Books I Read in 2017

It's that time of year again!  Here's a visual of the books I read in 2017.  Scroll down to the bottom for my favorites...

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This is my annual blog post reviewing books I read last year.  If you're interested in learning more about any of the books pictured above, here is a link where you can click on any of the covers and get more information.  And here are the "best of" picks:


Best fiction:  This was another strong year in fiction, so I would recommend almost any that appear above - but here are the cream of the crop (in random order):

• "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine" by Gail Honeyman (this book is *amazing* and was my favorite book of the year)
• "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
• "Exit West" by Mohsin Hamid (me and Barack Obama have an overlapping favorite, NBD!)
• "Still Life" and "A Fatal Grace" by Louise Penny (technically two books, but they are by the same author and use the same characters)
• "Lucky Boy" by Shanthi Sekaran and "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng.  [Note:  These two have some really uncanny overlap.  I SO want to have a book club about this.]

Bonus - two fiction books that were light but really fun:

• "Big Little Lies" by Liam Moriarty
• "Sourdough" by Robin Sloan

Best nonfiction (also in random order):

• "The Locust Effect" by Gary Haugen
• "The Broken Way" by Ann Voskamp (this was my favorite non-fiction book of the year)
• "The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work" by John Gottman
• "Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?  And other questions you should have to answer when you work in the White House" by Alyssa Mastromonaco
• "Savor:  Living Abundantly Where You Are, As You Are" by Shauna Niequist (I had some caveats with this one, which I put in a Goodreads review).

People sometimes ask me how I find time to read.  I wrote a blog post about this a few years ago, but the biggest three things are 1) read books that you really love, because then you will be motivated to find the time to read, whatever the details of that look like for you; 2) have a plan to keep the good books coming (i have a list of 3 dozen books on hold at the library, and when i get close to finishing one, i check out the next one); and 3) have books available to grab whenever you have a moment.  I usually keep a book on my nightstand, near my living room couch, and in the car.

Another tip that I haven't tried yet, but might try this year, is to experiment with different forms of books.  It's hard to beat a printed paper book for that classic reading experience, but reading on a Kindle would make it easier to check out more books from the library when it's hard to find time to physically get to the library building, or to bring several books traveling when you don't have room in your suitcase.  And an audio book allows you to proceed through books while you're in the car, or chasing a one year old up the stairs, or going for a run.  During the busiest stages of life, these alternative forms of reading might be a big help in getting through more books.  Those of you who have used Kindles and audio books, what do you think?  Are there other book formats to check out?

And my favorite question every year:  what books have you read recently that you loved?  I would especially love tips for great non-fiction books (on any topic).