Smugglivus this year

I am so behind in checking out the Book Smuggler’s Smugglivus guest posts!

But here are the ones that stand out to me so far:

FIVE BOOKS I READ IN 2017 ABOUT NICE PEOPLE TRYING THEIR BEST, from Jenny Hamilton.

A perfect theme to catch my eye!

Hamilton says, “In a year where the world has been so much on fire that California has been literally on fire, I’ve been on the hunt for books that make me feel comfortable and happy—not as easy a search as you might imagine!…here are five books I read this year that prioritize kindness and connection.”

Then she lists five books I’ve never heard of, one of which sounds like I would definitely enjoy it — Thorn, Intisar Khananim which is “a retelling of the Grimm fairy tale “The Goose Girl,” and like all of Khanani’s books, it offers characters who always, always try to choose light, no matter how dark their worlds seem.” The others include literary and romantic comedy, but the SF title, Mars Evacuees, also sounds good.

I would add that for “books that prioritize kindness and connection” — pick up Murderbot: All Systems Red if you haven’t already. The kindness and decency of the secondary characters is what draws the Murderbot into defending them even though it is normally completely indifferent to its clients, so that characterization is crucial to the plot. But those qualities also make this novella particularly appealing. I’ve read it three times already.

Also, here’s a post: 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PRISONER, by Paul Weimer.

I haven’t thought about The Prisoner in ages, but Paul clearly has:

2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the release of one of the most interesting, convoluted, complex and controversial shows in television history. Filmed in 1966 and released in 1967, The Prisoner proves to still be one of the most iconic shows of genre television, and an inspiration and landmark for genre television ever since….

Click through if you were or are a fan of The Prisoner.

And then there is this post:

10ISH FAVORITE BOOKS – A SMUGGLIVUS LIST BY RACHEL NEUMEIER

As you may gather, I found it tough to pick out just ten. The list I put together for Smugglivus has a very definite history theme, which I didn’t see coming to start with but eventually decided to explicitly run with. It does surprise me a bit how many of my top picks for 2017 have some historical component to them.

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