Spotlight On Books of the Year

Check back weekly throughout March to see various “Best” books of 2012
WEEK FOUR


POPULAR FICTION: Vertical by Rex Pickett

LITERARY FICTION: Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon

YOUNG ADULT FICTION (YA):  In Trouble by Ellen Levine

SCI-FI/FANTASY: Stranded by Douglas Wentworth

HISTORICAL FICTION: The Darcys: The Ruling Passion by Linda Berdoll

HORROR: Floating Staircase by Ronald Malfi

MYSTERY/COZY/NOIR: Murder on Music Row: A Music Industry Thriller by Stuart Dill

SUSPENSE/THRILLER (TIE): Department Thirteen: There’s Nowhere to Run by James Houston Turner and If Thy Right Hand by Robin Lamont


WEEK THREE

National Book Awards (National Book Foundation)

FICTIONThe Round House by Louise Erdrich

NONFICTION: Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo

POETRY: Bewilderment: New Poems and Translations by David Ferry

YOUNG PEOPLE’S LITERATURE: Goblin Secrets by William Alexander

Newbery Medal (Childrens)

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

Pulitzer Prize

No winners for 2012. The Three Finalists: Train Dreams by Denis Johnson Swamplandia! by Karen Russell, The Pale King by David Foster Wallace



Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel


WEEK TWO

For Mystery fans everywhere….

Edgar Award Winners 2012 (Mystery Writers of America)

BEST NOVEL: Gone by Mo Hayder 

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR: Bent Road by Lori Roy 

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL: The Company Man by Robert Jackson Bennett 
BEST FACT CRIME: Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard 
BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL: On Conan Doyle: Or, the Whole Art of Storytelling by Michael Dirda 

BEST SHORT STORY: “The Man Who Took His Hat Off to the Driver of the Train” – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Peter Turnbull 

BEST JUVENILE: Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby 
BEST YOUNG ADULT: The Silence of Murder by Dandi Daley Mackall 
BEST PLAY: The Game’s Afoot by Ken Ludwig 
BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY: “Pilot” – Homeland, Teleplay by Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon & Gideon Raff 
ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD: “A Good Man of Business” – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by David Ingram 

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER – MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD
(Presented at MWA’s Agents & Editors Party on Wednesday, April 25, 2012) Learning to Swim by Sara J. Henry

WEEK ONE

Fiction: The Casual Vacancy, by J.K Rowling
Mystery/Thriller: Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn
Historical Fiction: The Light Between Oceans, by M.L. Stedman
Fantasy: The Wind Through The Keyhole, by Stephen King (Illustrations Jae Lee)
Paranormal Fantasy: Shadow of the Night, by Deborah Harkness
Science Fiction: The Long Earth, by Terry Pratchett, Stephen Baxter
Romance: Fifty Shades Freed, by E.L. James
Horror: The Twelve, by Justin Cronin
History/Biography: Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch, by Sally Bedell Smith
Food/Cookbooks: The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food From My Frontier, by Ree Drummond
Graphic Novels/Comics: The Walking Dead, Vol 16: A Larger World, by Robert Kirkman, (Illustrations Charlie Adlard)
Poetry: A Thousand Mornings, by Mary Oliver
(Additional Children’s books etc available at Goodreads)

Elena Hartwell

Author and developmental editor.