My top 10 books/series I've read in 2012

When I started this year I didn't realize how many books I'd end up reading.  I think reading has sort of become a coping mechanism for dealing with the crazy life that comes with having 3 young kids.  Once I realized I had hit 90 books it suddenly became my goal to reach 100 before the years out. So I wanted to make a list of my top 10 books/series I've read in 2012.  Now to be clear these aren't necessarily books that came out in 2012, just books or series I read in 2012.

So in no particular order here is my top 10

1. The Ruby Red Trilogy, Kerstin Gier

(Ruby Red)

Gwyneth Shepherd's sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth, who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era!

Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon--the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust

Quoted from Goodreads

The first two books in this series  have been released in English and the third comes out in Fall 2013.  To me this series feels more like one book chopped into 3 pieces instead of three separate books so as a whole I think this series is a hit.  It is a little frustrating though to end a book with zero resolution so I am really anxious for the third book to come out.  I think Gwen is a great and appealing main character.  I enjoyed the multiple references to American pop culture(a book written by a German, in German set in England with a character that makes references to High School Musical...awesome!).  I like Gideon as the love interest and am anxiously awaiting the resolution of this captivating series!

2. My Unfair Godmother, Janette Rallison(preceded by My Fair Godmother)

Tansy Miller has always felt that her divorced father has never had enough time for her. But mistakenly getting caught on the wrong side of the law wasn't exactly how she wanted to get his attention. Enter Chrysanthemum "Chrissy" Everstar, Tansy's fairy in shining, er, high heels. Chrissy is only a fair godmother, of course, so Tansy's three wishes don't exactly go according to plan. And if bringing Robin Hood to the twenty-first century isn't bad enough for Tansy, being transported back to the Middle Ages to deal with Rumpelstiltskin certainly is. She'll need the help of her blended family, her wits, and especially the cute police chief's son to stop the gold-spinning story from spinning wildly out of control. Janette Rallison pulls out all the stops in this fresh, fun-filled follow-up to the popular My Fair Godmother.

Quoted from Goodreads 

I love Janette Rallison and this second book in the My Fair Godmother series is one of my favorites of hers.  I liked the first book but this one definitely took the cake for me.  Though this book is technically part of a series it can stand alone but I do believe it's worth reading the first one first.  This book made it into my top ten because it is the perfect balance of everything I enjoy about Rallison's books. 

3. Heist Society series, Ally Carter

(Heist Society) When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her on a trip to the Louvre…to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria…to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own—scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately, leaving “the life” for a normal life proves harder than she’d expected.

Soon, Kat's friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring Kat back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has a good reason: a powerful mobster has been robbed of his priceless art collection and wants to retrieve it. Only a master thief could have pulled this job, and Kat's father isn't just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat’s dad needs her help.

For Kat, there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it's a spectacularly impossible job? She's got two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in her family's history--and, with any luck, steal her life back along the way.

Quoted from Goodreads

 Is it wrong that I've always been a bit of a sucker for books or movies with thieves/criminals as the protagonist/s?  Like Artemis Fowl, Oceans 11, The Italian Job...I really like this series.  I think it is clever, fun and the characters are really likeable.  There is a good amount of humor, action and romance.  A natural favorite for me!

4. 12 Dancing Princesses, Jessica Day George

(Princess of the Midnight Ball)
A tale of twelve princesses doomed to dance until dawn…

Galen is a young soldier returning from war; Rose is one of twelve princesses condemned to dance each night for the King Under Stone. Together Galen and Rose will search for a way to break the curse that forces the princesses to dance at the midnight balls. All they need is one invisibility cloak, a black wool chain knit with enchanted silver needles, and that most critical ingredient of all—true love—to conquer their foes in the dark halls below. But malevolent forces are working against them above ground as well, and as cruel as the King Under Stone has seemed, his wrath is mere irritation compared to the evil that awaits Galen and Rose in the brighter world above.

