Here are my best reads in English during 2012. I read 50 books this year, six of which were e-books. I flirted with LibraryThing for a while, but lately I’ve found that Goodreads is more the kind of leisure reading database/community that I enjoy. Find me there.
- Packing for Mars. Mary Roach 2011. Delving into space exploration history to get a perspective on the gritty realities of a future human-staffed Mars mission. (Let’s first do sample return.)
- My Early Life. Winston Churchill 1930. Scion of power spends his youth trying to get involved in war and trains as a cavalry officer as one of the last generation to do so.
- Falling Free. Lois McMaster Bujold 1988. Charming and exciting scifi adventure.
- Good Omens. Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett 1990. Wry contemporary fantasy classic.
- Collected Fantasies. Avram Davidson 1982. Lovely short stories.
- The Swerve. Stephen Greenblatt 2012. On the creation and rediscovery of Epicureanism, the ancient philosophy I come closest to espousing, through Lucretius’s The Nature of Things.
- Erotic Refugees. Paddy Kelly 2012. Dick lit / romantic comedy set in Noughties Stockholm, reviewed here.
What were your best reads of the year?
Here’s my list for 2011.