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An updated version of my fave Xmas song :)

Top Ten Tuesday: Best of 2012

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, this week's topic: Top Ten Books I Read in 2012. 

1.  The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller - my fave of the year!

2.  Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt - a close second fave.

3.  The Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell - thought-provoking and unique.

4. Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder - best YA fantasy.

5.  Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey - best epic fantasy!

6.  Flat Out Love by Jessica Park - best romantic dramedy.

7.  To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis - hilarious tale of time-travel.

8.  The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - best book about dying, life, friendship and loads more!

9.  Code Name Verity by - best historical YA.

10. Bossypants and Let's Pretend This Never Happened (which I will finish on my next car trip) - great audiobooks that provide the LOLz.

Latest Review: The Book of Atrix Wolfe

Booklist Summary:
Driven by a formless fury when the prince of Kardeth refuses to halt his invasion of the kingdom of Pelucir, the great mage Atrix Wolfe creates a fearful hunter, "a warrior with no allegiance but to death." But the ensuing massacre of both armies and the king of Pelucir appalls the mage, and he flees to the mountains to live in wolf form among wolves until, 20 years later, the queen of the Woods demands that he seek out her daughter, who disappeared at the time of the great bloodbath. The ensuing story involves aspiring mage Talis Pelucir, son of the slain king, and Saro, a young, mute scullery maid in the castle of Pelucir whose background is unknown. Steeped in medieval legends of the wild huntsman, living trees, and shape changers, McKillip's tale is decidedly atmospheric, complex, compelling, and filled with rich imagery.

My Thoughts:
This is the first book I've read from the much-lauded Patricia A. McKillip and I really enjoyed this YA Fantasy tale!  The author's writing is very lyrical yet she still manages to be concise and convey a complex story within a slim novel.

I loved the magic and dark sorcery that permeates the book.  Throughout reading this novel you are biting your nails - wondering how the story will end and the characters restored after one awful instance of dark magic.

Fans of Robin McKinley will likely love The Book of Atrix Wolfe (and I'm guessing other McKillip books too).  This novel has mystery, magic, romance, sympathetic villains, unlikely heroes, and fantastic settings - who can resist?  Highly recommended to fantasy fans!

4/5 stars

2012 End of Year Book Survey

Time to do some end-of-the-year reading reflections!  I used Perpetual Page Turner's survey last year and decided to have a go at it again this year.

1. Best Book You Read In 2012? (You can break it down by genre if you want)

Adult: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
YA: Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

Unfortunately, Scarlet by A. C. Gaughen didn't really do it for me...but I think my expectations were too high.  Also, I couldn't get into Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry - I'm hoping I can come back to it with renewed interest later (I'm only 300ish pages into this chunkster).

 3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2012? 

That would be To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis.  I wasn't sure what to expect from a historical sci-fi comedy of errors - but, wow was I enthralled with this book!

 4. Book you recommended to people most in 2012?

Definitely The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

 5. Best series you discovered in 2012?

I really enjoyed the first book in the Lunar Chronicles

 6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2012?

David Mitchell and Connie Willis

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?

I have to say, I didn't read much that was out of my comfort zone this year - but I loved the one non-fiction book I read which was Tina Fey's Bossypants.

 8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2012?

Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness (an intense conclusion to a great trilogy) and Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

 9. Book You Read In 2012 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year:

Flat Out Love by Jessica Park - it was an adorable story with really witty dialogue...a treat to read!

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2012?

11. Most memorable character in 2012?

Augustus Waters from The Fault in Our Stars and Patroclus from The Song of Achilles

 12. Most beautifully written book read in 2012?

Eeeek!  How can I choose?!  I'm going to say Cloud Atlas because each character's story was written in a completely different style - what a feat!

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2012?

Probably Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.  Like I said in my review, it came at time in my life where some of the themes and insights were really comforting.

 14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2012 to finally read?

I Captured the Castle by Dodie Smith - an adorable story!

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2012?

"I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once." - John Green, The Fault in Our Stars (what a terrific line!)

“Why fight the 'natural' (oh, weaselly word!) order of things? Why? Because of this―one fine day, a purely predatory world shall consume itself. In an individual, selfishness uglifies the soul; for the human species, selfishness is extinction.”
― David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas

16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2012?

Shortest: Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel at 224 pages
Longest: Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey at 1,015 pages

17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!

Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness - what an emotional rollercoaster of a book!

18. Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2012 (be it romantic, friendship, etc).

Wow, this is a really hard question to answer - there are so many!!  Just to include a new title to this post (you can just assume that any of my other faves feature amazing relationships) I would say the friendship featured in Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein.

19. Favorite Book You Read in 2012 From An Author You Read Previously

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

20. Best Book You Read That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else:

The Probable Future by Anne Hoffman - recommended by Anne @ The Book Garden