Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

2012 FAVORITES
Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

BEST FICTION
THE SHOEMAKERS WIFE by Adriana Trigiani:  If you like warm family stories with more than a touch of romance and a touch of humor, stories that tug at the heart, you won’t want to miss this treasure.

THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS by M. L. Stedman: This is a beautifully written story, with great description of the solitary life of a lighthouse keeper and the beautiful, dangerous wild place called Janus Rock. It is somehow reminiscent of the hugely popular The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards, and book groups will love this one just as much. I actually liked this book better.

THE BEGINNER’S GOODBYE by Anne Tyler: This beguiling, quirky book is about a marriage that ends with a sudden, unexpected death and meanders its way through the grieving process. These characters are vividly brought to life in Tyler’s skilled hands, and theirs is a story worth reading.

THE NEXT BEST THING by Jennifer Weiner: This latest effort from the author of Good in Bed and In Her Shoes, among many others, really delivers with this sweet story of a Hollywood sitcom gone wrong.

CALICO JOE by John Grisham: I loved this book for its charm and nostalgia, but especially for the way Grisham brings these characters to life – they will be with me for a long time to come.

THE GREAT ESCAPE by Susan Elizabeth Phillips: This sequel to Call Me Irresistible is another winner from my favorite romance writer.

SPRING FEVER by Mary Kay Andrews: This is Mary Kay Andrews at her best. If you’re only going to have one beach read this summer, make it this one.

THE SISTERS by Nancy Jensen: This is a real page turner with warm, carefully drawn out characters that are as real and complicated as we are. Based on the author’s own family mystery and born of intellectual and emotional curiosity, this is a terrific first novel.

BEST FICTION DEBUT
THE SNOW CHILD by Eowyn Ivey: This is a beautifully written fantastical story that delves into the hardships of farming in Alaska and surviving in such a brutal, lonely climate. It is a story not to be forgotten any time soon – I loved it.

BEST CRIME FICTION
PINES by Blake Crouch: This is a genre-bending, completely riveting thrill ride, which mixes suspense, horror, science fiction and dystopian nightmare all rolled up into one unputdownable book.

DEFENDING JACOB by William Landay: This brilliant novel by the author of The Strangler and the award-winning Mission Flats is equal parts legal thriller and dysfunctional family saga, culminating in a shocking ending. Skillful plotting and finely drawn characters result in a haunting story reminiscent of Scott Turow’s Presumed Innocent.

LEADER OF THE PACK by David Rosenfelt:  This is the latest installment of the Andy Carpenter series, and my long time readers know that this is one of my favorites and is always on my “must read” list.  I read it in one very enjoyable, laugh-out-loud-yet-nail-biting sitting.

THE SINS OF THE FATHERS by Jeffrey Archer:  I loved the first book in this series, Only Time Will Tell, so much that I saved this new one for a day when I could just read the whole thing in one sitting. I loved this book as much as the first, and that bar was set quite high. Don’t miss either of these books but do read them in order.

TAKEN by Robert Crais: This latest entry in the Elvis Cole & Joe Pike series features both protagonists on fairly equal footing. Crais delivers lots of action with only occasional touches of humor, but that palpable tension is what really propels this terrific story.

LUNATICS by Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel: I have missed Dave Barry, and his newest fiction attempt brought back all the laughs that I had been missing.

SACRIFICE FLY by Tim O’Mara:  Well drawn characters really bring this mystery to life, including the Williamsburg, Brooklyn setting, which almost becomes another character in this skillfully written debut.

THE DEVIL’S MADONNA by Sharon Potts: This is a very unusual mystery that unfurls in a few different directions, with enough suspense to keep the pages turning until the extremely disturbing ending.

BEST CRIME FICTION DEBUT
THE BUBBLE GUM THIEF by Jeff Miller: Lots of twists and turns here, and just when the case appears to be solved, it isn’t. A gripping plot and a terrific cast leave the reader hoping that this is the first of a series; these characters are too good for just one book.

BEST NONFICTION
HIT LIT: Cracking the Code of the Twentieth Century’s Biggest Bestsellers by James W. Hall: Hall takes apart twelve of the biggest selling books of all time: Gone With the Wind. The Godfather. The Da Vinci Code. To Kill a Mockinbird. Jaws. He dissects them and shares with us the appeal factors that are in all of these extraordinary books. This is fascinating reading.

