30 Days of Books - Best Book of the Year

The Indie Exchange is running a 30 Days of Books meme this month. As a devoted reader and writer, I'm in!

Obviously we're starting off big with the Best Book of the Year post. That's a really tough one - I read so many wonderful books this year. There must have been something in the water - I felt there was a lot of talent and creativity flowing in both traditional and Indie publishing throughout 2012.

It's so hard to choose, between the two, so I plan to choose one book from each form, trad and Indie for each day this month.

The traditional book was easy. I loved The Age of Miracles, the story of what happens as the earth's revolution begins to slow down, from the point of view of a girl in middle school. It was tender and perfect, and I was entranced by the mysterious sadness throughout.

It was reminiscent of Melancholia, the movie about the end of the world as seen through the eyes of a severely depressed woman (played by the luminous Kirsten Dunst) and her sister. (The movie does include sex and some disturbing themes, so keep that in mind if you watch it.)

(You can read my full review here.)

As for the Indie book - that's a lot harder. There were many wonderful titles this year (some of them still languish on my Kindle, waiting for me to get to them.)

I do plan to mention others later in the month, but I must say my very favorite was The Prospect of My Arrival. It had the same sort of magical, hazy sadness as The Age of Miracles and Murakami's books, along with a feeling of mystery. All of that was served up with Okita's usual imaginative artistry.

(...and you can read the full review of Prospect along with 1Q84 here.)

Now - please tell me - what were your favorite books this year? I'm always looking for great reads, so go ahead and suggest some of the best from 2012.