MediumBrow's 2012 Reading List

Last year I gave a rundown of the fourteen books I finished in the calendar year.  In 2012, with the help of the New York Public Library, I tallied a Jordanesque 23.

Here's a rundown of the notable ones from that eclectic group: 

Great Reads

A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole: I wasn't sure what I was reading for a while, but by the end I found it very entertaining and even cared about the truly unlikeable characters.

The Road Cormac McCarthy: It's ambiguous what caused the apocalypse, but it really did a number on the entire ecosystem...  I really felt like I needed to talk that one out to keep from being totally depressed.

The Killer Angels Michael Shaara: It almost seemed dated to look at a major battle through the eyes of officers, not the common man on the front lines, but I thought it worked great.

City of Thieves David Benioff: A very fast-moving war story.  The WWII USSR had some similarities to The Road...

Into Thin Air Jon Krakauer: I actually expected a bit more carnage.  As it was, it convinced me to never hit that altitude outside of a plane.

Boomerang Michael Lewis: The end-of-the-world rhetoric already seems a bit dated, but some great cultural contrasts.

Lessons of History Will Durant: To-the-point lessons that don't necessarily prove their case in the book but still seem convincing.

The Day of the Jackal Frederick Forsyth: A pretty good classic thriller.  The dated police infrastructure really upped the suspense more than the computer wizardry that seems to be the crutch these days.

Worthwhile

Pale Fire Vladimir Nabokov
Kim Rudyard Kipling
Shogun James Clavell
The Gaggle Jessica Massa
Invisible Cities Italo Calvino
How Soccer Explains the World Franklin Foer
The Rough Riders Theodore Roosevelt
The Stand Stephen King
Atlas Shrugged Ayn Rand
The Alchemist Paulo Coelho
The Great Railway Bazaar Paul Theroux
The Island of Dr. Moreau HG Wells
Ubik Philip K Dick

Kind of Want That Time Back

Foucault's Pendulum Umberto Eco

Master and Margarita Mikhail Bulgakov: I was a little disappointed that the devil and company just didn't seem evil - chaotic, but not as dark as I expected and still almost moral.