BEST OF 2017
Howdy!
Oh, yeah – I have a blog!
I thought I'd get back into the swing of things by writing a post I've been thinking about for a while: my favorite books of 2017. I want to do features like this yearly, where I highlight the best books I read during the year. Granted, it's May now, so the timing's a bit odd, but just roll with it.
I present, my Best Of 2017, in order of the date I read them:
– Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl, Carrie Brownstein
Carrie Brownstein is excellent in Portlandia and in her band, Sleater-Kinney, but what I didn't know was just how lovely her prose is. This memoir kept me engaged the way a novel would, with blistering insights and wonderful phrasings. I hope she writes more prose – any of it, honestly, I'd read.
– Special Topics in Calamity Physics, Marisha Pessl
I read Pessl's second book before this one, her first, and they're startlingly different from each other. I liked this one the best: it's witty, humorous, and chock-full of references that remind me of how much I have left to learn. The story is engaging, too; it's more than just undergrad bloviation.
– The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
This is truly deserving of the "classic" title. Unlike lots of other people, I hadn't read it in high school, so I dove into it in college. In the time since, I've read many of Margaret's other books and she's quickly become one of my favorite writers, living or not.
– The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander
This book sickened me in a very important way. With exhaustive research and wonderful presentation, Michelle Alexander takes readers into the heart of mass incarceration and the discriminatory practices of the legal system. Essential reading, I'd say.
– Swing Time, Zadie Smith
I read this novel for a Literature course. Fun fact: our teacher hadn't even read the novel when she assigned it; she had that much faith in Zadie Smith. And it makes sense, having read her catalogue: none of the characters are particularly likable, yet you're still zipping through the pages to find out what happens to them. Zadie is a gripping writer.
— The Shades of Magic Series, V.E. Schwab
I waited until this entire series was out to read it, because I'd heard Schwab's cliffhangers were vicious (LOL haha get it). It was smart on my part, also because I got to experience the entire series as one giant binge. With a whip-fast plot and characters that seem to walk right out of real life, these books are great for fantasy lovers.
– Marlena, Julie Buntin
This novel almost made me miss my bus stop. (Almost. I looked up just in time to slam it shut, hop out of my seat, sprint off the bus, and apologize.) It's a gripping story about adolescent friendship and the devastation of drugs. Highly recommended.
– Memory Wall: Stories, Anthony Doerr
Anthony Doerr is a wondrous writer, as I'm sure you know from All the Light We Cannot See, one of the best books, ever. These stories are engaging on many levels: in the language itself, in the characters, in the story. (I want to read it again just writing this.)
– My Struggle (Books 1 through 5), Karl Ove Knausgård
These books have sold 1 copy for every 9 adults in Norway. It's easy to see why: he writes with such vigor about his life, even the mundanities of it, and has us readers tearing through all 3,600 pages. I'm eagerly awaiting the sixth and final volume to be published in English.
– Cat's Eye, Margaret Atwood
This book absolutely blew me away. I thought The Handmaid's Tale would be hard to beat, and then I read this. One of my favorite books ever, let alone of 2017.
– The Heart's Invisible Furies, John Boyne
This novel revisits Irish-born Cyril Avery every seven years. It tells his story, and also the story of Ireland, growing as a nation, over the course of Cyril's life. It's by turns hysterical and devastating, and a very satisfying read. I sank right into it and didn't find my way out until long after the ending.
– Sonora, Hannah Lillith Assadi
The experience of reading Sonora is, I imagine, like the experience of a powerful psychedelic: it grips you strongly while it blurs your vision and dulls your memory, to where you leave with a fog of confusion and a remembrance of excellence. Trippy, beautiful, wonderful.
– My Absolute Darling, Gabriel Tallent
This novel is insanely dark – sometimes to a fault – and gripping. Hard to read, but an important story.
– The Absolutist, John Boyne
Yup – John Boyne makes the list twice. This novel is about war, and love, and loss, and guilt that tears you apart. It's darker than The Heart's Invisible Furies but it's wonderful as well. This one unfolds slowly and beautifully, and sucker-punches you at the end.
– All Things Cease to Appear, Elizabeth Brundage
I recommend this one because the beginning was so, so strong. The characters entranced me; I truly cared about each and every one who narrated the story. The ending was very unsatisfying for me, though – it wrapped things up a bit too nicely. But I did appreciate about two-third of this remarkably. With a stronger finish, it would've been one of my favorites of the year.
– How to Behave in a Crowd, Camille Bordas
This novel is one of marvels that features an enormous family and somehow manages to make each member entirely distinct. It's hilarious – told through the eyes of an adorably funny near-teenager – and poignant as well.
– History of Wolves, Emily Fridlund
This didn't have anything to do with wolves, really; it's the story of a girl and the child she babysits, part of an intriguing family. It's about consequences, as well – the second half takes a stark turn.
– 4321, Paul Auster
The concept of this blew me away: four versions of a man's life, each unfolding differently from the same beginning. It's an interesting application of the multiverse theory, and though it was a bit long-winded in the third act, it was incredibly engaging for a nearly nine-hundred-page novel.
Oh, yeah – I have a blog!
I thought I'd get back into the swing of things by writing a post I've been thinking about for a while: my favorite books of 2017. I want to do features like this yearly, where I highlight the best books I read during the year. Granted, it's May now, so the timing's a bit odd, but just roll with it.
