The best fiction of 2012 -- Reluctant Habits

One title from Edward Champion's list of the best fiction of 2012:
Liz Moore, Heft:

Last year, a research team at the University of Buffalo conducted a study with 140 undergraduates which suggested that fiction causes readers to feel more empathy towards others. Empathy seems to be getting a bad rap in fiction these days, especially among some enfants terribles who seem to believe that novels