[Blugal]

Also, the best one I read all year is definitely REAMDE by Neal Stephenson. It's got trolls and hackers and terrorists and gaming and some very funny sh*t as well. What's not to like :-)

I can't remember if I read it this year (probably) - I agree. I didn't get much sleep while I was striding my way through that one!

NB watch the spelling when trying to look this one up! It's Reamde, by Neal Stephenson.

And, in case the premise scares anyone off (i.e. gamers/hackers/terrorists) - it wasn't something I thought, "hey, this is my kind of book." However, I'd read his Cryptonomicon which also didn't fit my idea of what I would read - and thoroughly enjoyed it. Both were so well-written with lots of very true and very funny insights into human nature, as well as being intelligent.

[SweetTalk]

I couldn't say for sure what I thought to be the "best" book I've read this year. I can tell you what I'm reading right now. The Immortals series by Alyson Noel. I really like it...I think I tend to gravitate toward books like this because they're a lot lighter of a read. Anyone else enjoy this type of book? Yeah, I like the vamps and weres and supernatural stuff. Lol. Not sure if I should be embarrassed or not...

[dressagetraks]

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. Incredible story, nonfiction that reads like fiction, and while there are tough moments, there is also from the very subtitle the assurance of victory at the end.

[JenEM]

Oh my, where to start! Already mentioned on here would be "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," "The Emperor of all Maladies," "In The Garden of Beasts," the Hunger Games trilogy, "The Handmaid's Tale" (though I love everything I've read of Margaret Atwood), and "In the Name of the Rose" (Ecco is dense and not easy, but I love his writing).

This year I also really enjoyed Hilary Mantel's sequel to the wonderful "Wolf Hall," "Bring Up the Bodies." I also liked the very involved family story in AS Byatt's "The Children's Book." Michael Ondaatje's "Cat's Table" was lovely. Right now I'm reading "Sweet Tooth" by Ian Mcewan and quite liking it, though I'm only 2/3 through it.

[Alex and Bodie's Mom]

Just finished The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry -- started out slow, but halfway through it picked up and wouldn't let go.

Iced, the new one from Karen Marie Moning -- though I swear, if she uses that many adjectives in the next one, I'm protesting. She's usually better than that . . .

True crime -- I'm partway through A Case for Solomon, about a case of supposed mistaken identity in 1912 Louisiana, and Death in the City of Light, about a serial killer in Nazi-occupied Paris. However, both are on my Nook and I just have a hard time reading novels on it, for some reason.

Steven Saylor's Roma sub Roma series, if you love detective stories set in Ancient Rome.

Getting ready to read The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova again -- hands down the best debut novel I've ever read. (Well, except for mine . . .)

For YA, Cassandra Clare's series (but I prefer the prequel series, starting with Clockwork Angel to the Mortal Instruments series; however, both are good).

Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, and Laurie R. King's Mary Russell series are both excellent, though very different -- read Dresden if you like the supernatural, and Russell if you like Sherlock Holmes.

[Bogie]

I read a lot. A few standouts for me recently have been:

Rules of Civility - Amor Towles
Beautiful Ruins - Jess Walter
The Night Circus - Erin Morganstern
The Chaperone - Laura Moriarty
Into the Darkest Corner - Elizabeth Haynes (much better psychological thriller than Gone Girl IMO)
The Potato Factory - Bryce Courtney

[goneriding24]

Almost anything by Wilbur Smith. Talk about entertainment deluxe. Reading one right now and am annoyed when I have to break to feed hubby or answer the phone.

[Canaqua]

The nerdy part of me loved The Emperor of All Maladies and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and more recently, Spillover (I could read about zoonotic diseases and hemorrhagic fevers all day, I'm a little strange).

Oh, geez. If you are strange, I'm super strange too. I looove reading about disease and epidemics and all that exciting stuff...you've given me a couple of new reads to chase down, as I've been out of the loop for a while. Did you read "The Death of a Disease", about the eradication of smallpox? I enjoyed that quite a bit.

[EqTrainer]

The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. And I wish I had never read it.

[shiningwizard255]

I was late to the party on these ones, but I read the Hunger Games trilogy for the first time this year. OMG - so good. I couldn't put them down.

[curlykarot]

Just finished the Silver Linings Playbook. Didn't think I would like it when I first started it but I very much liked it by the end.

Keep this list going! I just got a Kindle Fire and I'm excited to put some new books on it!

[Frank B]

"Atlas Shrugged". It's long, and the problem is that it's so interesting that it's hard to put down. I had to set an alarm clock or I'd suddenly realize it was 3 AM.

[supershorty628]

Oh, geez. If you are strange, I'm super strange too. I looove reading about disease and epidemics and all that exciting stuff...you've given me a couple of new reads to chase down, as I've been out of the loop for a while. Did you read "The Death of a Disease", about the eradication of smallpox? I enjoyed that quite a bit.

I haven't! Maybe I'll grab a copy of that at the local library! I just read a very good book about the development of the polio vaccine called "Splendid Solution," which I'd recommend

[SMF11]

I love these suggestions! (I'm sitting here with this tab open and the next one for Amazon, putting books suggested on this thread in my shopping cart!

(I too love disease books :-) )

I like nonfiction best. I just finished "Call the Midwife", the memoir the TV series is based on. It is a really well written account of being a young midwife in the East End of London in the early 1950's.

I also read "Proof of Heaven: a Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife" which was short and easy to read. I found it interesting.

[desilu]

This is the best book I've read this year and I don't usually like non-fiction:

The President's Club

[evenstar]

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker was quite good, and really stuck in my head long after I finished it.

Also would recommend the mystery books written by Tana French. Take place in Ireland and feature various members of the "murder squad" of the police there. She writes really well, and her books seem to me to have a lot of depth.

[LaurieB]

The Rules of Civility by Amor Towles. It was beautifully written.

[Tommy's Girl]

My favourite this year, hands down, is The Eighty Dollar Champion, about a slaughter-bound nag in 1958 that went on to become horse of the year. Fantastic story! If you get the e-version, get the one with the pictures as they're awe inspiring, from the 6' jumps at Madison Square Garden to five kiddies riding this champion bareback/swimming with him. Great, uplifting, inspiring story!

[Wishes R Horses]

Loved Team of Rivals, Doris Kearnes Goodwin's book of Lincoln's cabinet. 700+ pages but fascinating. Very applicable to today in many ways.

[Eclectic Horseman]

I had two favorites this year-

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell and Far North: A Novel by Marcel Theroux.

Runners up were-
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson