My 2012 Excellent Reads

I have been keeping a list of books I’ve read since I started high school. For the last eight years I’ve also added an indication of how good I thought the book was, using the following categories: Poor, Fair, Good and Excellent. Unfortunately, in 2012 I found it necessary to add a new category for books I didn’t finish because they were poorly written.

Of the books I read in 2012 I marked only thirteen as Excellent. I’m always looking for things to put on my birthday and Christmas lists, so often I am “behind” in reading current books because I am waiting to receive them as gifts. Amazon has a very convenient “wish list” to help my family’s shopping for books I think I will enjoy.

Without further ado, here is my list of the baker’s dozen in the order read, along with a few quick notes:

Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, in the struggle for the soul of a generation—Eboo Patel [Patel is a Rhodes Scholar and tells a compelling autobiography of his life and how anger can be transformed to good works.]

Blood Harvest—S J Bolton [A new author to me. She’s English and I plan to read more.]

The Brutal Telling—Louise Penny [2012 is the year I stumbled upon Louise Penny. You’ll see three of her other novels listed below. Of her seven novels I read, four I considered excellent, two good and only one did I rate as “fair.” That’s not a bad batting average, but surely shows the objective nature of my ratings, although I did notice that the book I didn’t like (A Fatal Grace) had a higher percentage of less-than-favorable reviews than the books I thought excellent.]

Negative Doubles—Marty Bergen [I’m a bridge player and read several bridge books a year. Only this and one other made my Excellent category.]

Bury Your Dead—Louise Penny

The Cruelest Month—Louise Penny

Match-point Play—Hugh W. Kelsey [This out-of-print book is the other bridge book I found excellent.]

The Hunter—John Lescroart [I am a fan of Lescroart’s. Over the years I have read eight of his novels (leaving me lots more to read) and have rated three as excellent, four as good and one fair.]

Die a Stranger—Steve Hamilton [Hamilton is an author I’ve stuck with. I wasn’t much impressed with some of his earlier works, but he writes about Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and I live there. I’m glad I stuck with it because I’ve really enjoyed the last two I read: this one and The Lock Artist.]

A Trick of the Light—Louise Penny

Stolen Prey—John Sandford [I’ve read twenty-one of Sandford’s novels. His characters are like family so I may be prejudiced. Seven I’ve rated excellent and only a couple have I listed as fair.]

My Reading Life—Pat Conroy [A southern friend of ours read this book while visiting us in Michigan and as is her wont, left the book when she was done. I highly recommend this book for writers as well as those who have enjoyed reading Conroy’s books (or seeing them played out on the theater screen.)]

Her Last Scream—J A Kerley [Jack is an acquaintance of mine from my Kentucky days. His works are much better known in the UK than in the US. Of his last four books, I’ve noted two as excellent and two as good. You can find his books on Amazon. Corresponding with Jack at the end of the year, he told me his early works are just coming out as e-books. His UK publisher had to get the rights from his US publisher, who was sitting on them.]

~ Jim