Books of 2017

It is a truth universally acknowledged that bookdragons are nosy little creatures, always snuffling around each other's shelves to see what friends are reading, buying, and reviewing.

 

I say that fondly, being a nosy bookdragon myself. And I'm counting on the fact that most of you are of the same species, because here's a look at all the books I read in 2017, with miniature reviews to boot! Aren't I a helpful dragon?

 

January

Knife // R.J. Anderson

reread // better than I remembered // fairies // loss of magic // musings on the nature of art // human interaction // big tree

 

The Purpose Driven Church // Rick Warren

how to foster healthy church growth // rather textbook-ish // better for pastors, maybe?

 

The Lightning Thief // Rick Riordan

hilarious // best chapter titles ever // camp half blood // grumpy adults // powerful kids // the humor, though

 

Blue Lily, Lily Blue // Maggie Stiefvater

pretty prose // Blue is relatable // poor Noah // wandering plot, in a good way and a bad way

 

 

February

The Five Love Languages (Singles Edition) // Gary Chapman
practical // excellent advice for how to love people better

 

 

March

Winter // Marissa Meyer
best series finale in the history of ever // crazy Winter // space // everyone gets separated // all the sass // putting rice in Cinder's head // heartbreaking stuff // did I mention best ending ever?

 

The Spirit Contemporary Life // Leon Fontaine
down to earth // inspiring // reaching people with God's love can be so natural

 

The Shack // William P. Young
meh // heavy on the sermon, light on the story

 

 

April

Storm Siren // Mary Weber
incredibly relatable protagonist // deep themes // cool world // the guy smells like "pine and honey and sunbeams" but shush, that's normal // crazy horses // tattoos // lightning storms

 

Outriders // Kathryn Mackel
reread // nifty world // tech fused with medieval-like lifestyle // sporadically inspiring

 

Trackers // Kathryn Mackel
same as above // decent, but should've had a sequel to wrap things up

 

The DNA of Relationships // Gary Smalley
changed my life // relational hurt springs from a vicious cycle of fear // be the bigger person // communication

 

 

May

Finally // Wendy Mass
twelve-year-old drama // cute // killer rabbit // everything goes wrong

 

Crazy Dangerous (audiobook) // Andrew Klavan
reread in audio format // creepy and endearing at the same time // magic Sam Hopkins // trains // bad choices // eerie girl // intense ending // awesome narrator

 

The Purpose Driven Life // Rick Warren
reread // sorry, not my cup of tea // a few good lessons, though // learned the most from studying the parts with which I disagree

 

Green Rider // Kristen Britain
classic high fantasy // horses // fantastical creatures // Karigan needs to get a backbone // twisty ending // will probably continue series

 

 

June

The Shadow Throne // Jennifer A. Nielsen
kingdoms at war // the sass // friends // "catastrophic levels of bad behavior" // saw the ending coming // loved it anyway // smashing finish to the Ascendance Trilogy

 

The Reluctant Godfather // Allison Tebo
delightful // quirky characters // fluffy chocolate cake // Burndee is Howl with a mixing spoon, basically // quotable humor

 

The Raven King // Maggie Stiefvater
more pretty prose and a pretty cover to match // Gansey // social agenda, no thank you // too much swearing // ultimately a disappointing conclusion

 

 

July

Scorpia // Anthony Horowitz
secret agents // double agents // exotic locations // fun Mission Impossible vibes // gadgets // narrow escapes

 

Solitary (audiobook) // Travis Thrasher
reread (except in audio format) // creepy little town // creepy little high school // creepy pastor // old vinyl records // no cell service // dark beginning to an ultimately hopeful series

 

Reapers // Bryan Davis
dystopian Chicago // escorting souls to the afterlife // ethical dilemmas // prison // standing up for the defenseless

 

 

August

Ink and Bone // Rachel Caine
Library of Alexandria didn't burn // withheld knowledge // magic // Oxford // black market // classmates // the muddiness of war

 

The Penderwicks // Jeanne Birdsall
childhood whimsy // summer // romping escapades // curious neighbors // butterfly wings // Hound // friendship

 

The Fatal Tree // Stephen R. Lawhead
the universe is shrinking // nobody panic // British loveliness // ley lines // sprawling adventures // redemption

 

Some Kind of Happiness // Claire Legrand
blue days // depression // finding wholeness through the Everwood // cousins // summertime // "giving up is not an option. and if you have to keep going, you might as well smile while doing it."

