The Books of 2012

I can only hope that 2012 will prove just as good a year as 2011 has been as far as reading books is concerned. I already have some of the books that will come out in the next few months, some of which I’ve already mentioned in my A Year in Reading post. The list that follows is divided into three parts consisting: A) Of the books that I already have; B) Of those that I expect to get; and, C) Of the ones that I haven’t been able to read last year. So, here we go:

A

Hilda Twongyeirwe – I Dare to say. It comes out on the 1st of February.
Parker Bilal – The Golden Scales. It comes out on the 6th of February.
Lisa Gardner – Catch Me. It comes out on the 7th of February.
David Constantine – The Pillars of Hercules. It comes out on the 6th of March.
Riikka Pulkkinen – True. It comes out on the 20th of March.
Dave Thompson – Hearts of Darkness. It comes out on the 27th of March.
Joseph Wambaugh – Harbor Nocturne. It comes out on the 3rd of April.
Sayed Kashua – Second Person Singular. It comes out on the 3rd of April.
Donna Leon – Beastly Things. It comes out on the 17th of April.
Roddy Doyle – A Greyhound of a Girl. It comes out on the 1st of May.

B

Harlan Coben – Stay Close. It comes out on the 20th of March.
David Baldacci – The Innocent. It comes out on the 17th of April.
John Sandford – Stolen Prey. It comes out on the 14th of May.
Jeffery Deaver – XO. It comes out on the 12th of June.
Kathy Reichs – Bones Are Forever. It comes out on the 21st of August.
Jo Nesbo – Phantom. It comes out on the 4th of September.

C

George R.R. Martin – A Clash of Kings. I’m currently reading it.
Lene Kaaberbol & Agnete Friis – The Boy in the Suitcase. I’m currently reading it.
Roberto Bolaño – Amulet. I’m currently reading it.
Jose Saramago – The Elephant’s Journey
Don DeLillo – The Angel Esmeralda
Lars Kepler – The Hypnotist
Miyuki Miyabe – ICO: Castle in the Mist
Miyuki Miyabe – Brave Story
Yu Hua – Brothers
Hakkan Nesser – The Unlucky Lottery
P.D. James – Death Comes to Pemberley
Michele Halberstadt – Pianist in the Dark
Orhan Pamuk – The White Castle
Taichi Yamada – I Haven’t Dreamed of Flying for a While
Kyung-Soon Shin – Please Look After Mom
Colm Toibin – The Empty Family
Dai Sijie – Once on a Moonless Night
Mikkel Birkegaard – The Library of Shadows
Arnaldur Indridason – Hypothermia
Elif Shafak – The Bastard of Istanbul
Gillian Flynn – Dark Places
Yukio Mishima – The Decay of the Angel
Roddy Doyle – Bullfighting
Yrsa Sigurdardottir – Last Rituals
Alexander Maksik – You Deserve Nothing
Arne Dahl – Misterioso
K.O. Dahl – The Fourth Man
Various Authors – Las Vegas Noir. I’m currently reading it.
Various Authors – Bangkok Noir
Various Authors – Mexico City Noir
Various Authors – Barcelona Noir
Koji Suzuki – Dark Water
Carlos Fuentes – Happy Families
Kjell Eriksson – The Princess of Burundi
Tishani Doshi – The Pleasure Seekers
Liza Marklund – The Bomber
Ake Edwardson – Sun and Shadow
Paul Auster – Timbuktu
John Banville – The Infinities
Arturo Perez-Reverte – The Painter of Battles
Junichiro Tanizaki – Quicksand
Natsume Sōseki – Kusamakura
Natsume Sōseki – Sanshiro
Mari Akasaka – Vibrator
Mitsuyo Kakuta – Woman on the Other Shore
Leonardo Padura – Havana Black
Arthur Spevak – Honor & Entropy
Tomas Eloy Martinez - Purgatory

Of course these are not the only books I’m going to read. Everything depends on the when, the where and the why, or probably I should say, the mood. However, I’d dare state that all of the above will be part of my “have read” list at the end of the year.