TOMATOLAND: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit by Barry Estabrook: “If you have eaten a tomato this winter, chances are very good that it was picked by a person who lives in virtual slavery.” If you’ve ever wondered why those supermarket tomatoes are beautiful but completely tasteless, this book has all the answers for you. This is a very disturbing, well researched story that started out life as a James Beard award-winning article, “The Price of Tomatoes.”

BEST NEW HAGGADAH
NEW AMERICAN HAGGADAH: A New Translation by Nathan Englander, edited by Jonathan Safran Foer: There is a timeline created by Mia Sara Bruch and commentaries by Nathaniel Deutsch, Jeffrey Goldberg, Rebecca Newberger Goldstein and Lemony Snicket. This is a beautiful book with gorgeous calligraphy and subtle contemporary artwork. This book is a thought provoking translation that, at least for my guests, inspired conversation and discussion of many things, from the actual Seder to contemporary politics.

BEST COOKBOOKS
JENI’S SPLENDID ICE CREAMS AT HOME by Jeni Britton Balier: If you love ice cream, put down your scooper and run out and buy this book immediately.

MOMOFUKU MILK BAR by Christina Tosi: The desserts in this cookbook are unlike anything I have ever seen or eaten. A super exciting cookbook.

BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL
BUILDING STORIES by Chris Ware: More art than book, but can easily stand alone as a book or as an art piece. Either way it is just fantastic.

Jack Quick
TOP TEN 2012

THE BOYFRIEND by Thomas Perry: Across the country, in Miami, Charlotte, Los Angeles, Boston – there are a series of high profile murders – politicians, businessmen, criminals. But it takes Jack Till, who has retired from the LAPD after a respected career as a homicide detective, now working as a private investigator, to uncover that in each of these cities there has also been another murder. The victim is always a strawberry blonde working in the female escort business.

CREOLE BELLE by James Lee Burke: It all starts with a visit by Tee Jolie Melton to Dave Robiccheaux while he is lying in a recovery unit on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans. His senses dulled by morphine, Dave can’t be sure whether his latest visitor is flesh and blood or a ghostly remnant of his Louisiana youth. He also doesn’t know that Tee Jolie disappeared weeks ago.

THE DROP by Michael Connelly: Harry Bosch has been given three years before he must retire from the LAPD and in one morning he gets two cases – DNA from a 1989 rape and murder matches a 29-year-old convicted rapist. Was he an eight-year-old killer or has something gone terribly wrong in the new Regional Crime Lab?

THE EXPATS by Chris Pavone: For some it would be a dream come true. Kate Moore’s husband Dexter is a specialist in computer bank security. When he is offered a lucrative position in Luxembourg, it means Kate can leave the Washington, DC government work force and spend more time with their two sons, while enjoying all the benefits of life in Europe. Then another American couple arrives. Suddenly Kate has a problem. Unknown to Dexter, Kate’s job in Washington was as a CIA operative for 15 years and she is terrified that her past is catching up to her.

THE FALLEN ANGEL by Daniel Silva: “Rule number one at the Vatican,” Donati said. “Don’t ask too many questions.” Gabriel Allon, the wayward son of Israeli intelligence, has taken refuge behind the walls of the Vatican, where he is restoring one of Caravaggio’s greatest masterpieces. But early one morning he is summoned to St. Peter’s Basilica by Monsignor Luigi Donati, the all-powerful private secretary to His Holiness Pope Paul VII. The body of a beautiful woman lies broken beneath Michelangelo’s magnificent dome. The Vatican police suspect suicide, though Gabriel believes otherwise.

THE FEAR ARTIST by Timothy Hallinan: All Poke Rafferty wanted to do was paint the apartment while his wife Rose and their adopted daughter Miaow are visiting relatives. But a man runs into him as he leaves the paint store spilling paint and dying in Poke’s arms after three words: Helen Eckersley. Cheyenne. That night, Rafferty arrives home to find that his apartment has been ransacked. In the days that follow, he realizes he’s under surveillance. As he learns more about his situation, it becomes apparent that he’s been caught on the margins of the war on terror, and that his opponent is a virtuoso artist whose medium is fear.

LIARS, CHEATERS & THIEVES by L. J. Sellers: Sellers has become one of my must-read authors. A young veteran’s throat is slashed in a parking lot. The next morning an older women dies of a heart attack when she realizes her bank account has been cleaned out. The homicide-scene evidence points to the man’s cheating wife, but when Detective Jackson finds bizarre materials in their home and a link to a phony charity, the investigation gets complicated. When another man is killed, Jackson and his team decide to follow the money—but can they find the trail before anyone else is murdered?