 

The Five Times I Met Myself // James L. Rubart
regret // what if you could give advice to your younger self? // consequences // second chances

 

The Beast of Talesend // Kyle Robert Schultz
fairytales in 1920's-esque world // detective  work // brothers // beastliness // spunk and humor // throwing rolls at people's heads

 

 

September

Spindle Fire // Lexa Hillyer
sisterhood // sight and touch and speech tithed away to fairies // snow // intrigue // travel // at times enchanting, at others stilted

 

Five Magic Spindles // Rachel Kovaciny, Kathryn McConaughy, Grace Mullins, Michelle Pennington, Ashley Stangl
heartwarming Old West // exotic eastern-like mythology // glowing ghosts and crazy castles and also a chicken // classic romance and dragons // sci-fi tombs and virtue names

 

 

October

Beyond the Gateway // Bryan Davis
ramping up the suspense // I am so hooked // the Gateway // corrupt authority figures // radiation // motorcycle // more ethical dilemmas // cliff-hanger

 

Reaper Reborn // Bryan Davis
exhilarating action // even worse ethical dilemmas // fires and disasters // manipulation // battle of wits and morals // who to trust? // aftermath

 

 

November

Prodigy Prince // Natasha Sapienza
colorful world // epic superpowers // evil shapeshifters // a prince and his sentinels // fast paced

 

The Tomb of the Sea Witch // Kyle Robert Schultz
mermaids // Nick goes undercover as a teacher // chaos and hilarity // the Mythfits // grouchy dragon // so many twists // "I don't suppose you have any chalk?"

 

A Time to Die // Nadine Brandes
a countdown, obviously // wolves and crazy people and trains and cities and wilderness // confusion // finding purpose // made me think a lot

 

A Midsummer Night's Dream // William Shakespeare
capricious fairies // double-crossed lovers // forest // Puck // comedy of errors // love looks not with the eyes // amusingly uneducated folks putting on a play

 

 

December

Hollow City // Ransom Riggs
peculiar children // long quest // rescue the bird // war-torn London // killer bees // gypsies // creepy wights // another cliff-hanger

 

The Phantom Tollbooth // Norton Juster
philosophical and charming // words versus numbers // common sense // a watchdog, a humbug, and a boy in a car

 

Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King // William Joyce
Santa is a Russian bandit king with a soft spot for children // magical village // moonbeams // nightmare creatures // a merry spectral boy // North's compass always points to himself, of course

 

The Maze Runner // James Dashner
no one tells Thomas anything // lots of running // Newt is his awesome, grouchy self // unremarkable writing but exciting plot // the moral of the story is that boys like food and insults

 

Stats

This year I read 40 books, amounting to 13,119 pages! (That's not counting the six college textbooks I finished or the one nonfiction book on leadership I'm still reading.)

 

Here's the breakdown on genres:

 

 

It's no surprise that once again, fantasy dominates! I am, however, surprised that I read no romance or historical fiction like in previous years. And there's more nonfiction here than I have ever read in a single year, thanks to leadership college. Oh, and hidden among those listed categories are four rereads, two audiobooks (also new for me), and four indie books! I'm rather pleased to have upped my indie game, which was woefully nonexistent before 2017.

(By my estimate, I also bought or was given about 38 new books! Yikes! Some I read this year, but most are on my TBR. At this rate, I may never catch up!)

According to Goodreads, my average rating this year was 4.4 stars--coincidentally, the same as it was the year before. Either I'm too kind with my ratings, or I just tend to read really good books???

 

 

Most-read authors: 3 by Bryan Davis, 2 by Kyle Robert Schultz, 2 by Maggie Stiefvater, and 2 by Kathryn Mackel.

 

Favorite new-to-me authors: Rick Riordan, Mary Weber, Jeanne Birdsall, Kyle Robert Schultz, and Nadine Brandes! All of whom have lots of other books I need to dig into this year, come to think of it . . .

 

Least favorite book: Um, probably a toss-up between The Shack and The Raven King. Neither one was completely horrendous, but the former was poorly written and the latter was a soup of disappointment flavored with nice writing.

 

Favorite books: Dear me, how do I choose? There were quite a few really good ones this year! All right, if I forced myself to narrow it down, I would say . . .

• Winter
• Crazy Dangerous
• Ink and Bone
• The Fatal Tree
• The Penderwicks
• Five Magic Spindles
• The Tomb of the Sea Witch
• A Time to Die
• The Phantom Tollbooth
• the entire Reapers trilogy

 

Ahem. I did not just list a quarter of the books I read this year, noooo . . .

All in all, it was a good reading year! I would have liked to have read more, but much of what I did read was satisfying, and I did top last year's total by five books. I also digested some nonfiction, discovered some new series and wrapped up some old ones, and spent half my time in the wonderful world of fantasy.

Okay, bookdragons, now tell me: what were YOUR best books of 2017?