P.S. Publication dates refer to the U.S. market

A Year in Reading 2011

One of my big favorites this year

I think I should start off by saying that I borrowed the title for this post from The Millions. And then… What can I say after that? Not much really. I can only state the fact that during this year I’ve read more books than ever before. And that 2011 was a year of new discoveries, during which I’ve fallen “in love” with Scandinavian crime fiction, felt pleasantly surprised by George R.R. Martin’s work and continued my long journey into the world of Japanese fiction; but during it I also enjoyed reading some beautiful stories by European authors. Now here’s a list of the books that I’ve read and reviewed:

David Baldacci – Hell’s Corner
Neil Gaiman – The Graveyard Book
Jeffery Deaver – Edge
Haruki Murakami – Kafka on the Shore
Terry Goodkind – Wizard’s First Rule
David Baldacci – The Sixth Man
Yoko Tawada – Where Europe Begins
Michael Connelly – The Fifth Witness
Hitomi Kanehara – Snakes and Earrings
Emma Donoghue – Room
Ian Rankin – The Complaints
Harlan Coben – Live Wire
Philip Pullman – The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ
Jo Nesbo – The Devil’s Star
John Sandford – Buried Prey
Banana Yoshimoto – The Lake
David Baldacci – One Summer
Charlaine Harris – Dead Reckoning
Téa Obreht – The Tiger's Wife
Karin Fossum – Bad Intentions
Lev Grossman – The Magician King
Stephen Kelman – Pigeon English
Janet Evanovich – Smokin’ Seventeen
Sara Blaedel – Call Me Princess
Jussi Adler-Olsen – The Keeper of Lost Causes
Lee Child – Worth Dying For
Camilla Läckberg – The Preacher
Andrey Kurkov – Death and the Penguin
Amanda Kyle Williams – The Stranger You Seek
Evan Munday – The Dead Kid Detective Agency
Wilbur Smith – Those in Peril
Tess Gerritsen – The Silent Girl
Mukoma Wa Ngugi – Nairobi Heat
Sebastian Barry – On Canaan’s Side
Lee Child – Second Son
Jo Nesbo – The Snowman
Tim Riley – Lennon
Andrey Kurkov – Penguin Lost
Stella Duffy – Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore
Stephen King – Mile 81
Ismet Prcic – Shards
Jose Saramago – Cain
Harlan Coben – Shelter
Jamil Ahmad – The Wandering Falcon
Amos Oz – Scenes from Village Life
Michael Connelly – Suicide Run
Mary Glickman – One More River
Joyce Carol Oates – The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares
Michael Connelly – Angle of Investigation
Karin Slaughter – Thorn in My Side
Various - No Rest for the Dead
Roberto Bolaño – Antwerp
Alessandro Baricco – Without Blood
Ian Rankin – The Impossible Dead
Michael Connelly – The Drop
Karin Fossum – The Caller
Tess Gerritsen – Freaks

These are the rest of the books that I’ve read this year but have not yet reviewed; either because it was too early to do so or due to the lack of time:

