#1 !!
My first completed title in 2012 is one of Edward Gorey's abecedary works: The Gashlycrumb Tinies, or, After the Outing. It's a rhymed poem of the various ends of children who didn't listen to advice, we suspect. The drawings all feature a small child, dressed like a tiny adult in pre-WWII clothes (or pre-WWI), against a mostly-featureless and vast background. The effect is eerie, and perfect.
My favorite chapters (using "chapter" to imply that this book is more than 26 sentences long) are Neville's (who died of ennui), and Titus's (which is a master class in the power of crosshatching as a technique, for Titus's herringbone outfit contrasts wonderfully with the background and the package he's carrying.)
Whenever I go into my first undergrad class of each semester, I remember the second chapter of this immortal work: "B is for Basil assaulted by bears."
CBsIP: Down the Great River, Captain Willard Glazier, the Soldier-Author
Peanuts: A Golden Celebration, Charles Schulz
The Maker of Heavenly Trousers, Daniele Varè
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Mosier's Raiders: The Story of LST-325, David Bronson
McSweeney's 15