Amazon editor’s have picked their top twenty favorite books, to date, for 2012.
The editors considered books released between January and June of 2012 in thirteen different categories. Ten favorites were chosen in each category, and the twenty top picks overall were ranked.
Hitting the top spot in the overall category is “Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity.” The book was written by Katherine Boo, who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2000 and is best known for her books detailing the lives of poor and disadvantaged Americans. In ““Behind the Beautiful Forevers,” Boo delves into the heart-breaking world of the Mumbai slums.
Hitting the list at number two is Gillian Flynn’s “Gone Girl,” a psychological thriller, and at number three is John Green’s “The Fault in Our Stars,” a touching novel about a cancer stricken teen which one Amazon reviewer called “Pure genius amazingness.”
Rounding out the top ten are 4) “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” by Ben Fountain; 5) “The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson” by Robert A. Caro; 6) “The Orphan Master’s Son” by Adam Johnson; 7) “Tell the Wolves I’m Home” by Carol Rifka Brunt; 8) “Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail” by Cheryl Strayed; 9) “The Age of Miracles” by Karen Thompson Walker; and 10) “Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power” by Steve Coll.
The remainder of the top twenty and Amazon editor’s picks for the different categories can be viewed on Amazon.com.
Along with the editor’s picks, Amazon also announced a “Best Books of the Year So Far Sweepstakes.” There will be ten Kindle Fire’s, along with $100 gift cards, given away in the contest, according to the company. Entrees are being taken until July 23 on Amazon’s Best Books of the Year So Far Sweepstakes Facebook page.