Five books you should have read in 2012

Pulphead by John Jeremiah Sullivan - Nonfiction. Collection of essays by a journalist/writer whose work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Esquire, and a slew of other magazines. He's Southern, has a quirky personality, and writes about Michael Jackson, Christian rock groups, and personal grief in a most compelling, absorbing way. One of our favorite "new writers" of the year.

In Between Days by Andrew Porter  Fiction. First novel from the author who won the Flannery O'Connor Prize for his collection of short fiction, Theory of Light and Matter. He's a Michener Center alum, so there's a local connection. The novel is set in Houston and centers around a family struggling to find itself in the aftermath of the parents' divorce. Truly wonderful, literary prose; characters who could be your own sister/brother/mother/father. Porter is an enormous talent.

A Partial History of Lost Causes by Jennifer duBois  Fiction. I absolutely loved this book! Anyone who loves falling into the sweeping storylines of a Russian novel will love this book. It has not received the attention it deserves. duBois is a recent graduate of the Iowa Writer's Workshop. She was named one of the "5 Under 35" by the National Book Foundation. The story moves between Cambridge, Massachusetts and St. Petersburg, Russia, and also moves across decades as a daughter attempts to find answers to her deceased father's questions from a Soviet chess master. Absorbing, intelligent, emotional. A wonderful read.

Consider the Fork by Bee Wilson  Nonfiction. A surprise hit for us this holiday season. Bee Wilson is an award-winning writer, named BBC's food writer of the year. The book examines the evolution of cooking around the world, including the hidden history of everyday objects that we take for granted. A blend of history, science and anthropology.

Long Walk Home by Brian Castner  Nonfiction. This is for everyone who read and was moved by The Yellow Birds. This Castner's memoir of serving three tours of duty in the Middle East, two of them as the commander of an Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit in Iraq. He also describes what it was like coming home - the memories that would not leave him and his struggle to return to his wife and family and be "normal". Incredible first hand account of what America's soldiers are going through.

Other recommended titles:

The End of Your Life Book Club
Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore
Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
The Dog Stars
The Orphan Master's Son
A Million Heavens
Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures
Battleborn
Freeman
Signs and Wonders
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
Seating Arrangements
Spillover