This post was originally published in December 2016.
Here's a quick run-down of the books I read this year!
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The History of Love: Sort of cheating since I started this last December, but I finished it in January so it totally counts.. :) I got this novel from a little lending library at work, and I'm so glad I read it! I'm finding it hard to explain what this book is about exactly, but here's a plugger for it: "A long-lost book reappears, mysteriously connecting an old man searching for his son and a girl seeking a cure for her widowed mother's loneliness." Ooooh! It deserves a reread at some point, as it hops between different characters' stories and lifetimes, but it's so beautifully written.
Me Before You: Ahhh this book was just okay? I never saw the movie but I suppose that would be a good rainy day basement movie. I also didn't know this was a trilogy, but I probably won't continue on with it.
Room: I stayed up for HOURS finishing this so I could see the movie, which is so true to the book and just as claustrophobic and gripping.
Yes Please: This book is amazing and if you don't love Amy Poehler I can't be friends with you. I need to download the audiobook at some point because I hear it's a great one!
The BFG: This is a book that has followed me around for as long as I can remember, from dorm to apartment to condo. I still have the bookmark in it from when my mom and I read it: It's a book wearing sunglasses on a beach saying "Reading is cool!" Get it?! Anyway.. this was finally made into a movie in July! It's a quick read that I imagine would be hilarious read aloud, obviously because, Roald Dahl.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: I had never read this book before. WHAAT?! But I finally did and I can't wait to read the whole series. Or, chronicles. Fun fact: I read the same copy my mom read to her students when she was a teacher in the 70s and 80s! Same book cover in my collage above. (Thanks mom, I promise I'll return it to you!)
We Should All Be Feminists: This is more of an essay than a book, seeing as I read it in an afternoon on my new Kindle Voyage, and it did not disappoint. I want to buy a hard copy so I can dog-ear pages with great passages and quotes. It's not preachy, and I think this should be required reading for everyone.
Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget: This book was as hilarious as it was sad, about a journalist who descends into alcoholism and how she deals with getting sober. I haven't read many (or any?) other addiction memoirs but I can assume this is one of the lighter ones (and that's saying a lot).
Station Eleven: I zoomed through this book. If 2016 is leaving you feeling depressed, read this book to put things in perspective. Without giving too much away, it's about a post-apocalyptic world where a virus wiped out most of the population, and follows a few different characters before, during and after the pandemic. It's beautiful but scary at the same time, and keeps from veering into science fiction or zombie territory (which I would have balked at.) Reading this book made me more thankful for travel, electricity, running water, and my health.
The Magicians / The Magician King: I finished the first one on my honeymoon, and then moved onto "Sharp Objects." The Magician King was the last book of 2016 that I read, and I thought it was a fitting close to the year! I love the TV series and think these will deserve a re-read in a few years. *UPDATE IN 2018: I still need to read the last book in this series. I KNOW I KNOW I'LL GET TO IT.*
Sharp Objects: File this one under "What to Read on Your Honeymoon" if you're a weirdo like me. It's a great poolside/beach read and while it didn't have the grip on me that "Gone Girl" did, there's a creepy twist that stayed with me well after I finished it. *UPDATE IN 2018: This is now an HBO series and I have yet to start it but I can't wait!!*
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I still want to do better, but I DID reach my goal of 12 books in 2016!
More fun links:
New York Times: The Best Book Covers of 2016