THE MISSINGS by Peg Brantley: The first body they found had no visible abuse but had recently had a kidney removed. The second body had been carved up like a side of beef with a number of organs missing. Both were Latino. Then a female Latino teenager goes missing. The investigation by Detective Chase Waters is not helped by his supervisor, a curmudgeon who definitely would benefit from sensitivity training. Then it gets worse. A third body is found, but it’s not the missing girl. And the body count continues to rise.

OFF THE GRID by P.J. Tracy: It starts on a sailboat ten miles off the Florida coast. Grace MacBride, partner in Monkeewrench Software, thwarts an assassination attempt on retired FBI agent John Smith. As Minneapolis homicide detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth struggle to link the three crimes, they learn that there have been similar murders in other cities around the United States. The magic date appears to be October 31 and the Monkeewrench crew – Grace, Annie, Roadrunner, and Harley Davidson – are in extreme danger.

RED TIDE by Peg Brantley: I wanted to read this book so badly that I bought it. How about that for commitment, and I must say it was well worth it. It is a whale of a tale. Multiple serial killers, cadaver dogs, exotic poisons, and professional FBI Special Agents and dedicated amateurs working together in digging up both old and new secrets at a burial site which is the clandestine playground of a madman.

Becky Lejeune
Top 10 of 2012

THE ROOK by Daniel O’Malley – A fun and quirky cross-genre debut about a secret government agency that investigates strange happenings.

PURE by Julianna Baggott – Baggott’s post apocalyptic tale is a creepy vision of the future. Her worldbuilding is amazing and this one has great teen/adult crossover appeal.

THE MAN FROM PRIMROSE LANE by James Renner – Renner’s fiction debut is an incredible blend of science fiction and mystery. Excellent mind bender of a read!

CINDER by Marissa Meyer – Meyer’s futuristic dystopian twist on Cinderella is another great one for both teens and adults. Fist in the Lunar Chronicles trilogy.

WHITE HORSE by Alex Adams – a post outbreak/end of the world tale with amazing imagery and poetic prose. I look forward to great things from Alex Adams.

INTO THE DARKEST CORNER by Elizabeth Haynes – Haynes’s debut is an intense and fast-paced read that’s brutal and incredibly chilling.

THE BROKEN ONES by Stephen M. Irwin – Irwin’s latest is another cross-genre tale, a blend of horror and mystery set in a futuristic dystopian world.

A BOOK OF HORRORS ed by Stephen Jones – this is a really amazing collection of original horror by some of the best in the business. A must for any horror fan.

FORGOTTEN by Catherine McKenzie – McKenzie made her US debut this year with three releases. Each features warm characters and is heartfelt (but not sappy) with a great humorous edge.

VELVETEEN by Danny Marks – this YA debut by author Mark Henry is chilling and unique. Another one with great appeal for both teens and adults.

2012 Favorites
Paul Lane

The Right Hand by Derek Haas: Very different protagonist working for the CIA. Works on his own with only his handler in touch with him. Compelling read which basically describes Clay’s background and reasons for being the way he is and drawing in the reader making him or her anxious for the next book.

The Last Man by Vince Flynn: The latest Mitch Rapp book, and probably the one with the most action attracting the reader. The book by itself is very engrossing, and coupled with a very surprising ending guarantees satisfaction for the reader and anticipation for the next Flynn book.

Rogue by Mark T. Sullivan: After a three year hiatus Mark Sullivan returns to the literary world with both a novel in collaboration with James Patterson and “Rogue”. Robin Monarch was a CIA agent and left the agency after discovering some very disturbing information about them. Plenty of action and a picture of Robin as Robin Hood taking from the criminal rich and giving to the poor. Hopefully Mark Sullivan will not wait many years before coming out with his next novel.

The Survivor by Greg Hurwitz: Easily the winner of the 2012 I couldn’t put it down award. Grabs the reader from the get go and doesn’t put him down until the end. While the ending is nowhere near a fairy tale one it is a very taut and engrossing story.

500 by Matthew Quirk: The crux of the plot revolves around recent grad Mike witnessing the murder of a supreme court justice and the daughter of one the firm’s clients as a means of covering up a crime committed years ago by the Davies’ groups president. The conclusion of the book is logical and sets up a sequel later on. In addition the author advises that the movie rights to his novel have been sold and if made would result in a thriller on the level of Grisham’s The Firm.

