New Zealand Listener’s 100 best books of 2012

Books and Culture editor Guy Somerset and the New Zealand Listener’s team of reviewers select the year’s top reads. Visit New Zealand Listener’s 100 best books of 2012 for a description of this selection.

Novels

• Ancient light John Banville
• The Big Music Kirsty Gunn
• Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk Ben Fountain
• Bring Up The Bodies Hilary Mantel
• The Buddha In The Attic Julie Otsuka
• Canada Richard Ford
• The Chemistry Of Tears Peter Carey
• The Cove Ron Rash
• The Daylight Gate Jeanette Winterson
• Death On Demand Paul Thomas
• Disgrace Jussi Adler-Olsen
• The Elephant Keepers’ Children Peter Hoeg
• The Forrests Emily Perkins
• Gone Girl Gillian Flynn
• HHhH Laurent Binet
• A Hologram For The King Dave Eggers
• Ignorance Michele Roberts
• In The Absence Of Heroes Anthony McCarten
• The Invisible Rider Kirsten McDougall
• The Laughterhouse Paul Cleave
• The Lighthouse Alison Moore
• Little Sister Julian Novitz
• May We Be Forgiven A. M. Homes
• Merivel: A Man Of His Time Rose Tremain
• NW Zadie Smith
• Norwegian By Night Derek B. Miller
• The One Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared Jonas Jonasson
• The Open World Stephanie Johnson
• The Orphan Master’s Son Adam Johnson
• Risk C.K. Stead
• Skios Michael Frayn
• Soon Charlotte Grimshaw
• Standing In Another Man’s Grave Ian Rankin
• The Summer Of Dead Toys Antonio Hill
• Swimming Home (And Other Stories) Deborah Levy
• Toby’s Room Pat Barker
• 2312 Kim Stanley Robinson
• The Yellow Birds Kevin Powers

Short stories

• Dear Life Alice Munro
• Gorse Is Not People: New And Uncollected Stories Janet Frame
• I Got His Blood On Me: Frontier Tales Lawrence Patchett
• Mansfield With Monsters: The Untold Stories Of A New Zealand Icon Katherine Mansfield with Matt And Debbie Cowens
• This Is How You Lose Her Junot Diaz
• The Thrill Of Falling Witi Ihimaera

Poetry

• Beauties Of The Octagonal Pool Gregory O’Brien
• Birds Of Clay Aleksandra Lane
• Collected Poems 1957-2011 Peter Bland
• The Comforter Helen Lehndorf
• The Complete Poems of Philip Larkin edited by Archie Burnett
• The Darling North Anne Kennedy
• Dear Heart: 150 New Zealand Love Poems edited by Paula Green
• Elemental: Central Otago Poems Brian Turner
• Graft Helen Heath
• Knucklebones: Poems 1962-2012 Sam Hunt
• Magnificent Moon Ashleigh Young
• These Rough Notes Bill Manhire, Anne Noble, Norman Meehan And Hannah Griffin
• The Truth Garden Emma Neale

Essays

• Farther Away Jonathan Franzen
• Moranthology Caitlin Moran
• Pulphead: Dispatches From The Other Side Of America John Jeremiah Sullivan
• Through The Window: Seventeen Essays (And One Short Story) Julian Barnes

Memoir, autobiography, biography and letters

• Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama Alison Bechdel
• Country Girl: A Memoir Edna O’brien
• An Indescribable Beauty: Letters Home To Germany From Wellington, New Zealand, 1859 & 1862 Friedrich August Krull
• Joseph Anton Salman Rushdie
• Letters Of Frank Sargeson selected and edited by Sarah Shieff
• The Man Without A Face: The Unlikely Rise Of Vladimir Putin Masha Gessen
• Mortality Christopher Hitchens
• Stag Spooner: Wild Man From The Bush Chris Maclean
• Touchstones: A Memoir James McNeish
• Your Unselfish Kindness: Robin Hyde’s Autobiographical Writings edited by Mary Edmond-Paul

History

• Jewish Lives In New Zealand: A History edited by Leonard Bell and Diana Morrow
• The Second World War Antony Beevor
• Tangata O Le Moana: New Zealand And The People Of The Pacific edited by Sean Mallon, Kolokesa Mahina-Tuai And Damon Salesa

Science

• Bad Pharma: How Drug Companies Mislead Doctors And Harm Patients Ben Goldacre
• Mad On Radium: New Zealand In The Atomic Age Rebecca Priestley
• Moa: The Life And Death Of New Zealand’s Legendary Bird Quinn Berentson
• 1912: The Year The World Discovered Antarctica Chris Turney
• Science On Ice: Discovering The Secrets Of Antarctica Veronika Meduna

Art and Photography

• Buller’s Birds Of New Zealand: The Complete Work Of J.G. Keulemans Geoff Norman
• Hanly Gregory O’Brien et al
• Inhale/Exhale Vincent Ward
• Manly Affections: The Photographs Of Robert Gant 1885-1915 Chris Brickell
• Selling The Dream: The Art Of Early New Zealand Tourism edited By Peter Alsop, Gary Stewart and Dave Bamford, foreword by Fran Walsh
• 240: Two Hundred And Forty Years Of New Zealand Painting Gil Docking, Michael Dunn and Edward Hanfling

Music

• Avant Garde: An American Odyssey From Gertrude Stein To Pierre Boulez Robin Maconie
• How Music Works David Byrne
• I’m Your Man: The Life Of Leonard Cohen Sylvie Simmons
• Trampled Under Foot: The Power And Excess Of Led Zeppelin Barney Hoskyns
• Who I Am Pete Townshend
• 100 Lost Rock Albums From The 1970s

Miscellaneous

• The Antidote: Happiness For People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking Oliver Burkeman
• Athfield Architects Julia Gatley
• The Auckland University Press Anthology Of New Zealand Literature edited by Jane Stafford and Mark Williams
• Black: The History Of Black In Fashion, Society And Culture In New Zealand curated by Doris De Pont
• Quiet: The Power Of Introverts In A World That Can’t Stop Talking Susan Cain
• Shelter From The Storm: The Story Of New Zealand’s Backcountry Huts Shaun Barnett, Rob Brown and Geoff Spearpoint
• Trapped: Remarkable Stories Of Survival From The 2011 Canterbury Earthquake Martin Van Beynen, foreword by Mayor Bob Parker
• Why Nations Fail: The Origins Of Power, Prosperity And Poverty Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson