Best of 2012: Books

1. The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern
I can still smell the hot cocoa, feel its warmth in my hands, and see its steam rising into the air, surrounded by black and white tents holding unimaginable wonders. The gorgeous vividness of the descriptions and emotions in this book will be with me for a long time to come.

2. Ready Player One, Ernest Cline
80s popculture as the basis for an epic SciFi quest that happens to be rendered with amazingly vivid attention to detail? Yes, please!

3. On Green Dolphin Street, Sebastian Faulks
Like Mad Men crossed with Ward Just and Dawn Powell, Faulks captures the nuances of suburban life beneath the shimmering veneers of Washington, New York, and London at the quietly turbulent dawn of the 60s.

4. An Object of Beauty, Steve Martin
An oddly sincere send-up of the New York art scene whose elegant simplicity crowns rewarding layers of depth and relatable, sympathetic characters.

5. White Jacket Required, Jenna Weber
An inspiring memoir by one of my favorite food bloggers. Jenna is so generous in sharing her experiences and the lessons she has learned from them, right along with some of the best recipes around.

6.  No Easy Day, Mark Owen with Kevin Maurer
Yup, I bought a book in hardcover and actually read it during the year in which it was released. This one was worth it. Not only do I love me some Navy SEAL action, but I was also anticipating Zero Dark Thirty and eating up the PR maelstrom stirred up by the Pentagon, whose philosophy seemed to be "we are so mad at you for revealing possibly classified information that we aren't going to shut up about it until the book is actually on shelves." A perfect storm of awesomeness.

7. Case Histories; One Good Turn; When Will There Be Good News?; Started Early, Took My Dog, Kate Atkinson
These books are so wise and intriguing and entertaining on their own, but it doesn't hurt that I got to imagine Jason Isaacs running around in my head for a bit while I was reading them )thanks to the excellent British mini-series they inspired).

8. Stories I Only Tell My Friends, Rob Lowe
Rob Lowe is a charmer and first-rate entertainer for sure. His writing is personable, his voice just as humble as it needs to be. As Hollywood memoirists go, Lowe is genuine, grounded, and just glamourous enough to keep himself honest.

9. Carte Blanche, Jeffery Deaver
This, above all else, is how you do Bond correctly in a modern setting. This book is so ready to be a film, it's not even funny.

10. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell
While I can't count this book as a complete success, the stories that work, work really well. Sonmi's story alone makes Cloud Atlas thoroughly readable; Zachry's and Louisa's stories serve as pleasing bonuses. And the rest demonstrate Mitchell's comfort and ability with any genre of his choosing.