My Favorite Reads of 2017

In 2017, I read 88 books. Of that total, I rated 24 (27.3%) of them as "5 star" reads. Yes, I read a lot of very good books in 2017.

 In looking at the list of my favorites, I was interested to see that 17 of them (slightly more than 70%) were written by women. I'm not sure what, if anything, that says about me as a reader. Moreover, thirteen of the books were set wholly or partly in another country.

 A five star rating from me does not necessarily mean, of course, that the book is great literature, although some of these certainly are. It just means that the book really connected with me and that I found it exceptional. 

 If you look at my list, you'll see that there are three titles there from Tana French, because I was reading her "Dublin Murder Squad" series last year and I really, really liked those books! Also, you'll see titles there from old favorites Sara Paretsky and Michael Connelly. Of all Connelly's Harry Bosch books, The Crossing may just be my favorite, and I thought Paretsky's Fallout was one of her best in her V. I. Warshawski series. 

 There are several titles on my list that fall into the category of books that I had long meant to read but never got around to, at least one that is a reread, and fourteen that were published in recent months, several by writers that I had never read before. 

 Here, then, is the list of my favorite reads of the year, in the order that I read them. I've given you links to my original reviews should you wish to look at them. (Incidentally, I was interested to see that in Barack Obama's list of ten favorites of the year, he had three books that also made my list.)  

 The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

 The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

 Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

 Faithful Place by Tana French

 Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

 Broken Harbor by Tana French

 The Gods of Tango by Carolina De Robertis

 Dance of the Jakaranda by Peter Kimani

 Between Them by Richard Ford

 Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout

 The Book of Joan by Lidia Yuknavitch

 The Vegetarian by Han Kang

 Fallout by Sara Paretsky

 A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

 Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

 The Trespasser by Tana French

 Mrs. Fletcher by Tom Perrotta

 The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry

 Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan

 Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

 Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

 The Crossing by Michael Connelly

 The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

 Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

Comments

  1. CarmenJanuary 1, 2018 at 7:33 PM

    Wow, Dorothy! Twenty-four books rated five stars?! You were on a roll this past year. Here's to 2018 being equally good if not better reading-wise and in all other aspects of your personal life...And hopefully without monster hurricanes! :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersJanuary 1, 2018 at 7:53 PM

      I had an exceptionally good year of reading in 2017. I could hardly hope for better, but a hurricane-less year would be most welcome!

      Delete
  2. Judy KruegerJanuary 4, 2018 at 10:08 PM

    Yes, it was an awesome year for reading! As you know, many of our titles overlap. Congrats on a good year and may 2018 be even better!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersJanuary 4, 2018 at 10:34 PM

      It's amazing how much really good writing is being done now. We are fortunate to have all of it available to us.

      Delete

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