Your BEST BOOKS of 2012

For the 7th year in a row, here is the thread to tell us about your best reads of the year.

What were the 10 best books you read this year? Are you going to struggle to get your list down to 10? Are you going to struggle to come up with 10?

Tell us your best reads of the year, and perhaps one line of why they made the list (really isn't that more interesting than just a list of books?).

Best of 2006

Best of 2007

Best of 2008

Best of 2009

Best of 2010

Best of 2011

Happy list making!

My top 10 list-
Last Days of Summer -Steve Kluger
The Road House-Louise Erdich
Sandcastle Girls-Chris Bohijian
Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
To Kill A Mockingbird- Harper Lee
Gourmet Rhapsody- Muriel Barbery
Ancient Light-John Banville
Mr Penumbras 24 Hour Bookstore- Robin Sloan
Flight Behavior-Barbra Kingsolver
The perks of being a wallflower- Stephen Chobsky

The Book of the Long Sun by Gene Wolfe
The Book of the Short Sun by Gene Wolfe
Eric Hoffer: The Longshoreman Philosopher by Tom Bethell
I Am The Change: Barack Obama and the Crisis Of Liberalism by Charles Kesler
Original Sin: A Cultural History by Alan Jacobs
Peace, they say : a history of the Nobel Peace Prize, the most famous and controversial prize in the world by Jay Nordlinger
Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand
In the heart of the sea : the tragedy of the whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick
Why read Moby-Dick? by Nathaniel Philbrick
Tolkien and the Great War : the threshold of Middle-earth by John Garth

When I examined it, this has been a better reading year than I remembered, and I had to remove all the re-reads and make hard decisions on others to get down to 10. In no particular order:

Best of non-fiction:

Battle Cry of Freedom
Nothing to Envy
Train Go Sorry

Best of fiction:

Water for Elephants
The Book of Jonas
Still Alice
Ragtime
The Garden of the Evening Mists
The Fault in Our Stars
The Moonstone

Best of non-fiction

The Kenneth Williams Diaries (though it made for uneasy reading towards the end)
Richelieu and the French Monarchy
A Time of Gifts

Best fiction

Cocktail Time
The Book Thief
The Pursuit of Love

Best rereads

The Outsider
Room at the Top

My favorites for 2012:

The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell
The Age of Gold by H. W. Brands
New York by Edward Rutherfurd
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
The Art of Power by Jon Meacham
Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth's History making Race Around the World by Matthew Goodman
Friends, Lovers, Chocolate by Alexander McCall Smith
The Dovekeepers by Alice Walker

In no particular order, these are my best reads (not rereads) of 2012:

Love Saves the Day by Gwen Cooper
Follow the River by James Alexander Thom
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Escape From Reason by Francis Schaeffer
A Christian Manifesto by Francis Schaeffer
Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart
Shane by Jack Schaefer
The Paladin by CJ Cherryh
Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary

Added on 12/28/12
True Grit by Charles Portis

I can think of 8 that I absolutely loved this year. In no particular order:

Non- Fiction (all memoirs)
Lucky Girl By Mei- ling Hopgood
Family Romance by John Lanchester
The Rules of Inheritance by Claire Bidwell Smith

Fiction
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
The Fault in our Stars by John Green
The Virgin Cure by Ami McKay
Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce
Miss Peregrine' s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Guys, this is close to my heart, as well as my calling. I want to share this with you since you feel like long-time friends to me. It is a worthwhile moment.

