My Best Books of 2012

I have finally decided on my favorites of 2012. I finally finished all of the books on my last reading stack of the year, except for re-reading Clockwork Prince. I try to finish it before the release of Clockwork Princess.
In Junior Fiction or Middle Grades Fiction my favorites were as follows: Top Three
1. Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

Hyperion Books

I loved all the books in the Percy Jackson series and so far all of them in the Heroes of Olympus. I loved watching the demigods grow into their powers and learn to work together.

2. The Fire Chronicle by John Stephens

Knopf Books for Young Readers

The Books of Beginning series reminds me of the magic in Harry Potter and the suspense and adventure draw you into the story.

3. Unwanteds: Island of Silence

Aladdin

Another series that reminds me of Harry Potter with its magical world and the artistic magical powers of the students. The battle between good twin and bad twin provides extra spark to the story.

Favorite Short Stories:
My favorite short stories collections were as follows:
1. Demigod Diaries by Rick and Haley Riordan

Hyperion Books

This collection goes along with his Greek mythology series. By far my favorite one was Haley Riordan's story Son of Magic. It is an extremely impressive start for the teen and I can't wait to see what he writes as he gets older.

2. Goddess Legacy by Aimee Carter


Harlequin Teen

I love her Goddess Test series and the Goddess Legacy was a great set of short stories, most of which broke my heart. God of Thieves was my favorite in this collection and gave more insight into the character of James/Hermes.

3. Fallen in Love by Lauren Kate


Delacorte Books for Young Readers

This was an in between book to help readers waiting for Rapture in the Fallen series. Another group of heart-breaking stories, but my favorite was a good one in which Miles and Shelby fall in love. They were two of my favorite characters in the Fallen series.

It was hard to make a shortlist for Young Adult fiction this year. I could not limit myself to just three choices and really had twelve choices. I did get those twelve narrowed down to five, OK technically nine books.

1. For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund


Balzer + Bray

This was a retelling of Persuasion set in a post-apocalyptic society. I loved Persuasion and the characters in Peterfreund's story were spot on with those in Persuasion.

2. Leviathan trilogy by Scott Westerfeld


Simon Pulse

Technically this is three books, but since I read them all this year, I am just counting the series as one. :) I loved the twists on WWI and the storyline of Deryn and Alek. I really enjoyed reading steampunk this year and this was my first taste of the genre.

3. The Girl in the Steel Corset/The Girl in the Clockwork Collar by Kady Cross


 

Harlequin Teen

Again, I really enjoyed steampunk! I loved Finley Jayne and she is possibly my favorite character this year. Her struggles between her good side and bad side were extremely interesting. Plus the cover is beautiful!

4. Divergent by Veronica Roth


Katherine Tegan Books

I think this series was on most of the best lists this year. I loved Four/Tobias and he may be my favorite romantic lead this year. Tris was also a great strong female and I liked the idea of factions as something that could possibly happen. I just can't believe I haven't read Insurgent yet.

5. Hourglass/Timepiece by Myra McEntire


 

Egmont

Hourglass was my first review and first 5 rating of the year. I love this series and am so excited there will be a third book. Emerson and Lily were my favorite friendship of the year and I just could not choose between Hourglass and Timepiece as my favorite of the series. Plus the covers are really cool!

Close runners up were Legend by Marie Lu and Enchantress by Michael Scott. I loved the whole Nicholas Flamel series by Scott and I really can't wait to read Prodigy by Lu.

This is my list for 2012. What was on your list for best of the year?

The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong

This is the last book in the Darkest Powers series. If you have not read the first two books, The Awakening and The Summoning, then this will definitely have spoilers for those books.



Chloe immediately wakes up in the house of the Edison resistance group to a half-demon poltergeist who almost kills her. She knows he must be part of the Edison group's experiments but he refuses to talk to her about that. Chloe, Derek, Simon, and Tori have bigger problems though. Trying to convince the resistance group to move quickly against the Edison group, is not working and Chloe worries for her aunt's and Rachelle's safety. Chloe is struggling with understanding her feelings for both Simon and Derek and finds herself caught between the two boys. Chloe is also trying to learn more about her necromancer powers without creating an army of the undead. This proves difficult when she almost wakes up an entire cemetery. Her strong powers also create doubt with the resistance group and could put her in even more danger. Can the group be trusted and who is the true enemy? The supernatural kids are not for sure who to trust, but they are willing to rely on each other to save Rachelle and Aunt Lauren.

