Personally, I look back over my list from the last year, and if I can still remember everything about the book, whether I loved it or not, then it is a top book for me.  You know how you can look down your list and think "oh I loved that book!"  but can’t remember exactly what happened?  Or you read a book, not really loving it, but still remember the details years later - "Life of Pi" is one of those for me.

But I would like to hear how you pick, (or would pick if you HAD to pick.)

It would be a book that was very entertaining or very compelling.  A book that "stays with me" long after I finished reading it.  One I would recommend to friends.

I let my list mellow in me by reading it over every week and the book I most want to re-read is usually my pick of the year.

Often I go with which book I recommended the most to other people. But for my 2012 pinks, I went with the books that 'stayed with me.' My top two picks were books I had read in way back January and February. As I looked over my book-of-the-month picks, I settled on particular one book becuase becuase it is haunting me. My mind keeps lingering over it the atmosphere of story; not the details. Must be a subconscious sign that's calling for a reread! My other top pick for 2012 was so good it gave me goosepimples - and I wasn't expecting that from a non-fiction, history book! A harrowing story packed into a slim book made for an amazing read.

It would be the book I got the most enjoyment out of reading - the book that made me really want to stay submerged in that world for just a little longer.

I read a stack of Sookie Stackhouse mysteries in December, I'd have to say that was it for me. I doubtless read books of higher quality, but I enjoyed those enough to stay submersed for 4 books in a row, and then order the next one.

Could you please tell what your books are? When you describe that the way you chose was, it gave you gooseflesh - I want to look the book up and consider reading it!

The book I picked was the only one I bought a copy of to keep on my keeper shelf.  It was the one I was most excited about after I finished, and the one I recommended the most.

I'm not necessarily saying it was the "best" as far as written, plot, character, etc.  It was "my" best read.

(BTW, it was Ready Player One by Ernest Cline)

I look over the monthly "winners". If it's the book of the year it would surely have been the book of it's month. It was obvious last year, Gone Girl hit me like I haven't been in a long time. When I read it I knew.

I take all the books I've read in a year and toss them in the air.  The ones that hit me in the head and hurt the most are the ones I pick.  If blood is drawn, that one book goes to the top of the list.

Its going to be different this year, since I'm exclusively reading on my Kindle.  I currently have 800 books on the device (haven't read them all yet).  I'm pretty sure the Kindle will draw blood if it hits me just right.

So what do I do then?

-RD

Be careful Rob, please don't toss your Kindle!

I have just started using my Kindle app on my iPad, and I have to say I really like it, love reading in bed with no light and I can adjust font so no reading glasses.  But I have so many real books still on my TBR, I have to pace myself!