2012 Books of the Year

2012 was my most productive reading year since I started Battle Hymns...I chalk that up to my two hours of bus commuting each day.  On top of that, 2012 was my most adventurous year of reading yet as well.  I definitely made more of an effort this year to go out of my reading comfort zone and try new authors and try new reads.  I tried to reflect those efforts in this year end list.

Of all my 2012 year end lists, this one was the hardest to put together.  The top two were clear-cut but the three, four and five spots were tough to decide on.  I should mention that this is not a list of my favorite 2012 books.  Rather, it is a list of my favorite books that I read during the 2012 year.  The publication date of these books was not taken into consideration.  Without further ado....

#5. Among Others: This was one of those books that just barely missed being incredible.  If not for what I saw as a bit of a let-down at the end, Among Others could have easily topped this list. As much as this book is a magical work of fantasy, it's also a love letter to the fantasy and sci-fi genres themselves which I found quite amazing.

There were other books I read this year that I graded higher, and some of those didn't make this list. Among Others deserves a nod though as it is wholly responsible for kindling my interest in older works of fantasy and science fiction. If not for this book, there'd be no "Kicking it Old School" feature on this blog, and I would have missed out on some great reads in the process.  Among Others is one of those books that I started reading slower the closer I got to the end because I didn't want the experience to be over. It's truly a book that I treasured.  

#4. Scourge of the Betrayer: Scourge was a fantasy debut that not only lived up to my expectations, but actually surpassed them, all while coming off as something different and fresh.  Those qualities lead to a sure-fire winner in my book.

Scourge of the Betrayer is a book with sharp writing and deep character exploration.  Braylar is one of the more compelling fantasy characters I've read, and I found it impossible to not want to read more once I'd turned the final page of this novel. As much as I want to see where this story will go, I'm equally as interested in discovering what has come before with the characters and this world.  For my money, this was the best mainstream fantasy I read in 2012.

#3. Leviathan Wakes: I don't often fancy myself much of a science fiction reader, and I certainly haven't had much success with the space operas I've tried to read in the past. However, I'm a huge fan of Leviathan Wakes.  The writing duo of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, who form like Voltron to make James S.A. Corey, seemed to have folks like me in mind when they created this space opera series that is pared down, and accessible, all while providing a fantastic read.

With limited POVs and a scope that is within our own solar system, this story was right up my alley.  I enjoyed the story, the characters, and the politics of the worlds and civilizations that are depicted in this novel.  This was one of the more engaging reads of the year for me, and it was nice to experience sf that pushed all the right buttons for me. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what else this series has in store.

#2. Kafka on the Shore: As great as those books mentioned before on this list are, Kafka on the Shore stands out as a completely amazing novel.

I'd never read a Haruki Murakami novel before this, and Kafka on the Shore served as a revelation as to what I'd been missing out on. The writing here is just a cut above what I normally see in my other reads.  I've rarely seen such incredible character development, and the visuals Murakami evokes are wonderful.  A great read on all levels, and book that I can't recommend more strongly.

#1. The Islanders: Speaking of books that stand out as singularly amazing, The Islanders is definitely one such book.  This jigsaw puzzle of a novel had me spellbound with its mystery and myth.  Christopher Priest takes a wholly unique approach to telling his story of murder, art, islands, and the folks who inhabit them. I loved every page of this book.

I love that I had to work for the results I got from the reading experience, and I love that I look forward to reading The Islanders again some day to see what I notice on a second read through that I missed on my first go-round.  Simply one of the most wonderful books I've read.

Hey, I should point out that this is two in a row for Mr. Priest, as he took the number one spot last year for The Prestige. If you aren't reading this guy yet...

Most Honorable Mention:

Bitter Seeds: Definitely one of the sharper reads of the year for me.  Mad Science, Nazis, and magic...an entertaining combo for sure! Also, I can't get Gretel, the pre-cognitive who seems to be pulling all the strings, out of my head.

Theft of Swords: Heroic bro fantasy at it's finest.  Sullivan manages to make each installment stand on it's own, yet each story works in many over-arching plot threads that deal with a more epic story.  I'm anxious to read further on in this series.  Great stuff.

