Top Ten Novels Read in 2012
I was intrigued by the storytelling. Shriver is da bomb.
2. Lionel Shriver. We Need to Talk About Kevin. 2003. 400 pp.
About a high school shooting, it is a dark indictment of American mores.
3. William Trevor. Felicia's Journey . 1994. 240 pp.
Stepping into this novel is like stepping on a hot plate with set to slow burn fuck up.
4. Don Delillo. White Noise. 310 pp. 1985
Written over twenty years ago, this novel may be too ironic to still matter.
Southern family, a house, sibling rivalries – and the death of parents!
6. Norton Juster. The Phantom Tollbooth. 1961. 272 pp.
Very clever novel about how to overcome boredom and to think for oneself.
Ho Ho Ho. Death cracks me up. An alternative Christmas story for sure.
8. Lindqvist, John Ajvide. Let the Right One In. 2005. 513 pp.
Child murderer(s), bullying, girl vampire, pedophilia and Sweden. Chilling.
The ending is fucked up. Pair it up with Shriver’s Kevin and Trevor’s Felicia.
10. Ransom Riggs. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine, #1) 2011. 352 pp.
It’ll make for good CGI film-making and the time travel makes sense. Sorta.
Honorable Mentions
The names are fun. And maps! Surprisingly easy to follow.
Gaiman wants us to like his villains. I don’t mind.
I was not stunned by this mess.
Don’t hate me but Allan Ball does a better job.
Neil Gaiman.Neverwhere 1996. 370 pp.
Great concept: a world under London. Feels like Pullman. It isn’t.
Phillip K. Dick. The Simulacra. 1964. 214 pp.
Sorry. I was not liking this paranoid regurgitation. Not Dick’s best.
Phillip K. Dick. Paycheck and Other Classic Stories 1952. 432 pp.
The one about the robots and the dude who builds a replica of his hometown are the best of the stories.
I’d rather a story about the Masai then Gray and her failed trysts.
The book is lackluster and I’d suggested Homer instead.
Too bad I read this book from left to right first! Duh. Read it from right to left.
Great set of books: I loved the description of food. I hear there is a Hunger Games cookbook.
