A DISGRACED DOCTOR UNCOVERS a sordid web of crime in this classic Italian sixties pulp novel (newly translated).

A MAGNIFICENT LOVE LETTER to the city of Venice, in the form of an engaging, richly detailed work of history.

THE DETECTIVE ADVENTURES of a gentle but worldly (a WWII combat veteran!) vicar in 1950s England. Charming.

A HAZY TANGLE OF EMOTIONS comes to light under the French sun in this Woolf-esque tragicomedy of manners.

TAUT, SUSPENSEFUL TALE follows a high-end madam whose safe double life as a suburban mom is rapidly unraveling.

ELEGANT BUSINESS SKULDUGGERY and lovely evocations of Marseille and environs enliven a formulaic caper story.

Here are my ten favorites from among the books I’ve reviewed here this year, just in case you needed one more “Year’s Best” list before you were fully sated.  I think this was a pretty good year for books, and hoping that 2013 will deliver equally absorbing reads.  I’ll keep you posted!

WAITING FOR SUNRISE, by William Boyd

Extraordinary, riveting novel from the incomparable William Boyd: great historical fiction, great spy yarn.  The evocation of Vienna on the edge of World War I that opens the book is beyond spectacular, and the complicated espionage plot that develops is handled masterfully.

WHY BE HAPPY WHEN YOU COULD BE NORMAL? by Jeanette Winterson

Novelist Jeanette Winterson’s lyrical memoir testifies to her faith in love despite her grueling childhood.  Gorgeous writing, both in the descriptions of her grim early life (shaped by her mother’s religious zealotry) and in her yearning evocations of the women she has loved.

THE LITTLE RED GUARD, by Wenguang Huang

Beautifully written, eye-opening memoir of China in the 1970s looks at three generations in a time of change.  A grandmother’s obsession with joining her ancestors in the family cemetery, a father’s devotion to the ideals of the Communist Party, and the author’s coming of age during the Cultural Revolution are all depicted with vivid simplicity.

GATHERING OF WATERS, by Bernice L. McFadden

Elegaic, moving re-imagining of the lives of Emmett Till, the girl who loved him, and her family. A triumph. McFadden uses all the resources of fable to give Till’s story the depth and resonance it deserves, and to root it indelibly in the landscape of the American South.

GIRLCHILD, by Tupelo Hassman

Lyrical, troubling novel follows a girl dreaming of escape from generations of grueling poverty and abuse. The power of this book’s story is matched by the deftness with which the humor and creativity—as well as the loss, pain, and confusion—of a child in crisis are captured.

THE REEDUCATION OF CHERRY TRUONG, by Aimee Phan

The great Vietnamese-American novel may be this tale of a family fragmented by secrets as much as by diaspora. Phan’s characters are sharply individual and true to life, yet the book touches strongly on broader themes of immigration and dislocation.

IN THE HOUSE OF THE INTERPRETER, by Ngugi wa Thiong’o

The incomparable Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s second volume of memoir juxtaposes political and personal. His quest for learning at an elite boarding school plays out against the backdrop of the struggle for Kenyan independence and the Mau Mau Uprising.

WATERGATE, by Thomas Mallon

Enthralling recreation of the Nixon administration’s Watergate scandal, with vivid characterizations, detail. So many voices are captured in this book, each one distinct; it’s fiction that reads like the best documentary ever.

HEAVEN ON EARTH, by Sadakat Kadri

Engaging and enlightening history of Islam’s shari’a law, from its earliest days to the present moment. Kadri’s background as a secular attorney gives weight to his overview of the religious jurisprudence still little known in the west, but it’s his gift for summarizing and drawing connections among centuries of disputation that really shines.

HIDE ME AMONG THE GRAVES, by Tim Powers

Intricate Victorian tale of horror finds ghosts and vampires haunting London’s literati. Chilling and poetic! As ever, Powers blends visceral terror with impeccable literary-historical fiction.

Two 2012 books I didn’t review here, but wanted to recommend for you nonetheless:

THE COLLECTED POEMS OF LUCILLE CLIFTON, 1965-2010

Beautifully edited, curated, and designed collection of the work of one of the US’s best and most distinctive poets.  I didn’t review it because I don’t review poetry here as a rule, but this book is just exceptional and a must for every poetry lover’s library.

BULLETTIME, by Nick Mamatas

Bitingly satiric fantasy brings modern fables about violence into synch with ancient Greek mythology.  This book works on so many levels!  I didn’t review it here (or elsewhere) because Nick is a friend, so you may take my recommendation with a grain of salt, but if you’re sick of pop-psychology soundbites about the modern condition, this is a bracing and bleak remedy.

WILD, ROUGH AND TUMBLE memoir by a high-end art forger of his checkered career and jet set life.  Unruly fun!

BLEAK, TERRIFYING NOVEL from Swedish horror superstar John Ajvide Lindqvist wields the power of a nightmare.

COMPLEX, THOUGHTFUL HISTORICAL mystery features vivid characterization and a wealth of 1780s English detail.