

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

Books read in 2012: three (two for for the 2012 Battle of the Prizes, American Version):

• The Spectator Bird, by Wallace Stegner (reviewed here);
• Mr. Sammler's Planet by Saul Bellow (reviewed here); and
• The Man With the Golden Arm by Nelson Algren (reviewed here)

NOBEL LAUREATES

Books read in 2012: two

• Mr. Sammler's Planet by Saul Bellow (reviewed here); and
• Doctor Zhivagoby Boris Pasternak (reviewed here)

ORANGE PRIZE

Books read in 2012: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Half of a Yellow Sun

PULITZER PRIZE

Books read in 2012: two, both for for the 2012 Battle of the Prizes, American Version

• A Bell for Adano by John Hersey (reviewed here); and
• Tinkers by Paul Harding (reviewed here)

THE "MUST READS"

ANTHONY BURGESS

This list is from 99 Novels: The Best in English Since 1939 by Anthony Burgess, which I reviewed here. 

Books read in 2012: The Mandelbaum Gate by Muriel Spark (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, British Version, challenge).

BOOK CLUB

Books read in 2012: four

• Tinkers by Paul Harding (Pulitzer winner; reviewed here);
• Half of a Yellow Sun; by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie;
• People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (reviewed here); and
• The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman 

COLLEGE BOARD

Books read in 2012: Doctor Zhivagoby Boris Pasternak (reviewed here)

EASTON PRESS

Books read in 2012: three

•  Dracula by Bram Stoker (reviewed here);
• The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Lewis Stevenson (reviewed here); and
  
• Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (not reviewed yet)

ERICA JONG

Books read in 2012: The Children of Men by P.D. James

FRENCH CONNECTION

Books read in 2012: three

• The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain (reviewed here);
• Murder in Belleville by Cara Black (reviewed here); and
• Vie De France: Sharing Food, Friendship and a Kitchen in the Lorie Valle by James Haller (reviewed here) 

NATIONAL REVIEW

Books read in 2012: Witness, Whittaker Chambers (reviewed here)

OBSERVER'S TOP 100

Books read in 2012: two

• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré (reviewed here); and
• Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey (reviewed here). 

VENICE BOOKS

This is a new list that I just created in 2011. I made more progress in 2012 when I participated in the Venice in February Challenge.

Books read in 2012: four

• The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain (reviewed here);
• Serenissima by Erica Jong (reviewed here); 
• Dressed for Death by Donna Leon; and 
• About Face by Donna Leon.

WELL-STOCKED BOOKCASE

Books read in 2012: one, The Man With the Golden Arm by Nelson Algren (reviewed here)

Book Beginnings: We the Enemy

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.

TWITTER, ETC:If you are on Twitter, please tweet a link to your post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I also recently signed up for Google+ and have a button over there in the right-hand column to join my circles or whatever it is. I don't really understand yet how that one works.

MR. LINKY: Please leave a link to your post below. If you don't have a blog, but want to participate, please leave a comment with your Book Beginning.



MY BOOK BEGINNING

The young woman laughed and swung the child back and forth.

-- We the Enemy by Ray Rhamey.  This is a sadly timely story because it was a school shooting several years ago in California that inspired Rhamey to write the book.  He wrote it to address the issue of gun violence.

I met Ray when we were on a panel together at the Wordstock book festival.  He is a writer and editor and has a very fun blog called Flogging the Quill, where he offers to critique the first page of someone's manuscript, with readers' comments and votes on whether they would read past the first page.

My Star Rating System

My book rating system is pretty little loosey goosey.  I don't include star ratings on my reviews, only on my annual list of books read that year.  This means that I sit down at the end of the year and decide how many stars to give each book, even books that I read months and months ago.  Under this system, a book may do better or worse, depending on how it has lingered in my mind since I read it.

This is a subjective rating system, based on my likes and dislikes, although my subjective judgment usually correlates to objective criteria. That is, if a book is poorly written, has clunky dialog, flat characters, or plot flaws, I am probably not going to like it and will give it a low rating. On the other hand, if a book is technically good and I enjoy it, I will give it a high rating.

These subjective and objective notions meet in a muddled middle in my 3/5 rating. I give a lot of books 3/5, either because I was entertained and glad to have read them, but did not think they were all that well-written, or because I thought the book was excellent from an objective standpoint, but I did not care for it personally (most Henry James novels come to mind). 

I also rate a lot of books 3.5/5, which means that I liked it and would recommend it to certain people who I think would enjoy it, usually because they like that genre or type of book, but I would not make a general recommendation.

Otherwise, half a point added means my judgment is on the borderline.

With those general ideas in mind:

• 5/5 means it is an all-time favorite, but I rarely give anything five stars; 

• 4/5 means I liked it and either would recommend it generally, or at least think it worthy of general recommendation, even if no one takes me up on it; 

• 3/5 means either that I enjoyed it for what it was or think it is a "good" book, but would probably not recommend it; 

• 2/5 means I did not like it; and 

• 1/5 means I really, really disliked it. 

No rating does not mean 0/5. It just means that I read the book too long ago to remember it enough to rate it, I am not qualified to rate it (poetry, for instance) or I simply forgot to rate it.

What Are They Reading? Cutting for Stone

Authors tend to be readers, so it is natural for them to create characters who like to read.  It is always interesting to me to read what books the characters are reading in the books I read. Even if I can't say that ten times fast.

Usually, the characters' choice of books reflects the author's tastes or, I sometimes think, what the author was reading at the time.  But sometimes the character's reading material is a clue to the character's personality, or is even a part of the story. 

This is an occasional blog event. If anyone wants to join in, feel free to leave a comment with a link to your related post. And feel free to use the button.  If this catches on, I can pick a day and make it a weekly event.

CUTTING FOR STONE BY ABRAHAM VERGHESE

My book club read Cutting for Stone a while back but I didn't get to it because I knew I was going to miss that meeting. Everyone loved it and now that I am reading it, I can understand why -- it is such an engrossing story about medicine and doctors and Africa and twins and religion and so much more.

There is a part where the narrator and his twin brother are still tiny, preemie babies and the brother suffers from "apnea of prematurity" that causes him to stop breathing when he sleeps.  The two doctors take turns watching him in the night so they can jiggle him when he stops breathing so that he starts again.

To stay  awake, the doctors read through a set of classic novels, starting with Middlemarch by George Eliot.  Reading the same book gives them something to talk about besides their work and the fate of the baby twins.  They always had a bantering, flirtatious relationship, so it is easy to guess where all that book talk led to . . .