2013 Amazon Best Books of 2012 Reading Challenge

1 January 2013 - 31 December 2013

This is the 2nd annual Amazon Best Books challenge. This year there are relatively few young adult books on the Editors' Top 100 list, so I have included the top 20 YA novels as well. You are more than welcome to choose all YA novels, but I strongly encourage you to try other genres as well since that is part of the fun of the challenge! Also new this year, I have linked the titles to the corresponding Goodreads page as well as including at the end of the title whether it is nonfiction including memoirs/biographies (NF) or fiction (F). If you'd like to see last year's list, go HERE. My own list for the year is at the bottom!

Objective:

* Read books from Amazon's Best Books of 2012 list chosen by their editors. This challenges you to read a variety of genres. I've listed the books below, but you can also access it through Amazon HERE.

Levels:

Novice - 5 books
Competent - 10 books
Proficient - 15 books
Expert - 20+ books

Rules:

1) Challenge will run from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2013.
2) I would recommend listing the books ahead of time, but this is not required. If you list your books ahead of time, then you are free to change them later.
3) Choose a level. You can move up levels anytime, but you cannot move down.
4) All book formats are accepted.
5) Challenge can crossover to other challenges.
6) Books must be read between the challenge dates.
7) You do not need a blog to join. You can use Goodreads, Amazon, or something similar to share your reviews and books read.
8) You can join anytime between now and 30 November 2013.
9) Add the link to your challenge post in a comment below.

The Books:

1) The Round House by Louise Erdrich (F)
2) The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers (F)
3) Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (F)
4) The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe  (F)
5) Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain (F)
6) Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo (NF)
7) A Hologram for the King by Dave Eggers (F)
8) The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg (F)
9) Mortality by Christopher Hitchens (NF)
10) The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (F)
11) Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher by Timothy Egan (NF)
12) Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (F)
13) The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson (F)
14) Wild by Cheryl Strayed (NF)
15) Joseph Anton by Salman Rushdie (NF)
16) Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan (F)
17) The Signal and the Noise by Nate Silver (NF)
18) The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg (NF)
19) This is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz (F)
20) The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker (F)
21) Quiet by Susan Cain (NF)
22) The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (F)
23) Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt (F)
24) The Dog Stars by Peter Heller (F)
25) Private Empire by Steve Coll (NF)
26) The Passage of Power by Robert A Caro (NF)
27) Sutton by J R Moehringer (F)
28) The Coldest Night by Robert Olmstead (F)
29) Iron Curtain by Anne Applebaum (NF)
30) Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer (F)
31) 500 Days by Kurt Eichenwald (NF)
32) Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan (F)
33) Every Day by David Levithan (F)
34) Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (NF)
35) Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks (NF)
36) Live by Night by Dennis Lehane (F)
37) Far From the Tree by Andrew Solomon (NF)
38) Untouchable by Randall Sullivan (NF)
39) The Twelve by Justin Cronin (F)
40) How to Be a Person by Dan Savage (NF)
41) Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan (F)
42) Island of Vice by Richard Zachs (NF)
43) The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin (F)
44) NW by Zadie Smith (F)
45) Dear Life by Alice Munro (F)
46) Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver (F)
47) Consider the Fork by Bee Wilson (NF)
48) Why We Broke Up by Maira Kalman (F)
49) Fobbit by David Abrams (NF/F?)
50) May We Be Forgiven by A M Holmes (F)
51) The Last Policeman by Ben H Winters (F)
52) By Blood by Ellen Ullman (F)
53) The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey (F)
54) Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter (F)
55) Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson (F)
56) Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (F)
57) Winter of the World by Ken Follett (F)
58) Defending Jacob by William Landay (F)
59) America Again by Stephen Colbert (F)
60) Dare Me by Megan Abbott (F)
61) Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon (F)
62) The Antidote by Oliver Burkeman (NF)
63) Life Among Giants by Bill Roorbach (F)
64) Carry the One by Carol Anshaw (F)
65) When It Happens To You by Molly Ringwald (F)
66) My Heart is an Idiot by Davy Rothbart (NF)
67) The Black Count by Tom Reiss (NF)
68) The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison (F)
69) The Finish by Mark Bowden (NF)
70) The Great Inversion and the Future of the American City by Alan Ehrenhalt (NF)
71) Suddenly, a Knock on the Door by Etgar Keret (F)
72) The Headmaster's Wager by Vincent Lam (F)
73) Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt by Chris Hedges (NF)
74) Truth Like the Sun by Jim Lynch (F)
75) In Sunlight and in Shadow by Mark Helprin (F)
76) Thomas Jefferson by Jon Meacham (NF)
77) Fraternity by Diane Brady (NF)
78) How Children Succeed by Paul Tough (NF)
79) Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton (F)
80) City of Fortune by Roger Crowley (NF)
81) Wilderness by Lance Weller (F)
82) Birds of Lesser Paradise by Megan Mayhew Bergman (F)
83) What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank by Nathan Englander (F)
84) Toby's Room by Pat Barker (F)
85) The End of Money by David Wolman (NF)
86) The Thief by Fuminori Nakamura (F)
87) Delicacy by David Foenkinos (F)
88) The Long Walk by Brian Castner (NF)
89) Phantom by Jo Nesbo (F)
90) The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce (F)
91) Lionel Asbo by Martin Amis (F)
92) Threats by Amelia Gray (F)
93) The Absolutist by John Boyne (F)
94) How Much is Enough? by Robert Jacob Alexander Skidelsky (NF)
95) Connectome by Sebastian Seung (NF)
96) No Easy Day by Kevin Maurer (NF)
97) My Mother Was Nuts by Penny Marshall (NF)
98) I Am an Executioner by Rajesh Parameswaran (F)
99) Eat & Run by Scott Jurek (NF)
100) People Who Eat Darkness by Richard Lloyd Parry (NF)

