Top Ten Reads of 2012

Oh my goodness you guys, I am just loving all of these top reads of 2012 posts!  If ever I have a great excuse to add to my never-ending TBR list, it is now reading your thoughts on your best reads of the year.  I love it!  I'm almost like a kid in a candy store with the only downside being that I want to read each book RIGHT NOW which is obviously impossible.  I just keep adding them to the TBR list with the hopes of an amazing reading year in 2013.  But it is definitely time to narrow it down myself and share my best reads of the year.  Unless I manage to squeak one more book in I finished 54 books in 2012.  Definitely not my best year if you are looking at numbers but I'm not too worried about it.  As my kids get older, life gets just a bit busier which definitely cuts into my reading time.  I've got some goals for 2013 (personal and bookish) that I'll talk about in a different post which will hopefully allow for me to find some more reading time.  Because for me reading = relaxation.  But for now let's look at the books that make up my top 10 reads in 2012:

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier was so AMAZINGLY good that I don't even have words.  From the very first page until the last, I was entranced and utterly captivated.  I know that a lot of other readers talk about Rebecca (which I also loved) but I loved this one SO MUCH MORE!  I loved it enough that I would put a copy of this book in each and every one of your hands if I could!  

Divergent by Veronica Roth was one of those books that just languished on my shelves and then left me kicking myself for it.  I could not and did not want to put this book down.  I loved it so hard that I happily placed it in my sister's hands who ended up cursing me when she loved it just as much as I did (and had to buy the 2nd book).  2013 will be the year that I follow-up and read Insurgent!  

Wait For What Will Come by Barbara Michaels officially solidified my love for this author's books!  Gothic suspense at its' best kept me up late into the night because I just HAD to see what was going on in that creepy house!  I've become quite addicted to buying this author's books and now have six more of her books waiting on my shelves.  

Deadline by Mira Grant was SO. EFFING. GOOD!  Seriously, I have some mad love for Feed (which may be one of my favorite books ever!) which led me to worry that this book wouldn't live up to my expectations.  Not so!  Deadline took those expectations and SHATTERED them!  This book was so flipping amazing and so much more than I could have ever expected that before I read Blackout I'm going back and rereading these.  My plan is to read all three of these books back to back in 2013.  2013 may be my best year of books ever if I do this.  I'm just saying.

The Janus Affair by Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris is one of those rare books in a series that is even better than the first.  I found myself swept away by this book and immersed in the world that these authors created.  I loved how the two main characters have grown since book one and am chomping at the bit to get my hands on book 3.  Please write faster!!!  I need more!!

The Stranger You Seek by Amanda Kyle Williams was such an intense page turner that I couldn't put it down!  This book had one of my favorite main characters in Keye Street as we watched her deal with all of her personal demons while trying to solve such an intense case.  I loved the ending of this book so much that it kept me thinking about it for days afterward.  2013 will be the year that I read the sequel to this!!  (See what I mean about big reading plans in 2013???)

The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart was my first book by this author but definitely won't be my last!  I can't tell you how pleasantly surprised and pleased I was to find that I absolutely adored this book.  The mystery, the characters, the ending...I loved it all and was left wanting more.  I promptly added a bunch of her other books to my Kindle because this one was just SO GOOD!

Dead Scared by S.J. Bolton was one of the most intense and creepy reads that I read all year.  It almost feels like cheating to not add Now You See Me by Bolton as well because you NEED to read them both and they were both AMAZING!  But Dead Scared left me breathless with its' dark atmosphere and this was another book that I could not put down!  I WILL read all of this author's other books because these two were so good!

Bitter Night by Diana Pharaoh Francis was my favorite urban fantasy read in 2012!  This book was almost unexpectedly good in that way when you find yourself blown away by your current read.  Max was a kick-ass main character that I instantly adored...and one that I rooted for the entire way!  I liked the fact that the author was fearless in her choices that she made for her characters.  It left me wondering what could possibly happen next.  I cannot wait to read more in this series!!! 

The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman was a book that left me thinking about it for days afterwards.  One of those atmospheric and suspenseful reads that pulls the reader in before they even realize it, I found myself loving this one even more than Arcadia Falls which is the book I previously read by this author.  This book was deliciously good and I can't wait to read more by this author!

There are so many AMAZING reads here that it made it really hard to narrow it down from some of my other reads.  Here are a few honorable mentions that should of/could of made the list:

Gone by Mo Hayder:  Intense, creepy, and filled with suspense.
This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart:   Magical, enchanting, and captivating.
Too Wicked to Wed by Cara Elliott:  Romantic, lovely, and one that renewed my love for historical romance.

I could keep going but I might end up talking about all of the books I read in 2012.  LOL!  Here is to hoping that 2013 is another amazing year of reading in terms of quality!  Happy New Year to all of you and happy reading!