Roundup: Charles Darwin, Lauren Oliver, and More Best-Of Lists

by Mark Athitakis | Dec-17-2012

Chelsea Philpot reviews Lauren Oliver’s young-adult novel The Spindlers for the New York Times.

David Haglund is among the many novelists and critics taking part in the Millions’ annual A Year in Reading series.

Eric Banks reviews Matthew Guerrieri’s The First Four Notes: Beethoven’s Fifth and the Human Imagination for Bookforum.

Gregg Barrios interviews James Franco for the Los Angeles Review of Books.

Jane Ciabattari lists her favorite books of 2012 for the Daily Beast.

Carl Rollyson reviews Paul Johnson’s biography Darwin for the Wall Street Journal.

Rayyan Al-Shawaf reviews Selma Dabbagh’s novel Out of It for the Brooklyn Rail.

Your reviews and recommendations help seed these roundups: If you’re an NBCC member with a review you’d like considered for inclusion, please email nbcccritics@gmail.com. You can also get our attention by using the Twitter hashtag #nbcc or posting on the wall of our Facebook page.