Thinking of books today as all the notable and best books of 2012 get bandied about. I like to hear what my friends and family are reading and take many of my recommendations from them. But I always look forward to these best of lists, to copying down the titles of the National Book Awards finalists, to hear the authors talking about their work on NPR.

Three books on these best of lists intrigued me most: Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward, The Round House by Louis Erdrich and Beyond the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo. I have heard that Boo's book is one of the best pieces of reporting and writing in years and years. I just got Salvage the Bones out from the library, after hearing so much about it, and fifteen pages in, I am in.

I stayed up way, way too late one night a week ago finishing The Round House. I'd heard her interviewed on NPR talking about the book and how it centers on justice and revenge. She had a lot to say about revenge and how it never gets anyone to a better place and I wondered about that. I can't shake the story or the family of three at the heart of the book.

Thinking about books reminded me of this fellow, one of the two lions outside the New York Public Library. I am not sure if he is Patience or Fortitude but I have such an affection for him. I often stop by just to look at the two lions and that library. An elegant home to books if there ever was one and a touchstone for me whenever we begin our city wanderings.