The Books of 2017

Sometimes it's a really good thing I have traditions like publishing my book list at the end of the year, because I haven't posted since May and it's been intimidating to jump back into the blogosphere. Hopefully 2018 will be more productive, writing wise? No promises ;) However, my reading year has been amazing. Last year I read only seventy six books and was pretty disappointed in myself; this year I was able to push to ninety one. I'll take it! I'm always here for both the giving and receiving of book recommendations; nothing flatters me ore than someone asking what I think they'd like or being told, "You should read this." 

Without further ado:


Totals: 91 books, 62 non-fiction and 29 fiction

Page count: 28,189 pages, 17,776 non-fiction and 10,413 fiction

A couple landmarks hit: The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin was my 450th book read since moving to Utah in 2011 and Love Wins by Debbie Cenziper was my 500th


Top Ten Books of 2017

1. Wishful Drinking-- Carrie Fisher.   I've never missed a celebrity like I miss Carrie Fisher. I listened to her read this audiobook, and it was the perfect experience. Her writing is sardonic, open, and hilarious. I love you, Carrie.
2.  The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance-- Elna Baker. Second year in a row that a coming of age book about religion and sexuality takes the second place slot. Elna Baker has also done several segments on This American Life, my favorite podcast. This is touching, funny, and relatable.
3. 11/22/63-- Stephen King. I LOVED this book and don't know why. Time travel isn't my thing, JFK conspiracies aren't my thing, but man is this book ever my thing. There are moments of violence, but it's not horror, and the every day detail parts of the story are what makes it unforgettable. I obsessed about it for weeks after finishing it. It's also the longest book I read this year at 1121 pages.
4. A Man Called Ove-- Fredrick Backman. This book made me cry like nine times; I think it should be required reading. Completely beautiful. 
5. Kissing in America-- Margo Rabb. For years my favorite YA book has been The Disreputable History of Frankie-Landau Banks by E Lockhart. I found this book while looking for more of Lockhart's stuff, and it's now my second favorite. I love how it focuses on female friendships while also demonstrating how consuming a first love is. Plus, poetry. Five stars.
6. Hamilton: The Revolution-- Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jeremy McCarter. Y'all know I love Hamilton, and this delves into everything about the production. Obsessed
7. Never Cry Wolf: The Amazing True Story of Life Among the Arctic Wolves-- Farley Mowat. This was written in 1963, and it's one of the best nature books I've read. Unexpectedly touching and laugh out loud funny. Mowat makes the wolves come to life on the page. Julie of the Wolves with humor. Please don't kill wolves.
8. Marry Him: The Case for Settling for Mr Good Enough-- Lori Gottlieb. It probably looks bad that this is on my list the same year I got engaged, huh? Justin is so much more than Mr Good Enough. But this book is more than its title as well; it's an examination of the differing dating habits of men and women, and how they change as we age. I found it fascinating. 
9. On the Map: A Mind Expanding Exploration of the Way the World Looks-- Simon Garfield. I love nonfiction books that are about something that seems so simple, but when you get into it, has a lot to say. This is one of those books. Simon Garfield explores many facets of mapmaking, starting from the earliest and morphing into today's GPS systems, touching on many parts of history that maps have influenced. I look forward to reading his other books.
10. The Ocean at the End of the Lane-- Neil Gaiman. Neil Gaiman never fails me. Chilling, childlike, this book is strange and lovely.

Honorable Mention (nonfiction): Choice: True Stories of Birth, Contraception, Infertility, Adoption, Single Parenthood, & Abortion-- Karen E Bender, Nina de Gramont
Honorable Mention (fiction):  The Murder of Roger Ackroyd-- Agatha Christie



All books I read this year. Recommendations are bolded, rereads are marked with ***