Well, there you go.  My top five reads from the 2012 year.  What'd I miss out on? What, I ask you, Battle Hymns readers, were your favorite reads of the year?

Book Review: Kafka on the Shore

I consider myself to be a fairly well-read guy, but that doesn't mean that there aren't a few thousand gaping holes in my reading resume.  Until very recently, Haruki Murakami represented one of the largest holes in said resume.

I honestly didn't really know where to start with Murakami, I'd heard friends and book reviewers mention a few of his titles, so I just grabbed a few of the familiar sounding titles off the shelf at the bookstore, read the blurbs on the back of the book, and settled on Kaka on the Shore  based on the fact that it promised talking cats and a couple of protagonists who aren't the typical folks I come across in my usual reading habits.

Kafka on the Shore is a novel the derives much of it's power from the two protagonists.  The first is a fifteen year old boy named Kafka, who at the start of the book, runs away from home for three good reasons: His Dad is an asshole, he's escaping a creepy oedipal prophecy, and he's searching for his long-lost mother and sister. The last reason is sorta at odds with the second reason, but hey, he's fifteen.  As far as most fifteen year old's go, Kafka is one incredibly well put together young man.  He's mentally regimented, he's clever and resourceful...all which help him get by in a world where he has no one to help him on his way.  The kicker is, like any fifteen year-old striving for self-sufficiency would find, he's incredibly vulnerable, and completely lacking in the life experiences and common sense know-how that comes with growing up, and is essential to "making it" in the real world.  This combination of strengths and weaknesses makes Kafka a very interesting person to read about.

The other main character is an aging man, Nakata, who lost much of his cognitive ability during a strange episode during his youth which left him in a coma for an extended length of time.  Nakata has been getting by thanks to a government subsidy, and his freelance cat finding side work.  Nakata excels at finding people's missing cats due mostly to the fact that he has the ability to speak to cats.  It is the search for one particular missing cat that leads Nakata on a path towards life changing events, and inextricably, towards Kafka.

Both narrative paths were quite interesting to read and both Kafka's and Nakata's paths introduced a number of other characters that were equally interesting and amazingly well developed.

The characters in Kafka on the Shore are amazingly well written.  Murakami is flat out one of the very best character writers I've ever read.  I felt like I could see each and every character so clearly in my mind's eye. While reading this book, I had an incredibly clear picture of what each character looked like, what sort of facial expressions they made, their idiosyncrasies and more. Each character feels so life-like it was amazing.  What's more amazing is that Murakami pulled this off and I have no clue how he did it.  What I'm saying is that it was nothing obvious or overt that made these characters stand out. It is hard to put my finger on just how Murakami pulls this off, but the fact is he writes some incredibly fleshed out and "real" characters in a very subtle way.

On top of great characters, Kafka on the Shore is a book this is easy to get lost in.  This is a novel that has incredibly blurry lines between reality and the fantastical.  It challenges the reader to decide what is real, what is imagined, and what is possible within the bounds of reality that is represented in the story.

I believe everyone's journey from youth into adulthood has a little bit of magic in it no matter what.  There's no doubt that relationships, love and life can take on a magical quality during those times, and Murakami takes this phenomenon a step further with Kafka's coming of age story.  There's some beautiful moments, some brutal moments, and some that are just flat out weird.  This blend of fantasy-literature/magical realism made for an enjoyable read.

Despite these great qualities, Kafka on the Shore has been sitting in my review queue for some time, getting actively ignored in favor of books that are easier for me to talk about.  Obviously, I really enjoyed this book, but it's one of those books that is hard for me to articulate why I found it so enjoyable. Even the things I just wrote about ring hollow when I think about how I really feel about this book in my heart and mind.  Sure, this is a fantastic book on a technical level.  And it's a great book on a readability level.  But it's frustrating when I can't point to why I like something so much.  Maybe it's that combination of technical skill and storytelling that makes this book feel so different and special to me.  Whatever it is, reading Kafka on the Shore sorta feels like receiving a really awesome gift.

My shortcomings as a reviewer aside, Kafka on the Shore is a book that shouldn't be missed.

Grade: A+