Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Daisy's Top Ten Favourite Books of 2012


I can't believe 2012 is almost over and next week we'll be celebrating Christmas! And with the end of the year comes this Top Ten Tuesday topic: Favourite Reads of 2012. I've read 157 books so far this year so choosing only 10 to spotlight here is kinda hard...

The Debuts


Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas: it is no secret that I've been pining for this one for YEARS. I was one of those people who read the first version on FictionPress and fell in love with the world and Celaena and all the other characters. And Throne of Glass completely lived up to my expectations, it was AMAZING. My review

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo: I just have so much love for this book, it's not even funny. I'm such a fan of epic fantasy and this is the start of what I believe will be a series that will live in my heart forever. My review

Gilt by Katherine Longshore: I am slightly obsessed with Tudor England. I can't help myself. And I was blown away by how much I loved this one, centered around Katherine Howard's best friend. It's such a tragic tale and I can't wait to read Katherine Longshore's next book! My review

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi: Saying I loved this book doesn't even describe it. I was blown away, completely sucked in and snarled at anyone trying to distract me while I was reading it! The writing is beautiful, the stakes are high and the worldbuilding was SO GOOD! And the characters! I cannot wait to dive back into Arya and Perry's lives and just spend time with them! Seriously, you should all read this book! My review

The I've Been PINING For These Forever


The Crimson Crown by Cinda Williams Chima: I've raved about this series before and I cannot say it enough: EVERYONE who even remotely enjoys fantasy should read these books. They are amazing and The Crimson Crown was everything I could have wanted from it. I'm just sad it was the last book in the series... My review

The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson: I LOVED The Girl of Fire and Thorns and I think I loved The Crown of Embers even more. It was amazing and heartbreaking (seriously, Rae Carson broke my heart and then stomped on it. Hard.) and I seriously cannot wait till The Bitter Kingdom releases even though it'll be the last book in the series... I suffered from serious book hangover after reading this one. My review

Touch Of Power by Maria V. Snyder: I'm a major Maria V. Snyder fan and I will pick up anything she writes. And Touch of Power was everything I expected from it and more and I just loved it. My review

The Unexpected Loves


A Night Like This by Julia Quinn: I know I probably shouldn't have been surprised by how much I loved this book, but I was! Our very own Broke and Bookish Julia has been recommending her books to me and I just failed to pick them up until A Night Like This crossed my path. But am I ever glad I read it!! Julia Quinn brings the romance and the sexy and the funny and I just LOVED it! My review

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein: I think this book will be on a lot of lists. It's just one of those books that'll break your heart and I just loved the unreliable narrator! It's a book about friendship and strong women against the backdrop of World War II and I just loved it. I hesitated about picking this up because books about World War II aren't really my thing, but I'm so glad I picked it up in the end! My review

Geek Girl by Cindy C. Bennett: I was kinda expecting something light and fluffly in the line of She's All That when I picked this up, but boy WAS I WRONG! It deals with a heavy subject and it was amazing! The lovestory is beautiful and felt REAL and gah, I just can't stop fangirling over Trevor... My review

The 'Well DUH!'


Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi: OF COURSE I was going to love it! I can't believe I waited this long to pick it up, it's such a me book! I was blown away by the writing which is gorgeous and made me BE in the story. I couldn't put this book down even if I wanted to. My review

A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin: I LOVE this series! I take forever between reading the books because their HUGE and it intimidates me, but while I'm reading them I'm just in love with the worldbuilding and the characters even though George R.R. Martin keeps killing them off. And I love that I can geek out with Broke and Bookish's own Kelly over them :)

So, that's my list. Share some of my favourites? Have ones to recommend to me? Let me know in the comments!


51 comments:

  1. Is it monotonous to say that I adore your list...mostly because I agree with almost every single one...and have almost all the same ones on my list...yay!

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  2. You have a bunch that I have to check out. I loved Geek Girl. Cindy Bennett is coming out with a book in 2013, titled Rapunzel Untangled. I am anxious to check that one out. As always, thanks for hosting.

