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Q&Q readers pick books of the year

Last week, Q&Q asked readers to submit their favourite Canadian titles of 2012, and the votes came pouring in.

In the fiction category, Tanis Rideout’s Above All Things (McClelland & Stewart), about George Mallory’s fatal attempt to climb Mount Everest, is a clear favourite, as is Corey Redekop’s zombie novel, Husk. Many of you also love CS Richardson’s romantic The Emperor of Paris (Doubleday Canada) and Missy Marton’s debut novel, The Love Monster (Véhicule Press).

When it comes to poetry, the top titles are Don McKay’s ecologically minded collection Paradoxides (M&S) and Mathew Henderson’s Lease (Coach House Books) inspired by his time working in the Western oil fields.

The Mother Corp receives some love in the non-fiction category, with three books by CBC personalities voted best of the year: Rick Mercer’s A Nation Worth Ranting About (Doubleday Canada), Amanda Lang’s The Power of Why (HarperCollins Canada), and Nahlah Ayed’s A Thousand Farewells: A Reporter’s Journey from Refugee Camp to the Arab Spring (Viking Canada). Another favourite is Jael Ealey Richardson’s memoir, The Stone Thrower: A Daughter’s Lessons, a Father’s Life (Thomas Allen Publishers), chronicling her football-playing father’s past.

In November, Isabelle Arsenault’s illustrations for Kyo Maclear’s latest picture book, Virginia Wolf (Kids Can Press), won her the Governor General’s Literary Award. Q&Q readers were also impressed by the title, which overwhelmingly received the most votes in the children’s category.

Series titles rule in the YA category with Such Wicked Intent (HarperCollins Canada), the sequel to Kenneth Oppel’s This Dark Endeavour: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein, and Neil Flambé and the Tokyo Treasure (Simon & Schuster), the latest boy-chef mystery by Kevin Sylvester.

Which 2012 books would you add to the list? Leave your picks in the comments below.