I’m not quite going to hit 2011’s mark of books read (almost 150) but I’m going to come close (almost 125!).  I track my reading on Goodreads.  So if we’re not friends there, you should join me!

Here are my favorite fictional books of 2012
(with edited reviews from what I posted on Goodreads through the year).

The Chosen by Chaim Potok:  Although I enjoyed it, it wasn’t until the last couple of chapters that my heart was moved to tears by the intense struggle/sacrifice that the father made and the hard decisions he had to make in raising his son.  It was also interesting to read the (admittedly fictionalized) account of the varying reactions among the Jewish population in America towards the formation of Israel after WWII.

“One learns of the pain of others by suffering one’s own pain, he would say , by turning inside oneself, by finding one’s own soul.  And it is important to know of pain, he said. It destroys our self-pride, our arrogance, our indifference towards others. It makes us aware of how frail and tiny we are and of how much we must depend on the Master of the Universe.”

The Chestnut King (100 Cupboards #3) by N.D. Wilson (and also Leepike Ridge):  By far, my favorite of the 100 Cupboards series (of which I read all three this year), I think N.D. Wilson came into his own as a writer with this book. I cried some serious tears at the end, enough to make me a bit sad and introspective for most of the day. The evil in this book is very real and so is the redemption. And I especially loved Frank the Fat-Fairie’s words to Henry at the very end (can’t miss the Ruth reference there!).

The Mysterious Howling and The Hidden Gallery ( (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place #1 and #2) by Maryrose Wood:  I had a lot of fun with these books – lots of funny, subtle humor that kids probably won’t get.  I think they would be fun to read aloud.

The Importance of Being Seven (44 Scotland Street #6) by Alexander McCall Smith: I missed Bertie so it was nice to read another in this series, this time focused mostly on him. Great fiction can make you reflect/think just as much as non-fiction (if not more) and this book indeed does that.

In the Company of Others (Father Tim #2) by Jan Karon:  The message of God’s redemption, forgiveness, and mercy is amazingly strong in this book. I wish explicitly Christian fiction could be as well written as this book (as with all of Jan Karon books).  I rarely come across Christian fiction that is so well-done that the faith aspect of the book feels natural and not thrown in to appeal to a specific audience.  The “God” parts of the book are integral to the story but don’t feel fake or forced at all.  I loved this book, cried at the end, and will be reading it again.

Death Comes To Pemberley by P.D. James:  This was a totally satisfying read as a Jane Austen lover! As a disappointed reader of a few other Austen modern adaptations, I was skeptical that this one was going to be any good but it hit all the right Austen notes for me. I particularly loved finding references to a couple other of the Austen novels thrown in. I also found her sly criticism of the American system of judicial appeals pretty amusing.

I also enjoyed:

• Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson
• Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
• And When She Was Good by Laura Lippman
• The Forgotten Affairs of Youth by Alexander McCall Smith
• The Double Comfort Safari Club by Alexander McCall Smith