We are just past the middle of the year so it is a good time to reflect on what I’ve read so far in 2017.  According to Goodreads I’ve read 118 books so far.

Best Book of the Year So Far

Well, let’s start with a hard one shall we?

Fiction

Both of these books were hard hitting looks at the lives of black teenagers and they couldn’t have been more different. These are books that I would hand to everyone and tell them that they have to read these.

Nonfiction

We have the memoir of a comedian/politician, the memoir of a survivor of genocide, the very detailed history of ACT UP, and a comedian covering the Arab Spring in Egypt.

Best Sequel

I rarely think a second book is even close to equal to the first book in a series but I actually liked this one more.

New Releases I Haven’t Read but Want To

This is on my nightstand.  I preordered it.  I read the first chapter out loud to the husband since we read Every Heart a Doorway together.  I’ve read 4 or 5 other Seanan McGuire novels while this book has been sitting on my nightstand.  I’ve preordered the next book in the series that comes out in 2018.  I haven’t read this one yet. 

That’s crazy.  I’m reading it today.  Promise. 

Most Anticipated Release for Autumn/Winter

I usually never know what is coming out but I know a few sequels that I want to read.

These are the sequels to Akata Witch and River of Teeth respectively.

Biggest Disappointment of the Year So Far

I absolutely adored Elisa Kova’s Air Awakens series.  I was so excited to read her new series and just I could not get into it. 

Biggest Surprise of the Year

I loved this series about a mentally ill suicide survivor who is recruited to work managing fairies in Hollywood.  I’m looking forward to the next installments.

New Favourite Author

Contemporary YA isn’t usually my thing (Yes, I’m still saying that even though my best books I just chose up at the top of the post are contemporary YA – shut up.) but I love the voice of the characters in Hannah Moskowitz’s books. 

New Favourite Character

Reese Eddings is a ship captain who is down on her luck.  She’s in debt.  She’s dealing with health issues.  Then she gets hired to go on a mission to go rescue a man who is a member of a supposedly mythical alien race.  All she’s got to go on is what she’s read in her favorite subgenre of romance novels that feature this race.  It would be like a human fantasy fan being hired to go rescue an elf.  

Book That Made Me Cry

I am a hard hearted cold person so it would take a lot to make me cry. 

This one got me a little teary eyed.  It is the real-time story of actor Jim Beaver’s wife’s terminal illness, death, and his grief.  It is taken from emails that he wrote every night.  It is sad but not depressing. 

Books That Made Me Happy

These are books that were just plain fun.