It doesn’t quite seem possible that I’ve been blogging for six years but apparently I have! So it’s time to wrap up the year with my now traditional post about my favourite books of the year and my reading in general.  Looking at my Goodreads shelves, I think I’ve just about cracked 150 books this year (about 110 new & 40 re-reads/or re-listens), which is up a bit on the last couple of years. This can probably be attributed to the busted ankle factor, which has meant more time on the couch lounging about plus the fact I now have a kindle and can indulge in instant book gratification more often. Good for the reading numbers, bad for the credit card.

And now, in no particular order, here are some of my favourites amongst the new books I read this year:

The Black Hawk – Joanna Bourne I have enjoyed all of Joanna’s books and this latest installment was great.

Girl of Fire and Thorns – Rae Carson  Lovely YA fantasy.

Feed and Deadline – Mira Grant   I bought Feed back in September but didn’t get to it until just this month. Promptly devoured it and the sequel, Deadline and now can’t wait for June when Book 3 will be released

Real Men Will – Victoria Dahl  I enjoyed all three books in the Donovan Brothers Trilogy but my fave was Real Men Will. Hot bad boy in kilt. ‘Nuff said.

Until There Was You – Kristan Higgins  I read a bunch of Higgins books this year and this was my fave, mainly because she switched to third person and we got some hero POV!

Snuff – Terry Pratchett – Pratchett is one of my auto-buy (and generally auto-love) authors.

Ghost Ship – Sharon Lee and Steve Miller I love the Liaden world and the Theo books have been lots of fun.

The Man She Loves to Hate – Kelly Hunter  Kelly continues to deliver lovely sexy witty romances. More please.

All They Need – Sarah Mayberry   Sarah is another category author whose books I love.  The characters in All I Need were very real and I gobbled this book up (even though it’s always weird to read a heroine who shares your name!)

Magic Slays – Ilona Andrews  The Kate Daniels books continue to be my favourite UF series

Angel Town, Taken and The Hedgewitch Queen – Lilith Saintcrow Another of my fave UF writers. Angel Town wrapped up her Jill Kismet series perfectly, Taken was a great Nocturne and The Hedgewitch Queen was intriguing (I want the next book). Very much looking forward to her new Bannon and Clare series!

The Corinna Chapman series by Kerry Greenwood  I read the first of these quite a few years ago but for some reason hadn’t gotten onto the others. So when they popped up on Kindle at bargain prices, I had a big glom.  Set in Melbourne and featuring a baker heroine, these books are great fun and will make you hungry! Kerry also writes the Phryne Fisher books which are set in Melbourne around the 1930’s and are lots of fun…looking forward to the TV series of those in 2012.

Looking over my lists, the two authors I read most this year were Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb (due to a Eve re-read) and Terry Pratchett (due to my slight obsession with Pratchett audiobooks). I also re-read all my Megan Whalen Turners. Sigh. So many books, not enough time. I would say write faster, please fave authors but those in glass houses etc etc…

So that was 2011…looking forward to many more wonderful stories in 2012!