Some excellent books published this year hit my must-read list.  Grab a cup of hot chocolate, add as many marshmallows as your mug can fit, and curl up on the coach with one of these page-turners.

Chick Lit: Cocktails for Three by Sophie Kinsella as Madeleine Wickham

Roxanne, Maggie and Candice meet once a month for cocktails and gossip.  All smart and successful women working in the magazine industry, they seem to lead separate lives until a chance encounter sets off a chain of events that almost destroys their friendship. 

Drama: Room by Emma Donoghue

Room is a story narrated by five-year-old Jack, who lives in a locked room with his Ma and has never been outside.  To Jack the room is home, but for Ma, it's the prison she has been locked in for seven years by Old Nick.  When Jack turns five, he starts to question their life and slowly Ma reveals to him that there is a world outside.

Thriller: Cross Fire by James Patterson

Detective Alex Cross is back, called to the scene of an assassination of two of the most corrupt men in Washington D.C.  Soon, other crooked politicians are being assassinated and it becomes clear that this is the work of a professional with insider Washington knowledge.  Alex is battling with the sniper, an FBI agent Max Siegel, and his biggest rival Kyle Craig, when he learns that he and his family are next on the Sniper's list of targets. 

Comedy: Hope in a Jar by Beth Harbison

In high school, Allie Denty and Olivia Pelham were inseparable.  Allie was the pretty one and Olivia the smart one, but a cruel rumour too close to the truth ended their friendship.  Twenty years later,  both find themselves unhappy with where their lives are heading and they reconnect in this hilarious novel about friendship.

Fun Stuff: The Book Of Awesome by Neil Pasricha

The Book of Awesome is an extensive list of the simple pleasures of life.  From watching The Price Is Right when you're home sick, and wearing underwear just out of the dryer, to when cashiers open up new checkout lanes.  Some entries are short and others expand to funny and intuitive essays.

Which books are on your must-read list? Rate them here!