# What is the best Novel you've read this year?



## bookparadisefun (May 1, 2012)

I'm curious...I wanna know!


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## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

Tough to choose just one.  My top two favs:

Patricia Briggs  Fair Game (Book 3 in the Alpha and Omega series) and
Frank Tuttle The Banshee's Walk (Book...4? or 5? in the Markhat series.)

Did I read Unicorn on Speed Dial this year?  If I did, that would have to make the list too.  I'll have to look.


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## Sean Patrick Fox (Dec 3, 2011)

I've read 32 books so far this year, so it's a little tough to choose just one, but I'll go with... _Redemption Street_ by Reed Farrel Coleman.


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## That Weird Guy.... (Apr 16, 2012)

Let's see.... I really enjoyed... dang. Not that easy to pick a 'favorite.' I have read so many. 
The Stand (Complete and Uncut)
How I Paid For College


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## lmyrick (Feb 23, 2012)

I've mostly been reading sci-fi and fantasy this year, so I'm going to have to go with Dan Abnett's Prospero Burns. Only available directly from the Black Library site in ebook form, however.


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## hs (Feb 15, 2011)

Mira Grant's _Deadline_, book 2 of the Newsflesh trilogy. I had been looking forward to it ever since I read _Feed_ last year, and _Deadline_ didn't disappoint.
However, with the recent release of Veronica Roth's _Insurgent_, I may have a new favorite soon.


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## Joseph_Evans (Jul 24, 2011)

So far The Chronicles of Egg: Deadweather and Sunrise (I'm cheating a bit because I haven't actually finished it yet but it really is that good!) Outstandingly funny and charming!


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## J.R.Mooneyham (Mar 14, 2011)

Well, maybe six months ago I read the Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold...and immediately thereafter had to read the other nine books in the series (her Vorkosigan saga). But I wouldn't say her books are the best I've read this year-- I'd say they're the best I've read in maybe 20 or 30 years (and I've read a lot of books). Unfortunately, the better the series, the more awful it is to have finished it, when you know of nothing comparable to go to next...


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carre

I always knew I would love his books but they were a little dense reading for me when I tried them back in college, and even grad school. They were the kind of thing where I would start one, but I would be working too hard at it, and I'd get distracted with other things and assume I just wasn't in the mood.

Funny thing.... years later, after I'd gone through a nightmarish situation at the day job, I picked up Tinker Tailor and realized that now I don't just intellectually understand, but I totally GET the whole paranoid and hostile and personal politics aspect like I never did before.  Now I'm just eating up all his books completely.

Camille


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## cheriereich (Feb 12, 2011)

The best novel I've read to date is Beth Revis' A Million Suns. I absolutely loved her Across the Universe, and book two was even better than book one. Beth excels at cliff-hanger chapter endings, fast-paced plots, and complex mysteries within her YA science fiction novel.


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## TWErvin2 (Aug 7, 2010)

I'd say for me, The Zombie Driven Life. Pretty fast and fun, with some dark humor and a decent theme tangled in there.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

I don't know about 'best', but the ones I enjoyed the most were a toss-up between:

_The Riddle of Monte Verita_, by Jean-Paul Török.



and _The Broken Bell_, by Frank Tuttle.



There were a number of very enjoyable re-reads I did, having purchased the ebook version of an old, falling-apart paperback.

Mike


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## Verbena (Sep 1, 2011)

I'd say for me, Cavern of the Blood Zombies (Grave Robbers' Chronicles).

I think it's a nice book and share it.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

hs said:


> Mira Grant's _Deadline_, book 2 of the Newsflesh trilogy. I had been looking forward to it ever since I read _Feed_ last year, and _Deadline_ didn't disappoint.
> However, with the recent release of Veronica Roth's _Insurgent_, I may have a new favorite soon.


_Feed_ made my shortlist of 2011 favorites and I'm SOOO looking forward to the third book in the series. Don't bug me on June 1st, I'll be busy.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

So...are we talking here about the best novel we've read so far this calendar year (which is only 4 months old) or the best novel we've read in the past 12 months? If the former, I'm not sure there's anything worth mentioning so far.


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## bordercollielady (Nov 21, 2008)

In the last 12 months - its 11/22/63 by Stephen King...  in 2012- I really enjoyed Running Blind - a Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child.


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

NogDog said:


> So...are we talking here about the best novel we've read so far this calendar year (which is only 4 months old) or the best novel we've read in the past 12 months? If the former, I'm not sure there's anything worth mentioning so far.


4 months and nothing worth mentioning! What a shame.

For me, it's a tie between:


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## mistyd107 (May 22, 2009)

so far 11/22/63


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

history_lover said:


> 4 months and nothing worth mentioning! What a shame.


Well, I did give The Day of the Triffids (a 1951 sci-fi classic I somehow managed to not read all these years) 4/5 stars on GoodReads.com, so I guess that would be my year-to-date "best".


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## Geemont (Nov 18, 2008)

In the last four months, it would be a toss up between:

In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien (No Kindle edition, alas)
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
The Flame Alphabet by Ben Marcus


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## Ergodic Mage (Jan 23, 2012)

Wool Omnibus (give a wave Hugh Howey) was my favorite since I read Off Armageddon Reef (Safehold series by David Weber) a couple of years ago.

After that I've finally read Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut followed closely in 3rd by David Weber's 5th book in the Safehold series How Firm a Foundation.


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## Guest (May 2, 2012)

I'm enjoying Truth Like the Sun quite a bit. Especially timely in regard to some recent events in Seattle!


