Well, 2012 is coming to a rapid closure, and it’s hard to believe I’ve been book blogging for over 10 months already. What else I find amazing is how my reading material has altered over this past year. Like a switch has been flipped, I’ve gone from reading primarily adult titles to as much YA/NA as I can get my hands on. Maybe it’s because I’m getting older now, and I’m trying to relive my youth. *snort*
Anyhoo, I figured, what better way to wrap up my first year in book blogging than by shouting out about my top ten titles read in 2012.
Sounds simple, right?
Um … well, according to Goodreads, I got through 120 books in 2012.
Now does it sound simple?
But fear not. I managed it somehow. Here goes.
In in the order I read them, coz it was toooo hard to organise all ten into a tidy line, here are my top picks.
Iiiiiiiiiiin 10:
She should have run. Now, she’ll have to fight. Eighteen year old Birdie may be homeless, but she’s surviving, that is until a mysterious guy throws money in the air like a crazy game show host and she grabs some with the idea she’ll be able to buy dinner that night. In that singular moment, unassuming Birdie becomes the girl in everyone’s viewfinder. Thugs want to kill her. Money-guy wants to recruit her. The very hot, very rich and very out of her league Grey Mathews wants to save her. Birdie, though, wants nothing to do with any of them until she realizes fate didn’t bring them all together. Her heritage did. Now, with only twenty-one days left, she’s got to decide whether to follow in the footsteps of those before her or risk her life for people she’s only just met.
Debut author Julie Reece has created a great UF/PNR for YA readers, filled with Norse mythology, action, and romance to boot. RECOMMEND!
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Iiiiiiiiiiiiin 9:
In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue–Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is–she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are–and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.
Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series–dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.
LOVED! Fell in Love with Beatrice. Fell in love with Tris. RECOMMEND!
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Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin 8:
What eighteen year old Mac Thorne doesn’t know will probably kill her. In exactly eight months, five days, three hours and thirteen minutes, Mac has to choose what she’ll be for the rest of her life. She has no choice but to pick. As a Changeling, it’s her birthright. To Mac, it’s a birthchore. Like going to school with humans, interacting with humans, and pretending to be human during the pesky daylight hours. Once darkness descends, Mac can change into any supernatural form that exists-which makes her as happy as she can be. That is, until Winn Thomas, the biggest geek in her senior class, figures out there’s more to what hides in the dark than most are willing to acknowledge. In this first of the 19th Year Trilogy, Winn might know more about Mac than even she does, and that knowledge could end their lives, unless Mac ensures the powers-that-be have no choice but to keep him around.
Fresh world building. Fresh outlook on supernaturals. And a feisty female to lead the way. RECOMMEND!
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Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin 7:
No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with “freaky” scars on her arms. Even Echo can’t remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo’s world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.
Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she’ll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.
I do believe Noah may just be my favourite book boyfriend To Date! LOVED him! And Echo was just a GREAT character to travel alongside and get to know. RECOMMEND!
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Innnnnnnnnnn 6:
“History is on repeat, and things didn’t go so well the last time. “
Alexandria isn’t sure she’s going to make it to her eighteenth birthday–to her Awakening. A long-forgotten, fanatical order is out to kill her, and if the Council ever discovers what she did in the Catskills, she’s a goner… and so is Aiden.
If that’s not freaky enough, whenever Alex and Seth spend time “training”–which really is just Seth’s code word for some up-close and personal one-on-one time–she ends up with another mark of the Apollyon, which brings her one step closer to Awakening ahead of schedule. Awesome.
But as her birthday draws near, her entire world shatters with a startling revelation and she’s caught between love and Fate. One will do anything to protect her. One has been lying to her since the beginning. Once the gods have revealed themselves, unleashing their wrath, lives will be irrevocably changed… and destroyed.
Those left standing will discover if love is truly greater than Fate…
HUGE fan of the Covenant series. And as much as I love Seth, and he won me over in Pure, Deity was, without doubt, the book of the series so far. RECOMMEND!
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Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin 5:
Meet Celaena Sardothien.
Beautiful. Deadly. Destined for greatness.In the dark, filthy salt mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best of her kind, but she made a fatal mistake: she got caught.
Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament—fighting the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, she is about to discover her true destiny. But will her assassin’s heart be melted?
Now … I’m not naturally a fantasy fan, so any time a fantasy title grabs me by the curlies and keeps me reading along at breakneck speed and panting to know how it’s all gonna play out … trust me, I’m impressed. I fell in love with these characters. And I am eagerly awaiting book 2. RECOMMEND!
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Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiin 4:
INTENSE. DANGEROUS. ADDICTIVE.
Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate number of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance from the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University’s Walking One-Night Stand.
Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby wants—and needs—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’s apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match.
Travis Maddox just might the. most. screwed up. character I’ve ever read. And I fell in love with him. You MUST read Beautiful Disaster, if only for him. RECOMMEND!
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Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin 3:
Gabriel Merrick plays with fire. Literally. Sometimes he can even control it. And sometimes he can’t. Gabriel has always had his brothers to rely on, especially his twin, Nick. But when an arsonist starts wreaking havoc on their town, all the signs point to Gabriel. Only he’s not doing it. And no one seems to believe him. Except a shy sophomore named Layne, a brainiac who dresses in turtlenecks and jeans and keeps him totally off balance. Because Layne has a few secrets of her own…
Man, do I Loooooooove the Merrick Brothers. To be honest, I had a hard time choosing between this one and Storm, coz Gabriel and Chris as both just so awesome. But Gabriel’s moodiness and anguish he managed to make me experience for him won the toss. It’s awesome. If you haven’t read this series, why the hell not? RECOMMEND!
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Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin 2:
“I’ve left some clues for you.
If you want them, turn the page.
If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.”So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the bestselling authors ofNick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?
Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have written a love story that will have readers perusing bookstore shelves, looking and longing for a love (and a red notebook) of their own.
Ah, yes, Dash & Lily. EASILY the cutest, most endearing, and most heart-warming book of the year. READ IT, PEOPLE! RECOMMEND!
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Annnnnnnnnnnd in the NUMBER 1 HOTSPOT IN MY LIST OF TOP PICKS OF 2012 ISSSSSSSSSSSSSS:
Being connected to Daemon Black sucks…
Thanks to his alien mojo, Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is more than a product of our bizarro connection. So I’ve sworn him off, even though he’s running more hot than cold these days. But we’ve got bigger problems.
Something worse than the Arum has come to town…
The Department of Defense are here. If they ever find out what Daemon can do and that we’re linked, I’m a goner. So is he. And there’s this new boy in school who’s got a secret of his own. He knows what’s happened to me and he can help, but to do so, I have to lie to Daemon and stay away from him. Like that’s possible. Against all common sense, I’m falling for Daemon. Hard.
But then everything changes…
I’ve seen someone who shouldn’t be alive. And I have to tell Daemon, even though I know he’s never going to stop searching until he gets the truth. What happened to his brother? Who betrayed him? And what does the DOD want from them—from me?
No one is who they seem. And not everyone will survive the lies…
Dude! This book just completely rocked my world. What more is there to say? Other than DAEMON BLACK!!!!! anyway? 
HIGHLY RECOMMEND IF YOU HAVEN’T READ IT YET YOU’RE OFF YOUR ROCKER GET ON ITTTTTTTTTT!
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So, what are YOUR top picks for 2012?
Oh, and Happy New Year!
And all these are without mentioning the adult titles she’s branched out with under her pseudonym J. Lynn. Those are deffo worth checking out, too. 
