Opening the archive
Year archive
Books selected by independent literary juries and editorial teams in 2012, gathered into one transparent, source-linked reading list. The chronology uses the award year for prizes and list year for editorial recommendations.
Showing 1–20 of 20
Human civilization has spread throughout the solar system, reshaping planets and hollowing asteroids into moving habitats. After her grandmother's death, artist Swan Er Hong is drawn into an investigation of artificial intelligence, political sabotage, and Earth's unfinished ecological recovery.
A wordless sequence follows a dog's delight in a red ball, grief when it breaks, and renewed joy.
A Hologram for the King by Dave Eggers was selected for The New York Times Book Review’s 2012 Ten Best Books list in fiction. The catalog records the selection as bibliographic fact and links readers to the newspaper’s original annual list.
After a magical confrontation leaves her disabled and her twin dead, Welsh teenager Morwenna is sent to an English boarding school. Her diary records encounters with fairies, an estranged family, and the science-fiction books through which she finds intellectual companionship.
An immersive account of families pursuing opportunity in Annawadi, a settlement beside Mumbai's airport.
Original poems and translations contemplate aging, loss, classical literature, and the instability of memory.
Thomas Cromwell manages Henry VIII’s turn against Anne Boleyn and the swift legal machinery that follows. Old injuries and present ambitions converge as accusations become instruments of power.
Building Stories by Chris Ware was selected for The New York Times Book Review’s 2012 Ten Best Books list in fiction. The catalog records the selection as bibliographic fact and links readers to the newspaper’s original annual list.
A grounded boy helps an elderly neighbor write obituaries and stumbles into his town's strange history.
Far From the Tree by Andrew Solomon was selected for The New York Times Book Review’s 2012 Ten Best Books list in nonfiction. The catalog records the selection as bibliographic fact and links readers to the newspaper’s original annual list.
An orphan joins a troupe of mask-wearing goblin actors while searching a strange city for his missing brother.
A carjacker steals a vehicle with a young girl inside, then taunts police with signs that the abduction was deliberate. Detective Jack Caffery and police diver Flea Marley pursue a predator whose plans extend beyond a single missing child.
NW by Zadie Smith was selected for The New York Times Book Review’s 2012 Ten Best Books list in fiction. The catalog records the selection as bibliographic fact and links readers to the newspaper’s original annual list.
The Passage of Power by Robert A. Caro was selected for The New York Times Book Review’s 2012 Ten Best Books list in nonfiction. The catalog records the selection as bibliographic fact and links readers to the newspaper’s original annual list.
The Patriarch by David Nasaw was selected for The New York Times Book Review’s 2012 Ten Best Books list in nonfiction. The catalog records the selection as bibliographic fact and links readers to the newspaper’s original annual list.
After his mother is attacked on an Ojibwe reservation, thirteen-year-old Joe searches for answers. Jurisdictional gaps obstruct his tribal-judge father’s pursuit of justice.
Exiled prince Patroclus befriends and loves Achilles before following him to Troy. Prophecy and martial glory steadily close around their bond.
The story of a Renaissance manuscript hunter's recovery of Lucretius's long-lost poem On the Nature of Things.
The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers was selected for The New York Times Book Review’s 2012 Ten Best Books list in fiction. The catalog records the selection as bibliographic fact and links readers to the newspaper’s original annual list.
Why Does the World Exist? An Existential Detective Story by Jim Holt was selected for The New York Times Book Review’s 2012 Ten Best Books list in nonfiction. The catalog records the selection as bibliographic fact and links readers to the newspaper’s original annual list.