I read a bunch of books in 2012, but here are three of the best:

[amazon_link id=”0812982940″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]- Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker : You’d think that sci-fi and coming-of-age genres wouldn’t mix very well, but they do. The book is based on a scientific phenomena – the shifting of the earth’s rotation – a phenomena that has disastrous consequences for humanity and particularly for our young and vulnerable heroine Julia. I adored this book; it was lyrical and engrossing and totally sucked me in. It is hard to believe that this is Walker’s first book. If you haven’t read this book, go do so now!

[amazon_link id=”0307959945″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]- Dog Stars by Peter Heller : I’m not caught in a rut, but this second book of my choice is also a sci-fi book, this time of a dystopian future. The apocalypse has occurred and nearly everyone has died off , and all that is left of humanity are a few stragglers here and there, safeguarding what is theirs by might. Beautifully written, this is an atmospheric novel of suspense, friendship and love, and what we have left when we think we have nothing.

[amazon_link id=”B006ZVW3VW” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]- The Golden Scales by Parker Bilal : Set in Egypt, this mystery novel features Makana, a Sudanese policeman who’s escaping his past and finding refuge on an awama – a houseboat – on the Nile. Hired to find a missing soccer star by the most powerful man in Cairo, Makana is hot in pursuit until he stumbles across an unholy nexus between some unsavory, influential people. This was a gorgeous literary mystery with strong threads of the socio-political and cultural; I was glad to have read it.