So, I read a lot of books in 2017. 56 of them, to be exact. It was my goal to read a book a week and I did it, with a few multi-book weeks thrown in to juice the final number. Reading that many books was a challenge, but I absolutely loved it and plan to continue at a similar pace. I'll also continue to blog my reviews, because it's the easiest way to remember what I've read.
Truly, one of the best parts of this year's reading challenge was how many people have asked to suggest a book to them. I don't always love doing that - taste is so subjective. But, this blog has gave me the confidence to hopefully guide the right book to the right person. And, several people have asked me to make a Top 10 of the year list so they don't have to sift through 52 reviews.
Now, I know MOST of you have followed along and read every single review. Right? No? Well, geez, jerks. Even though I feel slighted by you, I want to be helpful. So, here are my top 10 of the year. They weren't all released this year, in fact most of them weren't. But, I read them this year, so you get the point.
These aren't ranked - that's too hard. Books speak to you based on when you read them, where you read them, etc. But, I give you 10 in no particular order. Though, they'll be numbered. Whatever. You get it. The links send you back to my original review.
I know I said these wouldn't be ranked in order, but this is my favorite book of the year. It's one of my favorite books ever. It tells the story of young boy brought to America and left as an orphan in Seattle. In a bizarre fact based loosely on historical events, the child is auctioned off at the 1909 World's Fair. He ends up living in a notorious brothel, surrounded by loose women who care for him. The novel jumps between that boy's life as a child and his adulthood, as another World's Fair is underway in Seattle. There's northwest history and smut, which alone would make for a compelling read. But, there's also a deep and abiding love story that burrowed its way into my heart. It's my favorite book of Jamie's (his wife grew up with my sister and he lives in my hometown, so I'm going to casually drop his first name like it's NBD.) I also read it during a vacation in Lake Chelan, so my own setting made it even more special. It's just a fantastic book.
I read this on yet another vacation this summer to Lake Chelan, so there's a very definite theme here. But, this story is so powerful, it actually had me nervous about sharks. In a lake. In landlocked north central Washington! This book is about a series of shark attacks in the Northeast in 1916 - attacks on which the premise of Jaws is loosely based. At a time when people truly believed sharks would never attack humans, sunbathing was all the rage for heat-ravaged city dwellers. Those beach-goers are on a collision course with a wayward shark who comes close to shore and starts attacking people. The book is as much about the history of a post-war America as it is about the shark attacks themselves. It often switches to the perspective of the shark and, if you're a little twisted like me, you begin rooting for the shark. Great read - unless you're near the ocean. Or, apparently, any body of water.
I didn't know I could love a book like this. The synopsis reads more like a romance novel: an aging starlet famous for leaving men in her wake finally opens up to tell her story. Yawn, right? No. NO. It is so much deeper and more beautiful than that. It's hard to write about this book without giving too much away, but imagine that everything you know about the private life of Elizabeth Taylor was totally wrong. And, imagine it's being revealed to you for the first time. This book is deep, memorable, vivid and lasting. I read it in one day and every person I've loaned it to comes back with that same wistful smile. You know what they say about books and their covers...
I've got a thing for Abe Lincoln. Whatever, it's weird and I know. But, reading this book was about more than my creepy presidential crush. This book was so highly anticipated, I had to read it. And, I'm thankful I read it before there was too much hype and debate. This book is not for everyone. It's written in a very bizarre way and isn't the kind of book with which your curl up in a hammock in the sunshine. This book makes your brain work - and, not everyone I recommended it to liked it as much as I did. Some people I suggested it to absolutely hated it, even though they were too polite to say that (or, they didn't want to get into an argument over it. Which I can appreciate.) The book is set in a cemetery in Washington, DC right after the death of Lincoln's son Willie. The bardo is a Buddhist notion of the space between the living and the dead and that's where we find Willie and the other inhabitants of the cemetery. Much of the story is told from their perspective, which is written in a way that's so unique, it took me quite a few pages to catch on. The other half of the story is from the land of the living and sees Willie's death from their perspective. It's based on the old story that President Lincoln would wander to the cemetery at night to be with his son. Saunders takes that idea and goes off the rails with it. I loved this book and it's listed by many as a top release this year. But, I concede: it's not for everyone.