T'was the night before Christmas and all through the Town, not a person was stirring, no one was around. The citizens at home with kids deep in a sleep, while I patrolled alone, the dark and mean street. I drove round the block, with my family in mind, hoping the calls would be few, then I saw some lights shine. At the end of the block was a car in a ditch, as the drunk stumbled out, I knew it wasn't St. Nick. He wasn't much trouble when I locked him in jail, and felt bad for his family, who must raise his bail. Back on patrol at a quarter till 4, I spied a door open at the back of a store. I called for back-up which I knew was far away, and waited outside the door, and silently prayed. When suddenly inside there arose such a clatter, the burglar inside suspected something was the matter. He came out the door and started to run, then saw my patrol car, my flashlight and gun. "Dont Move"! I yelled but he was quick on the draw. He fired only once and I started to fall. On the way down, my own pistol fired, the felon went down and quickly expired. I rose to my feet and felt of my chest, and realized his bullet was lodged in my vest. As I stood there alone and looked to the sky..I swear I heard sleigh bells jingle up high. And his voice echoed to me, distant and faint, "Thank you my friend, for keeping me safe".

Sgt. Dave Haskins
#262
Muldrow, OK. PD (Retired)
Copyright 1995

I truly hope that all of you have a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hannukah, a Wonderful Kwanza (is this ok?), but most of all, a very safe holiday season and 2013. You had better ALL be back next year.

Here is my list of favourites for the year. I think it's a nice mix of fiction and non-fiction.

The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Leave Her to Heaven by Ben Ames Williams
A Night to Remember by Walter Lord
The Bad Seed by William March
The Absolutist by John Boyne
Girl With the Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
John Adams by David McCullough
So Brilliantly Clever: Parker, Hulme & the Murder That Shocked the World by Peter Graham

OK, back to the topic.

In no particular order:
The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman - historical fiction - excellent story-telling, high marks for accuracy - 4.5 stars
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce - fiction - excellent story-telling - 4.5 stars
Dimensions by Audrie Clifford - non-fiction - poignant, new viewpoint, very comforting (if you are grieving)
A Kingdom's Cost by J. R. Tomlin - historical fiction (again) - historically accurate, vivid descriptions, terrific story-telling
The Angry Woman Suite by Lee Fullbright - fiction - 4.5 stars because it stays in my mind, great writing, not comfortable

Mea culpa - most of the above is the same list I posted on the 2012 Q4 thread. I had never thought about cataloging the books I have read until I joined LT (this is GREAT), so I'm not sure about most of the other books that have been favs.

But there are a few more for this year:
One For Sorrow: A John, Lord Chamberlain Mystery by Eric Mayer & Mary Read - mystery/historical - well-written, suspenseful, historically accurate
The Religion by Tim Willocks - historical fiction - one of the very best Templar-related books in my experience
Sarum by Edward Rutherford - historical fiction - stays on my re-read shelf with the bookmark in it, continual read-in-progress, I get something new from it each read
Pentimento by Lillian Hellman - autobiography - loved the movie "Julia" and the short story was NOT a let-down, entirety was wonderfully interesting
The Sacred Bones by Michael Byrnes - action - more "fleshed-out" and centered than Daniel Silva regarding Israeli history
The Cat Who Talked Turkey by Lillian Braun - mystery, cats - just plain fun
Bah! Humbug! (A Romantic Comedy Christmas Novella) by Heather Horrocks - mystery, food, chocolate - face it, anything "chocolate" is great! - just plain fun

Must admit - as a newbie - that listing, rating and reviewing books has given me a whole new perspective on enjoying reading.

Betty, Sarum looks so familiar, I think my mother owned a copy.

And I have a copy of A Kingdom's Cost on my tablet. I am looking forward to reading it!

Lordy me, Fuzzi. I put Kindle on my computer early in 2012. But just a few months ago I found the Android Kindle app, and wouldn't you know it, I had just bought an Android phone and it fits PERFECTLY! I no longer mind standing in line anywhere.

