2012 was a massive year for me. I went to San Diego Comic-Con; I began work on my honors thesis which I am--squeak of terror here--frantically working on finishing up now; I read over sixty new books and watched dozens of new films; I wrote some actual poetry and my first complete short story since I was fourteen; and I trimmed my hair for the first time by myself. All great accomplishments. But I'm here now to share my "Top 5" picks for what were my favorite films and books of 2012. Note that I limit the film selection to films released in 2012, not just films I saw for the first time in 2012, but the publication dates of the books I read are fair game. Also, these lists are arranged in no particular order. Except for the fact that The Hobbit is in fact my favorite film of the year. Other than that I can't really rank 'em because I'm indecisive.
So first of all: the books.
Top 5
The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, by Christopher Healy: Technically this is a children's book, but I love well-crafted children's books just as much as I love, say, Moby Dick and War and Peace. This book is funny. The characters are all super endearing, the style has this great deadpan humor to it, the subversion of the fairy tale is affectionate and really entertaining, and the illustrations are superb. I really, really want this turned into an animated film. I don't usually laugh aloud while reading but this book cracked me multiple times. After I finished I made my 18 yr old brother, 15 yr old brother, 12 yr old sister, and 9 yr old sister all read it and they all loved it just as much as I do which shows you how broad the appeal is.
Royal Assassin, by Robin Hobb: This I'm including in combination with the first book in the series, Assassin's Apprentice, which is equally brilliant. Hobb's mastery of language and of characters is simply awe-inspiring. I love how she writes her first-person narrative; it's one of the most convincing first-person voices in fiction, in my opinion, up there with David Copperfield and Ponyboy Curtis. Everything about this series is so inventive and powerful: the magic system, the feuding royals, the cut-throat politics, the frightening "Forged" ones, I could go on forever. This book is so good. I decided to spotlight it over Apprentice for a few reasons, mainly because while Apprentice's ending had a twist that literally made my jaw drop and had me holding my breath all through the climax, Royal did what I had thought impossible: the shock value and emotional punch of the ending was even more intense than its predecessor. Also, I adore the character of the Queen and it was a joy having her more prominently featured in this novel compared to the first one.
His Majesty's Dragon, by Naomi Novik: British Napoleonic warfare. With dragons. I really don't think I can say much more to convince you why you should love this book; if that doesn't convince you nothing will. I adore British writing from this time period and so what really makes this book is not just the creativity and fun behind the concept, but the way Novik so perfectly imitates the style of the time period, mimicking its descriptions, sentence structures, dialogue conventions, and so on enough to be entertaining and convincing but with a fresh liveliness that's entirely her own. I'm not usually a fan of dragons in fiction other than Tolkien dragons, but Temeraire is a fantastic character. Currently I'm making my way through the rest of the series and so far these books are all just as good, but I'm listing Majesty here because it is where the story begins.
The Rurouni Kenshin series, by Nobuhiro Watsuki: I am so not an anime/manga person. At all. But I am very much a story and character person, and this series is very entertaining on both counts. I only discovered it thanks to a friend, and while it doesn't make me want to seek out more manga to read, I did buy every volume of this series so I can read it over. And over. Again. As someone who loves both writing and drawing I really liked that Watsuki is both author and illustrator of this story; the art is very vibrant and the sense of motion in the panels is better, in my opinion, than most "Western" comic books I've read. But it's really the characters I fell in love with. I know I'm late to this party as this series' heyday was, what, over ten years ago now? But if like me you aren't really familiar with/interested in manga I'd recommend giving this series a try. It's funny and exciting and when the angst happens it really packs a punch.
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente: To put it simply, I adore this book. It's as though Valente decided to write a story specifically for me, blending together many stories and fantasy conventions that I love with her own brilliant imagination, and the result is a quirky, beautifully told fairy story that's witty, heartbreaking, humorous, wise, and certainly, in my opinion, a children's novel on the level of Narnia or Oz in that it should be read by and savored by children and adults together for generations to come. This book deserves to be a classic and September is a heroine for the ages. I even wrote a college paper on this book because I love it so much. If you love imagination, or fantasy, or George MacDonald, or CS Lewis, or Neil Gaiman, do yourself a favor and read this book! And if you don't like any of those things then read it anyway because you should.
Honorable Mention: No Country for Old Men, by Cormac McCarthy
