The last week of 2017 finally arrived with a wintry blast that felt particularly chilling given the previously balmy (if unseasonable) temperatures earlier in the month. While the year’s end always seems to be an appropriate moment to pause from the everyday hustle and contemplate where we’ve been and where we hope to go, it seems perhaps more necessary than ever this year. For my part, I look forward to discovering opportunities to do better and be better in the upcoming year. I also plan to continue reading books that challenge my thinking, comfort me on darker days, and outright amuse me.
Over this past year, I’ve read around 50 books, not counting the ones I’ve re-read both for a certain youngster’s bedtime or my own pleasure. I picked my top notable reads because they contained fascinating stories, some imagined and some true, that resonated with me long after I read them. Most (though not all) became blog posts (links to posts are provided). And although 2017 has been a troubling year (with December being a rather difficult month both generally and personally), it still has had its bright moments. Among them includes the remarkable bounty of books I received as gifts. In fact, the most books I’ve received as presents in a year…ever.[*] So many that I made myself promise to start my 2018 reading list with in-house books only,[†] excepting science-related nonfiction.[‡] Well, we’ll see how long that resolution lasts. I hope your new year is a good one filled with great books. Happy reading!
| 2017 Notable Reads (Links to Posts Are Provide Where Applicable) |
| The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot Human Acts by Han Kang (Translated by Deborah Smith) Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto (Translated by Megan Backus) The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondō |
| 2018’s Already Ambitious Reading List |
| Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek (Translated by Joachim Neugroschel) The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel (Translated by Thomas Christensen and Carol Christensen)[§] You Won’t Remember This: Travel with Babies (Edited by Sandy Bennett-Haber) Dreams Before the Start of Time by Anne Charnock My Drunk Kitchen: A Guide to Eating, Drinking, and Going with Your Gut by Hannah Hart Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern Bossypants by Tina Fey The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector (Translated by Bejamin Moser) Little Women by Louisa May Alcott§ Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman Confession of the Lioness by Mia Couto (Translated by David Brookshaw) |
NOTES:
[*] I had to restrain myself from yelling, “I have all the books!”
[†] That and my late fees at the library are getting ridiculous.
[‡] I didn’t get any of those, and I’m currently reading one…which is due to the library very soon!
[§] These books represents ones I intend to re-read.
Rita E. Gould: An Artful Sequence of Words 
How did you like Beloved? I read it many years ago. For me it was a book I loved- but could never re-read as I found it to to sad. P.s excited to see You Won’t Remember This in the stack!
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It’s actually still in progress, since I got distracted while reading it initially and had to restart altogether. It’s beautiful and sad. Knowing beforehand about some of the grim aspects, I suspect it’d be difficult to re-read.
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Also, I’m excited to read You Won’t Remember This. I’m curious to see how it matches against my traveling with tot experiences!
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