Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is:
Top Ten Books I Read In 2012
I almost passed on this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, as I’m putting together one or two “best of ” lists for year-end and didn’t want to end up repeating myself. Then I thought I’d take a purely quantitative approach for this week’s topic, so I scooted on over to Goodreads, downloaded my books into an Excel spreadsheet (call me a nerd, but I really love spreadsheets), and sorted all of my 2012 books by the ratings I gave them.
I try to be consistent with my stars on Goodreads, and only give 5 stars to books that I consider to have excellent writing and/or an unforgettable or unique plot, or books that have had an indelible impact on me as a person and as a reader. The books included on this week’s Top Ten list are all books that I rated 5 stars. Some of these have reviews elsewhere on this blog, so if you want to know more, click on the links provided below.
Let’s get on with it! Here are my top-rated books of 2012, according to my oh-so-scientific Goodreads ratings:
1) Doc by Mary Doria Russell: Mary Doria Russell never fails to impress me, and all of the books I’ve read by her have simply blown me away. The Sparrow is and will always be my favorite, but Doc — historical fiction centering on Doc Holliday — surprised me by how much it got under my skin.
2) The Fault In Our Stars by John Green: I cried buckets. A powerful, amazing, wonderful book.
3) Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple: Funny, fresh, utterly delightful. (review)
4) The Dog Stars by Peter Heller: I loved this book about survival and love. Gorgeous writing plus a breathtaking plot. (review)
5) The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan: Margo Lanagan uses words and language in a way unmatched in anything else I’ve read. Beautiful. (review)
6) Locke and Key (graphic novel series) by Joe Hill: Creepy, scary, and wonderful.
7) Fables (graphic novel series) by Bill Willingham: I am head over heels in love with this series, and can’t wait for the next installment.
8) Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein: Another young adult novel that left me in tears and kept me guessing until the end. Outstanding. (review)
9) Fevre Dream by George R. R. Martin: An early work by George R. R. Martin, Fevre Dream is both historical fiction and a new and haunting twist on the vampire genre, with the terrific writing and world-building you’d expect from this author.
10) All Men of Genius by Lev AC Rosen: Steampunk, Oscar Wilde, Shakespeare, cross-dressing, rampaging automata… this book has it all! All Men of Genius was impossible to put down and just an incredible amount of fun.
There’s so many more that I read and enjoyed this past year! Overall, I’d say that 2012 was a reading year that rocked.
Bookshelf Fantasies 
I hadn’t heard of some of these books before, but they sound so good! I’m adding some from this list to my TBR list now!
Thanks for stopping by my TTT!
Alice @ Alice in Readerland
You can never use spreadsheets enough, lol Fault of Stars is on my list also.
Great list! I’ve been meaning to check out the Locke and Key series after I heard some rumour circulating that it was going to be adapted? Not sure if they ever went through with it but the recommendation stuck nonetheless xD
Here’s my top 10 (actually, 20) books of 2012 xP
The TV version fell through, but I just read that it’s been optioned as a movie trilogy. I hope it really happens!
I read Joe Hill’s The Cape (I think Amazon had it on sale for like…$2 so I picked it up) not too long ago and really enjoyed it. I want to read Locke and Key, as well, because it sounds even *better* than the Cape!
Wonderful list! Bernadette, Brides, and Code Name Verity are a few I hope to catch up with in the new year.
Nice choices 🙂 I also included a John Green book but I picked Will Grayson. 🙂
My TTT
I liked Will Grayson a lot too, but TFiOS just killed me (and yet I loved it).
HOORAY for spreadsheets!! Like you, I have a love for order and organisation so things like lists and spreadsheets make me much happier than they probably should!
I have to admit that I’m a little hesitant to read The Fault of Our Stars AND Code Name Verity for the very reason that I’m not sure I can emotionally handle them just yet. They kind of intimidate me. ::blushes:: One of these days, though, I’ll gather up enough fortitude to push through them because I hear they’re both just too good not to read.
Yay for another spreadsheet lover! Really, don’t miss out on the two books you mention — maybe read them at a time when you know you have something really happy coming up as a counter-balance?
I’ve been hearing a lot about Locke and Key recently. Graphic novels aren’t usually my thing, but I have been hearing some really great things about this one.
Great list and thanks for stopping by.
I haven’t heard of very many of these but I am reading The Fault in Our Stars and I love it!
I LOVE Locke & Key and Fables! So sad that there is only one more Locke & Key coming.
*sigh* It feels like I’m one of the few ones left who haven’t read The Fault in Our Stars. I need to move that up my TBR priorities. I tried reading Code Name Verity but I decided to pause on it, I guess it was too slow for me. I’ll give it a shot some other time.
Thanks for stopping by my top ten.
Janus @ The Blair Book Project
Well, I’m glad I’m not the only nerd who made an Excel spreadsheet from my Goodreads data! I went one step nerdier and made a pie chart of where the authors came from for my blog! I also really enjoyed Bernadette and am about to start Dog Stars and really looking forward to it. I think I’m going to be on a panel with Peter Heller at Perth Writer’s Festival in February so I’m looking forward to meeting him. Here’s my top ten:
I like your data driven approach to the list! I haven’t read anything by John Green yet but Fault in Our Stars is on so many top 10 lists this year, I think I need to check it out!