Best Reads of 2012

Here we go again – I hope that you enjoy reading about my best reads of the previous year, but even more so, I hope that you enjoy reading the actual books!  I was not a literary major, I do not have an extensive knowledge about all the classics, but I like to think I know a good book when I see – I mean read one!  I read about 20 books this year and here are the ones that were on the top of the pack for me. As I looked over my list of the reads I realized most of them were great reads and I would recommend almost all of them!!!  It is hard for me to choose the top this year, but I will list my top 5 with my reviews copied mainly from my personal reviews on goodreads so I can get my 2012 book review out before January is over!  You can read my reviews of all the books I read in 2012 and expanded reviews (although those are pretty short too) on goodreads - see end of post.

So here are my top 5 last year:

1. Moloka’I, Alan Brenner

Description:  Moloka’i tells the story of Rachel Kalama, a seven-year-old Hawaiian girl who contracts leprosy and is quarantined on the island of Moloka’i during the 1890s. Separated from her family and forced to grow up in the leper colony of Kalaupapa, Rachel experiences intense isolation. But she remains strong, finding moments of joy, and even love.

MY THOUGHTS: I had been WAITING for this to go on audio for years and it finally did!!!  I am glad I got to read it! I did really enjoy the story and it was written really well with lots of great characters. It made me research a bit on the history of the story and the Island of Moloka'i which had a leper colony for years. Some of the people in the story are based on real people but the main character is not. There had to have been so much strength for those sent to the Island and the families left behind. I did not even think about what would happen if a child is born there - of you want to find out, you have to read it to see! Such fascinating information and a great read!

2.  Heaven is Here, Stephanie Nielson  

Description: The survival story and love story of a woman, Stephanie was on the brink of death after a plane crash with her husband,  with burns over 80 percent of her body. She would remain in a coma for four months. In this moving memoir, Stephanie tells the full, extraordinary story of her unlikely recovery and the incredible love behind it—from a riveting account of the crash to all that followed in its wake.

MY THOUGHTS: An amazing survival story and amazing woman.  One to read!

3. Sarah’s Key, Tatiana de Rosnay

Description: Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel' d'Hiv' roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.

Paris, May 2002: On Vel' d'Hiv's 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life.

MY THOUGHTS: This was a very interesting and heart wrenching book. Hard to put down.  A unique way to intertwine two lives of the holocaust and recent day. I wish with all the sorrow in the book there could have been a happier ending though! There was a movie made of this story too which was equally good and depressing…

4. Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn

Description: On their fifth anniversary, Nick and Amy's marriage implodes when Amy goes missing and Nick is hardly as distraught as he ought to be.  What happens next is a great story and mystery!

MY THOUGHTS:  Wow - what a book! First of all, it has way too many F-bombs so if you can find an edited version go for that one, but beyond that the author is brilliant to write such an intricate story and nail the characters and the plot. I was drawn in and loved listening to it (the audio characters did an amazing job with voices interpreting the characters!) I did find a few holes in the so-called perfect evidence that were not discussed( you will see what I mean by evidence when you read it). I could not "put this book down" and I would have given it 5 stars if the language was not as bad and I did hope for a different ending! But two big thumbs up! Another great beach or car read as you will want to zoom through it!

5. Winter of the World, Ken Follett

Description:  Winter of the World picks up right where the first book left off, as its five interrelated families—American, German, Russian, English, Welsh—enter a time of enormous social, political, and economic turmoil, beginning with the rise of the Third Reich, through the Spanish Civil War and the great dramas of World War II, up to the explosions of the American and Soviet atomic bombs. These characters and many others find their lives inextricably entangled as their experiences illuminate the cataclysms that marked the century. 

MY THOUGHTS: I have to include him by default as he is one of my favorite authors and I have been waiting for the second book in his trilogy (one every two years right now!)  Another masterpiece by Ken Follett! This one's main focus was on WWII and there were so many angles to the story and so many great characters. The only thing that seemed to bug me a bit about this book is that I figured out all the big surprises before they happened in the book. It didn't take away from the story, but I like suspense (;

Almost made the list:

Where'd You Go, Bernadette – Maria Semple – This was a fun, fast read – a beach read so to speak with creative writing!

Shanghai Girls and Dreams of Joy, Lisa See – This were both wonderful stories and so vibrant and dramatic!

As always I would love if you post in the comments and share your favorite reads of 2012 too – they may make my list next year!

If you don’t want to wait a year to read what I am reading you can join me at Goodreads athttp://www.goodreads.com/review/list/641993

For past year’s favorites, go tohttp://niftynelsonnews.blogspot.com/search/label/books