What was your Favorite Read this year?

I'm actually doing it.  I'm whittling down my TBR pile, spine by spine, at a remarkably rapid pace!  Go me!  I've been trying to do this for years.  I've been very good about buying books this year (But let's be serious; I haven't stopped.  Please.) and have tried to keep the TBR tamed.  So, it's getting there.

But now, I find myself longing for those things I do not have.  Which is always the case, isn't it?  Sure, I've still got TBRs, but I want something shiny and new.  So I need some recommendations from everyone.  I'm going to list a few of my favorite reads this year, and then I want everyone to pick one or two of their favorite reads from this year and tell us about them.

THE MIND'S EYE by Oliver Sacks.  Is it wrong to worship a 70-something, slightly blind, intensely engaging neurologist who writes about other people's misery?  I love Sacks.  He writes about neurological disorders with insight and fascination.  It is like reading fantastical fiction, and yet the case studies he focuses on are very real people with conditions that marvel, disturb and teach.  I have read all his books, and can't wait for the next.  THE MIND'S EYE looks at a woman who has lost her stereoscopic vision, an aphasic woman who cannot speak, and a novelist who suddenly develops the inability to read.  I think if Sacks ever appeared in the area signing books I'd go, then probably act like some foolish teenager in front of a rock star.  He rocks!

THE GREYFRIAR: VAMPIRE EMPIRE Book 1 by Clay & Susan Griffith.  I read this book for review, and frankly decided to do so because I was in the mood for something different, even though straight fantasy is not really my cup of tea.  This story is filled with adventure, action and even romance, set in the near future of an alternate universe that sees the vampires having taken over the world, and mortals their slaves.  And it's steampunk!  It was so good, I'm eagerly awaiting the next book, which I know the writers are still working on.  Hurry up and write!  Oh, and this one also gets my vote for Perfect Cover.  Nicely matches the characters and the mood with the grays and blacks and the goggles on the hero—yay!

HELLO, CUPCAKE! by Karen Tack & Alan Richardson.  Yes, cookbooks counts.  I don't actually use them to cook, you see.  I buy them for the pretty pictures and read them much like a book, searching for possibly one easy recipe I could attempt, but then sighing, and deciding it's much more fun just to look at the pictures.  This cupcake book is mostly about decorating them in the most adorable ways.  I convinced my daughter to make the cupcakes with the peas and carrots on top (you use soft candies like Starburst).  So cute!  Anyone want to bake me a cupcake?

ADDICTED by Charlotte Featherstone.  Sometimes you read a book to the end, close the cover, then sit back and sigh a little.  The characters are compelling, the situations are interesting, and the sex (yes, sometimes you just want some great sex scenes) is smoldering.  I have a fascination for heroes who have an addiction, so I grabbed this book when it was first issued, and I was not disappointed.  Great read.  Dark, but well written and a satisfying tale.  This one gets my Gorgeous Cover vote because it is another thing that attracted me to this book.  That wispy red smoke and the fluffy dress and the corset.  It lured me in like opium to the addict.

Okay, that's just a few of my favs.  Now tell me what your top picks were for this year.  I need some ideas for new reading material!

Michele