My Year in Reading

2012 has been a great year as far as reading is concerned for me. During it I had the chance to get my hands on some real gems like these: No one belongs here more than you by Miranda July, the incredibly beautifully written Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin, Gone Girl, a masterpiece of crime fiction literature by Gillian Flynn, the best novel in the Nikki Heat series by Richard Castle, the return of good old John Rebus in Standing in Another Man's Grave, the laugh-out-loud funny novel Dogma by Lars Iyer, and many many more excellent books.

If I had to choose a favorite I would go for Please Look After Mom but if you asked me which book have really spoken to my psyche my vote would go to Miranda July's stories. It was as if my deepest thoughts and feelings have somehow found their way into her pages. Mrs July, thank you!

As for Rebus and Ian Rankin, well, their reappearance had really been a delight. It just proves that of some characters you just can't let go. Rankin seems at his best as he brings Rebus back to action, and planting in the plot as his personal nemesis his other hero, Malcolm Fox. I hope to write a review for the book soon.

Dogma; what a book! It kept me laughing and laughing. A real page-turner that's not only funny but also has a lot to say. For joy and for wisdom.

Mrs Flynn has hit the jackpot with this one, and deservedly so. Gone Girl has been in the New York Times best seller list for more than six months and it's still growing strong. This is a masterpiece; no question about it.

And now it's the time for the list. Thanks to GoodReads I didn't have to go through my personal archives to retrieve the titles of the books I've read this year. As you see they range from crime fiction to poetry, from literary fiction to nonfiction, and from children's books to graphic novels. I include links of the reviews that I wrote for some of them. For the rest you'll have to do your own research. So here we go:

