Your 5 favorites of 2012?
#1
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Orange County
Posts: 4,876
Your 5 favorites of 2012?
Curious as to what everyone's favorite reads were in 2012. The video game, TV, and movie forums have Best of 2012 threads so figured I'd start one here too. Books don't have to be '12 releases, just your five most memorable reads of the past year.
I'll start:
1. Unbroken / Laura Hillenbrand
2. Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk / Ben Fountain
3. Behind the Beautiful Forevers / Katherine Boo
4. Wool Omnibus / Hugh Howey
5. Fight Club / Chuck Palahniuk
I'll start:
1. Unbroken / Laura Hillenbrand
2. Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk / Ben Fountain
3. Behind the Beautiful Forevers / Katherine Boo
4. Wool Omnibus / Hugh Howey
5. Fight Club / Chuck Palahniuk
#2
DVD Talk Legend
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Hamilton, Ontario
Posts: 11,754
Re: Your 5 favorites of 2012?
I'll do it differently because it's too hard to select.
Top 5 of 2012 (in no particular order):





Top 5 pre-2012 books read in 2012 (in no particular order):





I highly recommend "The Sisters Brothers" and "The Devil all the Time" which were well received critically - but I think they deserved more attention than they've gotten.
Top 5 of 2012 (in no particular order):





Top 5 pre-2012 books read in 2012 (in no particular order):





I highly recommend "The Sisters Brothers" and "The Devil all the Time" which were well received critically - but I think they deserved more attention than they've gotten.
Last edited by Coral; 12-31-12 at 09:09 PM.
#6
Re: Your 5 favorites of 2012?
I don't know if I read any books actually released in 2012, but the best books I read in 2012 were:
1. Frankenstein, or: The Modern Prometheus - Mary Shelley
2. Paradise Lost - John Milton
3. The Divine Comedy - Dante
3a. Illustrations for The Divine Comedy - William Blake
4. Weaveworld - Clive Barker
5. The Metabarons - Alejandro Jodorowsky
1. Frankenstein, or: The Modern Prometheus - Mary Shelley
2. Paradise Lost - John Milton
3. The Divine Comedy - Dante
3a. Illustrations for The Divine Comedy - William Blake
4. Weaveworld - Clive Barker
5. The Metabarons - Alejandro Jodorowsky
#7
Re: Your 5 favorites of 2012?
Some interesting reads last year. For me, it was the year when I read and loved a disturbing number of Teen novels. 
1) The Twenty-Year Death by Ariel S. Winter
2) The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt
3) Every Day by David Levithan
4) The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily Danforth
5) Little Star by John Ajvide Lindqvist. He wrote Let the Right One In. Little Star is a very strange story, but it's one of those compulsively readable books that won't let go.

