Best Books of 2012 - The Critics' Picks

1.
Gone Girl
Gone Girl 4.14 avg rating — 3,358,304 ratings
2.
The Fault in Our Stars
The Fault in Our Stars 4.12 avg rating — 5,580,298 ratings
3.
Bring Up the Bodies (Thomas Cromwell, #2)
Bring Up the Bodies (Thomas Cromwell, #2) 4.30 avg rating — 102,597 ratings
4.
Where'd You Go, Bernadette
Where'd You Go, Bernadette 3.87 avg rating — 592,703 ratings
5.
Beautiful Ruins
Beautiful Ruins 3.68 avg rating — 182,953 ratings
6.
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity 3.98 avg rating — 114,811 ratings
7.
The Orphan Master's Son
The Orphan Master's Son 4.07 avg rating — 102,949 ratings
8.
Telegraph Avenue
Telegraph Avenue 3.40 avg rating — 21,576 ratings
9.
The Round House
The Round House 3.98 avg rating — 122,352 ratings
10.
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail 4.07 avg rating — 850,429 ratings
11.
Canada
Canada 3.52 avg rating — 27,802 ratings
12.
This Is How You Lose Her
This Is How You Lose Her 3.74 avg rating — 99,562 ratings
13.
Joseph Anton: A Memoir
Joseph Anton: A Memoir 3.65 avg rating — 9,221 ratings
14.
Flight Behavior
Flight Behavior 3.82 avg rating — 100,158 ratings
15.
Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic
Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic 4.42 avg rating — 20,023 ratings
16.
Sweet Tooth
Sweet Tooth 3.44 avg rating — 51,880 ratings
17.
Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity
Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity 4.27 avg rating — 22,183 ratings
18.
Mortality
Mortality 4.12 avg rating — 29,012 ratings
19.
Battleborn
Battleborn 4.12 avg rating — 5,353 ratings
20.
Nocturne, Opus 1: Sea Foam
Nocturne, Opus 1: Sea Foam 3.75 avg rating — 1,325 ratings
21.
The Yellow Birds
The Yellow Birds 3.74 avg rating — 26,457 ratings
22.
NW
NW 3.48 avg rating — 44,461 ratings
23.
People Who Eat Darkness: The Fate of Lucie Blackman
People Who Eat Darkness: The Fate of Lucie Blackman 3.79 avg rating — 22,902 ratings
24.
Building Stories
Building Stories 4.33 avg rating — 7,322 ratings
25.
At Last (Patrick Melrose, #5)
At Last (Patrick Melrose, #5) 3.94 avg rating — 5,788 ratings
26.
Arcadia
Arcadia 3.73 avg rating — 25,921 ratings
26.
Watergate
Watergate 3.60 avg rating — 1,835 ratings
28.
San Miguel
San Miguel 3.69 avg rating — 4,586 ratings
29.
What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank
What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank 3.74 avg rating — 8,193 ratings
30.
Blasphemy: New and Selected Stories
Blasphemy: New and Selected Stories 4.17 avg rating — 4,556 ratings
31.
The Snow Child
The Snow Child 4.01 avg rating — 166,396 ratings
32.
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? 4.01 avg rating — 45,371 ratings
33.
In One Person
In One Person 3.70 avg rating — 27,465 ratings
34.
Gods Without Men
Gods Without Men 3.65 avg rating — 4,350 ratings
35.
The Lifeboat
The Lifeboat 3.20 avg rating — 25,241 ratings
36.
The Richard Burton Diaries
The Richard Burton Diaries 3.96 avg rating — 730 ratings
37.
How Should a Person Be?
How Should a Person Be? 3.33 avg rating — 16,642 ratings
38.
The Passage of Power (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, #4)
The Passage of Power (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, #4) 4.40 avg rating — 19,288 ratings
39.
Dear Life
Dear Life 3.75 avg rating — 39,624 ratings
40.
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk 3.79 avg rating — 30,887 ratings
41.
Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944-1956
Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944-1956 4.08 avg rating — 7,064 ratings
42.
Alif the Unseen
Alif the Unseen 3.84 avg rating — 17,850 ratings
43.
Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace
Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace
by: D.T. Max
3.76 avg rating — 9,597 ratings
44.
The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot
The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot 4.13 avg rating — 11,032 ratings
45.
Home
Home 3.83 avg rating — 27,289 ratings
46.
House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East
House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East 3.63 avg rating — 2,539 ratings
47.
On Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines - and Future
On Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines - and Future 3.78 avg rating — 1,426 ratings
48.
Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis
Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis 4.11 avg rating — 9,933 ratings
49.
The Way the World Works: Essays
The Way the World Works: Essays 3.63 avg rating — 454 ratings
50.
Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power 4.05 avg rating — 42,295 ratings
51.
The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today
The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today 4.11 avg rating — 3,638 ratings
52.
Are You My Mother?: A Comic Drama
Are You My Mother?: A Comic Drama 3.71 avg rating — 35,012 ratings
53.
The Grey Album: On the Blackness of Blackness
The Grey Album: On the Blackness of Blackness 4.13 avg rating — 180 ratings
54.
On a Farther Shore: The Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson, Author of Silent Spring
On a Farther Shore: The Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson, Author of Silent Spring 3.91 avg rating — 933 ratings
55.
The Devil in Silver
The Devil in Silver 3.54 avg rating — 7,166 ratings
56.
Little America: The War Within the War for Afghanistan
Little America: The War Within the War for Afghanistan 3.99 avg rating — 992 ratings
57.
The Oath: The Obama White House and The Supreme Court
The Oath: The Obama White House and The Supreme Court really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 4,553 ratings
58.
The Barbarous Years: The Peopling of British North America: The Conflict of Civilizations, 1600-1675
The Barbarous Years: The Peopling of British North America: The Conflict of Civilizations, 1600-1675 3.93 avg rating — 1,081 ratings
59.
Birds of a Lesser Paradise: Stories
Birds of a Lesser Paradise: Stories 3.85 avg rating — 3,128 ratings
60.
Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New English Version
Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New English Version 4.05 avg rating — 22,969 ratings
61.
The Odds: A Love Story
The Odds: A Love Story 3.35 avg rating — 3,532 ratings
62.
The Tender Hour of Twilight: Paris in the '50s, New York in the '60s: A Memoir of Publishing's Golden Age
The Tender Hour of Twilight: Paris in the '50s, New York in the '60s: A Memoir of Publishing's Golden Age 3.94 avg rating — 71 ratings
63.
The Orchardist
The Orchardist 3.80 avg rating — 47,692 ratings
64.
The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving 3.78 avg rating — 11,190 ratings
65.
A Hologram for the King
A Hologram for the King 3.29 avg rating — 29,384 ratings
66.
HHhH
HHhH 4.07 avg rating — 27,465 ratings
67.
Three Strong Women
Three Strong Women 3.23 avg rating — 4,198 ratings
68.
The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo
The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo
by: Tom Reiss
4.02 avg rating — 21,030 ratings
69.
Enemies: A History of the FBI
Enemies: A History of the FBI 3.93 avg rating — 3,939 ratings
70.
Elsewhere
Elsewhere 3.77 avg rating — 8,243 ratings
71.
Zona: A Book About a Film About a Journey to a Room
Zona: A Book About a Film About a Journey to a Room 3.76 avg rating — 1,552 ratings
72.
Capital
Capital 3.71 avg rating — 14,538 ratings
73.
The Cove
The Cove
by: Ron Rash
3.70 avg rating — 12,378 ratings
74.
Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith: Religion in American War and Diplomacy
Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith: Religion in American War and Diplomacy 3.98 avg rating — 137 ratings