“Flame Alphabet” Ben Marcus: This read may cause you to double-down on your anti-depressants, but it’s worth it. It’s a very dark, gloomy story of teenage angst, parental love and a strange disease indeed. Marcus writes like a proud lunatic.
“Mr G” Alan Lightman: Lightman gives us his slant on the origins of our universe, not in a scientific manner, but rather in a personal, first person tale from … Him.
“The Round House” Louise Erdrich: Her “Shadow Tag” made my “Best Of” list last year, and although I liked “Shadow Tag” better, this is still a brilliant story of love and revenge on a reservation of 21st century Native Americans.
“Sacre Bleu” Christopher Moore: The most fun read of 2012. Even if you're not an artist, there’s enough wizardry, evil dudes, sex and laugh-out-louds to keep your eyes on this one. Toulouse-Lautrec’s depiction is worth the read in and of itself.
“DaVinci's Ghost” Toby Lester: An absolutely fascinating story on how Leonardo came to draw one of the best known drawings in the world, the Vitruvian Man.
“Travels With Epicurus” Daniel Klein: Klein goes to a Greek island, and philosophically ponders growing old gracefully.