'Dark Lies the Island' & 'The Orphan Master's Son'

What was your Book of 2012? Fill in our survey here - we'll be blogging responses leading up to Christmas.

 

@rozzlewis chose Dark Lies the Island by Kevin Barry (see our review of one of the stories here):

Kevin is the new master of the Irish short story. His work demands performance. He writes in such a unique and comic way about everyday lives in awful places in Ireland. The people are mostly horrid, his stories are incredibly dark and end with an ultra non-epiphany. I don't usually reread books but have read and read his stories over and over.

@endaconneely went for The Orphan Master's Son, by Adam Johnson:

A fantastic insight into the reality of life behind the DMZ written by a man who has spent a lot of time behind it. Also, the best caricature of The Dear Leader since Team America!