What a great thread (I always get wonderful suggestions from the readers' year-end best lists). Mine, in no particular order, were basically books that I loved or shaped my life in an important/helpful way. So non fiction reigned supreme in 2012. I had a great reading year (65 books), so it was very hard to whittle it down to 10:

Non Fiction:
Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health by William Davis (I'm about to celebrate, with my parents, our first "wheat free" year - really helped us all)
Awakening the Buddha Within by Lama Surya Das (opened my eyes)
Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach (continued with my opened eyes to how to solve problems in my life)
The Mindful Writer: Noble Truths of the Writing Life by Dinty W. Moore (wonderful, concise, beautiful advice for my writing)
Finding Ultra by Rich Roll (brought new understanding to my distance running, veg diet and how anything is possible)
Galapagos at the Crossroads by Carol Ann Bassett (wonderful history, new and old, on the Galapagos, which I read before my trip there. Made me greatly understand when I was there)
How I Paint by Thomas S. Beuchner (Like Moore's book above on writing, some concise, honest, inspiring advice for my painting/art)

Fiction:
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (if anyone said a "kids with cancer" YA book would be my top fiction read, I would have laughed, but loved this book)
In Hovering Flight by Joyce Hinnefeld (not for everyone, but loved the interplay of nature, birds, painting and the non-traditional lives of these characters)
Doc by Mary Doria Russell (just plain fun, great history, dialog and adventure)

Honorable mentions go to:
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elizabeth Baily (non fiction) (A very interesting look at healing, snails and life)
The Cosmic Serpent by Jeremy Narby (non fiction) (Opened my eyes behind my eyes - heard about this one while I was in South America - awesome book)
A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies by John Murray (fiction - short stories) (My first adventure into short stories and these are all amazing)
The Best American Short Stories 2007 edited by Stephen King (fiction - short stories - various authors) (Only one dud in the bunch, but the rest are artful, thoughtful and so, so good)

Okay, you did it...Doc just made my 'to read' list.

This was a strange reading year for me . . . I had trouble staying focused, took too long to read some books, gave up on others, and looking back, have trouble remembering some of the titles on my list (although as I pick them up and turn the pages again, they are familiar, so I'm not completely senile -- not yet, anyway). I finished only 59 books - I'm used to reading more than 80, some years as many as a hundred.

Fiction (novels):

The Great Leader by Jim Harrison -- I started the year with this one and remember it fondly -- Harrison's becoming a favorite of mine
The Days of Awe by Hugh Nissenson - I've thought about this book many times in the months since I read it - quite a remarkable book in many ways.
Ransom by David Malouf - oh, dear, I'm seeing a pattern here - they're all about older people (like me)
The Glass Room by Simon Mawer - I finished this one last night, so I may be choosing it for this list while I'm still under its spell, but I have a feeling I'll be under its spell for a very long time. Not really about older people, but it begins with an old woman looking back on old times.
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne by Brian Moore - she's not old, exactly, but she's about to be and her desperation about facing it alone is heartbreaking

Two contemporary novels about war:

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain - not only about war but about who we are as a nation
The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers - a poet's first novel; beautiful, haunting book

Fiction (Short Stories):
Binocular Vision by Edith Pearlman -- best book I read this year - hands down, not even close - each story a marvel
The Angel Esmeralda by Don DeLillo - my admiration for this book kind of got lost in my great love for Pearlman's book, but these stories are quite wonderful, too.

Non-Fiction:

The Knox Brothers by Penelope Fitzgerald - I read two biographies by Fitzgerald this year and both were excellent, but this one will draw me back again and again. The story of the author's father and 3 uncles, all brilliant, accomplished, unforgettable men.

Unless I manage to finish another 5 star rated book in the next few days, these are my 10 best for 2012:

Adult Fiction
The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan
Talulla Rising by Glen Duncan
The Last Policeman by Ben Winters
The Book of Night Women by Marlon James.

YA Fiction
A Drowned Maiden's Hair by Laura Amy Schlitz
Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Flora Segunda and Flora's Dare by Ysabeau S. Wilce

Nonfiction
The Glass Castle by Janette Walls
Packing for Mars by Mary Roach

Of the 102 books I read this year, there were maybe 15 that I'd recommend unequivocally, without qualifications like "if you like this kind of thing." Here are the top ten:

Prayers for Rain by Dennis Lehane . . . the fifth tale of Boston private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro: bleak, gritty, and breathtaking. If Lehane isn't the best writer working in crime fiction today, he's damn close.

