Browse members picks of top 5 books of 2012-maybe a new author for you?

[Michael]

Well 2012 is nearly over and it is that time to get your thinking caps and come up with your top five books you have read this year. The books do not need to have been released this year just read.

Please include links for your top 5. Instructions on how to do so can be found here.
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

My top 5

1:The Yellow Birds: A Novel by Kevin Powers
2:Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes
3:The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold by Fry by Rachel Joyce
4:The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
5:Leopard Dreaming by A.A. Bell

[Mish]

Okay here are my top 5 in no particular order

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan
Talulla Rising by Glen Duncan
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
The Street Sweeper by Elliot Perlman

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Nice thread Michael:)

Oh this is impossible...I'm going to have 2 lists..

My top 5 non-fiction in no particular order:


Empty Chairs: Much more than a story about child abuse
Faint Echoes Of Laughter both by Stacey Danson
Whisper My Secret by JB Rowley
On Radji Beach by Ian W. Shaw
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

My top 12 fiction in no particular order:

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
No Remorse by Ian Walkley
Scared Yet? by Jaye Ford
Burning Lies by Helene Young
Dead Heat by Bronwyn Parry
The Mistake by Wendy James
One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
The Secret River by Kate Grenville
Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes
Cold Grave by Kathryn Fox
Past the Shallows by Favel Parrett

***sorry I had SO many good reads this year***

[Michael]

Just a few books there Brenda. :)

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Sorry Michael, I couldn't separate...and I left some off as well!!

[Melanie]

Tough one...

1. The Lightning Thief By Rick Riordan (love the entire series and spin off series)
2. Chaos Walking: A Trilogy By Patrick Ness
3. Divergent By Veronica Roth the series
4. City of Bones By Cassandra Clare the series
5. The Selection By Kiera Cass

[Elaine]

I've enjoyed so many books this year but if I had to choose, it would be:

1. The Light Between Oceans
2. Shantaram
3. My Sister's Keeper
4. Defending Jacob
5. When Rabbit Howls

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Oh everyone is so good, just sticking to their 5!! ;)

[Elaine]

Brenda wrote: "Oh everyone is so good, just sticking to their 5!! ;)"

That's only cause we don't read as many as you Brenda!!!

[Michael]

I thought about my list for a little while. Sorry about putting you all on the spot just so interesting to read other peoples thoughts. :)

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

OK I'll just put my best 5 out of all those above!! You shamed me into it;)

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
No Remorse by Ian Walkley
Cold Grave by Kathryn Fox

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Elaine wrote: "Brenda wrote: "Oh everyone is so good, just sticking to their 5!! ;)"

That's only cause we don't read as many as you Brenda!!!"

Haha!!

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Michael wrote: "I thought about my list for a little while. Sorry about putting you all on the spot just so interesting to read other peoples thoughts. :)"

It's a great idea, certainly makes you think, and like Melanie said...it's a tough one!

[Elaine]

Brenda wrote: "OK I'll just put my best 5 out of all those above!! You shamed me into it;)

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
No Remorse by Ian W..."

Those first two were brilliant Brenda. Haven't read the others....yet.

[[deleted user]]

In no particular order:

The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
The Ship of Brides by Jojo Moyes
Tully by Paullina Simons

Okay so I can't count!
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Elaine wrote: "Brenda wrote: "OK I'll just put my best 5 out of all those above!! You shamed me into it;)

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
No R..."

All top books Elaine:)

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Jennie - Daystarz Books wrote: "In no particular order:

The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
The Ship of Brides by Jojo Moyes
Tully by Paullina Simons

Ok..."

Not quite as bad at maths as me Jen;)

[[deleted user]]

Lol Brenda so I saw ... I had trouble getting it down to 6

[Tango]

Rotten Gods
The Street Sweeper
Bring Up the Bodies
The Sunne in Splendour
Watercolours

All books with very memorable characters that will stay with you for a long time afterwards.

[Kerri]

Oh why did I look at this post? My TBR list just keeps on growing..

[Elaine]

Tango wrote: "Rotten Gods
The Street Sweeper
Bring Up the Bodies
The Sunne in Splendour
Watercolours

All books with very memorable characters that will stay with you for a long time afterwards."

Numbers 2,3 and 4 are on my TBR list. Thanks Tango it's good to know that they will be worth reading.

[Elaine]

Kerri wrote: "Oh why did I look at this post? My TBR list just keeps on growing.."

I hear you Kerri....like we need to add more to our ever growing TBR lists!!!! But we do don't we?

[Kerri]

Not in order, my 5
Winter Garden
Sarah's Key
Gone Girl
Sh*t My Dad Says
The Help

[Zoey]

My Top 5

Assassin
Covet
The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel
The Other Boleyn Girl
The Boleyn Inheritance

[Michael]

no real order to mine but;

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
Swimming Home by Deborah Levy
Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway
Talulla Rising by Glen Duncan

[★ Jess]

I read like no books this year, I believe the count does not yet exceed 20, and at least a quarter of that is for school, with another quarter being graphic novels. Having said that, here is my list in order:

Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Macbeth by Shakespeare
1984 by George Orwell (Which I read at least twice)

[Zuzu]

The best 5 fiction books this year. No particular order


The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Alexie Sherman
The Gospel Of Gods And Crocodiles by Elizabeth Stead
The Safety Expert by Doug Richardson
Me and You by Niccolo Ammaniti
Myth Man by Alex Mueck

Also Non Fiction.