I present, my Best Of 2017, in order of the date I read them:
– We Are Okay, Nina LaCour
I loved all of Nina LaCour's previous books, so it doesn't surprise me that I loved this one, too. We Are Okay appears to be a small, quiet novel, but it's filled with so much warmth and insight and power. Reading it was like a fever dream; when I finished, I wanted to flip right back to page one.
– Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl, Carrie Brownstein
Carrie Brownstein is excellent in Portlandia and in her band, Sleater-Kinney, but what I didn't know was just how lovely her prose is. This memoir kept me engaged the way a novel would, with blistering insights and wonderful phrasings. I hope she writes more prose – any of it, honestly, I'd read.
– Special Topics in Calamity Physics, Marisha Pessl
I read Pessl's second book before this one, her first, and they're startlingly different from each other. I liked this one the best: it's witty, humorous, and chock-full of references that remind me of how much I have left to learn. The story is engaging, too; it's more than just undergrad bloviation.
– The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
This is truly deserving of the "classic" title. Unlike lots of other people, I hadn't read it in high school, so I dove into it in college. In the time since, I've read many of Margaret's other books and she's quickly become one of my favorite writers, living or not.
– The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander
This book sickened me in a very important way. With exhaustive research and wonderful presentation, Michelle Alexander takes readers into the heart of mass incarceration and the discriminatory practices of the legal system. Essential reading, I'd say.
– Swing Time, Zadie Smith
I read this novel for a Literature course. Fun fact: our teacher hadn't even read the novel when she assigned it; she had that much faith in Zadie Smith. And it makes sense, having read her catalogue: none of the characters are particularly likable, yet you're still zipping through the pages to find out what happens to them. Zadie is a gripping writer.
— The Shades of Magic Series, V.E. Schwab
I waited until this entire series was out to read it, because I'd heard Schwab's cliffhangers were vicious (LOL haha get it). It was smart on my part, also because I got to experience the entire series as one giant binge. With a whip-fast plot and characters that seem to walk right out of real life, these books are great for fantasy lovers.
– Marlena, Julie Buntin
This novel almost made me miss my bus stop. (Almost. I looked up just in time to slam it shut, hop out of my seat, sprint off the bus, and apologize.) It's a gripping story about adolescent friendship and the devastation of drugs. Highly recommended.
– Memory Wall: Stories, Anthony Doerr
Anthony Doerr is a wondrous writer, as I'm sure you know from All the Light We Cannot See, one of the best books, ever. These stories are engaging on many levels: in the language itself, in the characters, in the story. (I want to read it again just writing this.)
– My Struggle (Books 1 through 5), Karl Ove Knausgård
These books have sold 1 copy for every 9 adults in Norway. It's easy to see why: he writes with such vigor about his life, even the mundanities of it, and has us readers tearing through all 3,600 pages. I'm eagerly awaiting the sixth and final volume to be published in English.
– Cat's Eye, Margaret Atwood
This book absolutely blew me away. I thought The Handmaid's Tale would be hard to beat, and then I read this. One of my favorite books ever, let alone of 2017.
– The Heart's Invisible Furies, John Boyne
This novel revisits Irish-born Cyril Avery every seven years. It tells his story, and also the story of Ireland, growing as a nation, over the course of Cyril's life. It's by turns hysterical and devastating, and a very satisfying read. I sank right into it and didn't find my way out until long after the ending.
– Sonora, Hannah Lillith Assadi
The experience of reading Sonora is, I imagine, like the experience of a powerful psychedelic: it grips you strongly while it blurs your vision and dulls your memory, to where you leave with a fog of confusion and a remembrance of excellence. Trippy, beautiful, wonderful.
– My Absolute Darling, Gabriel Tallent
This novel is insanely dark – sometimes to a fault – and gripping. Hard to read, but an important story.
– The Absolutist, John Boyne
Yup – John Boyne makes the list twice. This novel is about war, and love, and loss, and guilt that tears you apart. It's darker than The Heart's Invisible Furies but it's wonderful as well. This one unfolds slowly and beautifully, and sucker-punches you at the end.
– All Things Cease to Appear, Elizabeth Brundage
I recommend this one because the beginning was so, so strong. The characters entranced me; I truly cared about each and every one who narrated the story. The ending was very unsatisfying for me, though – it wrapped things up a bit too nicely. But I did appreciate about two-third of this remarkably. With a stronger finish, it would've been one of my favorites of the year.
– How to Behave in a Crowd, Camille Bordas
This novel is one of marvels that features an enormous family and somehow manages to make each member entirely distinct. It's hilarious – told through the eyes of an adorably funny near-teenager – and poignant as well.
– History of Wolves, Emily Fridlund
This didn't have anything to do with wolves, really; it's the story of a girl and the child she babysits, part of an intriguing family. It's about consequences, as well – the second half takes a stark turn.
– 4321, Paul Auster
The concept of this blew me away: four versions of a man's life, each unfolding differently from the same beginning. It's an interesting application of the multiverse theory, and though it was a bit long-winded in the third act, it was incredibly engaging for a nearly nine-hundred-page novel.
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That's it for my list! What were your favorite books you read in 2017? Any you agree or disagree with?
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