The Affair by Lee Child . . . you wouldn't know it to watch the Tom Cruise movie, but Child's hero Jack Reacher is interesting because he's the smartest guy in the room, as well as the toughest. This one -- 16th in the series -- puts that intelligence front-and-center.

Driving with the Devil by Neal Thompson . . . it's always been an open secret that the origins of American stock car racing were intertwined with the manufacture and transport of illegal whiskey. Thompson explores that intertwining in vivid, fascinating detail.

Rome 1960 by David Maraniss . . . makes the case that the 1960 games were a watershed in the history of the Olympics, but it's also a brilliant, ensemble-cast narrative history. Just try and read it without falling a little in love with champion sprinter Wilma Rudolph.

Future Perfect by Steven Johnson . . . is an exuberant, optimistic exploration of the potential for "peer networks" (centuries old, but now given new power by computer technology) to achieve extraordinary things. Completely persuasive? Nah. Thought-provoking? Oh, my, yes.

Killing Rommel by Steven Pressfield . . . one of the best, most original World War II novels I've read in years: The story of a young officer coming of age during a stint with the Long Range Desert Group, a (real) commando unit that roamed the Sahara in heavily armed trucks.

Beautiful Swimmers by William Warner . . . the natural history of the blue crab, and the lives of the Chesapeake Bay "watermen" who make their living catching them. It won the Pulitzer Prize when it was released in 1976, and rightly so.

Hail to the Chief by Robert Dallek . . . five key themes in presidential leadership, explored through case studies of US presidents who mastered them (and some who spectacularly failed to do so). Short enough to be interesting even if you're not a political-history geek.

Deer Hunting with Jesus by Joe Bageant . . . an angry, profane, consistently insightful portrait of working-class white America, as glimpsed in the small Virginia town where the author grew up and to which he returned to settle down after decades away.

Runners-up:

Teenagers and Teenpics by Thomas Doherty
A More Perfect Constitution by Larry J. Sabato
Steel and Other Stories by Richard Matheson
City Life by Witold Rybczynski
Context by Cory Doctorow

Here is my list - in no particular order. Whether fiction or non-fiction the main reason I consider them my best reads is usually because the characters stay with me for weeks or months after.
Black Beauty was my only reread as it was my childhood favourite and I recently read the bio of Anna Sewell.

Run by Ann Patchett
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Nothing to Envy: Life & Death in North Korea by Barbara Demick
Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran
The Translator by Daoud Hari
Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
Rebel with a Cause by Ray Avery
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Blacklands by Belinder Bauer
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Fiction:
Freedom by Joanthan Franzen
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Room by Emma Donoghue
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
The Absence of Nectar by Kathy Hepinstall
A Free Life by Ha Jin

The others are German and not translated:
Der alte König in seinem Exil von Arno Geiger
Radikal von Yassin Musharbash
Das war ich nicht von Kristof Magnusson

Nonfiction:
All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum
My Father's Country: Story of a German Family by Wibke Bruhns
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson

The others are German and not translated:
Mit zwei Elefanten über die Alpen von Gerhard von Kapff
Die Kunst, kein Egoist zu sein von Richard David Precht
Dem Leben auf den Fersen von Kurt Peipe
Leben oder gelebt werden von Walter Kohl
Jugendjahre von Remo Largo
Mein Jerusalem von Wibke Bruhns

Thanks for posting everyone. I have found books to read from these lists. Here are my favorite 2012 reads:

The Winds of War - I enjoyed this book. The writing is very entertaining. However, I wonder if I rate books due to genre. Historical fiction is a favorite of mine.

Locked On - I enjoy Tom Clancy thrillers.

