Kelly Braffet's Blog - Posts Tagged "best-of-the-year"
Oh, please, not another List
Yeah. Sorry.
Anyway, I just posted my quick-and-dirty reviews of the best books I read in 2012. Which doesn't mean that they were published in 2012, just that that's when they came to to the top of the pile. I recommend all of them wholeheartedly.
ETA: Okay, in retrospect this whole "scroll down" nonsense is confusing. You can find the books and reviews on my "best of the year 2012" bookshelf. You can also find them here:
Fiction:
The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway
This book is amazing: so massive and crushing and smart, and so under control – which is where I feel like so many speculative novels go wrong. Loved it.
True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
A rip-roaring adventure story. I spent the first few pages wondering if there was any way he could possibly pull that voice off, and he totally, absolutely did – which is a testament to what an amazing writer Peter Carey is. This is one of his best.
Dare Me by Megan Abbott
A noir about cheerleaders! Which is fitting, because there is very little scarier than a power-drunk teenaged girl. The dialogue in this book snaps, crackles and pops right along with the best of the pulps. It’s true that nobody actually talks like that, but I sure as hell wish they did.
Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers
Why oh why in the name of all things righteous have I not read Dorothy Sayers before? I loved this book. Sure, it’s dated and bloated and ends on a bit of a Scooby-Doo note, but man. That woman could write.
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt
I love genre-twisters, and this is a great one. An inside-out Western, violent and sad and lovely.
The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti
This is a fantastic book: a true adventure story, beautifully told. It's sort of like William Gay’s Twilight meets Dickens, with a little Twain thrown in for good measure.
Solitaire by Kelley Eskeridge
So good. So smart. So heart-breaking. Hard SF that isn’t hard, if you know what I mean: real, conflicted characters, in a real, conflicted world. I have her collection on my to-read shelf, but it kills me that she hasn’t written another novel yet.
Nonfiction
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie
Hot damn. Now this woman had a life (much of it very sad and bizarre). Also, my list of things I am glad I’m not has been expanded to include Empress of Russia, and also Toddler-Son-of-Deposed-Empress-of-Russia. That kid haunts me.
Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture by Peggy Orenstein
This book put into words a lot of the things I’m uncomfortable with about toys and things marketed toward little girls, as well as this whole "princess" thing. Remember when you could get toys for girls that weren't pink or purple?
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Mind-blowing. It's not news that it sucked to be poor and black in the fifties. But this book makes the vast ethical implications of that suckiness, and how we have all continued to benefit from it without even realizing it, horribly, horribly clear. There’s a kid in here that haunts me, too.
Anyway, I just posted my quick-and-dirty reviews of the best books I read in 2012. Which doesn't mean that they were published in 2012, just that that's when they came to to the top of the pile. I recommend all of them wholeheartedly.
ETA: Okay, in retrospect this whole "scroll down" nonsense is confusing. You can find the books and reviews on my "best of the year 2012" bookshelf. You can also find them here:
Fiction:
The Gone-Away World by Nick HarkawayThis book is amazing: so massive and crushing and smart, and so under control – which is where I feel like so many speculative novels go wrong. Loved it.
True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter CareyA rip-roaring adventure story. I spent the first few pages wondering if there was any way he could possibly pull that voice off, and he totally, absolutely did – which is a testament to what an amazing writer Peter Carey is. This is one of his best.
Dare Me by Megan AbbottA noir about cheerleaders! Which is fitting, because there is very little scarier than a power-drunk teenaged girl. The dialogue in this book snaps, crackles and pops right along with the best of the pulps. It’s true that nobody actually talks like that, but I sure as hell wish they did.
Gaudy Night by Dorothy SayersWhy oh why in the name of all things righteous have I not read Dorothy Sayers before? I loved this book. Sure, it’s dated and bloated and ends on a bit of a Scooby-Doo note, but man. That woman could write.
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWittI love genre-twisters, and this is a great one. An inside-out Western, violent and sad and lovely.
The Good Thief by Hannah TintiThis is a fantastic book: a true adventure story, beautifully told. It's sort of like William Gay’s Twilight meets Dickens, with a little Twain thrown in for good measure.
Solitaire by Kelley EskeridgeSo good. So smart. So heart-breaking. Hard SF that isn’t hard, if you know what I mean: real, conflicted characters, in a real, conflicted world. I have her collection on my to-read shelf, but it kills me that she hasn’t written another novel yet.
Nonfiction
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. MassieHot damn. Now this woman had a life (much of it very sad and bizarre). Also, my list of things I am glad I’m not has been expanded to include Empress of Russia, and also Toddler-Son-of-Deposed-Empress-of-Russia. That kid haunts me.
Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture by Peggy OrensteinThis book put into words a lot of the things I’m uncomfortable with about toys and things marketed toward little girls, as well as this whole "princess" thing. Remember when you could get toys for girls that weren't pink or purple?
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca SklootMind-blowing. It's not news that it sucked to be poor and black in the fifties. But this book makes the vast ethical implications of that suckiness, and how we have all continued to benefit from it without even realizing it, horribly, horribly clear. There’s a kid in here that haunts me, too.
