2012 was a great year and now that it’s coming to a close, here are a few of my favorite things.

Kindle Fire HD & Kindle Paperwhite

Having spent countless hours with my Amazon Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Paperwhite, I can easily say these are two of my favorite things to come out of 2012. If you’re a lover of books and entertainment, I highly recommend you check them out.

Joe Cocker – Hard Knocks

This year I’ve incessantly listened to Joe Cocker’s Hard Knocks. It’s an infectious, modern pop/rock album that is filled with beautiful, memorable music.

Ken Follet – The Pillars of the Earth

Yes, this book didn’t come out in 2012. But it is still one of my favorite things because I didn’t read it until this year. The Pillars of the Earth is a terrific book and the miniseries wasn’t too bad either.

The Dark Knight Rises

This year saw the Dark Knight Trilogy come to an end with The Dark Knight Rises. It was my second favorite film in the series, with Batman Begins being the first, and it brought this masterfully executed trilogy to a satisfying conclusion. If you haven’t seen it yet, I recommend you do; it’s a great film from start to finish.

Parks and Recreation

My new favorite TV comedy is Parks and Recreation. I’ve been catching up with it on Amazon Prime Instant Video, and it’s amazing. It starts off slow, but continues to build into an addictive show where you love nearly all the characters for their own quirky traits. There’s crude humor, wild stories and ridiculous one-liners. I’m on season three, and it keeps getting better with each episode.

Barry Manilow – My Favorite Things

What would a list of my favorite things be without Barry Manilow? Considering it’s the holiday season, I feel the following video is a fitting way to cap things off.