The Walking Dead - After watching The Walking Dead season one and two over a two-three week period, I was curious about its history. Quickly uncovered the show was based on graphic novels (comic books is what I call them.) Not having much experience lately with that type of book, I went to my library's web page, searched for the stories, and was a surprised it was available via inter-library loan. Zombies are cool.

Watership Down - The book's beginning was slow, but the end was fabulous.

Ready Player One - Level one and level three were great. Level two was a let down. I enjoyed the non-gaming moments better than inside the game scenes. I did not find the love story well written. I wish it was as it would have made the book even more enjoyable. Will read more from this author as it is his first book and hopefully his writing will only get better.

@mainrun, yippee! Watership Down remains a perennial favorite of mine, and I reread it once a year or so.

Oh and further to my list at #19 I just have to add Ned & Katina : A true love story by Patricia Grace.

It is the story of Ned, a young soldier in the Maori Battalion and Katina, a young Cretan girl who together with her family, saved Ned's life during WW2. They married and moved to New Zealand to raise their family. Their sons approached Patricia Grace to write the story of their parents lives and it is such a beautiful story.

My 10 best books, roughly in order from bestest-best to best!
The Night Circus - magical, captivating, rich imagery
The Elegance of the Hedgehog - eloquent, captured the grace and beauty of normal life
Some Assembly Required - funny, realistic, heartwarming, authentic
The Marriage Plot - well-crafted, *perfect* ending for the story (the ending made it for me)
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? - memoir from one of my favorite authors
The Age of Miracles - poignant picture of adolescence against an evolving dystopian world
The Kitchen House - new perspective on Southern slavery
Words to Eat By - engaging history of English food words
The White Woman on the Green Bicycle - heart wrenching tale of colonialism
A Walk in the Woods - funny, keen insight (read while vacationing near a section of the AT, so enjoyment boosted by environment)

This has been such a great thread.

Are you adding to your TBR list, Betty? I am.....

In no particular order:

Our mutual friend by Charles Dickens--rich, complicated, involved
Cry, the beloved country by Alan Paton--from great sorrow rises great healing
Tirra Lirra by the river by Jessica Anderson--a woman in the last stage of her life re-examines
84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff--Because books build bridges between the people that love them
To Say nothing of the dog by Connie Willis--Great historical fun
Careless in red by Elizabeth George--Complex mystery and a murder years in the making
All quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque--"To a generation destroyed by war whether living or dead"
Clicking of Cuthbert by P. G. Wodehouse--Love and golf in the hands of the greatest English wordsmith ever
House of a thousand candles by Meredith Nicholson--Absolutely delightful romp
More home cooking by Laurie Colwin--Pungent essays on food by a writer dead far too soon

Here are mine, also not in any particular order -

* The first two books of The Century Trilogy, by Ken Follett - Fall of Giants & Winter of the World (my current reads)
* The Dark Tower series, by Stephen King (all eight of them), with The Waste Lands and Wolves of the Calla being my favorite of the series
* The first two books of The Kingkiller Chronicles, including Name of the Wind & The Wise Man's Fear, by Patrick Rothfuss
* Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
* The Dreamblood Duology, including The Killing Moon and The Shadowed Sun by N.K. Jemisen
* The Stand by Stephen King
* The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
* Stardust by Neil Gaiman
* The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

I love this time of year to see what others have thought. Here are mine in no particular order.
Me Before You by JoJo Moyes
True Sisters by Sandra Dallas
Day After Night by Anita Diamant
Rain Falls Like Mercy by Jack Todd
The Baker's Daughter by Sarah McCoy
May the Road Rise Up to Meet You by Peter Troy
The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty
Storming the Tulips by Ronald Sanders
City of Women by David Gilham
Rush Home Road by Lori Lansens

Not in my top ten but two that I still think about the endings long after finishing are Gone Girl and Defending Jacob...

(14) @CarolynSchroeder, I borrowed Doc from the library today. :)

Yeah fuzzi!!!! I hope you like it!