The Boy in the Suitcase by Lene Kaaberból and Agnete Friis
True by Riikka Pulkkinen
Ambiguous Adventure by Hamidou Kane
Me and You by Niccolo Ammaniti (review here)
Beastly Things by Donna Leon
The Pianist in the Dark by Michele Halberstadt
A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
Ragnarok by A.S. Byatt (review here)
What it Was by George Pelecanos (review here)
Raylan by Elmore Leonard (review here)
Catch Me by Lisa Gardner (review here)
Thirst for Love by Yukio Mishima
No one belongs here more than you by Miranda July
Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
I Haven’t Dreamed of Flying for a While by Taichi Yamada
The Angel Esmeralda by Don DeLillo
Dogma by Lars Iyer (review here)
A Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle
Baby’s in Black by Arne Bellstorf
The Thief by Fuminori Nakamura (review here)
Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin (review here)
The Retribution by Val McDermid
Lamberto, Lamberto, Lamberto by Gianni Rodari
The 7th Month by Lisa Gardner (review here)
Facing the Hunchback of Notre Dame by L.L. Samson
Last Evenings on Earth by Roberto Bolaño
House Blood by Mike Lawson
Kino by Jurgen Fauth
Sea of Memory (Me, You) by Enrico De Luca (review here)
Victims by Jonathan Kellerman
I Dare to Say by Hilda Twongyeirwe
Hear the Wind Sing by Haruki Murakami
Afrika by Hermann Huppen (review here)
Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes by Mary M. Talbot and Bryan Talbot
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
My name on his tongue by Laila Halaby
The Book of Khalid by Ameen F. Rihani
Watchlist: A Serial Thriller by Various Authors
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer
Hearts of Darkness by Dave Thompson
The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer
Phantom by Jo Nesbo (review here)
Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata
The Opal Deception by Eoin Colfer
Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi
The White Oak by Kim White
The Innocent by David Baldacci
Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris (review here)
Honor & Entropy by Arthur Spevak
Stay Close by Harlan Coben
Snatched by Karin Slaughter (review here)
The Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer
The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Lust Demented by Michael D. Subrizi
The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (review here)
The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket
The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket
The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket
The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket
The Third Reich by Roberto Bolaño
The Vile Village by Lemony Snicket
The Crime of Julian Wells by Thomas H. Cook (review here)
The Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer
The Hostile Hospital by Lemony Snicket
XO by Jeffery Deaver (review here)
The Carnivorous Carnival by Lemony Snicket
Secret Battles of Genghis Khan by Daryl Gregory
The Slippery Slope by Lemony Snicket
The Grim Grotto by Lemony Snicket
The Penultimate Peril by Lemony Snicket
Only One Life by Sara Blaedel (review here)
Sunset by Christos Gage (review here)
The End by Lemony Snicket
A Brewing Storm by Richard Castle (review here)
The Fear Artist by Timmothy Hallinan (review here)
Monkey King by Wei Dong Chen
Lake Country by Sean Doolittle (review here)
A Raging Storm by Richard Castle (review here)
Havana Real by Yoani Sánchez (review here)
The Joy Brigade by Martin Limón (review here)
Shadow of the Rock by Thomas Mogford (review here)
Skin by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins (review here)
Murder in Mumbai by K.D. Calamur (review here)
The Empty Glass by J.I. Baker (review here)
Death Benefits by Nelson DeMille (review here)
Finder, Vol. 4: Talisman by Carla Speed McNeil
Dying Echo by Judy Clemens (review here)
Deep Down by Lee Child (review here)
Killer Charm by Linda Fairstein
Vibrator by Mari Akasaka
Dragon Age: The Silent Grove by David Gaider (review here)
The Thing About Thugs by Tabish Khair (review here)
Criminal Macabre: The Iron Spirit by Steve Niles
The Curse by Mike Norton
Caravan of Thieves by David Rich (review here)
Garment of Shadows by Laurie R. King (review here)
Road Rage by Chris Ryall & others
Kevin Smith’s the Bionic Man Volume 1: Some Assembly Required by Kevin Smith
Sam Capra’s Last Chance by Jeff Abbott (review here)
Batula by Marco Cinello (review here)
Return to Atlantis by Andy McDermott (review here)
Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata
Low Pressure by Sandra Brown (review here)
John Doe by Tess Gerritsen (review here)
The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen (review here)
Stranger in the Room by Amanda Kyle Williams (review here)
A Bloody Storm by Richard Castle (review here)
Atticus Claw Breaks the Law by Jennifer Gray (review here)
The Offering by Desiree Bombenon (review here)
The Quick Fix by Jack D. Ferraiolo (review here)
Mixed Signals by Jane Tesh (review here)
Mockingbird by Chuck Wendig (review here)
Jews and Words by Amos Oz and Fania Oz-Salzberger
Becoming Holmes by Shane Peacock (review here)
Psychos by Various Authors (review here)
Last to Die by Tess Gerritsen (review here)
Robert Ludlum’s The Janus Reprisal by Jamie Freveletti (review here)
Play Him Again by Jeffrey Stone (review here)
Oreimo Volume 1 by Sakura Ikeda
Three Kingdoms Volume 1 by Wei Dong Chen
Seventy Times Seven by John Gordon Sinclair
Prophet Volume 1: Remission by Brandon Graham
A Wanted Man by Lee Child (review here)
Bones Are Forever by Kathy Reichs (review here)
Dead Girl Moon by Charlie Price (review here)
The Darkness Rebirth: Volume 1 by David Hine
Peter Panzerfaust Vol. 1: The Great Escape by Kurtis J. Wiebe
Island of Bones by Imogen Robertson (review here)
Mulholland Dive by Michael Connelly (review here)
Kirby: Genesis, Volume 1 by Kurt Busiek
Thief of Thieves, Vol. 1 by Nick Spencer
Return of the Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett (review here)
Grandville Bete Noire by Bryan Talbot
Frozen Heat by Richard Castle (review here)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: On Your Own by Andrew Chambliss
Make Believe by Ed Ifkovic (review here)
Motorcycle High by Dave Harrold (review here)
No Regrets, No Remorse by R.F. Sharp (review here)
Death in the 12th House by Mitchell Scott Lewis (review here)
Hot Stuff by Don Bruns (review here)
Hawken by Timothy Truman (review here)
Saga, Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan (review here)
Live by Night by Dennis Lehane
The Shaolin Cowboy Adventure Magazine, Number 1 (review here)
The Buzzard Table by Margaret Maron (review here)
Seconds Away by Harlan Coben
The Strain, Volume 1 by David Lapham (review here)
Crashed by Timothy Hallinan (review here)
Fox Tracks by Rita Mae Brown (review here)
Ratlines by Stuart Neville
A Killer in the Wind by Andrew Klavan
Man in the Empty Suit by Sean Ferrell
Swimming Home by Deborah Levy (review here)
Never Coming Back by Hans Koppel (review here)
The Scroll by Anne Perry (review here)
The Safe Man by Michael Connelly (review here)
The Box Man by Kobo Abe
The Callsign by Brad Taylor
Amanda’s Story by Brian O’ Grady
Standing in Another Man’s Grave by Ian Rankin
The Forgotten by David Baldacci (review here)
The Black Box by Michael Connelly
Mind Maps by Michael Taylor (review here)
Bullets Are My Business by Josh K. Stevens
You Don’t Want to Know by Lisa Jackson
The Andalucian Friend by Alexander Soderberg
Death Leaves a Bookmark by William Link
Perfect Hatred by Leighton Cage

By the end of the year I also hope to finish reading:

The Testament of Mary by Colm Tóibín
Farewell to Freedom by Sara Blaedel
Kiku’s Prayer by Shusaku Endo
The Antiquarian by Julián Sánchez