I did a lot of reading in 2016, both for school and for fun; I hit a total of 58 books! I usually make it a goal to read about 50 books a year, which has varied depending on what school work I had and what was going on in life. Not having to stick to a schedule has been super awesome, and I’m excited to see what great books 2017 has to bring!
I like the way my friend Alyssa did her post of books for 2016, so I’m going to copy a similar format. You can check out her list of books here! I’ll follow my list with the top five books I read this year, and a brief explanation as to why they were my favorite (or a link to my review if I reviewed it!).
Books Read
1. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (thriller)
2. Jessica Jones: Alias Vol. 1 by Brian Michael Bendis (graphic novel)
3. Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld (YA, fantasy)
4. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (Victorian Lit)
5. Bleak House by Charles Dickens (Victorian Lit)
6. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (Victorian Lit)
7. Jane by April Lindner (YA)
8. Dark Companion by Marta Acosta (YA)
9. The Heights by Brian James (YA)
10. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (YA, graphic novel)
11. Black Spring by Alison Croggon (YA)
12. This is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz (fiction)
13. Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley (YA)
14. Noggin by John Corey Whaley (YA)
15. How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon (YA)
16. The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick (fiction)
17. Unwind by Neal Shusterman (YA, dystopia)
18. Walden by Henry David Thoreau (memoir)
19. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (YA, fantasy)
20. Audacity by Melanie Crowder (YA, historical fiction)
21. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (YA)
22. The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle (YA)
23. Death Coming Up the Hill by Chris Crowe (YA, historical fiction)
24. Dime by E.R. Frank (YA)
25. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (YA, fantasy)
26. The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black (YA, fantasy)
27. I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios (YA)
28. Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman (YA)
29. Infinite in Between by Carolyn Mackler (YA)
30. Bone Gap by Laura Ruby (YA)
31. Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon (YA)
32. The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma (YA)
33. I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson (YA)
34. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (horror)
35. Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin (YA)
36. Mosquitoland by David Arnold (YA)
37. The Tightrope Walkers by David Almond (YA)
38. Every Exquisite Thing by Matthew Quick (YA)
39. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery (children’s)
40. Before We Go Extinct by Karen Rivers (YA)
41. Maresi by Maria Turtschaninoff (children’s, fantasy)
42. Junior Hero Blues by J.K. Pendragon (YA, fantasy)
43. If I Fix You by Abigail Johnson (YA, romance)
44. Blankets by Craig Johnson (graphic novel)
45. Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone (YA)
46. The Glass Republic by Tom Pollock (YA, fantasy)
47. Brooklyn Burning by Steve Brezenoff (YA)
48. Between You & Me by Marisa Calin (YA, screenplay)
49. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (thriller)
50. Lizard Radio by Pat Schmatz (YA)
51. None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio (YA)
52. Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies by Lindsay Ribar (YA)
53. We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson (YA)
54. More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera (YA)
55. Kids of Appetite by David Arnold (YA)
56. The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner (YA)
57. A World Without You by Beth Revis (YA)
58. Spontaneous by Aaron Starmer (YA)
As I’m writing this, I’m realizing that this list doesn’t include any of the picture books that I read for my picture book class last spring, and there were a lot of those! The most notable was I Yam A Donkey by Cece Bell, which everyone should read at some point. I read a lot of YA, so maybe a goal for 2017 should be to branch out of that particular genre a little more!
Out of the 58 books I read, here are my top five from the year, in no particular order:
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
If you haven’t read this book, do it now. Not only is the story gut-wrenchingly beautiful, but the illustrations by Jim Kay will absolutely blow you away. Fun fact: Jim Kay also does the illustrated versions of Harry Potter!
Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin
I rave about this book to everyone; here’s my review if you missed it!
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
I have yet to read a Rainbow Rowell book that I haven’t loved, and Carry On was no exception.
We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson
This book was beautifully written, and my review almost doesn’t do it justice.
Spontaneous by Aaron Starmer
This one almost didn’t make it into the 2016 list, but it was a fun read, one I’ll post a review for soon!
In 2017, I’ll get to be exposed to a lot of new stuff in the children’s and YA realm, as I’ll be working for Booklist, so I’m super excited to see what this year will hold! Here’s to branching out and reading something new in the new year!