Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Books of 2017

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly linkup of book bloggers hosted by The Broke and The Bookish! This week, we're looking at our favorite books of the year. Instead of doing a list of my favorite books I've read this year, I like to focus this list on my favorite 2017 releases. The books I read that came out this year are a bit of a mixed bag, but here were my 10 favorites!



The Bear and the Nightingale: I absolutely loved this YA fantasy based on Russian folklore. The best part? It's the first of a trilogy!

Shattered: This book relied heavily on interviews with staffers and painted an inside picture of a campaign that some people I know (who worked on it) disagree with, but seems like it comports with what we saw happening on the outside. I thought it was really interesting and well-written.

Who Thought This Was A Good Idea?: As a woman who works in politics, I'm always interested in reading about the experience of other women who work in politics because there aren't nearly enough of us. And Alyssa Mastromonaco's book is funny and smart and wonderful.

Lincoln In The Bardo: This was a weird book, tbh. It's written more like a play than anything else. But once you kind of get used to the way it's trying to tell its story, it gets inside your head and your heart.

La Belle Sauvage: Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series is one of my all-time favorites, and I'll admit I was nervous about whether this, the first in a second trilogy, would measure up. It's not as immediately great as The Golden Compass, but it's very good indeed and I'm so excited for the other two!

The Hate U Give: This was one of the most-hyped books of the year, and while I didn't think it quite measured up to the stratospheric expectations, it was very good and very timely and very much worth reading.

Stay With Me: From the blurb, you think you're getting into about a book about a marriage tested when a second wife enters the picture. But with each new twist, it becomes about so much more, and it's an unforgettable story of love and loss.

If We Were Villains: This is so heavily "inspired by" Donna Tartt's The Secret History that it's almost more of a retelling, but it's an entertaining read.

Too Fat Too Slutty Too Loud: I love Anne Helen Petersen's writing about celebrity, so I wanted this book about famous women who transgress social expectations to be brilliant. Alas, it is only good, but it's still very much thought-provoking.

Chemistry: A Chinese-American grad student who seems like she has it made blows it all up and then tries to figure out what's next. On the way, she comes to terms with how unhappy her "great" life had made her and has a reckoning with the ways her upbringing has continued to resonate through her life.

12 comments:

  1. I haven't read any of the books on your list this week.... But I have the feeling I will be adding a few more titles to my ever growing reading wishlist!!

    Here's a link to my TTT post for this week:
    https://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2017/12/top-ten-tuesday-top-ten-favorite-books.html

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    1. These lists always explode my TBR too!

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  2. I would LOVE to read The Bear and the Nightingale soon. I am obsessed with Russia, and this one sounds right up my alley. I love its wintery feel and its mysterious vibe. I am really excited about it.
    The Hate U Give is one of the books I should have read this year but still haven't. However, I haven't heard a single soul not LOVING it, and I have no doubt that I should read it and enjoy as well. I love the spotlight it's been getting, and all of the themes it touches upon interest me a lot. I shouldn't postpone it anymore! IT IS GETTING DONE!

    Here's my TTT: https://bookslikewolves.wixsite.com/blog/single-post/2017/12/12/Blogmas-Day-12-Top-17-Books-of-2017

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    1. I loved The Bear and the Nightingale so much! It is in fact totally perfect for a wintertime read

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  3. Great list! Stay With Me made my list this week, too, and I definitely need to get to The Hate U Give asap. The Bear and the Nightingale is on my TBR and this is the second list I've seen it on so far this week, so I'll have to read it over soon - it sounds like the perfect read for the winter.

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    1. Absolutely perfect to snuggle up under the blankets with!

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  4. If We Were Villains made my list too! And while Hate U Give and Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? didn't make my overall list, they did make my best debuts!

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    1. I haven't seen Villains on too many lists, which is too bad. It didn't seem to get a ton of press :( I liked it so much I gave it a friend as a gift!

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  5. Great list! Lincoln in the Bardo is on my TBR list. I’m nervous because I’ve heard that it’s really weird.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    1. It is weird. It was a book I read for book club and for the first about half of it I was like "ummmm" but then it clicked and by the end I LOVED it.

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  6. The Hate U Give was my favorite book of the year! I also enjoyed Lincoln in the Bardo - so unique!

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    1. I'd definitely never read anything quite like Lincoln in the Bardo before...it was so weird but so good! And THUG was another great read!

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