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Even Chuck Norris Approves: The Best Books of Cannonball Read IV

By Mswas Sawsm | Books | December 31, 2012 |

By Mswas Sawsm | Books | December 31, 2012 |


It was the best of books, it was the worst of books. The Cannonball Read IV participants (*even the Junior Cannonballers) have submitted their lists of the best of what they’ve read in 2012. Read their glowing reviews below and get some suggestions for your "to read" list. You might need some suggestions for when you sign up for Cannonball Read FIVE, but never fear, it’s not Pajiba without some scathing reviews. Check out the companion piece, The Worst of Cannonball Read IV, to see where to steer clear.

Petalfrog:
Hell or High Water by Joy Castro
The Help by Kathryn Sockett
Messy by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

Scootsa1000:
The Rook by Daniel O’Malley
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
City Under the Moon by Hugh Sterbakov

Bunnybean*:
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Joemyjoe*:
Ghost Buddy Zero to Hero by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver

TylerDFC:
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Terror by Dan Simmons
Darkness, Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane

Alexis:
King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

KatSings:
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George
The Circle Trilogy by Nora Roberts

lyndamk:
NW by Zadie Smith
Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye
Creation by Gore Vidal

ElCicco:
Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick

Malin:
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson, the Bloggess

Katie:
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII by David Starkey

CommanderStrikeher:
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Replay by Ken Grimwood
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (The Bloggess)
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

faquin:
Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz>
Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton
bitchfest by Lisa Jervis and Andi Zeisler

amurph11:
War by Sebastian Junger
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Talking to Girls About Duran Duran by Rob Sheffield

Mrs. Smith:
Alif, the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson
Washed In the Blood by Lisa Alther
The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks

taralovesbooks:
Corridor by Robin Parrish
The Twelve by Justin Cronin
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

bothari:
Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Grand Tour by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
The Moon and The Sun by Vonda N. McIntyre

loopyker:
Daring Greatly by Brené Brown
True Strength: My Journey from Hercules to Mere Mortal and How Nearly Dying Saved My Life by Kevin Sorbo
Tailwavers by Sally Watson

pyrajane:
The Book of Flying by Keith Miller
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, Illustrated by Jim Kay, Inspired by Siobhan Dowd
Enlightened Sexism: The Seductive Message That Feminism’s Work Is Done by Susan J. Douglas

The Scruffy Rube:
Kindred by Octavia Butler
Indian Killer by Sherman Alexie
We’re Gonna Win Twins by Doug Grow

Sonk:
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

Baxlala:
The Fault in Our Stars: by John Green
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Love is a Mixtape by Rob Sheffield

Krista:
The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman
Let’s Pretend this Never Happened by Jenny Lawson
7 by Jen Hatmaker

ambern:
The Fortunate Son by Walter Mosley
Hunting Eichmann by Neal Bascomb
The Woman Who Died A Lot by Jasper Fforde

sevenstories broke it down for us by adult and YA:
Top 3 adult books are:
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson

Top 3 YA are:
The Fault in our Stars by John Green
My Name is Mina by David Almond
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

idgiepug:
The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart
Boy Meets Boy by David Levitan
The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins
The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander

evenstevens:
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
The Rook by Daniel O’Malley

El L Cool J:
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
This is where I leave You by Jonathan Tropper
Johnny Cash: I See a Darkness by Reinhard Kleist
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

narfna:
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

Stacey:
The Dove Keepers by Alice Hoffman

faintingviolet:
Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

What did you think? Have you read many of these? Surprisingly there were no Neil Gaiman books, nor any George R. R. Martin. Rob Sheffield made an appearance with a couple of books and so did Dan Simmons. The book with the most votes was The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, with a close runner up of Let’s Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson (the Bloggess). Find out which books to stay away from in our companion post The Worst of Cannonball Read IV.

(You, too, can be just like these fine folk in 2013. Sign up for Cannonball Read V!)