There were a lot of highs and lows in my reading list this past year, especially nearer to the end of 2017 when I was trying to cram in some light literature to meet my reading goal (40 books). So, I ended up reading drivel like Second Life, but also some spectacular YA reads, like Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda.
I’ve reduced my goal to 35 this year, to tackle some bigger reads. (Certainly not the likes of Ulysses, but ya know.)
2017 Reading List
My Brilliant Friend – Elena Ferrante
The High Water Mark – Noah Pelletier
Talking Tico (Mis)adventures of a Gringo in and Around Costa Rica – Joe Bauer
Resistance – Anita Shreave
Hard Light – Michael Crummey
This is That: Travel Guide to Canada – Pat Kelly
Ru – Kim Thúy
Baltimore’s Mansion – Wayne Johnston
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – Steig Larsson
The Language of Flowers – Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Salvage the Bones – Jesmyn Ward
In Order to Live – Yeonmi Park
Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks
Bird Box – Josh Malerman
Travel Deeper: A Globetrotter’s Guide to Starting a Business Abroad – Ryan Spiegel
Life After Life – Kate Atkinson
Don’t Tell the Newfoundlanders – Greg Malone
Hokkaido Highway Blues – Will Ferguson
The Lightkeeper’s Daughter – by Jean E. Pendziwol
The Husband’s Secret – Liane Moriarty
The Ultimate Guide to Travel Hacking – Matt Kepnes
February – Lisa Moore
Lost in Shangri-La – Mitchell Zuckoff
Backpacking 101 – Heather Balogh Rochfort
House of Sand and Fog – Andre Dubus III
The Cottingley Secret – Hazel Gaynor
Before I Go to Sleep – S.J. Watson
Lady Chatterly’s Lover – D.H. Lawrence
An Audience of Chairs – Joan Clark
The Divine Ryans – Wayne Johnston
Love in the Time of Cholera – Gabriel García Márquez
Those Who Wish Me Dead – Michael Koryta
Norwegian Wood – Haruki Murakami
How to Travel the World on $50 a Day – Matt Kepnes
Second Life – S.J. Watson
Lagom: The Swedish Secret of Living Well – Lola Akinmade Åkerström
Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda – Becky Albertalli
The Quickie – James Patterson
The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas
The Sun and Her Flowers – Rupi Kaur
Top 5
Number Of Books You Read: 40
Number of Re-Reads: 2
Genre You Read The Most From: Fiction
This reading survey was lifted from previous surveys created by the delightful Perpetual Page Turner. Thanks!
1. Best Book You Read In 2017?
It’s a toss up between The Hate U Give and Life After Life, honestly. I can’t think about Life After Life without getting emotional. (If you read the book and had a similar experience, can we chat about it? PLEASE?) But The Hate U Give…it’s so damned important. And I read it in less than two days. SO GOOD.
2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
Probably The Sun and Her Flowers. I loved it, but not in the way I thought I would. It’s nice to see poetry going “mainstream,” but I don’t think this particular prose did it for me.
3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?
Life After Life, in a good way. The book cover and the description totally turned me off…and then I started reading it. I thought the pacing and timeline were both extraordinary, and so was the character development. I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of “what if” — what if I made this simple decision, instead of that one? Where would it lead me? How would life turn out? This book goes there.
4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?
The Hate U Give. READ IT.
5. Best series you started in 2017? Best Sequel of 2017? Best Series Ender of 2017?
The only series, really, was The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I enjoyed the book but didn’t have the energy to commit to the full series.
6. Favourite new author you discovered in 2017?
Jesmyn Ward, and Haruki Murakami.
7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?
Bird Box by Josh Malerman! It’s a thriller, which is something I’d never normally read — but holy hell, I was hooked. A seriously terrifying and fascinating read about a world in which even looking out your window could be fatal.
8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?
Bird Box by Josh Malerman, or Those Who Wish Me Dead.
9. Book You Read In 2017 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?
Life After Life.
10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2017?
The Lightkeeper’s Daughter! It came in a book subscription box. The book was meh, however.
11. Most memorable character of 2017?
Oh, so many. Simon from Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (so, so good), Starr from The Hate U Give, and Ursula from Life After Life.
12. Most beautifully written book read in 2017?
Life After Life.
13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2017?
Life After Life, and The Hate U Give.
14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2017 to finally read?
Possibly Norwegian Wood, because Haruki Murakmi is such a big deal these days.
15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2017?
“Sometimes you can do everything right and things will still go wrong. The key is to never stop doing right.”
― Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give
“it isn’t what we left behind
that breaks me
it’s whatever we could’ve built
had we stayed”
― Rupi Kaur, The Sun and Her Flowers
16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2017?
Shortest: The High Water Mark
Longest: Life After Life
17. Book That Shocked You The Most
I think House of Sand and Fog. Boy that was a punch in the gut.
18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)
Simon and Blue!
19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year
Starr and her father in The Hate U Give. Fack, that was real.
20. Favorite Book You Read in 2017 From An Author You’ve Read Previously
Baltimore’s Mansion by Wayne Johnston. This was actually an incredible read — it’s just that I read so many good books this year, this book kinda got eclipsed.
21. Best Book You Read In 2017 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:
I hadn’t even heard of Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda until she basically thrust the book in my hands. I’m so glad she did.
22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2017?
Starr’s father.
23. Best 2017 debut you read?
Noah Pelletier’s The High Water Mark.
24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
Potentially Life After Life (I’m a sucker for war books) or Norwegian Wood. Murakami really sparked an intrigue for Japan.
25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?
This is That: Travel Guide to Canada. Laugh out loud funny!
26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2017?
Um, all of them? Life After Life, The Hate U Give, Love in the Time of Cholera, Baltimore’s Mansion, Ru, House of Sand and Fog…
27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?
Ru. Beautiful and poetic account of a Vietnamese refugee’s journey as a new Canadian.
28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?
Life After Life, The Hate U Give.
29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2017?
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward. Sometimes the descriptions were so gross, I could hardly keep reading. But in the end I was hooked. It’s also the only fictional account I’ve read about Hurricane Katrina.
30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?
Second Life. What the fuck was that! Who ends a book that way?!
31. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2017 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2018?
It’s about time I read An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield. Especially since I’m such a fangirl. And also because the book is on my nightstand.
32. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2018?
Read better books, not just fillers for my reading list!
What were your favourite books from 2017? I’ll add them to my Goodreads list!
