We polled our staff in early December, asking our more than 200 book reviewers what their favorite books of 2012 were — regardless of having reviewed the book for us. Below is what they told us. We found it interesting that there were no duplicates, which tells you that there were so many great releases this year. On our list, you’ll find a little bit for everyone, from cookbooks to children’s books, to horror.
With Christmas nearing, we thought this would be a handy guide for your gift-giving.
Note: Books that we’ve reviewed link to the review.
23 Shades of Black By K.J.A. Wishnia
60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Sacramento, Including Auburn, Folsom, and Davis (2nd ed) by Jane Huber
A Boy Called Dickens by Deborah Hopkinson
A Year of Writing Dangerously by Barbara Abercrombie
Aloha, Mozart by Waimea Williams
Almost President: The Men Who Lost the Race but Changed the Nation by Scott Farris
American Antislavery Writings by James G. Basker
Ancient Light by John Banville
And Blue Skies from Pain by Stina Leicht
At the Mouth of the River of Bees: Stories By Kij Johnson
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
Beyond Here Lies Nothing: The Concrete Grove Trilogy By Gary McMahon
Black Dahlia and White Rose by Joyce Carol Oates
Blue Nights by Joan Didion
Calling Invisible Women: A Novel by Jeanne Ray
Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr
Churchhill: The Power of Words by Winston Churchill and Martin Gilbert
Cold Days by Jim Butcher
College: What It Is and Should Be by Andrew Delbanco
Consider the Fork by Bee Wilson
Gone: A Novel by Cathi Hanauer
Grave Mercy by RL LaFevers
Healthy Foods A to Z by Stephanie Maze and Renee Comet
Land of Stories by Chris Colfer
Making Piece: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Pie by Beth M. Howard
Mira’s Diary: Lost in Paris, by Marissa Moss
Neville by Norton Juster and G. Brian Karas
Nimpentoad by Josh Herz, Henry Herz, Harrison Herz, and Sean Eddingfield (Illustrator)
One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Shine, Shine, Shine by Lydia Netzer
Small adventures in Cooking by James Ramsden
So Far From Home: Russians in Early California by Glenn J. Farris
So Far to Run by Louise Geesedeh Barton
Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard
Sources of Lights by Margaret McMullan
Such a Rush by Jennifer Echols
The Coldest War (The Milkweed Triptych, #2)
The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson
The Dervish House by Ian McDonald
The Drowning Girl by Caitlin R. Kiernan
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa
The Last Viking: The Life of Roald Amundsen by Stephen R. Brown
The New Geography of Jobs by Enrico Moretti
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
The Tender Hour of Twilight by Richard Seaver
The Virgin Cure by Ami McKay
The Voyage of Lucy P. Simmons, by Barbara Mariconda
Then Like the Blind Man: Orbie’s Story by Freddie Owens
When It Happens to You by Molly Ringwald
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
Willa Bean’s Cloud Dreams by Kristi Valiant
You Came Back: A Novel by Christopher Coake
