2012 Books of the Year illustration ©Chris Wormell Dec 3, 2012

Best books of 2012

From 3D printing to the perfect Zen garden, FT writers and guests pick their favourite books from the past year

A crying man illustrated by Amanda Hutt ©Amanda Hutt Nov 23, 2012

‘The Sound of Things Falling’

Juan Gabriel Vásquez’s novel is a tale of fate and forgiveness set in the wake of Colombia’s drug wars. Review by Ángel Gurría-Quintana

The seaside road on the West coast between San Francisco and Los Angeles ©Jeremie Souteyrat/Luz Nov 23, 2012

Lasting impact

‘Carry the One’, Carol Anshaw’s study of the life-long bonds of shared trauma and guilt, questions the possibility of redemption

Standing In Another Ma's Grave Nov 23, 2012

Rebus reborn

Ian Rankin’s cranky Edinburgh detective returns with a spring in his step in ‘Standing In Another Man’s Grave’

The Adventuress Nov 23, 2012

The Adventuress

Nicholas Coleridge’s rags-to-riches tale of a seductress who scrambles her way to the pinnacle of English society

The Monday Review

A celebration of technology’s power to change government is bold in scope but vague in practical detail

Small talk

Daljit Nagra

Daljit Nagra: What music helps me write? [Bob] Dylan or Jimi Hendrix at the moment to get my blood pumping

Scenes from Village Life Nov 23, 2012

Scenes from Village Life

Amos Oz’s linked short stories grow from a placid opening into an unexpected encounter

Tequila Sunset Nov 23, 2012

Tequila Sunset

Sam Hawken returns to Juárez with a haunting novel that follows the life of a double agent operating in a fatalistic world

Vulture Peak Nov 23, 2012

Shady morality

John Burdett’s ‘Vulture Peak’ looks into the more profitable commodity that is taking the place of drugs and prostitution in east Asia, human organs

An illustration of a person looking out from a window ©Shonagh Rae Nov 16, 2012

Quiet explosions

‘Dear Life’ – Alice Munro’s latest collection of short stories – is essential for anyone who cares about literature, writes Naomi Alderman

Havisham Nov 16, 2012

A very long engagement

Ronald Frame’s ‘Havisham’ turns back to the childhood and upbringing of fiction’s most famous jilted bride – and retells her own great expectations

Wordpower

working words

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EDITOR’S CHOICE

life & arts

James Ferguson's illustration of a squirrel with an axe ©James Ferguson Nicola Barkerr is nonplussed by the Literary Review’s Bad Sex Award

FT Magazine

Claudia Roden ©Guardian News Claudia Roden says her 20-year-old self would be pleased that she still feels the same

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