THE shortlist of books for Halton’s Book of the Year 2012 has been announced.

Readers are now being invited to vote for their favourite.

A Book of the Year evening will be held at Runcorn’s Halton Lea Library on Thursday, January 31, to announce the winner.

The shortlist includes The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, The Fifth Witness by Michael Connolly, The Impossible Dead by Ian Rankin, The Faithless by Martina Cole, Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel, and 11th Hour by James Patterson.

You can vote at Halton Libraries Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/HaltonLibraries or at the Book of the Year evening.