Top 20 YA Novels:

1) The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
2) Reached by Ally Condie
3) Son by Lois Lowry
4) The Kill Order by James Dashner
5) Code Name Verity by Elizabeth E Wein
6) Dodger by Terry Pratchett
7) Insurgent by Veronica Roth
8) Every Day by David Levithan
9) Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
10) Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor
11) The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
12) The Diviners by Libba Bray
13) Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
14) Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman
15) Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
16) Cinder by Marissa Meyer
17) Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas
18) Grave Mercy by R L LaFevers
19) The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M Danforth
20) For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund




***************************************
My goal is the Expert level. 
Tentative List:
1) Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
2) Mortality - Christopher Hitchens
3) Bring Up the Bodies - Hilary Mantel
4) Wild - Cheryl Strayed
5) Sweet Tooth - Ian McEwan
6) The Signal and the Noise - Nate Silver
7) This is How You Lose Her - Junot Diaz
8) The Age of Miracles - Karen Thompson Walker
9) Quiet - Susan Cain
10) The Dog Stars - Peter Heller
11) Shine Shine Shine - Lydia Netzer
12) Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore - Robin Sloan
13) Every Day - David Levithan
14) Antifragile - Nassim Nicholas Taleb
15) Hallucinations - Oliver Sacks
16) The Twelve - Justin Cronin
17) How to Be a Person - Dan Savage
18) Why We Broke Up - Maira Kalman
19) The Last Policeman - Ben H Winters
20) The Snow Child - Eowyn Ivey
21) Shadow and Bone - Leigh Bardugo
22) America Again - Stephen Colbert
23) Dare Me - Megan Abbott
24) The Antidote - Oliver Burkeman
25) Carry the One - Carol Anshaw
26) The Great Inversion and the Future of the American City - Alan Ehrenhalt
27) The Thief - Fuminori Nakamura
28) Delicacy - David Foenkinos
29) Lionel Asbo - Martin Amis
30) Threats - Amelia Gray

Extras from YA list:
Reached - Ally Condie
Son - Lois Lowry
The Kill Order - James Dashner
Insurgent - Veronica Roth
Days of Blood and Starlight - Laini Taylor
The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater
The Diviners - Libba Bray
Pandemonium - Lauren Oliver
Grave Mercy - R L LaFevers
For Darkness Shows the Stars - Diana Peterfreund