SALON

Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 3:55 PM UTC

What To Read Awards: Laurie Hertzel

By

Topics: Books, What To Read Awards, Best of 2012,

What To Read Awards: Laurie Hertzel

Laurie Hertzel is the books editor of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Laurie’s top 10:

1. “Behind the Beautiful Forevers” by Katherine Boo
2. “The Age of Miracles” by Karen Thompson Walker
3. “Burying the Typewriter” by Carmen Bugan
4. “Escape From Camp 14” by Blaine Harden
5. “Far From the Tree” by Andrew Solomon
6. “The Healing” by Jonathan Odell
7. “Illuminations” by Mary Sharratt
8. “Last Nights of the Shadow Catcher” by Timothy Egan
9. “Louise: Amended” by Louise Krug
10. “The Round House” by Louise Erdrich

1. Explain why your No. 1 book was your favorite title of the year: “Behind the Beautiful Forevers” reads like a fine and haunting novel, but every word is true. Boo’s reportage is remarkable, and her writing and narrative structure make this a compelling and deeply moving book.

2. What was the strongest debut book of 2012? “Behind the Beautiful Forevers.”

3. What book sits outside your list, but has either been overlooked or deserves more attention? Amy Leach’s remarkable collection of essays, “Things That Are,” published by Milkweed Editions.

4. Was there one book, either on your list or off your list, fiction or nonfiction, that seems to best encapsulate America in 2012? Oh, that would have to be Dave Eggers’ “A Hologram for the King.”

5. What was the single most memorable character from a 2012 book? Polly Shine, from Jon Odell’s novel, “The Healing.”

6. What is the book from 2012, either from your list or not, fiction or nonfiction, that is most likely to join the canon, or still be discussed 20 years from now? “Bring Up the Bodies” by Hilary Mantel. It’d be on my list almost certainly if only I had read it. But a books editor cannot read everything! And oh how I wish I could.

Back to the What To Read Awards

More Laurie Hertzel.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations