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My 10 Favorite Books of 2017

It’s the last day of the year, and I want to share some of my favorite books from 2017!

Despite my reading coming at a slower pace than in the past, I feel pretty satisfied with all of the books I’ve read over the last 12 months. I finished 78 books, which amounts to 22,928 pages and 28.5 hours on audio. About 33 percent of the books I read were written by people of color, and around 70 percent were written by women. In a shift from the way I used to read, the books I finished this year were skewed towards fiction (58 percent) rather than nonfiction (42 percent). I’d like to swing that trend in the other direction in 2018, but we’ll see what happens.

But, enough with the stats! I’m sure you just want to hear about the books. In no particular order, here are my top five favorite fiction and top five favorite nonfiction books of the year (with some honorable mentions somewhere in the middle).

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

I kicked off my reading year with the first book in V.E. Schwab’s Shades of Magic Trilogy. The series is set in a world where parallel versions of London – some with magic, and some without – sit on top of each other. Kell is a magician with the rare ability to travel between worlds, which he does officially as an ambassador from Red London, and unofficially as a smuggler sharing glimpses of other worlds to those who can’t travel. During one visit to Grey London, a world without magic, Kell meets Delilah Bard, a common thief with uncommon abilities. As the trilogy continues, the world expands to include an eclectic, dangerous cast of characters that I adored. I can’t wait to read more from Schwab.

Difficult Women by Roxane Gay

Roxane Gay is one of the smartest writers out there, and I was totally floored by her short story collection. The women at the center of each of these stories are fierce and funny and real, put in impossible situations yet making their way through them. I loved how unique and focused each voice was – these women speak on some universal issues, but each from a specific place and a specific personality. This collection is just on fire.

 

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

I knew that I was going to love Little Fires Everywhere from the first line: “Everyone in Shaker Heights was talking about it that summer: how Isabelle, the last of the Richardson children, had finally gone around the bend and burned the house down.” The book follows two families led by two very different women, and how the collision between respectability and creativity can affect families and communities. Along with compelling characters, the politics of race and class in this book were super interesting to me.

What It Means When A Man Falls From the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah

More short stories! This debut collection “explores the ties that bind parents and children, husbands and wives, lovers and friends to one another and to the places they call home.” I loved that every story in this book, and was impressed with the way that each one felt like it was pushing in the direction of a different genre. After reading it, I can’t even predict what kind of novel Arimah might write, just that it would be feminist, sharp, and subversive in all the best ways.

Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie

I’m rounding out this list with Home Fire because it had, hands down, one of the most surprising and affecting endings of any book I read this year. The novel follows three siblings, and explores what happens when one of them, Parvaiz, follows in the footsteps of his jihadist father and joins ISIS. His oldest sister, Isma, returns from studying in the United States to try and help through official channels. His twin sister, Aneeka, works in her own way, trying to prove that Parvaiz isn’t terrorist. Each section of the book focuses on a different character, creating this kaleidoscope effect that comes together brilliantly. This book is a stunner.

And a few honorable mentions for other fiction I read and enjoyed a lot this year: Perfect Little World by Kevin Wilson, In the Language of Miracles by Rajia Hassib, Uprooted by Naomi Novik and Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo.

Option B by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant

I wouldn’t necessarily call Option B my favorite book of the year, but it’s certainly the book that had the biggest impact on me given the major challenges in my life since 2016 (widowhood and six months of unemployment). In the book, Sandberg and Grant explore “facing adversity, building resilience and finding joy” after significant loss and setbacks. The book alternates between Sandberg’s memoir of losing her husband, David, unexpectedly, and what current research says about human resilience. Given that so much of my last year has been taken up by this very topic – surviving loss and rediscovering the things that make life joyful – my love for this book is very much a matter of right place, right time, but I still think it’s an excellent book.

One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter by Scaachi Koul

I blurbed this book for Book Riot’s Best Books of 2017 collection, so I’m going to cheat a little bit and rehash what I wrote there, This debut essay collection is about “growing up the daughter of Indian immigrants in western culture, addressing sexism, stereotypes, and the universal miseries of life.” Koul is great at moving easily between funny and poignant moments. The stories about her parents contain a fair amount of frustration, but she always writes about them with a sense of generosity. Chapters are punctuated with brief email exchanges between Koul and her father that are succinct, funny, and give some depth to the last (and best) essay in the book, about the consequences Koul faced telling her parents about her long term relationship with a white man.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

I finally got around to reading this memoir, and I am so glad I did. In the book, Walls writes about her non-traditional, poverty-stricken upbringing by parents who could be loving, spontaneous, neglectful, and abusive in many of the same moments. Despite the obviously terrible circumstances of her upbringing, Walls writes about her family with a lot of love and tenderness, and brings an adult perspective to her parents that I think is an important part of making the book seem less bitter than it could have been. It’s a remarkable piece of work that’s earned accolades.

Portage by Sue Leaf

This is, perhaps, the most unexpected great book of my reading year. I picked up this memoir while on a trip to the North Shore of Minnesota and absolutely devoured it. Leaf writes about her family’s experiences as canoeists, beginning with early trips to the Boundary Waters with her husband and ending with local river excursions with her grown children and their families. It’s a fascinating book about nature, wild places, relationships, and lessons we can learn when we let ourselves explore somewhere new. I totally loved it and have gushed about it pretty constantly ever since.

The Family Gene by Joselin Linder

I love good medical mystery nonfiction, and this book certainly did not disappoint. For years, members of Linder’s family have come down with a deadly illness that doctors cannot explain. As Linder struggled to understand her own version of the illness – a blocked liver, swollen legs, and a heart murmur – researchers she spoke with suggested that the illness haunting her family may actually be a private genetic mutation. In the book, Linder explores her family’s medical history, the development of gene science, and what it’s like to be a young woman with a potentially fatal mutation making choices that would affect generations to come. I was gripped by this book from the first page, and will be recommending it often.

And finally, my nonfiction honorable mentions. All of these books were excellent too: Cork Dork by Briana Bosker, Dark Money by Jane Mayer, Evicted by Matthew Desmond, Wedding Toasts I’ll Never Give by Ada Calhoun, What Happened by Hillary Clinton, Reset by Ellen Pao, and Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann.

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • bermudaonion (Kathy) December 31, 2017, 9:34 am

    I’ve only read two of those books but want to read most of the rest. Happy New Year, Kim!

  • Bryan December 31, 2017, 10:16 am

    I hadn’t heard of the Koul book until recently – I think it was featured on a Kindle Daily Deal too. Now I wish I had picked it up yesterday. I guess I’ll have to look for this at one of the libraries I use.

    • Kim January 3, 2018, 7:52 pm

      I think it came out as a paperback original. I just have a hardcover because I got it through Book of the Month. I hope you get a chance to read it!

  • Drew December 31, 2017, 11:25 am

    What a great list! Once again, you’ve provided more books for my (growing) to-read pile. Thank you, and happy almost new year.

  • Heather December 31, 2017, 2:30 pm

    I hadn’t heard of Portage! Adding that one to my list. I just bought Roxane Gay’s short story collection and look forward to reading through all of them. She’s one of my favorites. Great list!

    • Kim January 3, 2018, 7:53 pm

      Portage is the book I’ve been the biggest evangelist for this year. It was such an unexpected delight in my reading year that I hope other people will enjoy just as much.

  • Tisha December 31, 2017, 3:52 pm

    You’ve just moved several of these books closer to the top of my list — and added a few I hadn’t heard of. Thank you!

  • iliana January 1, 2018, 4:59 pm

    Happy New Year, Kim! I haven’t read any of these but am definitely taking note. Wishing you a great 2018!

  • Kailana January 1, 2018, 6:08 pm

    I struggled with reading in general in 2017. I still read some good books, but haven’t decided if I am going to do a wrap-up. I loved A Darker Shade of Magic when I read it.

    • Kim January 3, 2018, 7:54 pm

      That trilogy was so good! I loved the way each book opened up and broadened the world and the characters. I’d read more stories set in that universe in a heartbeat.

  • Deb Nance at Readerbuzz January 2, 2018, 7:48 am

    I always seem to feel happiest about the books I discover that no one else knows about, like Portage.

    I’m still thinking about Little Fires.

    https://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2018/01/top-new-to-me-authors-i-read-in-2017.html

  • Lisa January 2, 2018, 8:30 pm

    Adding so many of these to my wish list!

  • Unruly Reader January 4, 2018, 9:30 pm

    Oh, wow. I hadn’t heard of Portage, and I know I’m gonna love it. We’re happy canoe people here, and the thought of a wonderful canoe memoir is making me really excited.

  • Christina January 5, 2018, 9:11 am

    I read ‘Option B’ after seeing you discuss it on Instagram, Kim, and I wanted to thank you for giving me the push I need to read it. I had a few people suggest I read it after my mom’s terminal cancer diagnosis, but I worried it would be too preachy. Too rosy. But it was exactly what I needed to read, even if I did have a few quibbles with some of what she wrote. But such is the nature of grief — no one path is the right one.

  • Julie @ Smiling Shelves January 5, 2018, 3:23 pm

    I read A Darker Shade of Magic, but haven’t read the rest of the trilogy yet. I should do something about that this year! 🙂

  • Kay January 6, 2018, 7:36 am

    Happy New Year to you, Kim! I’m coming back around to say ‘hi’ for 2018. I’ve been away from blogging for quite some time. Very nice to hear about your list. I’m currently reading LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE and enjoying it very much. I’m also completely intrigued by THE FAMILY GENE. I’m an adopted child, so anything about heredity and ‘birth family’ stuff is really interesting to me. I know nothing about my ‘birth’ people and the only thing I’ve every wished for in that regard is more knowledge about medical issues.

    Know you’ve had a tough time and just want to say that you’ve been thought about. Take care and happy reading!

  • Katie @ Doing Dewey January 6, 2018, 11:22 pm

    What a great list of favorites! I’d particularly like to get to Little Fires Everywhere, since I loved Everything I Never Told You.

  • Laurie C January 19, 2018, 1:55 pm

    I loved all three of the books in the trilogy by V.S. Schwab, starting with A Darker Shade of Magic!