Meta-list of the "best of" books of the year

I've read through the lists of many other sources, and these are the fictional works which recur the greatest number of times, in my memory at least: 1. Lorrie Moore, A Gate at the Stairs. 2. Colum McCann, Let the Great World Spin.

Here is a meta-list of "best books of the year" lists; the selections I looked at did not thrill me, so here's my own list, in no particular order.  First tier: Ernest Gellner: An Intellectual Biography, by John A. Hall.

Reading a good investment book should top your list of New Year's resolutions. But these books are a dime a dozen. Book stores have sections devoted to investing in the stock market, personal finance, and how to 'get rich quick.' The 27 books we selected appear on must-read lists repeatedly.  They are the best finance books ever written.

There's no doubt that this has been the year of E.L. James and her "Fifty Shades of Grey" trilogy. The three-part series has been a topic of conversation in book clubs, TV shows, and news stories all year long. And now, a new report from Amazon.com confirms that James's “Fifty Shades Freed: Book Three of the Fifty Shades Trilogy” is the best-selling book this year.

As the year draws to a close, editors everywhere are busy putting together their end-of-year / best-of lists. The New York Times jumps into the fray with its straight-forwardly-named list of The 10 Best Books of 2012.

The other day, Tyler Cowen posted a list of ten books that influenced him greatly saying “I’ll go with the ‘gut list,’ rather than the ‘I’ve thought about this for a long time list.’” Bryan Caplan did a list of his own.