Marilynne Robinson – Gilead
Mako Yoshikawa – One Hundred and One Ways
Toni Morrison – Beloved
Margaret Atwood – Alias Grace
Amy Yamada – Trash
Dennis Lehane – Shutter Island
PD James – The Murder Room
Kobo Abe – The Woman in the Dunes
Colm Toibin – The Heather Blazing
David Baldacci – Deliver Us From Evil
Ogai Mori – The Wild Geese
George Pelecanos – Shoedog
Michael Connelly – The Reversal
Murasaki Shikibu – The Tale of Genji
Joseph Conrad – Heart of Darkness
Mordecai Richler – Cocksure
Kenzaburo Oe – Somersault
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Half of a Yellow Sun
Taichi Yamada – Strangers
Masako Togawa – The Master Key
Minette Walters – The Breaker
Yūko Tsushima – The Shooting Gallery
Yasushi Inoue – The Hunting Gun
Kyoko Mori – Shizuko’s Daughter
Sōseki Natsume – The 210th Day
Paul Auster – The Book of Illusions
Hitomi Kanehara – Autofiction
Akira Yoshimura – Shipwrecks
Raymond Chandler – The Big Sleep
Stephen King – The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger
Richard Castle – Naked Heat
Rick Riordan – The Lost Hero
Edogawa Rampo – Japanese Tales of Mystery & Imagination
George R.R. Martin – A Game of Thrones
Dennis Lehane – Moonlight Mile
Hugh Laurie – The Gun Seller
Sōseki Natsume – I Am a Cat II
Hunter S. Thompson – Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Harlan Coben – Live Wire
Ray Bradbury – Fahrenheit 451
Miyuki Miyabe – Crossfire
Jeffery Deaver – Carte Blanche
Haruki Murakami – South of the Border, West of the Sun
Patrick Ness – The Knife of Never Letting Go
Daniel Kehlmann – Me and Kaminski
Bret Easton Ellis – Imperial Bedrooms
Yoko Ogawa – The Housekeeper and the Professor
Esther Freud – Hideous Kinky
Mario Vargas Llosa – Who Killed Palomino Molero?
Neil Gaiman – Stardust
Arturo Perez-Reverte – Purity of Blood
Chinua Achebe – Things Fall Apart
Kobo Abe – The Ark Sakura
Iris Johansen – Quinn
Natsume Sōseki – Kokoro
Andrea Kamilleri – The Track of Sand
Haruki Murakami – Pinball, 1973
Kathy Reichs – Flash and Bones
Shuichi Yoshida – Villain
Richard Castle – Heat Rises
A.D. Miller – Snowdrops
Julian Barnes – The Sense of an Ending
George Pelecanos – The Cut
Tatsuhiko Takimoto – Welcome to the NHK!
Marina Sonkina – Lucia’s Eyes and Other Stories
Yoani Sanchez – Havana Real
Tessa Afshar – Pearl in the Sand
Haruki Murakami – 1Q84
David Baldacci – Zero Day
John Connolly – The Burning Soul
Georges Simenon – The Train
Ninni Holmqvist – The Unit
Kaori Ekuni – Twinkle Twinkle
Kwei Quartey – Children of the Street
Michael Ondaatje – The Cat’s Table
David Baldacci – No Time Left
Kathy Reichs – Seizure
Barack Obama – Of Thee I Sing
Amy Yamada – Bedtime Eyes
Janet Evanovich – Explosive Eighteen
Thanhha Lai – Inside Out & Back Again

Neil Gaiman - Coraline
Hakan Nesser – The Return
Alex Kava – Hotwire
Patricia Cornwell – Red Mist
Paul Theroux – Murder in Mount Holly
Gillian Bradshaw – In Winter’s Shadow.
John Grisham – The Litigators
Yasutaka Tsutsui – The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Stephen King – The Colorado Kid
Asa Larsson – Until Thy Wrath Be Past
Miranda July – No One Belongs Here More Than You
Sofi Oksanen – Purge
Hisham Matar – Anatomy of a Disappearance
Ryu Murakami – Popular Hits of the Showa Era
Thomas Caplan – The Spy Who Jumped Off the Screen. Out on the 12th of January.

Nick Arvin – The Reconstructionist
Vilmos Kondor – Budapest Noir. Out on February the 1st.
David Perry – The Cyclops Conspiracy. Out on February the 1st.
Raymond Khoury – The Devil’s Elixir. Out on the 27th of December.
Val McDermid – The Retribution. Out on the 10th of January.
Philip Pullman – Two Crafty Criminals. Out on the 8th of May.
Niccolo Ammaniti – Me and You. Out at the end of January.
Ernesto Sabato – The Tunnel. Out on the 27th of December.
A.S. Byatt – Ragnarok. Out on February the 1st.

During the past twelve months I’ve also read 30 books in Greek, which brings the grand total to 190, if the math is right. Not bad at all, I’d dare say.