The Hammer of God by Tom Avitabile: The Quarterback Ops group is a secret group reporting only to the president of the United States and whose function is fighting terrorism by any and all means available to them. The book is engrossing and compelling enough to insure that book three of the series will be sought after and grabbed by readers.

The Last Refuge by Ben Coes: This is the third book Ben Coes has written with Dewey Andreas featured as the consummate action figure. Ben Coes is very conversant with Iranian feelings about both the US and Israel and incorporates these as motivational factors in the proceedings. Like the other Dewey Andreas books we find our man of action fully engaged in doing the seemingly impossible in order to rescue his friend and incidentally do the CIA the favor of negating the weapon. Great action sequences throughout the book.

The Lincoln Conspiracy by Timothy L O’Brien: Very original novel introducing the idea that the assassination of President Lincoln involved a much wider conspiracy than originally thought in 1865. Excellent description of Washington and the US in the period after the Civil War ended including the smells, the dirt and the conditions that people lived in.

Live By Night by Dennis Lehane: Dennis Lehane and his wife live both in Boston and the Gulf Coast of Florida. The novel is filled with graphic descriptions of violence. gang wars and murders as is the norm in the gangster world. Joe, and his future wife, plus other key characters in the novel are fleshed out very well, as is standard practice with Lehane. A very well done and another engrossing book in Lehane’s repertoire.

The Forgotten by David Baldacci: Baldacci turns his attention to trafficking in human slaves in the 21st century. As with all of Baldacci’s books this is engrossing from the beginning to the end, the principal characters are well threshed out, and the reader is left awaiting the next book.

2012 Favorites
Geoffrey R. Hamlin

The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny: The choirmaster in a sequestered group of two dozen monks in the wilderness of Quebec is murdered. One of them must have done it. It takes the estimable Inspector Gamache to figure out who and why. Along the way, there is a wonderful discussion of plainsong and musical notation before the lines and bars we are familiar with. It is unusual for a mystery story to be not only entertaining and challenging, but comforting as well. Ms. Penny has a very special gift.

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain: A book about war that looks at it from the point of view of the young people that we send off to be soldiers in strange and horrible places. And it makes fun of the Dallas Cowboys. What more could you ask for?

Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher by Timothy Egan: The life of Edward Curtis, a turn of the century photographer who set out to make a pictorial record of all the Indian tribes in the United States. The man’s dedication was amazing, his intuitive approach to the Native Americans instructive and his pictures are breath-taking.

Black Box by Michael Connelly: Harry Bosch’s latest cold case involves a shooting he responded to during the Los Angeles riots twenty years ago when circumstances did not permit a follow-up investigation. It turns out that his present day boss is just as anxious as the system was 20 years earlier to close the case out regardless of whether a killer is found. Harry’s unshakable belief that “everybody counts or nobody counts” is put to the test again.

Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan: A fine novel with a big dose of John LeCarre espionage, McEwan’s usual examination into the seemingly endless ways in which relationships can disintegrate, some sly humor and a surprise ending.

Reading for My Life by John Leonard: Leonard was one of the best critics of our time and I miss both his keen observation powers and his powerful commentary. His wife has edited a wonderful collection of his writings which not only serves as a tribute, but also a fine review of the changes in society, culture and the arts over the last fifty years.

A Hologram for the King by Dave Eggers: Think Death of a Salesman set in a tent outside a modern city springing from the desert in Saudi Arabia.

As the Crow Flies by Craig Johnson: The most recent entry in the Sheriff Walt Longmire series begins with a death at the remote reservation site where the Sheriff’s daughter wants to be married. It is every bit as good as his earlier books and far better than the televised version with its impossibly wimpy Henry Standing Bear. I lived in Arizona, Colorado and Oregon for over 25 years and the beauty of Johnson’s books is that they “feel” western.

Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon: An homage to vinyl records and record stores. It is droll, entertaining and challenging. Pure Chabon.

Mad River by John Sandford: One of Sandford’s best characters, “that f-ing Flowers,” is on the trail of Minnesota’s version of Bonnie and Clyde. But there is social commentary in this novel as well – the vindictive sheriff is clearly modeled on Joe Arpaio in Maricopa County, Arizona. And there is food for moral thought as well when not all of the killers are Bonnie and Clyde types. For a funny action crime novel, this book has some real heft as well. Kudos to Mr. Sandford.

As John Leonard noted, one can only read so many books in one’s lifetime, let alone one year. Still standing on my stack are Silent House by Orhan Pamuk, Toby’s Room by Pat Barker and The Round House by Louise Erdrich. I suspect that they would have been very competitive with those I have listed.