Oh man. This one's hard for me to write about, even nine months after I read it. This book cracked open my heart and crawled inside on the very first page. Mostly, because my grandmother is one of the most important people in my life and she's very slowly slipping away. This story tells of the special relationship between a girl and her grandmother and the secrets her grandmother reveals after her death. I don't want to say much more than that because there's so many great adventures in these pages. We were on a road trip to Montana when I read it and my husband stared at me with concern when I cried on page one, then again after I closed the back cover at the end. If you have (or had) a grandmother that was special to you, read this book. It's magical.
Here's another book that had me holding my breath, until all the emotion escaped in a flood of tears. Alexie had me for about 250 pages before I lost it; I never got it back after that. I didn't know if I wanted to read this book because a memoir of an often cruel mother and her impact on her son sounded really depressing. But, it kept showing up on "best of list" after "best of list" and I gave in. I am so glad I did. Alexie weaves stories of his mom throughout this story of his life on and off the Spokane Indian Reservation. He talks about that reservation life as poverty-stricken and destitute. But, he also talks about how it shaped him - and, how the way his mother treated him stayed with him and surfaced in earnest after her death. Alexie is a poet and this book weaves his poems throughout. It's incredibly powerful and unforgettable and deserves its place among the best in the genre - or any genre - this year. (side note: a coworker is listening to the audio book that Alexie narrates and, even though I've read pain in the chapters already, I want to hear Alexie read his words himself. Next road trip.)
Okay, these selections are starting to sound depressing. An uplifting book next, I promise. But first, a serial killer! But, not just any serial killer.. this is the story of a doctor in Paris at the time of the Nazi occupation. Instead of helping people escape to South America, he was stealing their belongings and killing them. It's a true story I'd never heard of and it was absolutely fascinating to read about. Not only are the mysteries of his death house disturbing and intriguing, you learn a lot about Paris under Nazi control. While the murders themselves and the search for the killer make for interesting reading, the best part of the book is the second half. The doctor goes on trial in what have to be the most bizarre legal proceedings you've ever heard of. It's a dark, but wild ride and I would recommend this to anyone who's fascinated by crime.
Do you have to love wine to love this book? I don't know. If you don't love wine, what's your problem? Sorry, that got away from me. This book does require a very basic appreciation for wine. More than that, it requires a little bit of curiosity to try and understand the world of really high-end wine and the people who build their lives around it. Bosker is a journalist who goes so deep into her research, she ends up training to me a sommelier. Along the way, you learn a ton about how to taste, what to taste, the differences between a bottle to split with friends and a bottle over which to wage a war. There are sections on restaurant etiquette, the role of smell, the rise of the "fruit bomb" and, so much more. It's a really fun read with which to sip your favorite red. Or white. Or rose, because it was summertime when I read it and sometimes, the $10 Washington special will do the trick.
This was another "one sitting" read, so it had to be on the list. I loved so many things about this book. Mostly, I love the authentic voice of Faith Salie, who shares what life is like as someone who wants so much to gain the approval of others, often at her own expense. I didn't know much about her before a friend brought me this book, but I knew she had my two dream jobs: being on CBS Sunday Morning and being on Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me the NPR News Quiz. She's honest, hilarious and heartfelt and this book spoke to a place inside of me that I didn't exactly know was there. Then, Salie read my review and tweeted that she loved it and now I'm a fan forever.
Okay, there are four more books I want to add to this top 10 list. Is that cheating? I'm not good at math. Or, apparently, commitment. But, it's my blog, so I'll do what I want. I'll keep these ones short, but I'll label them all #10 so if I get audited, we'll blame a clerical error...
The first book I read in 2017 and it was damn near perfect. A sweet story about a crotchety old man I'll never forget.
Imagine The Jungle Book, but set in a graveyard with ghosts instead of animals. That's this. Unique and imaginative and unforgettable. Loved it.
It's the story about Columbine beyond what you were told about two loner kids in the Trenchcoat Mafia. It's what really happened, what really led up to it and how law enforcement and the media allowed a false narrative to change the way we look at school shootings. Compelling, thoughtful and raw.
"You can hide, but the song comes to find you." I love that line from this fantastic book because we can all relate. We all have those songs that shake us back to another time, another place, another person. Sheffield grieves the death of his wife through the songs they loved. It's more sweet than depressing and the book feels even better to me the further removed I am from reading it.
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