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  3. I definitely feel like I am missing something HUGE by not having read Code Named Verity yet! I need to get on this!!!

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  4. I haven't read any of the books on your list, but I'm gonna have to check them out :)

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  5. I was wondering about Geek Girl I'll definitely have to check that out! And of course Crown of Embers was SO amazing! Maybe my favorite sequel oh except for Ender's Shadow but right up there!

    marissa
    my TTT

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  6. I had Throne of Glass, Under the Never Sky and Touch of Power on my list too. Good picks.

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  7. I haven't read many of the books on your list (the only one I actually know is Shatter Me), but a lot of them are on my immediate TBR (like Shadow and Bone). And I already know I'm missing out on something by not having read Rae Carson's The Girl of Fire and Thorns and The Crown of Embers yet.

    Aimee | My TTT

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  8. I'm excited to read Geek Girl! Here’s my TTT list: http://aliceinreaderland.wordpress.com/2012/12/17/top-books/

    Alice @ Alice in Readerland

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  9. So many good books this year! I'm at 110 read for 2012, and had a hard time narrowing things down as well.

    My list: http://www.suzanneearley.net/2012/12/top-ten-books-i-read-in-2012/

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  10. Nice list...Code Name Verity was a great book, I loved both of the girls, especially Verity!

    My list: Coffee Bean Bookshelf

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  11. I LOVED Shatter Me and Under The Never Sky! Really really want to read Shadow and Bone. Great list!

    My TTT

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  12. Code Name Verity is one of my favorite books of the year -- and of all time. I couldn't stop crying, but I loved it start to finish. And I'm a big fan of the Song of Ice and Fire series as well. Nice list!

    Lisa
    My TTT

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  13. Oh a wonderful list Daisy, I found today's list so so tough. Throne of Glass and Shatter Me made it to my list too. As well as Divergent, which I can't believe took me ages to get to too, and The Immortal Rules, Bittersweet and Shadows :)

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  14. This list definitely gives me some new books to check out! Thanks for the recommendations!

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  15. Great list! I'll have to check out Geek Girl -- looks very interesting. I love the recommendations I get on your site. I can't wait to see what everyone else recommends. :)

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  16. This is my favorite "book-blogging" time of year--when everyone shares their best books of the year. I love it because I fnd out which awesome books I missed, but absolutely MUST READ :)

    I've bought Shadow and Bone as well as Throne of Glass already, but still haven't read them. Gotta get on that! But glad to have such great books waiting for me :)

    Lauren @ Hughes Reviews

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  17. I haven't read any of the books on your list, but they sound really good, so I'll definitely be checking them out :)

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  18. Shadow and Bone and Code Name Verity are on my list as well! They were so amazing.

    My Favorites!

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  19. YES YES YES TO THE DEBUTS. I loved them! I haven't picked up the others (which is weird since they're older so yeah...) BUT DEFINITELY GREAT PICKS. I've heard lots of great things from those. <3

    Thanks for sharing :D

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  20. I am so happy to see Rae Carson on this list. The series is great. But I just love Humberto :-). Code Name Verity is my number one this year. What a great book.

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  21. Shadow and Bone was great. I only wish I would stop confusing it with Daughter of Smoke & Bone... :-)

    Daughter of Smoke & Bone was okay too, but the Bardugo book was better. Oddly, I learned of it through a review by Laini Taylor (author of DofS&B) in the NY Times. This only furthered my confusion of the two titles lol.

    -Jay

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  22. Great list! There are a few on here that I really must read since I hear so much about them.

    Vyki @ On The Shelf

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  23. Shadow and Bone is on my list. Gilt didn't quite make the cut but I did really love that book.

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  24. I know mine is going to be the oddest list of the bunch, because only one of the books on it was even published in my lifetime. I just love old books! :)

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  25. Gilt and Shatter Me are great choices! And I see a few that I really need to read because I've heard so much about them.

