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Best Books of the Year So Far: Top 20 Picks for 2012

All year, the Amazon Books editorial team reads voraciously, tracking down and sharing the most fascinating, compelling, enlightening, and entertaining books for readers of all tastes. Here are our top 20 picks for the best reads of the year so far.
Print Editions | Kindle Books
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity Gone Girl: A Novel The Fault in Our Stars Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk: A Novel
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity
by Katherine Boo
4.2 out of 5 stars (684)
List Price:$27.00
Price:$15.88
You Save:$11.12 (41%)
In Stock
 Gone Girl: A Novel
by Gillian Flynn
3.8 out of 5 stars (10,817)
List Price:$25.00
Price:$16.25
You Save:$8.75 (35%)
In Stock
 The Fault in Our Stars
by John Green
4.7 out of 5 stars (3,256)
List Price:$17.99
Price:$10.24
You Save:$7.75 (43%)
In Stock
 Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk: A Novel
by Ben Fountain
4.1 out of 5 stars (308)
List Price:$25.99
Price:$17.76
You Save:$8.23 (32%)
In Stock

The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson The Orphan Master's Son: A Novel Tell the Wolves I'm Home: A Novel Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (Oprah's Book Club 2.0)
The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson
by Robert A. Caro
4.5 out of 5 stars (375)
List Price:$35.00
Price:$22.12
You Save:$12.88 (37%)
In Stock
 The Orphan Master's Son: A Novel
by Adam Johnson
4.1 out of 5 stars (355)
List Price:$26.00
Price:$17.58
You Save:$8.42 (32%)
In Stock
 Tell the Wolves I'm Home: A Novel
by Carol Rifka Brunt
4.4 out of 5 stars (474)
List Price:$25.00
Price:$16.68
You Save:$8.32 (33%)
In Stock
 Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (Oprah's Book Club 2.0)
by Cheryl Strayed
4.2 out of 5 stars (2,075)
List Price:$25.95
Price:$16.06
You Save:$9.89 (38%)
In Stock

The Age of Miracles: A Novel Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power Half-Blood Blues: A Novel Fooling Houdini: Magicians, Mentalists, Math Geeks, and the Hidden Powers of the Mind
The Age of Miracles: A Novel
by Karen Thompson Walker
3.8 out of 5 stars (654)
List Price:$26.00
Price:$17.52
You Save:$8.48 (33%)
In Stock
 Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power
by Steve Coll
4.1 out of 5 stars (79)
List Price:$36.00
Price:$21.42
You Save:$14.58 (41%)
In Stock
 Half-Blood Blues: A Novel
by Esi Edugyan
3.9 out of 5 stars (95)
List Price:$15.00
Price:$11.44
You Save:$3.56 (24%)
In Stock
 Fooling Houdini: Magicians, Mentalists, Math Geeks, and the Hidden Powers of the Mind
by Alex Stone
4.0 out of 5 stars (145)
List Price:$26.99
Price:$18.44
You Save:$8.55 (32%)
In Stock

The Song of Achilles: A Novel Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking Home The Coldest Night
The Song of Achilles: A Novel
by Madeline Miller
4.1 out of 5 stars (368)
List Price:$25.99
Price:$17.32
You Save:$8.67 (33%)
In Stock
 Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
by Susan Cain
4.5 out of 5 stars (1,118)
List Price:$26.00
Price:$14.30
You Save:$11.70 (45%)
In Stock
 Home
by Toni Morrison
4.2 out of 5 stars (170)
List Price:$24.00
Price:$17.31
You Save:$6.69 (28%)
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 The Coldest Night
by Robert Olmstead
3.9 out of 5 stars (32)
List Price:$23.95
Price:$16.33
You Save:$7.62 (32%)
In Stock

Bring Up the Bodies The Vanishers The Cove: A Novel The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
Bring Up the Bodies
by Hilary Mantel
4.3 out of 5 stars (616)
List Price:$28.00
Price:$18.78
You Save:$9.22 (33%)
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 The Vanishers
by Heidi Julavits
2.8 out of 5 stars (41)
List Price:$26.95
Price:$17.78
You Save:$9.17 (34%)
In Stock
 The Cove: A Novel
by Ron Rash
4.1 out of 5 stars (140)
List Price:$26.99
Price:$18.42
You Save:$8.57 (32%)
In Stock
 The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
by Charles Duhigg
4.3 out of 5 stars (1,030)
List Price:$28.00
Price:$17.64
You Save:$10.36 (37%)
In Stock