Best of 2012 & Year-End Summary

I finally sat down and took a look back at all the books I read in 2012. It was definitely a good reading year!

I read a total of 64 books in 2012, plus 2 that I did not finish (one of which I spent a week on!). The type breakdown is:

• Adult Fiction = 26 books
• Memoir =3
• Nonfiction (not memoir) = 1
• Middle-Grade Fiction = 15
• Teen/YA Fiction = 18
• Picture Books = 1

Of those 64 books, 10 of them were audio books.

That's a few less books overall than last year, but 3 of the 64 were more than 800 pages and each of those took me more than 3 weeks to read!

Now comes the tough part - choosing my favorites! I enjoyed everything I read this year (except for one of the books that I did not finish). You might conclude that means I like everything, but really, that's just because I tend to choose what I read carefully, based on what I like and reviews from people whose tastes are similar to mine. My book groups make sure I don't get stuck in any ruts!

So, my Top Ten Grown-up Books Read in 2012 are (not in order):

• Half-Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls
• The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
• Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet by Jamie Ford
• Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson
• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
• 11/22/63 by Stephen King
• Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
• Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian
• The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver

With Honorable Mentions for (no it's not cheating!):

• Breathless by Dean Koontz
• The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian
• The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

 (you can check out my top ten list of kids/teen/YA books read in 2012 at Great Books for Kids and Teens).

And, for a little extra fun, here are a few superlatives (thanks for the idea, Tanya!):

Best Book of the Year and Best Book by a New-to-Me Author:

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline 

Best Book from an Old Favorite Author:

11/22/63 by Stephen King

Best Audio Book of the Year: 

Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt, an award-winning middle-grade audio book.

Best Memoir of the Year:

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

Best (and Only!) Nonfiction Book of the Year:

The Big Burn  by Timothy Egan

You can also check out how I did on my 2012 Reading Challenges.

What were YOUR favorite books read in 2012?