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  26. Under the Never Sky was of course on my list as well :D

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  27. I haven't read any of the books on your list, but I do have about half of them on my TBR list.

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  28. I haven't read any of the books on your list, but some of them are on my TBR list. They all sound quite fabulous!

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  29. A lot of my favorites made it on to your list! But I have to say that I am SO happy that Julia Quinn is on there, because I LOVE her and her novels!

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  30. I've seen "Shatter Me" on so many lists. I want to read that book and was going to buy it on my kindle, but after looking at the sample I realized it's not really in the best format for an e-reader, so I will wait until I get a hard copy I suppose.

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  31. So many of those are on my TBR, so I hope I'll be able to get to them next year. :) And I totally agree about Code Name Verity. I don't know what I was expecting, but that book was so haunting and crazy. I haven't read anything like that before.

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  32. It was SO hard to pick, lol. I haven't actually read any of your picks but everyone I've talked to has loved Code Name Verity, including my blogging partner. Great list!

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  33. You may have to wait until tomorrow to look at mine...had malware detected on my site, and am waiting for Google to remove their warning. Thanks for your list - many I'd like to put on my list for 2013.

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  34. So excited to be participating in your Top Ten Tuesday!!! Looking forward to many, many Tuesday's in 2013!
    Best,
    Jocelyn @Bookfinds

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  35. All great reads I still have to finish except the last one.

    My TTT.

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  36. Confession. I haven't read any of the books on your list, but plenty of them have been waiting on my tbr list for so long now. Most excited to get to Shadow & Bone as well as Under the Never Sky :)

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  37. Wow--the only one of these that I've read is "A Storm of Swords." (I also loved it, but I read ASoIaF in 2011, I think, so I couldn't count them on my list!)

    Feel free to check out my TTT here.

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  38. About Geek Girl - omg I know, I absolutely fell in love with this book last year, I didn't expect something that amazing & I was totally crushing on Trevor as well as on their relationship, & I rarely have book crushes, so amazing, so I'm glad you loved it!

    I loved Throne of Glass, also I'm so in love with the Seven Realms, although I still hadn't read The Crimson Crown, I don't want it to end...

    I'm hoping to read Scent of magic soon, I know it would be awesome :)

    Awesome list, Daisy!

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  39. Shadow and Bone is also on my list- it was such a great read. I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did.

    My TTT

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  40. I agree totally with the new Healer series from Snyder! I'm such a huge fan and her new work keeps me coming back for more each and every time!

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  41. I need to pick up anything from Cinda Williams Chima for next year, as she's a "local" author for me. She was at one of the local libraries a couple of weeks ago for a talk, but I missed it because I already had something else going on that night :(

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  42. I might have to try Throne of Glass at some point... people seemed to like it.

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  43. I'm excited to see Gilt on your list, it's on mine as well and I also can't wait for Katherine Longshore's next book!

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  44. AGREED! Shatter Me was SO good! Shadow and Bone is sitting on my shelf waiting for me. Fun lists!

    Top 10 @Libby Blog

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  45. Code Name Verity was great! But it's not on my fave 12 in '12 list, since I only blog YA beyond the bestsellers - and could tell that this one would hit the chart before I had a chance to early-review-post it!

    http://booksyalove.blogspot.com/2012/12/my-12-unmissable-ya-books-for-2012-very.html

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  46. I feel so sad... I was trying to find the 10th top book. :(

    http://booknook24676.blogspot.ca

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  47. Fabulous List of books, lot of my favorites but "Shadow and Bone" is my most favorite.

    book summaries chapter by chapter

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  48. I've just submitted my website to your top 10 tuesday list, I'm a new blog and I'm looking for great people who share the same passion as mine own: books.

    I'm blacknwritereviews.wordpress.com, I look forward to participating in future Top 10s :)

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  49. Reading is a good hobby but the problem is that how we will manage the budget for new books especially for the students they could not afford the new books so here is a good choice that they can easily get the books on rent from online book stores instead of purchasing new books like Amazon and Valorebooks...!!!

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