I thought this was a great end to the series. It is full of action and suspense and just a little romance. I really couldn't decide who I wanted her to end up with, but I think she made the right choice. I hope that Armstrong revisits these characters someday, but there is a clear ending to their story in this book.

Favorite Character: Chloe. She finally embraces her powers and remains strong. She does depend on Derek quite a bit, but she is also his support as well as Tori's in the end. She accepts that her life will never be the same, but she does not give in to despair. She still has her nice personality, but now with a little more edge.

Favorite Quote: "You aren't like her. She sees that now, what you are, what you can do, and it scares her. Scares and disgusts."

I really enjoyed this series. People kept talking about how good it was, but I was still surprised about how well I liked it. There is so much suspense and action that all three books were hard to put down. Definitely a 5 cups of cocoa book for me!

Obsidian by Jennifer Armentrout

This is my December Random Read and the first book in the Lux series.

Katy and her mom need a change after the death of her father. Her mom moves them from Florida to West Virginia, where Katy is sure nothing exciting could happen, until she meets her neighbors. Dee and Daemon are gorgeous and Dee has a great personality. Daemon, however, is a jerk. Katy is both attracted and repulsed by him and Daemon keeps trying to push Katy away from himself and his sister. Katy refuses to back down and when Daemon saves her life on several occassions, she learns the truth about the twins and about the area. Daemon is an alien as is his sister and a number of people in their region. This is a closely guarded secret and one that could cost Katy her life for knowing. Not all aliens are sexy and good and the bad ones are coming for Daemon and the others and Katy could be caught in the middle.

It was interesting to read a book about aliens and this is first fiction book I have read with aliens as major characters. I like Armentrout's twists on her aliens powers and the villians are frightening. I also enjoyed her writing style and the humor of the book. The one thing that did bug me was hearing how hot or haut Daemon was. Katy and the other females repeatedly tell you this on almost every page. There was a little more to his character than this, but that and the fact that he was a jerk were stressed a little too much. I do like that Armentrout captures the teenage way of talking and I think that makes this series appeal to high school age teens.

Favorite Character: Dee. I really liked Dee and would love to learn more about her. She seemed like a caring person and the most human, even if she is an alien.

Favorite Quote: "It wasn't like I could tell them I did have an exciting weekend, one involving almost getting hit by a truck and proving the existence of extraterrestrial life forms."
I also liked this section.
"Daemon followed me home after school. Literally...
I'd braked-checked him several times.
He'd blown his horn.
It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside." I did enjoy the humor in this book. :)

The humor in the book was great, but there was too much talk about Daemon's hotness for me. I will probably read the second book in the series, because I did like the action and her take on aliens, but it may be awhile. 3.5 cups of cocoa.

Bout of Books 6.0 Reading Challenge

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 7th and runs through Sunday, January 13th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 6.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books 6.0 team
 

I will update this soon with a list of books that I plan on reading!

2013 Telling Tales Challenge

I thought this looked like a fun challenge. It is hosted by Bex at An Armchair by the Sea. The goal is to read books that are related to fairytales and mythology and rereads count. You can also use these books in other challenges. For more information or to sign up, click here. I am trying for Troll Under the Bridge Level, which is 5 books.
My books for this challenge:
1. Night Dance by Suzanne Weyn

Books to be added later!

2013 Fairy Tales Retold Reading Challenge

I just signed up for the 2013 Fairy Tales Retold Challenge hosted by Debz Bookshelf! My goal is to conquer the Lady in Waiting level and read 5 books.Here are some of the books I'm planning on reading:
1. Night Dance by Suzanne Weyn

If you want to join me on my quest, you can learn more at http://debzbookshelf.blogspot.com/p/fairy-tales-retold-challenge.html

Books will be listed soon!

2012 Fall into Reading Challenge

I barely finished this challenge in time! I am glad I did, because these were some of my favorite series books this year. Legend was amazing and Rick Riordan remains one of my favorite authors. I am enjoying the Books of Beginning series and anxiously awaiting book 3. Even though I barely finished Beautiful Darkness before the end of the challenge, it was another great read. My original post can be found here. Thank you Katrina at Callapidder Days for hosting!