A Voyage to Australia: Private Journal of James Bell by James Bell
A Private Life by Michael Kirby
The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century by Scott Miller
The Tin Ticket: The Heroic Journey of Australia's Convict Women by Deborah J Swiss

Let's hope next year is just as good!

[Michael]

Amen to that Zuzu. This was truely a great year for readers. :)

[Alik]

1. On the Jellicoe Road
2. Game of Thrones( Song of Ice and Fire)
3. Jasper Jones

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Alik wrote: "1. On the Jellicoe Road
2. Game of Thrones( Song of Ice and Fire)
3. Jasper Jones"

On the Jellicoe Road
A Game of Thrones
Jasper Jones

[Phrynne, Series Queen!]

The Help
Bring Up the Bodies
The Night Circus
The Dark Tower
The Twelve

[Amber]

Too hard!

I guess my top 5 are:
A Game of Thrones
A Dog's Purpose
Catching Fire
Still Alice
On the Jellicoe Road

But I could just as easily have picked any of the following:
Unwind
Nine Days
The Burial
Alif the Unseen
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
The Wee Free Men (the illustrated edition)

I kinda cheated there, didn't I :-)

[[deleted user]]

My top five (I think--but there are a couple more books I would have liked to add):

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi
Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig
Unwind by Neal Shusterman

[Kim Marie]

To whittle the list down to five I didn't include any sequels from previously started series, such as City of Dragons or Talulla Rising and I too cheated a little bit by listing my top five books by Australian authors, and then others:

Bitter Greens
Love, Honour, and O'Brien
The Tainted
Caleb's Crossing
On the Jellicoe Road

The Child Thief, A Game of Thrones and The Lies of Locke Lamora were all great reads.

The outstanding non-fiction for me and I would highly recommend it to history buffs is The Wolf: The German Raider That Terrorized the Southern Seas During World War I in an Epic Voyage of Destruction and Gallantry.

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

A lot of excellent choices here:)

[Jess]

It was so hard to choose just five, but after alot of umming and ahhing I think I have my five.

The Fault in Our Stars
Burning Lies
Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Bitter Greens
The Girl in Steel Capped Boots

[Katie]

I've had a terrible year for reading...there are just not enough hours in the day. I entered the Australian Women's Reading Challenge and failed dismally. But my best five would be -

Tollesbury Time Forever Stuart Ayris
Foxmask Juliet Marillier
Assassin's Apprentice Robin Hobb
Strictly Murder Lynda Wilcox
Thursday's Child Sonya Hartnett

[Amy (Lost in a Good Book)]

My top five were surprisingly easy which was a nice change.

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
The Library of Shadows by Mikkel Birkegaard
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

[Jim]

This is a tough one!
In no particular order (and subject to change as I think it all through over the remaining days of the year):

The Blackwater Lightship
Past the Shallows
The Shadow of the Wind
The Secret River
On Writing

[Kathryn]

I only started using Goodreads properly during September/October this year, so I have no record of what I read during the first 8 months of the year and can't remember whether I read some things this year or last. So, based on what I've read since September (and what I remember reading earlier in the year), my top 5 were:
The Help by Kathryn Stockett,
Ashenden by Elizabeth Wilhide,

A Prison Diary by Jeffrey Archer,

No Sex in the City by Randa Abdel-Fattah and
The Lieutenant by Kate Grenville.

And here's to 2013 - hopefully a year of many goodreads!

[Mish]

Amy wrote: "My top five were surprisingly easy which was a nice change.

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
The Library of Shadows by Mikkel Birkegaard
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
The Tale of Desper..."

I keep hearing how good The Library of Shadows is....I think I might have to read it :)

[Mish]

Great list everyone & a good guide for my reading choices for next year...thanks :)

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Mish wrote: "Amy wrote: "My top five were surprisingly easy which was a nice change.

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
The Library of Shadows by Mikkel Birkegaard
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
The Ta..."

I've had it on my TBR for a long time...I must get to it too!

[Amy (Lost in a Good Book)]

Brenda wrote: "Mish wrote: "Amy wrote: "My top five were surprisingly easy which was a nice change.

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
The Library of Shadows by Mikkel Birkegaard
The Eyre Affair by Jasper ..."

I adored it from the get go. I recall possibly gushing about it in my review a little bit but I think it deserved it.

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Amy wrote: "Brenda wrote: "Mish wrote: "Amy wrote: "My top five were surprisingly easy which was a nice change.

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
The Library of Shadows by Mikkel Birkegaard
The Eyre Af..."

That's good to know Amy, thanks:)

[[deleted user]]

On the Jellicoe Road seems to be quite popular - will have to check it out

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

On the Jellicoe Road is a good read Jen!

[Kelly (Diva Booknerd)]

1. Point of Retreat
2. The Sky Is Everywhere Published in 2010
3. Callum & Harper
4. The Darkest Minds
5. Flat-Out Love

Australian releases would have to be
And All the Stars, Love and Other Perishable Items and Graffiti Moon

[Sallyann]

Me before you - Jojo Moyes
Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
The Sky is Everywhere - Jandy Nelson
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - R Riggs
Before I go to Sleep - SJ Watson

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Sallyann wrote: "Me before you - Jojo Moyes
Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
The Sky is Everywhere - Jandy Nelson
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - R Riggs
Before I go to Sleep - SJ Watson"

Me Before You
Gone Girl
The Sky Is Everywhere
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Before I Go To Sleep