Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Best Books of 2016


Top Ten Tuesdays are hosted at The Broke and the Bookish. It's the end of the year so it's time to talk about our favorite books of 2016!

I compiled this list by looking at my books in Goodreads to which I assigned 5 stars, and then picking out the ones I read for the first time in 2016.

Here are those six books:

1. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Far and away my most anticipated and favorite book of the year.

2. My Sister Rosa by Justine Larbelestier
This probably is my second favorite. Psychologically creepy!

3. Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
I read it twice. Once in print and again in audio. I didn't blog about it the second time because it was so soon after the first, but Cassandra Campbell's narration was excellent.

4. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
I read this one twice this year too because my book group at work picked it. It was just as good the second time.

5. The Crown by Kiera Cass (The Selection #5)
I loved every book in this series. I listened to them all on audio and they were just perfect. I credit this series for my recent healthy running habit, which I fear will now suffer because no other audiobooks can keep me going. I just forgot what I was doing because I was so immersed and invested in this story.

6. The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee
One of my most anticipated books of 2016, it came out waaay back in January. I was pleasantly surprised that although it was a very different book from The Piano Teacher, it was probably just as good.

Since I was trying for 10, next I went through my 4-star books to see if any of those stood out. And there were 12. (But the first 3 on this list are my top picks from this group so I guess I do have a top 9.)

7. An Untamed State by Roxane Gay

8. The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson

9. Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty

10. One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid

11. Shrill: Notes From a Loud Woman by Lindy West

12. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

13. Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert

14. Wild Swans by Jessica Spotswood

15. Hild by Nicola Griffith

16. The Night Watch by Sarah Waters

17. A Tyranny of Petticoats, edited by Jessica Spotswood

18. Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic by Sam Quinones

So my Top Ten Tuesday started at 6 and then leapfrogged to 18. Which is what happens when you try to pick favorites in an honest way - you can't force it to a particular number.

What were you favorite books this year?

7 comments:

iloveheartlandX said...

I haven't read any of these, but Salt To The Sea is on my TBR next year!
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2016/12/27/top-ten-tuesday-89/

Captivated Reader said...

Wow, many of the books you've listed sound really good. Happy reading to you in 2017!!

Here's my TTT post for this week: http://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2016/12/top-ten-tuesday-top-ten-best-books-of.html

Lindsay said...

I'm so glad I saw your review and decided to read "A Gentleman in Moscow" right away instead of some day. It was SO good -- and it was my #2 favorite read this year. And it made me want to read more books set in Russia. I also read and thoroughly enjoyed "The Forgotten Garden" this year. It was different from Morton's other books but so enchanting!

Several of your other selections are on my to-read list and I'll definitely be checking out the few I haven't heard of!

eli @ the (book) supplier said...

My Sister Rosa is sitting on the table next to my bed just waiting to be read. I've heard such good things about it; I've only recently started reading Larbalastier's books. Razorhurst was one of my favorites. Here's wishing you a new happy reading year!


eli @ the (book) supplier
My TTT

Marce said...

I have the Expatriates and never pick it up to try. I just finished Kind Worth Killing, I loved the ending, I need to write my review.

3goodrats said...

I highly recommend any of the books I listed (obviously!) so if you've been holding off on any of them, wait no longer! Enjoy :)

Unknown said...

Hello! It's great that I am finally able to get back into blogging and see what you've been up to while I've been away! This is a fantastic list of books - I've only read two of them (Wild Swans and The Night Watch) but I loved both. Big Magic has been on my wishlist for a while. I loved The Signature of All Things and so have been wanting to read her new one. I'm also intrigued by A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles - especially since it was your favourite. Hopefully I'll enjoy it as much as you did.