Are these the best books of the year? Obviously, I have no idea, as I haven’t read a large majority of the novels that were released in the last year. I’ll just say I’ve read most, not all but most of the ones that have been placed on End-of-the-Year lists (notable exceptions include The Twelve Tribes of Hattie and The Newlyweds) and many that haven’t. I tend to gravitate more towards books I feel other critics have snubbed than books I “should” like. Yesterday, I reviewed Back to Blood and This is How You Lose Her. Today, I list the books I would really recommend…
10. Lifeboat…An unreliable narrator, a story of survival on the open seas where the humans have more to fear from each other than the elements? Has a lot of great elements and delivers on them.
9. Breed…This literary horror novel from “Chase Novak” deals with a wealthy, childless couple that undergoes wildly experimental fertility treatments. The treatments give them twins, but changes them radically into werewolf type creatures. A funny and scary take on what the pressure to have children can do to “civilized” New Yorkers.
8. Holy Night…I know a lot of “serious” critics hate Seth Grahame-Smith and his (successful) mash-up novels, but there’s no denying that this novel (which re-envisions the Three Wise Men as sword-wielding adventurers) is about as fun as it gets. A thrilling epic that delivers in ways most fantasy novels only wish they could.
7. Dare Me…Meg Abbot’s decision to take classic noir elements (untrustworthy women, sexual paranoia, obsessive jealousy) and (re)set them in the hothouse world of high school cheerleading is nothing short of revolutionary.
5. (tie) The Land of Decoration/The Age of Miracles…Two very different books dealing with troubled young girls in extraordinary circumstances. The Land of Decoration unsettled me for days with its disturbing depiction of a friendless little girl who makes miniatures that might be impacting the real world…or is she crazy? And The Age of Miracles involves a little girl coming of age as the world’s rotation begins to slow (but she’s more concerned with her parent’s rocky marriage and a boy she has a crush on). The Age of Miracles is clever as an allegory for the hormones of puberty and the wild-swings of first love, when every day feels like it could be the last one.
4. They Eat Puppies Don’t They…Christopher Buckley’s satire about U.S. relations with a tense-China and a fake news story about the attempted-killing of the Dalai Lama that spirals out of control (all so a charmingly amoral defense contractor can sell a security system the country doesn’t need) is the ultimate underdog book. It’s hilarious, grounded in truth, keeps finding new angles to its plot, and it was utterly ignored when it came out in May. Unfairly ignored, in my opinion, and I hope the book develops a cult following.
3. Every Day…The best young adult novel of the year follows a body-less teenager named A who wakes up in a different body every day (a jock, a glamor girl, etc.) and inconveniently falls in love with the girlfriend of one of the bodies A inhabits. What happens when she is asked to return that love with someone who will look different every day? It transcends its high-concept by being one of the most empathetic books I’ve ever read. Should be required reading for high school kids in an effort to curb bullying, as it asks “What’s it like to be you and not me, if only for one day?”
2. Gone Girl…Yes, it’s commercially successfully. Yes, that inspires backlash among certain people who insist the book is overrated. No, they’re mistaken. This book is a thriller that delivers on a commercial level, but it is also a masterpiece of perspective. Gillian Flynn writes “his and her” chapters, managing to create two distinct people, and one hell of a villain. One of the most realistic portraits of psychopathy ever written.
1. The Orphan Master’s Son…Adam Johnson set his masterwork in North Korea, and discovered a land almost as interesting, distinct, and strange as Oz or Wonderland, a very, very hellish Wonderland. It follows one Orphan Master’s Son as he rises through the ranks of the North Korean military, follows him on “spy missions” that are really just kidnappings of South Korean women for high-ranking North Korean officers, gets imprisoned in a labor camp that makes Afghanistan look like Club Med, and eventually falling for the love of his life, a propaganda film actress in Pyongyang. This was the very best book I read in 2012, and anyone who’s read it can probably tell you why. The lead character’s journey from a cog in a dehumanizing, oppressive-state to someone swept up in the escape of love is a beautiful arc worthy of the label, yep, “masterpiece.”
Great list of books. Loved gone girl. Ineed to read more. May let that be a new year resolution.
Adding these book to my reading list, you were right about Gone Girl, ” One of the most realistic portraits of psychopathy ever written.” I found myself worrying about the author’s sanity days after reading the book.
Cheers