TSS: 2012 favorites

It seems like everybody is doing the round-up of their 2012 favorite books already. Goodreads did it Bookriot did it...so I thought, why not do it, right?

Well, first of all I think I should clarify that over the year 2012 I've read so far 45 books...but only 10 of them where published on the year 2012. I will give you my top 5 books that I read during 2012, independently of its publication date:

1. The Night Circus: Interestingly, this is one of the first books I read this year. and I think it has been my favorite of all year. It had a beautiful universe construction and I liked the fact that no character was completely black or white, in contrast with the circus decoration itself. I loved how the stories evolved separately and then join each other swiftly. The conclusion of the book was in my opinion, well constructed, and I can't wait for the movie adaptation.

2. 1Q84: I actually gave 4 mushrooms to the first 2 parts of this book, but it was the last part that pushed this book to the top 5. Yes it was a long book; yes there were some parts that were a little bit too graphic and could've been read at something a little bit more disturbing. But once again I think that the double moon universe created by Murakami was just precious. And I loved Aomame as a character.

3. The Know-it-All: Out of the 3 books I read this year from A.J. Jacobs, I think the first one of the saga was my favorite basically because of how we meet the family, and the struggles around and in general, is the beginning of this serial questing. I loved all of the books, but this one is the first door in a very amusing fun house.

4. The Bluest Eye: This books was so hard to read and yet do beautiful! It was hard, not because of the difficulty of the text, but because of the crudeness that Morrison has. Seeing the world though the eyes of this little girl, seeing everything that happens around her, and all she wanted was to be considered beautiful. 

5. The Hobbit: Last but not least. I read it in order to be "prepared" for the movie (only later did I learned it was going to be in more than one movie, so I will have to skim it again soon!) but once again I was amazed by the whole universe painted by Tolkien. The innocence of Bilbo and how his sense of adventure and camaraderie crows through the books makes of this book a certain read before going to bed when/if I have kids;) 

What about you? which are your favorite reads this year?

Other than that, this week I (finally) finished reading The Fat Years, the review should be up next Wednesday. I did published my review for The Dirty Streets of Heaven and I'm starting Tailchaser's song.  Also I joined a new meme or event, called Read and Review Hop, hosted by Anya, may I suggest you check it out?