Welcome to my final installment of the Merry Go Round Blog Tour for 2012.  We get to end on a light note by talking about my favorite books for 2012.  For some reason, 2012 has been my worse year for reading since I began tracking what I was reading several years ago.  I always begin the year with an improbable (for me) goal of reading 50 books.  It’s a nice number.  I know many people can obtain it.  I don’t think I ever have, but it’s a nice goal.  This year, it looks like I’m going to complete a minimal 16, with a distant possibility of 17 books.  It’s a small enough list, so here it is:

1. Nobody, Creston Mapes
2. Halfhead, Stuart MacBride
3. Hal Junior: The Secret Signal, Simon Haynes
4. Rainbow’s End, Valerie Comer, et al
5. The Christmas Tree Farm Murders, Sara Penhallow
6. The Feedstore Chronicles, Travis Erwin
7. Slow Summer Kisses, Shannon Stacey (novella)
8. Always the Designer, Never the Bride; Sandra Bricker
9. My Emily, Matt Patterson
10. Midnight Sun, MJ Fredrick
11. The Perfect Dish, Kirsten Painter
12. Secret of the Pack Rat’s Nest, Martha E. Rhynes
13. Sandwich With A Side of Romance, Krista Phillips
14. All He Ever Needed, Shannon Stacey
15. Tales from Bethlehem, Stephen Bagley
16. All He Ever Needed, Shannon Stacey

These are almost all books by friends or friends of friends.  They come from a variety of genres and some cross genres.  Some were fun, some were serious, and, yes, some were a little better than others — for a variety of reasons.  There are a couple of debut authors represented here, and I look forward to reading future work of theirs.

Shannon Stacey’s Kowalski series is a must-read.  Yes, they are romance novels, but they feature real people with lives making those lives work.  Just get them all and read them.

Nobody was unusual and thought-provoking. Stuart MacBride is always good stomach-churning, no punches-held Scottish crime fiction, and I love reading his stuff, but it isn’t for the faint of heart.

Rainbow’s End, The Christmas Tree Farm Murders, The Feedstore Chronicles, and Sandwich With A Side of Romance are all debuts, and I want to read more of what these authors write.

Tales from Bethlehem by Stephen Bagley, I believe was inspired.  He expands upon the traditional Nativity story by bringing in supporting characters’ points of view. It’s enjoyable.  It’s thought-provoking.  It’s a quick read — or you can spread it out over several days or weeks, depending up how you decide to approach it.  But there’s still time to get it for Christmas, and I highly recommend you consider it.