December 26, 2017

Best Books of 2017 and I did not hit my goal.

In 2017, thus far (and we'll cut it off today), I've read 60 books. I don't count the Didn't Finish (DNF) books so likely, with those added in, I probably got to my goal of 75. Last year, I read 70, so I think 60 is a perfectly respectable number. However, I don't feel like it was a great year, book-wise.

I had set a goal last December, saying that I was going to read 75 books and I...did not. In fact, shortly after I said I was going to do that, my professional life s.l.o.w.l.y started to slide downhill and then there was an emergency deployment and all that emotional trauma that goes with a failed cycle of IVF and then we were trying to buy a second house and...honestly? As I've said before, I don't read to escape. It's not comforting to me. So I just stopped reading for awhile. In 2015 and 2016, a lot of my reads were through audiobooks but I stopped doing that this past summer because something about it became the opposite of comforting and pleasant. I canceled my Audible subscription this past fall and I don't even miss it.

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Here are the best books I read this year. Maybe they weren't the best books available in the last year, but they were the best ones I happened to pick up (I read a LOT of C-rated books this year). It's so strange the way 2016 was an amazing year for books and 2017 just wasn't. Hopefully I can change that in 2018.

Fiction

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys



The Breakdown by B.A. Paris



Non-Fiction

Breathing Room by Leeana Tankersley



Unshakeable: 20 Ways to Enjoy Teaching Every Day...No Matter What by Angela Watson


What was the best book you read this year?

Linking up with a special edition of SUYB with Jana and Steph!

17 comments:

  1. I read Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys this year and loved it. I'll have to add this one to my list.

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  2. I havent read any of them.. Need to add them,to my pick up list

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  3. I hope 2018 is a better reading year for you!

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  4. Wow. I have had Out of the Easy on my to-read list for years! I need to get to it!

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  5. I think, no... I know that life plays a HUGE part in one's reading experience. I have a tendency to throw myself into books/audiobooks when I'm avoiding something... decisions, hard times, whatever. And I use it almost like a meditation, to get my mind off things for a while. This year, I read/listened to fewer books than I did last year and think it was because I was happier and I wasn't seeking out a distraction all the time or using it as an avoidance tactic.

    The best book I read this year was All the Ugly and Wonderful Things.

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  6. I enjoyed the Break Down. I haven't read Out of the Easy but it's been on my to read list.

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  7. 60 books is still a pretty good number, and a great accomplishment. Most people don't finish 5 books in one year!

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  8. I haven't read The Breakdown yet. Not sure why.

    60 is a great number!

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  9. 60 books is still amazing! But I get it- sometimes stress/etc makes me read a TON and sometimes it makes me foresaw reading all together. Life happens. Hope you enjoy 2018 more though!

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  10. oh wow, you cancelled your audible membership, that's huge! i have mine on hold right now because i have enough books in my library to last me the whole of 2018 lol. i definitely read for comfort most times, but if life throws me huge curve balls, i can't concentrate and end up hating the book. life definitely plays a huge role in my reading. i really hope 2018 is a good year for you - in all the ways, not just books. out of the easy is on my list, hopefully i'll get to it in 2018.

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  11. At least you read...even if just a tiny bit!

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  12. I'm sorry you didn't have a great reading year. I hope that 2018 is much better! I am really curious about The Breakdown.

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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  13. I did not make my goal either. At one point, I raised it to 25 because I was so ahead of the game. Then I dropped it back to 20, and then Ryder was born. And even when he was nursing for almost an hour every couple of hours, it was just easier to mess around on my phone than to read. I also cancelled my Audible subscription. I still have 3 books to listen to, but I couldn’t stop listening to the Go Bayside podcast. I didn’t want to listen to anything else!

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  14. I loved Salt to the Sea and heard Out of the Easy is even better. Hopefully I'll get to it this year.

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  15. 60 books is crazy good. I think I read 4? But then again, that's what happens when, like you said, things in your life start to spiral out of control. Reading IS comforting to me, but I stopped making time to comfort myself a priority in 2017 and that has got to stop! I hate all that you went through, but I'm with you on the audiobook thing too. I stopped obsessively listening to audiobooks and podcasts sometime early this year, too. It all just got to be too much. System overload.

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  16. I can relate. 2016 I had more books that I "loved" than in 2017, but still a chunk of good ones. I have Out of the Easy on my shelf, and I cannot wait to read it now. NOLA is my favorite US city so far, so I think that that will give it an interesting setting as well. I added Breathing Room to my TBR! Hope 2018 is a better reading year for us both! XO - Alexandra

    Simply Alexandra: My Favorite Things

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