Thanks, Pirate, for starting this thread. I'm adding to my own tbr pile with some interesting titles from these lists. I'm afraid I have a few more than 10, but thanks for not asking for just 5!

My favorite fiction in the order read:
1. The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler
2. Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
3. Ernie's Ark by Monica Wood
4. Safe from the Sea by Peter Geye
5. The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
6. Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple
7. Live By Night by Dennis Lehane

Honorable mention - The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville

My favorite non-fiction in the order read:
1. Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
2. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
3. The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe

My favorite audio books in the order heard:
1. The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
2. The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings
3. Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson
4. Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth

Fuzzi, my TBR list is so long now!

I don't try to keep track of it...

Uh oh...I need to add another book to my best of 2012:

True Grit

Will write my review tomorrow, I'm headed for bed!

The Guinea Pigs by Ludvik Vaculik.....great writing
Vertical Motion by Can Xue...short stories, powerfully written
11/22/63 by Stephen King....fascinating storytelling, thought provoking
The Member of The Wedding by Carson McCullers....a lovely lovely coming of age stroy
A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O'Connor.....incredible writing
Post Office Girl by Stefan Zweig.....superb, evocative writing and a great story
Children in Reindeer Woods by Kristin Omarsdottir....incredible allegory
The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope....great British melodrama
Back to Blood by Tom Wolfe...great multi faceted story, relevant tale, thought provoking
Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol....great, great story

I've not heard of Back to Blood, will keep it in mind...I loved Hooking Up.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Gone Girl

I know there are more but have to refresh my memory

I just posted my best reads of 2012 on my blog:

http://kammbia1.wordpress.com/2012/12/29/wisdom-of-kammbia-3-12-marions-2012-boo...

Enjoy,
Marion

Have done my top five elsewhere but I have a new entry just read and five was never enough anyway, so here are the top ten in no particular order:

So Much For That
Tiny Sunbirds Far Away
The Secret Book of Sacred Things
The Snow Child
The English Monster
Armadale
Turlough
The Book of Human Skin
Gold
Here at the End of the World We Learn to Dance

If there are a couple of those that I really want to recommend to the rest of the reading world they have to be The Secret Book of Sacred Things by Torsten Krol and Tiny Sunbirds Far Away by Christie Watson. Both of them are books that will stay with me for a very long time indeed.

Happy new reading year everyone!

ETA - I can't think how I came to leave out the magnificent The Haunting of Charles Dickens. Aimed at YS readers this would have been a stand-out novel for me in any year, despite having left my YA days behind a very long time ago.

Fiction:
11/22/63 by Stephen King
Miss Hargreaves by Frank Baker
The Master by Colm Toibin
The Post Office Girl by Stefan Zweig
The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill
Henrietta's War and Henrietta Sees It Through by Joyce Dennys
Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple

Non-fiction
The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal
The Greater Journey by David McCullough
Double Cross: The True Story of the D-day Spies by Ben MacIntyre

Children
Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz
Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead

Audio
Several Thrush Green titles by Miss Read, narrated by Gwen Watford
The Death Defying Pepper Roux by Geraldine McCaughrean, narrated by Anton Lesser
Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens, narrated by Anton Lesser

The Night Circus for being magically delicious
The Stockholm Octavo for its sheer chutzpah and its explication of Sweden's liberalism
The Song of Achilles for being brave and well-made
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making because it was so perfectly itself
Knockemstiff for making every bone in my body grateful for my being a privileged kid and man
The Galaxie and Other Rides for reinforcing that feeling, in spades
Love Among the Greats for bringing Edith Pearlman's softest voice to my welcoming ears

...and The Swerve, to which I owe a debt of gratitude for explaining me to myself.

>40 Booksloth:

Booksloth, I was able to read an e-ARC of Tiny Sunbirds Far Away in early 2011 and loved it. I was surprised that it wasn't more popular than it was, but I see now that it won the Costa Book Award for First Novel for 2011. Well deserved!

