Favorite Books of 2012

Obviously I'm a little late on this. We're almost two weeks into 2013, and I've been reading and salivating over best/favorite books of 2012 lists since the end of November, at least. Many of them were influential when I cashed in the gift certificate I got for an early Christmas gift and made my vacation reading decisions (having time off from work is the best opportunity to catch up on all the reading I'm behind on). But I'm very glad I didn't try to pick favorites before the new year rolled over, because the last two books I read in 2012 made this list and the very last one is a book I loved so much that I'm mercilessly forcing it on my friends and will probably be gushing over its virtues for years to come. So without further ado, in order that I read them: