The Last Post of 2012!

Happy New Year's Eve, Midnighters! 

2012 was an amazing year for me, bookwise! This is the year that I really built up a close community of blogger friends (luckily for me, several are real life friends!), I attended real bookish events (BEA 2012!!), and read some amazing books!

I tried to feel out that end of the year blogging meme that's been going around, but I got bored. Plus I kept writing down the same book every other answer.  I am fully aware that my list is huge and long, but you should have seen it before I edited it!  This year has been one of the best years ever for this book nerd.  Here, in no particular order,  are the books that rocked my nerdy little world in 2012:

Catch Me by Lisa Gardner- (Audio) edge of your seat thriller that had me spending a lot of time in my car.  I love me some audio books, and you'll see quite a few on this list, but in a year where the gas prices were super high, I feel like the oil companies should have at least sent me a Christmas cards because of all the extra driving around I did to listen to just one more chapter...  I read quite a bit of Lisa Gardner's books this year (thrillers are my comfort read), but Catch Me was the best of her excellent books!

Nightfall by Stephen Leather- (ARC) I have high hopes for me and Mr. Leather, I really loved this thriller with a taste of the occult. 

Soulless (Parasol Protectorate #1) by Gail Carriger- (Audio) I meant to read this a couple of years ago, but I never could get past the first chapter.  But then it was on sale at Audible and the narrator was amazing and I was instantly hooked.  Really hoping to catch up on the rest of the series in 2013!

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins- (TBR) I don't know why I waited so long, because it was fantastic.  I also can't explain why I haven't read Lola and the Boy Next Door... I worry about me sometimes...

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline- (Hardback) Wow.  That is all I have to say about this book.  Just simply wow.  It's so hard to sum up this book, but it's full of 80's awesomeness and it's the book I recommended most to my family.  I really wanted to crawl into this book at times!

Anna Dressed in Blood and Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake- (Audio) I loved these books, I loved that even though I miss the characters, the series was just the two books.  A lot of authors (and I suspect many more publishing houses) would have dragged this story out over 9 or so books.  It was perfect the way it was, and I will definitely be reading anything Blake wishes to write in the future!

Divergent by Veroncia Roth- (Borrowed) The first book blew me away, and I really loved it.  I'm so glad that my friends put some pressure on me to read this. Roth is also the author who I said the stupidest thing to at BEA (Me: You look so young! Roth: I am young. Me: Giggle, mumble, move along the line). 

The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty- (ARC) I will forever link this book to my first NYC visit and BEA, so it's a good thing it's an incredible book!

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green- (Hardback) Seriously, did anyone not like this book?  The Grinch could have bypassed all his Christmas Eve hijinks if he'd simply read this book- it'll make your heart grow. ;)

A Storm of Swords, A Feast of Crows and A Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin- (Kindle, Audio and Hardback) I can't allow myself to think how long we'll have to wait for the next book in the series, but you must start reading these books now!  I don't want to hear "But, Kate, they're sooooo long!" because that's what makes them awesome!  

Boy's Life by Robert McCammon (Signed Paperback- thank you, Midnyte Reader!) So much love for this book!  Previously I had read and loved The Five based on Stephen King's recommendation, and I'm sad that I didn't discover McCammon earlier.  Hope 2013 brings more time to read his excellent books!  Boy's Life felt epic.  I like epic. 

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness- (Signed Hardback) I love the way Harkness wraps history with mythology and copious amounts of wine.  I thought it was a fantastic follow up to A Discovery of Witches!

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn- (Audio) What I will remember most about this audio wasn't the twists- I figured out a few of them beforehand- but how much I cared about these unlikeable characters.  It was a fun, twisty read, and I did get Flynn's two previous books, so let's hope I can get to them in 2013!

Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor (audio and Kindle) Holy Shiz!!! This series is why I invented the Midnight Read rating!  I would totally love to vacation in Laini Taylor's brain!  I feel the need to lock her and George R.R. Martin into a large plastic bubble and keep them healthy and safe while they continue their series, but I'm afraid it would harm the writing process.  

Odd Hours (Manga), Odd Interludes (Novella) and Odd Apocalypse (ARC!) by Dean Koontz- 2012 was a great year for all things Odd and my obsession with the character.  I don't know why, but Odd Thomas is a character that has crawled into my heart, and I'm so glad that so many other people seem to love him almost as much as me!

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater- (ARC) Another one for the Best Book Ever pile!  I cannot express how wonderful this book was, how much I love the characters and how gorgeous Stiefvater's writing is.  I just want to thank her, because it's just perfect.  

Witch World by Christopher Pike- (ARC) He's back!!!!  For those of you who haven't caught on, I love Christopher Pike.  As in, it's a good thing he lives on the West Coast and that I'm too lazy to stalk kind of love.  And of course, I'm doing a Christopher Pike Reading Challenge in 2013 because you all need to read him NOW.  Like now.  Stop scrolling, read Weekend or Chainletter and come back to this post later.  It can keep. 

Possess by Gretchen McNeil- (Kindle) Several months ago I would have put Ten on the list, but for me Possess was amazing!  I loved the concept behind Ten, but Possess had a kick ass heroine and laugh out humor, not to mention it majorly creeped me out- which being a Midnight Book Girl isn't always easy to do. 

The Program by Suzanne Young- (ARC) I know, this book doesn't come out until 2013, but I loved it.  I can't even say why, other than despite the crazy premise, I just loved the characters and I'm intrigued by the idea of how much of who we are consist of our memories.  
 
Notable Mentions:
The Vanishing Game by Kate Kae Myers- something I haven't seen in YA, and I enjoyed it immensely.
Glimmer by Phoebe Kitnidis- I loved the concept of this book, and it was a great read.  Very much looking forward to her future books!
The Duff by Kody Keplinger- I really enjoyed this audio (except for the weird pauses).  It wasn't perfect, and the ending was a bit neat, but I suspect that I'll be re-reading this in the future.  
The Harper Connelly series by Charlaine Harris (Audio) Grave Sight, Grave Surprise, An Ice Cold Grave and Grave Secret are wonderful reads!  Very different from the Sookie series and (with the exception of the perfection that is Eric Northman) better written.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern- (Re-Read) One of my favorite books of all time, expect to see this yet again on my Currently Reading shelf in 2013!
I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga- I really did like this book, and it reminded me of Dan Well's John Wayne Cleaver series, and I'm really looking forward to future books in this series.  
The Archived by Victoria Schwab- amazing, love the concept and can't wait for more! 
Kill You Twice by Chelsea Cain- Fifth in the Gretchen Lowell series, this book was probably my favorite so far!  Lowell is wonderfully effed up, and I love her dark, twisty brain!
Venom by Fiona Paul- this book is lush and beautiful, and I really liked it.  Some books grow on you the more time passes, and Venom is a book that has lingered with me. 
In the Tall Grass by Stephen King and Joe Hill- I love both father and son authors, I really do.  Together they are mind blowing.  I really wish I could be part of this family, but I'm content to read their stories. ;)
The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe- this might not have contained a list of amazing books to read whilst your dying, but it is a beautiful tribute of mother/son love.  Schwalbe's mom was an amazing woman.  This book touched me particularly because I lost my book loving father to pancreatic cancer, and I wish I'd had the time to spend reading books with him that the author got with his mom.  
Tears in Rain by Rosa Montero- who the hell knew that I liked science fiction?  Because this book helps prove that if it's well written, I will lap it up like a kitten with bowl of cream... or me with a bowl of ice cream. 

And this is why I can never win an academy award, because my thank you speech would just go on, and on, and on...