2012 Best Reads

As I really love finding out what other people have read and getting their book recommendations, I thought I'd add my own list of 2012 best reads -  although I have written about a few of the books already, so I won't say much about each one here.

To make it easier for me (!) I'm going to do categories. 

Africa books: Blood River by Tim Butcher. The author is a journalist, who travels by motorbike, foot and canoe across Congo, including a long stretch on the Congo River. He writes so evocatively about Congo, and respectfully about the people he met and who helped him. And a fascinating history, without getting boring, once. 

Non-fiction: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot. This book is so so interesting! It is the story of a black American woman who died of a very virulent form of cancer, and cells from her tumour were removed and reproduced successfully (which was a first) in the lab - and then used and its descendants used in many major steps forward in cancer cures and discoveries, right up to the present - ie for over fifty years. The book also tracks the story of the Lacks family, who whilst knowing the impact of Henrietta's cells on medical science, have lived in relative poverty. It makes for a really good read, on several levels.

Christian books: Honestly, I don't read many "Christian books"... ahem. But this one, I loved, and I have gone on about it quite a bit so I won't again here: One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.

Historical Fiction: This is my favourite genre and I have read loads. But my favourite of the year was Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel. The main character is Thomas Cromwell, who rose up through the court of Henry VIII, and the book is mainly about his perspective on the rise of Ann Boleyn up until her marriage to Henry. I am looking forward to reading the sequel, Bringing Up The Bodies. Wolf Hall is clever and quite funny, and with lots of historical detail and great character development - a bit slow - but I loved it.

Other fiction: The Fear Index by Robert Harris. This is a little bit future dystopia/ science fictiony, which I also seem to enjoy for some bizarre reason. Why I like reading about the disasters we are heading towards beats me. Maybe because I dislike the unknown so much, this makes me feel as though I have a glimpse of where we might be going, and how humans will cope with it, at least. Anyway, this one is about a company which runs entirely without paper, and how they develop a process to predict the markets and so manipulate them, and how the computers making this happen become more clever than anyone ever expected... it is a very good read.

Another kind of fiction: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski. This is an epic book that tells the story of the childhood and young adulthood of Edgar Sawtelle. His family are breeders of a unique type of dog, and much of the book centres around the relationship between humans and dogs. I must say, until I became a dog-lover, thanks to Frodo (!), I could not read this book. I was given it ages ago, and I tried, twice. But once I understood how a dog and a person can bond, I loved reading it. It is based on the story of Hamlet, so, yes there is a ghost, and intrigue, and a brother, and rivalry, and Edgar has to leave home and trek through the wilderness... The ending is dramatic and poignant and satisfying all at once. It has a slow beginning, but it is worth persevering as it becomes a very worthwhile, even a wonderful, read.

I have read lots of other good ones, including the first couple of the Corduoroy Mansions series by Alexander McCall Smith, which I had missed before - but they were as enjoyable as all his others -  funny and gentle.

I am always glad of recommendations, so please let me know of any books you think I'd like. or that you have relished. (Thanks Gwyn for writing about yours, which gave me the idea to do the same.)