My Top Ten of 2012

That's my kind of baby New Year. 

Happy new year, all.  Here's one last look back as I pick the ten best books I read in 2012.  In this time of post-holiday blahs, you are certain to find something to grab you and pull you from your doldrums.  They will take you away from wherever you are.  If, in fact, you are already out of your doldrums, good for you.  You should read some of these anyway, you well-adjusted citizen of the world, you.   

Fiction 
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett  
 
Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon

Office Girl by Joe Meno

Non-fiction 
I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution by Rob Tannenbaum and Craig Marks

More Baths, Less Talking by Nick Hornby

The Receptionist: An Education at the New Yorker by Janet Groth

Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis by Timothy Egan

Over Time by Frank Deford

While I don't really have an order or preference, if I had to make a top pick in each category, I choose Harold Fry in fiction and  Shadow Catcher in non-fiction.  They are both exceptional reads.    

As ever, thanks to friends in the book biz who keep me aware of titles they think are worthy and a little under the radar.  Thanks to publishers for putting out great stuff among the muck and mire.  Thanks to booksellers for spreading the gospel.  Most of all, thank you for reading what I write about reading.  

May 2013 be a better year for us all.