Best Books of 2012

I read many books year, some forgettable, some terrible, but many wonderful (for a complete list, see here). I have listed the ten best books I read this year. These are all books I couldn't put down, books I immediately wanted to read again. Here they are, in the other I read them.

1. The Fault in Our Stars - John Green. I loved John Green's Looking For Alaska but this knocked it off its spot as my favourite book ever. This story is uplifting and devastating and hopeful and heartbreaking. I actually read this book three times this year and every time I discover more to love about it. Everyone should read this book.
2. I Am The Messenger - Markus Zusak. I loved The Book Thief and this was beautiful in the same way, yet an entirely different story. It's been quite some time since I read this book so I'm fuzzy on the details but I remember it being so inspiring and hopeful and unique.

3. 1Q84 (Books 1, 2 & 3) - Haruki Murakami. This is technically three books but it is one story so I am counting them together. This story is long but definitely worth it. This is a gorgeous story has a bit of everything; romance, mystery, fantasy. So beautiful.
4. The Beach - Alex Garland. The imagery in this book is so vivid and I love the story of the beach. I kept feeling like something terrible was going to happen throughout the book and was kind of right. The ending is quite shocking (no spoilers here) and different from the movie. This book is FAR better than the movie.

5. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khalid Hosseini. This book was gripping and absolutely devastating. It didn't even matter that I know little about the political situations the book sets place in. This book broke my heart over and over again, in the way that only a really good book can.
6. Middlesex- Jeffrey Eugenides. This book totally sucked me in and it is written so realistically that I stupidly thought it was an actual memoir. This book is about a hermaphrodite and tells the story of the protagonists family history and how this impacted his/her life. Such an interesting story.

7. White Oleander - Janet Finch. This tells the story of a young girl, her mother and her different foster families. This entire book feels like poetry, the writing is beautiful and emotive. I especially loved how with each section of the story I felt like I was reading something totally different, yet it all fit together. So lovely.
8. Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk - Ben Fountain. Initially I didn't think this was my kind of story as I don't enjoy reading about war and politics but this story has such a lovely sense of friendship and camaraderie and romance that I thoroughly enjoyed it. It left me feeling so hopeful.

9. Room - Emma Donoghue. I don't want to say much about the plot of this book as its much better if you go in knowing nothing. This book was so subtle that I didn't even pick up on the hints and it kept shocking me. This book is so unique and surprising and thought provoking.

10. Divergent - Veronica Roth. I just finished this book yesterday and I'm already onto its sequel. If you loved The Hunger Games, you will love this. It has a lot of similar traits but its set in a unique dystopian universe. This book made me want to immediately turn back to the front and read it again.

Other books which I re-read this year (and love): Harry Potter, The Hunger Games (just the first one), everything John Green has ever written (but especially Looking For Alaska & An Abundance of Katherines) and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

If you read any great books in 2012 I would love to hear about them so please share in the comments!