1) The Twenty-Year Death by Ariel S. Winter
2) The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt
3) Every Day by David Levithan
4) The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily Danforth
5) Little Star by John Ajvide Lindqvist. He wrote Let the Right One In. Little Star is a very strange story, but it's one of those compulsively readable books that won't let go.
Last edited by FunkDaddy J; 01-04-13 at 11:44 AM.
#8
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Chicago
Posts: 8,145
Re: Your 5 favorites of 2012?
I read a lot of books, but I didn't read too much that was published this year...
Fargo Rock City - Chuck Klosterman - a re-appreciation of hair metal, will have you reaching for a copy of Vinnie Vincent's Invasion
Our Band Could be Your Life - Michael Azzerad - surprised it took me so long to read this hipster touchstone. It's really good, even if Azzerad strains to make some political points and generally over-emphasizes the importance of the bands.
Steve Jobs - Walter Isaacson - a fascinating portrait of one of my heroes. Jobs was a true asshole and more than a little hypocritical, but he was a genuine savant and had impeccable taste in most things. This books aptly describes his contradictions.
Embassytown - China Meiville - one of the most visionary and effective world-creating sci-fi books I've ever read. About the nature of conciousness, xenophobia, obsession and addiction. Truly strange.
Ubik - Philip K. Dick. Everyone needs to read Ubik, I finally got around to it. This book is haunting and disturbing. It's a nightmare. It's also an all time classic.
We Were Young and Carefree - Laurent Fignon - an autobiography of my personal favorite cyclist and the last of the "old school" European romantics in the pro ranks. Fignon's very French, very arrogant and endlessless self-justifying, but he's also honest, a great story teller, has a wonderful sense of the sport and writes surprisingly well. A must read for cyclists.
The Secret Race - Tyler Hamilton - this book will once and for all destroy any illusions you may have about doping in sport. Not just cycling, mind, all sport. Hamilton defines in a very detailed manner just how effective current doping is, how easy it is to get away with and the various conflicts of interest inherent in current doping controls. After reading this, I question every exceptional athletic performance I've seen. It's a sad story and paints a thouroughly disturbing picture.
Fargo Rock City - Chuck Klosterman - a re-appreciation of hair metal, will have you reaching for a copy of Vinnie Vincent's Invasion
Our Band Could be Your Life - Michael Azzerad - surprised it took me so long to read this hipster touchstone. It's really good, even if Azzerad strains to make some political points and generally over-emphasizes the importance of the bands.
Steve Jobs - Walter Isaacson - a fascinating portrait of one of my heroes. Jobs was a true asshole and more than a little hypocritical, but he was a genuine savant and had impeccable taste in most things. This books aptly describes his contradictions.
Embassytown - China Meiville - one of the most visionary and effective world-creating sci-fi books I've ever read. About the nature of conciousness, xenophobia, obsession and addiction. Truly strange.
Ubik - Philip K. Dick. Everyone needs to read Ubik, I finally got around to it. This book is haunting and disturbing. It's a nightmare. It's also an all time classic.
We Were Young and Carefree - Laurent Fignon - an autobiography of my personal favorite cyclist and the last of the "old school" European romantics in the pro ranks. Fignon's very French, very arrogant and endlessless self-justifying, but he's also honest, a great story teller, has a wonderful sense of the sport and writes surprisingly well. A must read for cyclists.
The Secret Race - Tyler Hamilton - this book will once and for all destroy any illusions you may have about doping in sport. Not just cycling, mind, all sport. Hamilton defines in a very detailed manner just how effective current doping is, how easy it is to get away with and the various conflicts of interest inherent in current doping controls. After reading this, I question every exceptional athletic performance I've seen. It's a sad story and paints a thouroughly disturbing picture.
#9
Re: Your 5 favorites of 2012?
Re-reads: Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell
New reads: Greatest Show on Earth (Dawkins on evolution)
The Tin Drum
The Man in the High Castle
I should really use one of those reading sites, I think I have a Goodreads login but I've never updated it.
New reads: Greatest Show on Earth (Dawkins on evolution)
The Tin Drum
The Man in the High Castle
I should really use one of those reading sites, I think I have a Goodreads login but I've never updated it.
#11
Re: Your 5 favorites of 2012?
I guess that Ubik should be my next PKD title.
After thinking about it, this is my full list.
1. Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy
2. The Long Goodbye - Raymond Chandler
3. The Lady in the Lake - Raymond Chandler
4. Witches of Karres - James H. Schmitz
5. Extremes - Nick Middleton
Honorable Mention:
What the Dog Saw - Malcolm Gladwell
I only managed to listen to about half of it before it got returned to the library.
After thinking about it, this is my full list.
1. Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy
2. The Long Goodbye - Raymond Chandler
3. The Lady in the Lake - Raymond Chandler
4. Witches of Karres - James H. Schmitz
5. Extremes - Nick Middleton
Honorable Mention:
What the Dog Saw - Malcolm Gladwell
I only managed to listen to about half of it before it got returned to the library.
#12
Re: Your 5 favorites of 2012?
1.I Suck at Girls - Justin Halpern
2.The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien
3.The Book of Basketball - Bill Simmons
4.Tough Shit: Life Advice from a Fat, Lazy Slob Who Did Good - Kevin Smith
5.American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History - Chris Kyle
2.The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien
3.The Book of Basketball - Bill Simmons
4.Tough Shit: Life Advice from a Fat, Lazy Slob Who Did Good - Kevin Smith
5.American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History - Chris Kyle