(Edited for a typo.)

#43 Well-deserved indeed! I thought this was a very special book and I'm surprised not to see it on more people's lists.

In no particular order:

Fiction
Where'd You Go, Bernadette- smart and funny. Just a joy to read.

Glaciers - A little gem. that is all i will say. If you are a book person, you should read this.

The Fault in our Stars - poignant YA novel about teens facing cancer and friendship. Loved it.

Interventions - Would read this before Russo's Elsewhere, since the essay in this collection covers much fo the same ground. An ode to the printed book. Beautiful both inside and out.

Nonfiction
Winter Journal- A writer's look at getting older. Nicely done

The End of Your Life Book Club - This book was an unexpected treat. Love all of the book talk, but also learning about how Will's mother both lived life and faced death. Again, if you are a book person, a must read.

The Next American Revolution - An inspirational collection of essays by a legend. We don't need to give up hope during these difficult times - we just need to act.

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake - Just really enjoyed this collection about modern life by a master essayist.

The Power of Habit - The science of habit and how we can use it for good in our lives.

Poetry
A Thousand Mornings - What can be said about this collection of poetry. Just beautiful. I keep it on my bedside table.

Books about books
My Ideal Bookshelf and Unpacking My Library - For those of you who like looking into the libraries of others, you need to own these books. Love them both.

Read This! - This book was a walk down memory lane, as many of my favorite bookstores and booksellers are here. You will be sure to add many books to your wish list. After reading Read This! I started my own list of books from my bookselling career and beyond: http://pinterest.com/nancyquinnmke/some-of-my-favorite-books/

>45 alphaorder: Can I get the author of Read This or can you correct the touchstone? The link is pointing to a book called Stargirl.

I didn't read as much this year as I normally do due to moving house and job, so not as many books to choose from and I suspect that in other years some of these wouldn't have made my top ten. I read quite a bit of non-fiction this year, so have picked 5 non-fiction and 5 fiction to make up my ten.

Fiction
1. This is Life by Dan Rhodes - very funny black comedy set in Paris - one of Dan Rhodes' best
2. The Upright Piano Player by David Abbott - very moving first novel about growing old
3. The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson - black comedy caper from Sweden
4. Sunset Park by Paul Auster - not quite his best, but still a good read for fans of Auster
5. The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin - I knew the story of course as the term Stepford wife has passed into common usage, but the book still had me hooked.

Non-Fiction
1. The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson - amusing, intriguing look at what makes a psychopath
2. The Good, The Bad and the Multiplex by Mark Kermode - opinions about the state of cinema
3. Bad Vibes by Luke Haines - musican's bitter story about the 1990's indie music scene.
4. Mark Steel's in town by Mark Steel - comic journey around the towns of Britain, looking at history and local quirks.
5. Mark Thomas Presents the People's Manifesto by Mark Thomas - what the public would really like to see in political manifestos.

>46 Morphidae: Sorry about that! Change the touchstone and here is the link: http://www.librarything.com/work/12559336

I spent a good part of the year sloshing though George R.R. Martins epic 5 book saga A Song of Ice and Fire (and still two more to go if he writes them), so my reading wasn't as varied as it usually is. So here's a few of the others that I enjoyed.

Non-Fiction

Over the Top by Arthur Guy Empey

Arthur Guy Empey went to England and enlisted in the British army after the sinking of RMS Lusitania in 1915. As the U.S. was technically neutral at the time, this was against U.S. and English law (he was turned down at least once that he writes about).
He fought on the western front until he was wounded in the Battle of the Somme and medically discharged in 1916.
Upon his return to the U.S. he wrote Over the top to tell of his experiences and what life was like in the trenches. Each chapter covers different part of an infantry man’s life from enlistment to battle. How they lived, fought, entertained themselves and endured life in the trenches.
Overall the book is an easy read and full of insights of the life and plights of the WW1 soldier. A little simplistic and light hearted by todays standards, it still does a good job of telling of the horrors of trench warfare.

