Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature/meme brought to you by the folks over at The Broke and the Bookish (the button also belongs to them). This week’s theme is the Top Ten Books I Read in 2012.
1. Unwind by Neal Shusterman– This is probably the best dystopia that I read this year. I really appreciate that he leaves a lot of things in the gray areas and lets the reader make up their own minds about issues.
2. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell– Just a super cute, fun, sweet romantic comedy. It has become an instant favorite and will make my very short list of books I will reread!
3. Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt– While the ending was not my favorite, I loved seeing rough-edged Doug Swieteck grow up a little and find his place in the community.
4. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn– I have to appreciate an author that can mess with my mind as much as Flynn did. Also, this is probably the best thriller I’ve ever read.
5. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie– I really enjoyed this audiobook and Junior’s story about life on the res has stuck with me.
6. Something Like Normal by Trish Doller– I read this one so quickly that I never got a chance to formulate my thoughts or write a review of it, but this was a touching book about a young man coming home from war and transitioning back into civilian society.
7. The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay– I read this recently, so I’m not sure about its staying power (which is important to me in calling a book the best), but it was a well-done romance about two characters with tough emotional baggage. Really beautiful, really sweet, and I can’t think of anything I would change about it.
8. Flat-Out Sexy by Erin McCarthy– This is probably my favorite adult romance of the year. I loved how McCarthy’s characters actually communicated with one another and talked about their feelings and had insecurities. They felt like real people, not like stock characters.
9. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson– This was actually my second time reading this book and my first listening to it on audio, but it is a seriously well-done gothic horror story. I will probably revisit it again at some point in my life.
10. The Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness– Another really good dystopia set on a planet where everyone can hear one another’s thoughts. Highly recommended.
What are your favorite books that you’ve read this year?
Don't Take My Books Away 
I really need to read Part-time Indian. We have copies of it here and everyone loves it, so I have no excuse! Maybe over break?
Also I totally agree on Something Like Normal. What a great book!
And of course, Gone Girl.
You do need to read Part-time Indian… don’t let the gym teachers be better-read than you 😉
You had such a great reading year! I see many of my favorites on your list, and I especially feel regret for leaving Something Like Normal off my list. These lists are so hard! I’ll have to listen to the Sherman Alexie audio sometime- thanks for the rec.
I forgot to add that I really liked the audiobook of Part-time Indian, but the actual book supposedly has cartoon in it that you miss in the audio. I know I felt like I missed out of them when I found that out, but the audio was good, so I guess it evens out! And making these lists is really hard… but hopefully between all the lists we’ll see many of the great books out there!
Part time Indian is a future (or current) classic. I love that.
I agree! Great book!
I still need to read quite a few of these, but LOVE some of your choices! *cough*The Sea of Tranquility*cough*
haha, I’m just going to change the title of that one to “Brittany’s Favoritest Book.”
hahaha sounds perfect! 🙂
After reading this and the review below, I realize I need to stop hesitating and just read The Sea of Tranquility. I’ve got it, I just need to queue it up as my next read. Maybe you’ll see it on my 2013 list? And LOVE Okay for Now (I think it made my list last year) and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian — in fact, I brough ATDoaPTI with me to Starbucks today to write a retro-review, and I’m reliving it’s glory! Sounds like you had a great reading year!
It has– thanks for your great recommendations, too… I think your blog is where I first heard of Unwind and Okay for Now!
I thought Attachments was going to be on so many lists, but yours is the first. It also made mine, very memorable though, cute cute cute.
Yay, Attachments! I also liked both Gone Girl and Something Like Normal. Your comments on The Sea of Tranquility have also piqued my interest!
I hope you get to read The Sea of Tranquility… there’s a lot of buzz about it, but I think it actually lived up to it!
you and I generally like a lot of the same books. I want to read sea of tranquility. of course, attachments. and now I want to read the trish doller book. and erin McCarthy, of course. fabulous. flat out sexy is probably my favorite of the series. great list. 🙂
Thanks for your recs… pretty sure I read Erin McCarthy because you said to!
The absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian made it onto my favorites list too. It has really stuck with me as well.
I just finished The Sea of Tranquility last night (or actually very early this morning). It’s very intense!
Definitely intense… I look forward to seeing more of what you thought about it!
Nice, I haven’t read any of these, which means that now I must 😀 Here is my TTT
You’ve got quite a few on here that I haven’t read yet. The Chaos Walking series is intriguing me now.
You’ll have to check it out once you get your free time back, I’m pretty sure you’ll like it!
I’ve seen so much positive buzz over The Sea of Tranquility, so I’ll definitely be checking it out next year. I really want to get to Unwind too, because I’ve heard it’s amazing. Great list, and thanks for stopping by!