I have been looking back over the books I have read this year and have picked the ones that I have enjoyed the most. In no particular order they are:
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach – proving that you don’t have to be a baseball afficionado to enjoy excellent writing.
The Teleportation Accident by Ned Beauman – unusual time jumping, historical/science fiction, and very funny.
Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig
Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada
These last two can really be grouped together as they are both twentieth-century European novels fairly recently rediscovered by English reading audiences, and both deserving to be widely read.
I have realised that I did not read very much non-fiction this year, but the non-fiction book I enjoyed the most was Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, a really interesting biography of Abraham Lincoln.
Thanks for sharing your list of favourites from 2012, Graham! I have Hans Fallada’s ‘Alone in Berlin’ on my ‘To read’ list. I want to get to it soon. I am seeing ‘The Art of Fielding’ in many bloggers’ favourite books list. I was hesitant to look for it, because it is about baseball, but now after seeing it in your favourites list too, I want to read it. It is belated, but Happy New Year 2012! Hope you discover some wonderful new books and writers this year!
Thanks Vishy.
They are both excellent, so I hope you enjoy them.
Happy new year!