Good-bye 2012!

Can you believe that 2012 has come to an end?!?  There was no end of the world.  There was a few fireworks, at least in my neighborhood.  And, for this girl, I was glad to have the year over with.  As many of you know, I was not a fan of 2012.  The event with the largest impact was the passing of my father in May and the year spiraled from there.  Many other family and friends also passed away in 2012 and the year ended with not only one computer crashing on me, but two.  Thankfully, my work computer eventually got back up and running, but my home computer is still in the works.  Sadly, it appears that I lost some data from my computer, including a multitude of my pictures and images that I use here.  Needless to say, I am glad that 2012 is over!

I have lots of positive thoughts for 2013, but I will save most of those for another post!  However, I will say that the year is starting off with a bang.  I had a nice relaxing day and I received a new laptop for Christmas!  Though we are out our family computer, I now have this laptop bought for the sole purpose of using it while mobile and to focus more on my writing.  That is all I will say for now, but you could say that I am very optimistic for the future!

To stay with the theme of optimism, I want to leave you with a few highlights from Tif Talks Books in 2012.

The Reading Numbers

56 total books

17,349 total pages (give or take!)

I was shooting for a total of 70 books, but with the life events I will take the 56!!

The Top Reads

In past years, I have shared my top reading picks from the year.  This year, I leave you with four books that I gave the coveted ranking of five stars via Goodreads (in no particular order).

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Blackout by Mira Grant

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde

What I find amazing about this list is that the first three are all a continuation of a series.  The last one is the first in a series and was my final read of the year.  I cannot wait to see where the series will take me!!  Sadly, I have not gotten around to writing reviews of any of my favorite reads, but I am telling you right here and right now that I recommend them all!  Love, love, love them!

I will leave you all with those very simplified stats from 2012.  Check back later this week to read all about what is in store for 2013.  I am so excited to share the details with you!!

What were your highlights of 2012 (both good and bad)?  What books were your favorites?