Count Luckner, The Sea Devil (Lowell Thomas Adventure Library) by Lowell Thomas

This was a great book!! It's the story of Count Luckner and how he took a sailing ship (yes a square rigger) and raided allied shipping during WW1. If that isn't enough he was awarded a humanitarian medal by the Pope after the war because while doing the raiding he never so much as hurt a ship's cat. He took on the crews of the ships he sank on his own ship and let them go as soon as possible.
The first few chapters Lowell tells how he met and befriended Luckner, then Luckner tells his story in his own words, not only of his raiding but also how he ran away from home at a young age (he didn't want to carry on the family tradition of being a calvary officer) and went to sea.

The Fighting Temeraire: The Battle of Trafalgar and the Ship that Inspired… by Sam Willis

A good history inspired by Turner's 1839 painting of the H.M.S. Temeraire being towed to the break up yard by a steam tug. The history covers the years from 1759 (The Seven Year's War) till 1815 (The Battle of Trafalgar). Reads like a novel in many places, because Wiliis doesn't let history get in the way of a good story.

Fiction :

HMS Saracen by Douglas Reeman

In 1915 Midshipman Rchard Chesnaye reports aboard the HMS Saracen, a new type of war ship called a monitor, it's shallow draft and large guns are designed to provide close support for troops during the Gallipoli Campaign. His experiences scar him for life and serve him well when he is called back to service in 1941 to be Saracen's Captain.

I only stared reading Reeman's modern naval books recently and find them enjoyable. Have read (and enjoyed) most of his Age of Sail books about the life Richard Bolitho that he wrote under the name Alexander Kent.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

This was the big book several years ago and when the movie was coming out I decided to give it a read. It wasn't a bad story (for a youth/ young adult book). Interesting concept and idea. (I read the other two books in the series.)

Thank you everyone for sharing your lists! Here are my 10ish favorites listed in the order I read them:

Fiction
Watchmen by Alan Moore - This is the first graphic novel I've ever finished. Superheroes deal with their inner demons and struggle with power trips.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese - This story defines family and brotherhood while shining a light on Ethiopian health care issues.

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden - Imagine the competitive life of Geisha while learning about Japanese history. Made me cry. My favorite book of the year.

The Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (kind of cheating - counting 2 as 1 since they're from the same series) - Follow Katniss as she battles for her life in a game designed to entertain and control the masses.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey - Set in a mental institution, a heroic, sometimes comical battle between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched.

After Dark by Haruki Murakami - After Dark centers around one night in the lives of 2 sisters, Eri and Mari. One wants to stay up all night, and one mysteriously cannot wake up.

The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson - The fast-paced and exciting sequel to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Kite Runner by Kahleid Hosseini - coming of age story about a boy from Afghanistan and his best friend/family servant. Made me cry.

Non-Fiction
Columbine by Dave Cullen - very thoroughly researched account of the Columbine shooters, tragedy, and aftermath. Everything you think you know about what happened is wrong.

Wallace: The Underdog Who Conquered a Sport, Saved a Marriage, and Championed Pit Bulls--One Flying Disc at a Time by Jim Gorant - the title kind of explains it all

Happy reading in 2013!

My top ten new-to-me reads of 2012 in order read:

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
Defending Jacob by William Landay
Wonder by R.J. Palacio
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
The Chosen by Chaim Potok
Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
Binocular Vision by Edith Pearlman
The End of Your Life Book Club by William Schwalbe

My best fiction reads of 2012, in the order I read them:

North and South, Elizabeth Gaskell
Fingersmith, Sarah Waters
The Monsters of Templeton, Lauren Groff
Germinal, Émile Zola
Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
Broken Harbour, Tana French
Shadow Country, Peter Matthiessen
Dolores Claiborne, Stephen King

And two non-fiction:

Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer
Seven Ages of Paris, Alistair Horne