Nonfiction, alphabetical by author

• Some Assembly Required: The Not So Secret Life of a Transgender Teen-- Arin Andrews
• The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance-- Elna Baker
• Choice: True Stories of Birth, Contraception, Infertility, Adoption, Single Parenthood, & Abortion-- Karen E Bender, Nina de Gramont
• Superfandom: How Our Obsessions Are Chnaging What We Buy & Who We Are-- Zoe Fraade-Blanar, Aaron M Glazer
• Romance Is My Day Job: A Memoir of Finding Love at Last-- Patience Bloom
• Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America-- Walter Borneman
• Last Chance Mustang: The Story of One Horse, One Horseman, & One Final Shot at Redemption-- Mitchell Bornstein
• The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir-- Bill Bryson
• In Such Good Company: Eleven Years of Laughter, Mayhem, and Fun in the Sandbox-- Carol Burnett
• Space Race: The Epic Battle Between America and the Soviet Union for Dominion of Space-- Deborah Cadbury
• Phillis Wheatley: Biography of a Genius in Bondage-- Vincent Carretta
• Love Wins: The Lovers & Lawyers Who Fought the Landmark Case for Marriage Equality-- Debbie Cenziper
• Audacity: How Barack Obama Defied His Critics and Created a Legacy That Will Prevail-- Jonathan Chait
• Strays: A Lost Cat, a Homeless Man, and Their Journey Across America-- Britt Collins
• Strapless: John Singer Sargent and the Fall of Madame X-- Deborah Davis
• Dancing in the Dark: A Cultural History of the Great Depression-- Morris Dickstein
• It's All a Game The History of Board Games from Monopoly to Settlers of Catan-- Tristan Donovan
• It's Not Okay: Turning Heartbreak Into Happily Never After-- Andi Dorfman
• The Princess Diarist-- Carrie Fisher (so good I read it twice this year!)
• Wishful Drinking-- Carrie Fisher
• On the Map: A Mind Expanding Exploration of the Way the World Looks-- Simon Garfield 
• My Own Words-- Ruth Bader Ginsburg 
• Marry Him: The Case for Settling for Mr Good Enough-- Lori Gottlieb
• Talking As Fast As I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls (And Everything In Between) -- Lauren Graham
• Infidel-- Ayaan Hirsi Ali
• Moby Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them-- Donovan Hohn
• Tradition! The Highly Improbable, Ultimately Triumphant Broadway to Hollywood Story of Fiddler on the Roof, the World's Most Beloved Musical-- Barbara Isenberg
• The Story of My Life-- Helen Keller
• We Killed: The Rise of Women in American Comedy-- Yael Kohen
• Devil in the White City: A Saga of Magic and Murder at the Fair that Changed America-- Erik Larson
• H is for Hawk-- Helen Macdonald
• Margaret Fuller: A New American Life-- Megan Marshall
• My First Five Husbands.... & the Ones Who Got Away-- Rue McLanahan
• One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding-- Rebecca Mead
• Yao: A Life in Two Worlds-- Yao Ming, Ric Bucher
• Hamilton: The Revolution -- Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jeremy McCarter
• Never Cry Wolf: The Amazing True Story of Life Among Arctic Wolves-- Farley Mowat
• Don't Worry, It Gets Worse: One Twentysomething's (Mostly Failed) Attempts at Adulthood-- Alida Nugent
• Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition-- Daniel Okrent
• Silver Screen Fiend: Learning About Life From an Addiction to Film-- Patton Oswalt
• Zombie Spaceship Wasteland-- Patton Oswalt
• Joss Whedon: The Biography-- Amy Pascale
• A Field Guide to Awkward Silences --Alexandra Petri
• The Wheel of Fortune-- Edith Piaf
• Unsinkable: A Memoir-- Debbie Reynolds
• Mrs Sherlock Holmes: The True Story of New York City's Greatest Female Detective and the 1917 Missing Girl Case That Captivated a Nation-- Brad Ricca
• Razzle Dazzle: The Battle for Broadway-- Michael Riedel
• Unnaturally Green: A Memoir-- Felicia Ricci
• Trying to Float: Chronicles of a Girl in the Chelsea Hotel-- Nicolaia Rips
• Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex-- Mary Roach
• The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun-- Gretchen Rubin
• The Commitment: Love, Sex, Marriage, and My Family-- Dan Savage
• I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend-- Martin Short
• The Civil Wars of Julie Ward Howe-- Elaine Showalter
• I Invented the Modern Age: The Rise of Henry Ford-- Richard Snow
• Of Arms & Artists: The American Revolution Through Painters' Eyes-- Paul Staiti
• The World According to Star Wars-- Cass R Sunstein
• Capturing the Light: The Birth of Photography, a True Story of Genius and Rivalry-- Roger Watson, Helen Rappaport
• Bridge of Spies: A True Story of the Cold War-- Giles Whittell
• The Art of the English Murder: From Jack the Ripper & Sherlock Holmes to Agatha Christie & Alfred Hitchcock-- Lucy Worsley

Fiction, alphabetical by author

• A Man Called Ove-- Fredrick Backman
• The Secret Garden-- Frances Hodgson Burnett
• Fool Moon-- Jim Butcher
• My Antonia-- Willa Cather
• ***The ABC Murders-- Agatha Christie
• The Murder of Roger Ackroyd-- Agatha Christie
• Ready Player One-- Ernest Cline
• ***A Christmas Carol-- Charles Dickens
• All the Light We Cannot See-- Anthony Doerr
• ***Neverwhere-- Neil Gaiman
• The Ocean at the End of the Lane-- Neil Gaiman
• Beethoven Was One Sixteenth Black: And Other Stories-- Nadine Gordimer (some of the stories are quite good, but the whole book wasn't my fave)
• An Abundance of Katherines-- John Green
• 11/22/63-- Stephen King
• Brother Odd-- Dean Koontz
• ***A Wrinkle in Time-- Madeline L'Engle
• We Were Liars-- E Lockhart
• The Last Anniversary-- Lianne Moriarty
• ***The Color of Magic-- Terry Pratchett
• ***The Light Fantastic-- Terry Pratchett
• ***Equal Rites-- Terry Pratchett
• ***Mort-- Terry Pratchett
• Kissing in America-- Margo Rabb
• Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children-- Ransom Riggs
• Fangirl-- Rainbow Rowell
• ***Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix -- JK Rowling
• Whose Body?-- Dorothy L Sayers
• Be More Chill-- Ned Vizzini
• The Inimitable Jeeves-- PG Wodehouse