2012 Reads: All Together Now

2012 was my best year ever, or at least since I started keeping track back in the early 1990s.  I've boldfaced the books that really stood out for me.

125. The Red Pony - John Steinbeck

• 124. The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett
• 123. Korea, The Impossible Country - Daniel Tudor 
• 122. Don't Trade The Baby For A Horse - Wendy McClure
• 121. Endless Love - Scott Spencer 
• 120. Brother Fish - Bryce Courtenay
• 119. Black Swan Green - David Mitchell
• 118. Canadian Inventions - Lisa Wojna 
• 117. Disturbances in the Field - Lynne Sharon Schwartz
• 116. Lady Audley's Secret - Mary Elizabeth Braddon
• 115. Lit - Mary Karr
• 114. The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman - Meg Wolitzer
• 113. Bottom of the 33rd - Dan Barry
• 112. Clock Without Hands - Carson McCullers
• 111. Factotum - Charles Bukowski
• 110. Kira-Kira - Cynthia Kadohata 
• 109. The Mill on the Floss - George Eliot
• 108. Mortality - Christopher Hitchens
• 107. Ham on Rye - Charles Bukowski
• 106. Post Office - Charles Bukowski
• 105. Haroun and the Sea of Stories - Salman Rushdie
• 104. Paula Spencer - Roddy Doyle
• 103. A Long Way From Chicago - Richard Peck
• 102. Circles In A Forest - Dalene Matthee 
• 101. Burr - Gore Vidal 
• 100. The Lazy Paleo Enthusiast's Cookbook - Sean Robertson
• 99. Chocolat - Joanne Harris
• 98. Sounder - William H. Armstrong 
• 97. Dead End In Norvelt - Jack Gantos 
• 96. Flanagan's Run - Tom McNab
• 95. Breakfast at Tiffany's - Truman Capote
• 94. More Baths, Less Talking - Nick Hornby
• 93. Inspired: A Novel - William Sartore
• 92. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - Alexander Solzhenitsyn 
• 91. Joseph Anton - Salman Rushdie
• 90. Midnight's Children -Salman Rushdie 
• 89. Fifty Great Essays - Robert DiYanni, Ed.
• 88. Escape From Camp 14 - Blaine Harden
• 87. Baja Bullets - George Snyder
• 86. Not The Israel My Parents Promised Me - Harvey Pekar and JT Waldman
• 85. The Lay of the Land - Richard Ford
• 84. Lamb In His Bosom - Caroline Miller 
• 83. A Reliable Wife - Robert Goolrick
• 82. Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell Is This? -Marion Meade
• 81. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules - Jeff Kinney
• 80. Tough Sh*t - Kevin Smith
• 79. Lovers Lane: The Hall-Mills Mystery - Rick Geary
• 78. Half Empty - David Rakoff 
• 77. Dark Places - Gillian Flynn
• 76. The End of the Affair - Graham Greene
• 75. A Simple Plan - Scott Smith
• 74. Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
• 73. Our Valued Customers: Conversations From the Comic Book Store - Tim Chamberlain
• 72. License to Pawn - Rick Harrison
• 71. The Three of Us - Georgette Jones
• 70. Canada - Richard Ford 
• 69. Caddie Woodlawn - Carol Ryrie Brink
• 68. Lamb - Christopher Moore
• 67. Growing Up Amish - Ira Wagler 
• 66. I Remember Nothing - Nora Ephron
• 65. I Feel Bad About My Neck - Nora Ephron
• 64. Heartburn - Nora Ephron 
• 63. Number the Stars - Lois Lowry
• 62. Drifting House - Krys Lee
• 61. When You Reach Me - Rebecca Stead 
• 60. Fun Home -Alison Bechdel 
• 59. Running In The Family - Michael Ondaatje 
• 58. Are You My Mother? - Alison Bechdel
• 57. American Pastoral - Philip Roth 
• 56. The Fault In Our Stars - John Green
• 55. Sweet Thursday - John Steinbeck 
• 54. The Town - Conrad Richter 
• 53. Tales of the South Pacific - James A. Michener 
• 52. Still Alice - Lisa Genova
• 51. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid - Bill Bryson
• 50. The Edge of Sadness - Edwin O'Connor 
• 49. Forrest Gump - Winston Groom
• 48. Under The Banner of Heaven - Jon Krakauer
• 47. The Mysterious Stranger - Mark Twain 
• 46. East of Eden - John Steinbeck 
• 45. Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters - John Steinbeck
• 44. God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything - Christopher Hitchens 
• 43. The Fran Lebowitz Reader - Fran Lebowitz
• 42. The Winter of Our Discontent - John Steinbeck
• 41. Shane - Jack Schaeffer
• 40. It's Like This, Cat - Emily Cheney Neville 
• 39. Shadow of a Bull - Maia Wojciechowska 
• 38. The Higher Power of Lucky - Susan Patron 
• 37. In This House of Brede - Rumer Godden
• 36. Pauline Kael: A Life in the Dark - Brian Kellow
• 35. The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
• 34. 11/22/63 - Stephen King
• 33. American Splendor: Our Movie Year - Harvey Pekar
• 32. The Story of Charlotte's Web - Michael Sims
• 31. Crap Chronicles: When IBS Strikes In All The Wrong Places - Diana Estill
• 30. Ex Libris - Anne Fadiman 
• 29. At Large And At Small - Anne Fadiman
• 28. Damned - Chuck Palahniuk 
• 27. Daughter of Darkness - J.R. Lowell
• 26. The Dead Zone - Stephen King 
• 25. Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy - Eric Metaxas 
• 24. Cannery Row - John Steinbeck 
• 23. So Big - Edna Ferber 
• 22. Who Was Elvis Presley? - Geoff Edgers 
• 21. Get Carter - Ted Lewis
• 20. Life's That Way - Jim Beaver 
• 19. The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down - Anne Fadiman 
• 18. How Did I Get Here From There? - Claire Rayner 
• 17. Mr. Popper's Penguins - Richard and Florence Atwater 
• 16. I Want That! How We All Became Shoppers - Thomas Hine 
• 15. The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane - Laird Koenig 
• 14. View From The Cellar - R.W. Watkins 
• 13. The Man With The Golden Arm - Nelson Algren 
• 12. Philip Hall Likes Me. I Reckon Maybe. - Bette Greene 
• 11. Shutting Out The Sun: How Japan Created Its Own Lost Generation - Michael Zielenziger 
• 10. Julie of the Wolves - Jean Craighead George 
• 9. Something Good - Robert Munsch 
• 8. The Year of the Flood - Margaret Atwood 
• 7. Ronald Reagan: A Graphic Biography - Andrew Helfer 
• 6. Now in November - Josephine W. Johnson 
• 5. The Bad Seed - William March 
• 4. The Lonely Polygamist - Brady Udall 
• 3. Strength in What Remains - Tracy Kidder 
• 2. The Stranger - Albert Camus 
• 1. The Wide House - Taylor Caldwell