Showing posts with label best books of the year. Show all posts
Showing posts with label best books of the year. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

My Top 10 books of 2017


It's been a great year of reading for me! I can't believe it's already time to wrap it up, but here we go. 

My top 10 in no particular order...

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

In the blink of an eye everything changes. Seventeen ­year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall what happened afterwards, watching her own damaged body being taken from the wreck. Little by little she struggles to put together the pieces- to figure out what she has lost, what she has left, and the very difficult choice she must make.

Ghost by Jason Reynolds


Running. That’s all Ghost (real name Castle Cranshaw) has ever known. But Ghost has been running for the wrong reasons—it all started with running away from his father, who, when Ghost was a very little boy, chased him and his mother through their apartment, then down the street, with a loaded gun, aiming to kill. Since then, Ghost has been the one causing problems—and running away from them—until he meets Coach, an ex-Olympic Medalist who sees something in Ghost: crazy natural talent. If Ghost can stay on track, literally and figuratively, he could be the best sprinter in the city. Can Ghost harness his raw talent for speed, or will his past finally catch up to him?

Heartless by Marissa Meyer


Long before she was the terror of Wonderland, she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love. 
Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland, and a favorite of the unmarried King of Hearts, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, all she wants is to open a shop with her best friend. But according to her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for the young woman who could be the next queen.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Scythe by Neal Shusterman


A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery: humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now Scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.

Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.


Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld


This version of the Bennet family—and Mr. Darcy—is one that you have and haven’t met before: Liz is a magazine writer in her late thirties who, like her yoga instructor older sister, Jane, lives in New York City. When their father has a health scare, they return to their childhood home in Cincinnati to help—and discover that the sprawling Tudor they grew up in is crumbling and the family is in disarray.

The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman


Coralie Sardie is the daughter of the sinister impresario behind The Museum of Extraordinary Things, a Coney Island freak show that thrills the masses. An exceptional swimmer, Coralie appears as the Mermaid in her father’s “museum,” alongside performers like the Wolfman and the Butterfly Girl. One night Coralie stumbles upon a striking young man taking pictures of moonlit trees in the woods off the Hudson River.

The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney


Every family has its problems. But even among the most troubled, the Plumb family stands out as spectacularly dysfunctional. Years of simmering tensions finally reach a breaking point on an unseasonably cold afternoon in New York City as Melody, Beatrice, and Jack Plumb gather to confront their charismatic and reckless older brother, Leo, freshly released from rehab. Months earlier, an inebriated Leo got behind the wheel of a car with a nineteen-year-old waitress as his passenger. The ensuing accident has endangered the Plumbs' joint trust fund, “The Nest,” which they are months away from finally receiving. Meant by their deceased father to be a modest mid-life supplement, the Plumb siblings have watched The Nest’s value soar along with the stock market and have been counting on the money to solve a number of self-inflicted problems.

The Perfect Girl by Gilly MacMillan


Zoe Maisey is a seventeen-year-old musical prodigy with a genius IQ. Three years ago, she was involved in a tragic incident that left three classmates dead. She served her time, and now her mother, Maria, is resolved to keep that devastating fact tucked far away from their new beginning, hiding the past even from her new husband and demanding Zoe do the same. 

After the Parade by Lori Ostend


Sensitive, bighearted, and achingly self-conscious, forty-year-old Aaron Englund long ago escaped the confinements of his Midwestern hometown, but he still feels like an outcast. After twenty years under the Pygmalion-like care of his older partner, Walter, Aaron at last decides it is time to take control of his own fate. But soon after establishing himself in San Francisco, Aaron sees that real freedom will not come until he has made peace with his memories of Mortonville, Minnesota: a cramped town whose four hundred souls form a constellation of Aaron’s childhood heartbreaks and hopes.

Refugee by Alan Gratz (ok, I cheated with 11-but I can't leave this one off!!!)


Three kids go on harrowing journeys in search of refuge. All will face unimaginable dangers -- from drownings to bombings to betrayals. But there is always the hope of tomorrow. And although Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud are separated by continents and decades, shocking connections will tie their stories together in the end.

Saturday, October 22, 2016

I'm Baaack!

Sooo..

I apologize for the long absence. 

I'm just going to jump right back in and let you know my favorite books of the year so far! I've leaned more towards non-fiction than in past years, with a ratio of 45% nonfiction, 55% fiction. Here are my perfect, 5 star reads so far.


Faith 
by Jennifer Haigh
Fiction

A non-sensationalized novel about an inherently sensational event—the abuse of an 8-year-old boy by a priest.

Destiny of the Republic
by Candice Millard
Nonfiction

A brilliantly written account of the tragic time when James Garfield, Civil War hero, pioneering congressman and 20th president, was mowed down by a madman as his administration began.

Garlic and Sapphires
by Ruth Reichl
Nonfiction

Tasty revelations of Gourmet magazine editor Reichl's undercover antics as the former food critic at the New York Times.

Circus Mirandus
by Cassie Beasley
Juvenile Fiction

A poignant debut novel in which young Micah discovers magic is real at the same time his grandfather begins to fail.

We Were Liars
by E. Lockhart
Young Adult Fiction

Candace Sinclair Eastman attempts to piece together the cause of an accident that has left her with no memory of it.

Die Again
by Tess Gerritsen
Fiction

A not-for-the-squeamish murder mystery set in both Boston and Botswana.

A Thousand Naked Strangers
by Kevin Hazzard
Nonfiction

A former EMT details his action-packed tenure in the field.

Secrets of Midwives
by Sally Hepworth
Fiction

A warmhearted and engaging novel that follows three generations of midwives as they deal with family secrets.

Jane Steele 
by Lyndsay Faye
Fiction

Jane Steele seeks retribution and redemption in Faye's latest novel, an homage to Jane Eyre.






 

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

What I've been reading for me...Best of 2015

In addition to reading lots of kidlit, I've always got an "adult" book going on as well.

Here are my 5 star reads of 2015. What made your list??

  1. Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd (historical fiction)
  2. Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer (mystery/thriller)
  3. The Guilty One by Sophie Littlefield (psychological thriller)
  4. The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly by Matt McCarthy (memoir)
  5. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (biography)
  6. You by Caroline Kepnes (thriller)
  7. Catch Me If You Can by Frank Abagnale (memoir)
  8. Defending Jacob by William Landay (mystery/thriller)
  9. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (fiction)
  10. Touch and Go by Lisa Gardner (mystery)
  11. Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple (fiction)

Monday, December 8, 2014

Best of the Best!

Contrary to what you normally see here, I do still read "adult" books. Quite a lot of them.

Here are my top 10 best reads of 2014 (in no particular order.)

I hope some of these books bring as much joy to you as they did to me.
  1. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
  2. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
  3. Below Stairs by Margaret Powell
  4. The Darlings by Cristina Alger
  5. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
  6. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty
  7. Working Stiff by Judy Melinek
  8. Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure
  9. Remarkable Courtship of General Tom Thumb by Nicholas Rinaldi
  10. A Tale Dark & Grimm by Adam Gidwitz (okay, okay...I had to sneak at least 1 kidlit book into the list!)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
 
↑