2017 Reading List
According to my Goodreads account, this year, I read 46 books, which is my highest total since 2013 (when I read 52) and my second-highest total since I began using Goodreads to track in 2010. There was definitely a mix of fiction and non-fiction. Early 2017 did indeed trend heavily towards the works of the recently-deceased Carrie Fisher. I did make a concerted effort to identify books by women, particularly women of color, with mixed success (mostly in the identification).
Books that I really loved this year really trended in the non-fiction category. They included the following:
1. The March series by John Lewis, who also happens to be my Congressional Representative. I also read his autobiography "Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement"; this year, and while that was a good read, the graphic novel version was equally, if not more, compelling.
2. Social justice narratives Becoming Ms. Burton by Susan Burton and Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson - both essential reads in examining our broken criminal justice system.
3. When the War Was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge Revolution by Elizabeth Becker was not an easy read by any stretch, but informative (I may have had stronger interests in the rise of totalitarian regimes this year!)
4. Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters. More-than-plausible idea of what our country would look like now if the Civil War had never happened.
The stinkers of 2017 were two:
1. Not really a stinker, but I did feel that Hillbilly Elegy: a Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance was oversold - a compelling personal memoir, perhaps, but not the big sweeping cultural piece it was sold as.
2. At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen - only read because it was a book club selection, and definitely was not my personal favorite - very contrived story.
Here's the full list. Asterisk denotes a book club selection.
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman*
Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson
Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
Shockaholic by Carrie Fisher
Postcards from the Edge by Carrie Fisher
The Book of Jezebel: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Lady Things by Anna Holmes
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles*
The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe
Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher
Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler*
A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle*
How to Survive a Plague: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS by David France
Eyes on the Street: the Life of Jane Jacobs by Robert Kanigel
Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by JD Vance
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redeption by Bryan Stevenson*
I'll Take You There by Wally Lamb
The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made by Greg Sestero
Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild
Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India by Madhur Jaffrey
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Alex: The Life of a Child by Frank Deford
The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood*
March: Book 1 by John Lewis
March: Book 2 by John Lewis
March: Book 3 by John Lewis
The End of the Day by Claire North
Becoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women by Susan Burton and Cari Lynn
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze by Peter Hessler
At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen*
Underground Airlines by Ben Winter
The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness by Jill Filipovic
The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy
Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement by John Lewis
Playing Dead: A Journey Through the World of Death Fraud by Elizabeth Greenwood
Only What We Could Carry: The Japanese American Internment Experience by Lawson Fusao Inada
Mr. Rosenblum Dreams In English by Natasha Solomons
What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton
Tales of Burning Love by Louise Erdrich
When the War Was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge Revolution by Elizabeth Becker
The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood
What did you read and love in 2017? What should I put on my list for 2018?
Books that I really loved this year really trended in the non-fiction category. They included the following:
1. The March series by John Lewis, who also happens to be my Congressional Representative. I also read his autobiography "Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement"; this year, and while that was a good read, the graphic novel version was equally, if not more, compelling.
2. Social justice narratives Becoming Ms. Burton by Susan Burton and Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson - both essential reads in examining our broken criminal justice system.
3. When the War Was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge Revolution by Elizabeth Becker was not an easy read by any stretch, but informative (I may have had stronger interests in the rise of totalitarian regimes this year!)
4. Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters. More-than-plausible idea of what our country would look like now if the Civil War had never happened.
The stinkers of 2017 were two:
1. Not really a stinker, but I did feel that Hillbilly Elegy: a Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance was oversold - a compelling personal memoir, perhaps, but not the big sweeping cultural piece it was sold as.
2. At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen - only read because it was a book club selection, and definitely was not my personal favorite - very contrived story.
Here's the full list. Asterisk denotes a book club selection.
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman*
Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson
Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
Shockaholic by Carrie Fisher
Postcards from the Edge by Carrie Fisher
The Book of Jezebel: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Lady Things by Anna Holmes
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles*
The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe
Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher
Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler*
A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle*
How to Survive a Plague: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS by David France
Eyes on the Street: the Life of Jane Jacobs by Robert Kanigel
Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by JD Vance
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redeption by Bryan Stevenson*
I'll Take You There by Wally Lamb
The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made by Greg Sestero
Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild
Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India by Madhur Jaffrey
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Alex: The Life of a Child by Frank Deford
The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood*
March: Book 1 by John Lewis
March: Book 2 by John Lewis
March: Book 3 by John Lewis
The End of the Day by Claire North
Becoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women by Susan Burton and Cari Lynn
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze by Peter Hessler
At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen*
Underground Airlines by Ben Winter
The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness by Jill Filipovic
The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy
Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement by John Lewis
Playing Dead: A Journey Through the World of Death Fraud by Elizabeth Greenwood
Only What We Could Carry: The Japanese American Internment Experience by Lawson Fusao Inada
Mr. Rosenblum Dreams In English by Natasha Solomons
What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton
Tales of Burning Love by Louise Erdrich
When the War Was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge Revolution by Elizabeth Becker
The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood
What did you read and love in 2017? What should I put on my list for 2018?