My Top Ten Books of 2012

I've been reading many blogs that have year end lists of the best of this and best of that when it comes to books (some of them quite interesting - best books you didn't expect to like, best bad boys in books, etc.).  Not all of these books below were published in 2012 - my 'to-be-read' pile is rather lengthy, and some of these books (The Mortal Instruments series in particular) had been on my radar for a while.

Without further ado, these are the top ten books I read in 2012 (in no particular order):

1. Daughter of Smoke and Bone

 

 

Holy cow did I get sucked into this one!  I bought this one on a whim because it was the Barnes and Noble Book of the day for $2.99.  I would recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy, and I can't wait to pick up the sequel, Days of Blood and Starlight. 

 

2. For Darkness Shows the Stars

 

What can I say about a story that had me crying in the halls of the YMCA only 40 pages in.  A re-telling of Jane Austen's Persuasion, it had me emotionally charged the entire journey.  I found out today that Peterfreund is planning a sequel, Across a Star-Swept Sea, set in the same world, but a re-telling of The Scarlet Pimpernel, and it is supposed to be published in 2013. 

 

3. Cinder

 

Okay, I may have picked up this book initially because of the cool cover, but I didn't regret it one bit.  A re-imagining of the Cinderella story - where Cinderella is a cyborg... 

 

4. City of Ashes

 

This is the kind of book I find myself reading past 2am when I know I have to get up at 6am to go to work - and do it anyway!  I love that this fantasy is still firmly enmeshed in the mundane world, and am so excited that I still have at least 3 books ahead of me in this series, in addition to Cassanrdra Clare's companion series of The Infernal Devices.

 

5. Gunmetal Magic

 

I was so apprehensive about this book!  I love Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels books, and I was worried that making another woman the protagonist in Kate Daniels' world would just mess it up somehow.  Boy, was I ever wrong!  And Rafe, who honestly didn't do much for me in the Kate books, shines in this one and the scenes between him and Andrea set the book on fire.

 

6. City of Bones

 

Another book I picked up as Barnes and Noble's deal of the day for something like $1.99.  As I mentioned above, the series is already five books in, so I figured I would try it out and was under no obligation to continue if the book didn't excite me.  Well, consider me excited - and even better yet - the first book is coming out as a movie, The Mortal Instruments: City of Ashes, in 2013.

 

7. A Discovery of Witches

 

This is another book that I head heard so many people talk about that I felt compelled to read it, and was so glad that I did.  I also read its sequel, Shadow of Night in 2012, but unfortunately, was not nearly as enthused with the sequel as I was with the first book.

 

8. The Midnight Court

 

This book has to qualify as having the best cliffhanger ending of any book I read in 2012.  I read the last few pages with tears in my eyes and my mouth wide open, thinking "Nooooo!"  This is the second book in Kindred's The House of Arkhangel'sk series, and I love how the story winds together so many aspects of Russian folklore and Romanov history in a fantastic epic fantasy.

 

9. Insurgent

 

This is one of many books I read with Willow this year, and while I am sure that she and I are getting completely different things out of the book (Well, hello there, Four!) - I love that there are great YA books that she and I can share and discuss.

 

 

10. Unholy Ghosts

 

I was so conflicted by this book.  Chess, the heroine, is such a hard character to wrap one's head around.  Plain and simple, she's a drug addict who turns to drugs for almost every emotion she feels.  However, I was fascinated by the world she lives in (and trust me, the drug comfort is not limited to just Chess in the series), and her place in it - not to mention still trying to figure out what happened to make her world the dystopic place it is now.

 

I managed to read 88 books since April, so I would hazard to guess that I read about 100 books altogether this year. I'm quite pleased with that - I know my reading suffered over the last two years with a newborn and toddler. Piper sleeps through the night most nights now, and that makes reading into the wee hours of the morning easier to do. I'm trying to set a goal for 2013 - 120 books, perhaps?