Alex Schwartz

Right before everyone ran off for the holidays, we asked the Book Business staff and contributors one question: What was the best book you read in 2012. It didn't need to have been published in 2012, just one that they read in the calendar year. These are the results:

The literary lunch is legendary. We’ve all heard of, and perhaps even partaken in, those long, meandering 3-martini events, filled partly with professional chat and partly with gossip, and cemented together with the sort of unstructured, casual banter that frequently leads to the next great book, story or idea. Lunch is often the place where the real business of publishing is conducted.