Best and Worst Books (of the Ones I Read in 2012)

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It is the end of 2012 and I have finished reading 41 books this year.  It would have been more if I had not gotten so bogged down in both orientation for my job and in reading Red Mars (seriously, it took me two months to get through that book), but that leaves me an easy goal for 2013: finish more than 41 books.

Without any further ado, here are the five worst and the five best books I read in 2012.

The Bad Ones

5. Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson.  I complained extensively about this book both online and to anyone who would listen to me kvetch in person.  The concept is great, but unfortunately, the characters are not interesting and the execution of the story is boring.  How you can make a story like this dull, I’m not sure, but Robinson managed admirably.  Months later all I remember is a few interesting moments and being baffled over why anyone would be remotely attracted to any of the three main characters in the central love triangle of the book.

4. The Other Side of Midnight by Sidney Sheldon.  I first read this terrifically trashy book when I was in high school.  I’ll be honest: I liked it a lot better then than I did this time around.  The plot was interesting and twisty in the way that a poorly written soap opera is interesting and twisty, and it does have some mildly interesting sex scenes.  Mostly, though, it’s nonsense.

3. Brother Odd by Dean Koontz.  I liked the first Odd Thomas book pretty well and the second wasn’t bad, but this was padded and poor.  Dean Koontz is such an on and off writer that I was entirely unsurprised.

2. Redwall by Brian Jacques.  Predictable, sexist, and sanctimonious, this is the first book that has actively made me want to stomp on mice or any other kind of animal.  The fact that the head bad guy’s name in this tome is “Cluny” is so stupid that it doesn’t bear repeating unless you are being warned against read this book.  Which you are.

1.  Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James.  A lot of people love this book, especially women, and… I don’t get it.  It is poorly written to the point of being comical and the sex scenes – purported to be super hot and interesting because of the BDSM content – are pretty generic.  And every damn character is so dull and uninteresting that you barely care about their alleged relationships.  There’s a lot better smut available for free on the internet, people.  And in print.  And probably on the backs of bathroom stall doors.  If you’re looking for erotica, I would look further.  It shouldn’t be hard to find something much better.

The Good Ones

5. Bossypants by Tina Fey.  Tina Fey is very funny, and so is her memoir.  I listened to this on compact discs while working in my kitchen.  Fey herself reads it, which is an added pleasure.  My son watched me doubled over, laughing, while listening to this at one point.  Really, really enjoyable.

4. Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine’s Greatest Lifesaver by Arthur Allen.  I have long been interesting in the debates surrounding vaccinations, and Allen offers a thorough and fascinating study of the subject, focusing primarily on vaccination and its history in the United States.  From the first vaccine for smallpox to modern vaccines for rotavirus, Allen takes the reader through American history and shows how public health and the government interact with the American people – both individuals and in populations.

3.  11/22/63 by Stephen King.  I became one of Stephen King’s Constant Readers when I was fourteen.  I’m forty now, and have read almost all of his novels – the great (The Shining, Salem’s Lot, The Stand, etc.) and the terrible (Insomnia, Gerald’s Game).  11/22/63 is long.  And well-researched historical fiction.  And it has an emotional love story in the second half that broke my heart a bit.  I was surprised at this late date to be able to add a new Stephen King book to my “top five King reads,” but there it is.  Don’t miss this one. 

2. Miracle in the Andes by Nando Parrado. This one wins for best non-fiction book I read this year, hands down, no question about it. Parrado’s first person account of his experience in the 1972 plane crash into the uninhabitable mountains of the Andes is gripping, harrowing, and occasionally nauseating. I have mentioned this book to numerous people as a “must read,” and it is.

1. The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I was dimly aware of this novel before a fellow nurse handed me the audio book and suggested I listen to it on my commute. It is excellent, one of the best books I have read EVER. I literally was sitting in my car many times once I’d gotten home, wanting to sit in the garage and just keep listening. The movie is good, yes, but the book is better by far.



And that’s it for 2012!

Next year: more about books… and some guest bloggers!