Captivating from start to finish, Jessica Day George’s take on the Grimms’ tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses demonstrates yet again her mastery at spinning something entirely fresh out of a story you thought you knew.

Quoted from Goodreads


I already did a review on this series but I will just say again that these are just lovely books.  Wonderfully captivating, there is no doubt that these deserve to be in my top ten.  Jessica Day George's, Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, deserves honorable mention as it is also a really lovely story in a really lovely setting with really lovely characters. 








5. An Unfortunate Fairy Tale series, Chanda Hahn

(UnEnchanted)
 Mina Grime is unlucky, unpopular and uncoordinated, that is until she saves her crush's life on a field trip, changing her High School status from loser to hero overnight. But with her newfound fame brings misfortune as an old family curse come to light. For Mina is descended from the Brothers Grimm and has inherited all of their unfinished fairy tale business. Which includes trying to outwit a powerful Story from making her its next fairytale victim.

To break the fairy tale curse on her family and stop these deadly events, Mina must finish the tales until the very Grimm end.

Quoted from Goodreads

Chanda Hahn is a mom that needed a creative outlet and this was the result.  I first found this series while perusing barnesandnoble.com for books less than 5 bucks.  I first came accross Fairest and saw the gorgeous cover and was tempted on that alone.  I saw that it was the second book in a series so I did a search for the first book and saw that it was free and I was sold.  2 beautiful covers, the first book free and the second one 3 dollars, how could I say no?  I am sure glad that I didn't because I thoroughly enjoyed these books.  Because of the tv series Grimm I've grown a little obsession with Grimm's and I love this perspective and telling.  Very fun and creative.
 
6. Unearthly series, Cynthia Hand

(Unearthly)
 In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . . 


 Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.
Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.
As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?
Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.


 Quoted from Goodreads

These books are awesome and I'm nearly going mad waiting for the third book to come out in a few weeks.  Cynthia Hand is from Idaho and that alone makes her awesome but she gets bonus points because she went to Boise State.  She's also an excellent writers and tells a beautiful story in this Unearthly series.  Out of all the stories involving angels(that I've read) this is my favorite. 

7. The Beyonders series, Brandon Mull (book 2 read in 2012)

(A World Without Heroes)
 Jason Walker has often wished his life could be a bit less predictable--until a routine day at the zoo ends with Jason suddenly transporting from the hippo tank to a place unlike anything he's ever seen. In the past, the people of Lyrian welcomed visitors from the Beyond, but attitudes have changed since the wizard emperor Maldor rose to power. The brave resistors who opposed the emperor have been bought off or broken, leaving a realm where fear and suspicion prevail.
In his search for a way home, Jason meets Rachel, who was also mysteriously drawn to Lyrian from our world. With the help of a few scattered rebels, Jason and Rachel become entangled in a quest to piece together the word of power that can destroy the emperor, and learn that their best hope to find a way home will be to save this world without heroes.

Quoted from Goodreads

I really like Brandon Mull.  I love the worlds he creates.  Fablehaven is one of my absolute favorite fantasy series.  Beyonders has been equally exciting and inventive.  His characters are always so well created and so loveable.  His stories are clean and though they may lack a little in the romance department I can give him a break because of the awesome stories he tells. 

8. The Goose Girl, Shannon Hale(first book in the Books of Bayern series)

  
Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, spends the first years of her life under her aunt's guidance learning to communicate with animals. As she grows up Ani develops the skills of animal speech, but is never comfortable speaking with people, so when her silver-tongued lady-in-waiting leads a mutiny during Ani's journey to be married in a foreign land, Ani is helpless and cannot persuade anyone to assist her.

Becoming a goose girl for the king, Ani eventually uses her own special, nearly magical powers to find her way to her true destiny. Shannon Hale has woven an incredible, original and magical tale of a girl who must find her own unusual talents before she can become queen of the people she has made her own.