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## soyfrank (Feb 2, 2011)

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro http://www.amazon.com/Never-Let-Me-Go-ebook/dp/B000FCK2TW/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2


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## Ann Herrick (Sep 24, 2010)

I hope this qualifies: I just _re_-read _All Creatures Great and Small_ It always gives me a lift and makes me laugh.
http://www.amazon.com/All-Creatures-Great-Small-ebook/dp/B0060QM0A


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## Matthew Lee Adams (Feb 19, 2012)

MariaESchneider said:


> Tough to choose just one. My top two favs:
> 
> *Patricia Briggs Fair Game (Book 3 in the Alpha and Omega series)* and
> Frank Tuttle The Banshee's Walk (Book...4? or 5? in the Markhat series.)
> ...


*Patricia Briggs - **Moon Called*...and I'm reading *Fair Game* right now and it's looking to be just as good as the rest of her books.


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## Candee15 (Jan 31, 2010)

bordercollielady said:


> In the last 12 months - its 11/22/63 by Stephen King... in 2012- I really enjoyed Running Blind - a Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child.


I agree! 11/22/63 was FASCINATING. I hated having it end.


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## Jon Olson (Dec 10, 2010)

I'd have to say, hands down, it's Chad Harbach's THE ART OF FIELDING. Great baseball setting in a book that's not really about baseball.


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## hotelalphabet (May 20, 2012)

Affinity by Sarah Waters


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## Darlene Jones (Nov 1, 2011)

Hum, hard to decide - I'm currently reading (and very much enjoying) Sacre Bleu by Christopher Moore. Also liked Cocktale Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller and The Paris Wife by Paula Mclean.


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## Gary The Swift (May 21, 2012)

I've been reading Needful Things by Stephen King. It's my first SK novel and I'm loving it so far.


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## Harry Shannon (Jul 30, 2010)

For sheer entertainment, might be Gutshot Straight by Lou Berney. Also liked 11/22/63.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Quite enjoyed Dashiell Hammett's The Glass Key.


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## Tony Rabig (Oct 11, 2010)

_Boy's Life_, by Robert McCammon, with King's _11/22/63_ a close second.


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## Guest (May 23, 2012)

House of Silk was pretty good if you like Sherlock Holmes.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Attebery said:


> House of Silk was pretty good if you like Sherlock Holmes.


I agree. . . I found it very true to the 'flavor' of the original stories. . . .


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## Casper Parks (May 1, 2011)

I am invoking the fifth, under the grounds it may incriminate me.


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## Nicole Ciacchella (May 21, 2012)

Geemont said:


> In the last four months, it would be a toss up between:
> 
> The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood


I have to second this one. I'd been wanting to read it for years and finally read it this year, after buying the Kindle Daily Deal copy of it. It's phenomenal. I wish I'd read it sooner, but then I would have paid more for it. 

I read tons of YA and my favorite book so far this year has been Partials. It's just lots of fun and features a really great, strong female lead.


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## D.B. Collins (May 24, 2012)

daringnovelist said:


> Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carre
> 
> I always knew I would love his books but they were a little dense reading for me when I tried them back in college, and even grad school. They were the kind of thing where I would start one, but I would be working too hard at it, and I'd get distracted with other things and assume I just wasn't in the mood.
> 
> ...


Interesting... I just started Tinker Tailor myself after putting it off for so long. I always loved thrillers, but never really got into le Carré. Guess you're right: you just have to live a little to "get" all the paranoia and personal politics.


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## jamesmonaghan (Oct 22, 2010)

Hmmm... How to chose, how to chose. 

According to my Goodreads account, I've marked 6 books with 5 out of 5 stars... Of those six, I'll say my top three were Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown and Railsea by China Mieville. However the book I'm reading at the moment, Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye will definitely be somewhere in there as well!


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## ShanaMars (Apr 29, 2012)

Calendar year: I really enjoyed Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson.


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## kindleworm (Aug 24, 2010)

Calendar year: I really enjoyed Sleepwalker: The Last Sand Man  by Brad Marlowe.


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## jonathanmoeller (Apr 19, 2011)

_The Stealer of Flesh_ by William King and _The Dragon's Path_ by Daniel Abraham.


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## joeyjoejoejr (Apr 19, 2012)

Reading the Wool Omnibus right now which will probably end up getting my vote for best but before that it was The Passage.


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## Todd Young (May 2, 2011)

The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst.



I'd never heard of him until I saw a recommendation in the LGBT recommendations thread, and now I've read all of his books. I wish there were more, but if you're writing books of this sort of quality, I suppose it takes a bit of time.

The Line of Beauty won the Booker Prize in 2004. I'd also recommend The Spell and The Folding Star.


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## mscottwriter (Nov 5, 2010)

Until a few days ago, I would have picked Winter's Bone, but I just finished Mystic River by Dennis Lehane.  What a terrific book!  Even though I'd already seen the movie, I loved it.


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## Mel Comley (Oct 13, 2010)

The best book for me has been Linda Prather's Bet You Can't ... Find Me.

Followed in close second by Children of the Fog!


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Generally, my favorite of the year is the one I'm currently reading.  Every journey is a new one...

Loved _Shanghai Girls_, recommended as part of KindleBoards' Quasi Official Book Game Klub....

Betsy


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## B.A. Spangler (Jan 25, 2012)

Read The Green Mile, again, and still one of my favs.


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## 90daysnovel (Apr 30, 2012)

So far, I'd have to say Dissolution by C J Sansom. I don't usually go in for historical stuff, but Shardlake as the hunchback lawyer/ crony of Cromwell is very interesting.


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