Best books of 2012

 For today’s ARMCHAIR  discussion topic, we’ve been asked to list the books we’ve enjoyed the most so far this year and those we want to read before 2012 is out. So here’s my list:

Best Reads

Joint first place: It’s toss up between The Siege of Krishnapur  by J G Farrell which I finished reading last night and Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall. Both have a historical setting though the periods they focus on are a few centuries apart and are located in vastly different continents. What they do share however is the strong sense of character delineation and a plot that propels you forward.

Second place: Another Booker prize winning novel – V S Naipaul’s In a Free State . Most of the other Naipaul novels I’ve read have been much harder to penetrate than this one but now I’m encouraged to give him another go.

Third place: Hmm, in the running here is Before I go to Sleep which is proving mesmerising so far. And Margaret Attwood’s The Blind Assassin. 

Want to read

Oh dear, the list of books to be read is very long indeed. Number one though is Mantel’s Bring up the  Bodies about which I think I have only seen two negative reviews. And I enjoyed Farrell’s style so much I went out today and bought Troubles, the first in the trilogy. Then I have some more reading to do for my children’s literature course which starts in September – in the queue after Treasure Island are Reeve’s Mortal Engines and J M Barrie’s Peter Pan.