Quoted from Goodreads 

I honestly didn't expect to like this book as much as I did.  Before this I had only read Hale's Austenland so I didn't know she could write books with such adventure and action like this one contained.  The romance was beautiful and Ani/Isi is a beautifully strong character.  I was a little put out when I learned the following books weren't a continuing story from Ani's POV.  Though Enna in Enna Burning was a strong, likeable character and I enjoyed the book I believe I would have loved more to read from Ani's perspective some more.  That is mostly why this book makes a solo appearance and not the whole series, though I haven't actually read River Secrets or Forest Born....


9. The Heroes of Olympus series, Rick Riordan (Book 3 read in 2012)

(The Lost Hero)
 Jason has a problem.
He doesn't remember anything before waking up on a school bus holding hands with a girl. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper. His best friend is a kid named Leo, and they're all students in the Wilderness School, a boarding school for "bad kids", as Leo puts it. What he did to end up here, Jason has no idea—except that everything seems very wrong.

Piper has a secret.
Her father, a famous actor, has been missing for three days, and her vivid nightmares reveal that he's in terrible danger. Now her boyfriend doesn't recognize her, and when a freak storm and strange creatures attack during a school field trip, she, Jason, and Leo are whisked away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood. What is going on?

Leo has a way with tools.
His new cabin at Camp Half-Blood is filled with them. Seriously, the place beats Wilderness School hands down, with its weapons training, monsters, and fine-looking girls. What's troubling is the curse everyone keeps talking about, and that a camper's gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist they are all—including Leo—related to a god


 Quoted from Goodreads

I may have mentioned this before, I dunno, but I just love Percy Jackson.  He is such an endearing character and just so dang likeable.  I really liked the original Percy Jackson series but this sequel series has been even more fantastic.  I love the new perspective of Roman half-bloods that Riordan brought into this series and I especially loved The Mark of Athena.  If it is possible Percy Jackson more grown up is even more likeable and it was really fun to read things from Annabeth's perspective.  The ending of this book was so good and promises such awesome things for the next book and I can't even wait!!

10. The Wide Awake Princess, E.D. Baker

In this new stand-alone fairy tale, Princess Annie is the younger sister to Gwen, the princess destined to be Sleeping Beauty. When Gwennie pricks her finger and the whole castle falls asleep, only Annie is awake, and only Annie—blessed (or cursed?) with being impervious to magic—can venture out beyond the rose-covered hedge for help. She must find Gwen's true love to kiss her awake.


But who is her true love? The irritating Digby? The happy-go-lucky Prince Andreas, who is holding a contest to find his bride? The conniving Clarence, whose sinister motives couldn't possibly spell true love? Joined by one of her father's guards, Liam, who happened to be out of the castle when the sleeping spell struck, Annie travels through a fairy tale land populated with characters both familiar and new as she tries to fix her sister and her family . . . and perhaps even find a true love of her own.

Quoted from Goodreads

I was having a hard time choosing the 10th book for my top 10.  There was a lot of candidates but none of them seemed to stand out above the others as being the last one to make it to my top 10.  I decided to add The Wide Awake Princess because of the message it contained, the sweet telling of the story and the cleanliness of the writing which makes it completely appropriate for all readers.  This is a book I would happily let my young daughters read and I enjoyed it myself.  Sometimes it's just refreshing to have books like this to read.

I have read a lot of other books this year that I really enjoyed.  This year I have read 101 books and before the years out I will most likely squeeze in one more book, possibly two.  It has been a fun year of reading and I want to thank my husband and kids for putting up with me through my slightly obsessive reading phase.  I hope that someday my love of reading will rub off on my kids and they too can enjoy reading like I do.  For a complete list of the books I've read this year you can check out my sidebar over to the left.  Once the years up I'll move the list to a post and start a new list on the sidebar for the near year.  I also keep track of this on my goodreads if anyone is interested and wants to befriend me :)