2016 on Goodreads

Goodreads Year in Review

by Various

You've probably found your way to this page because you follow reviews here on goodreads. Whether or not you've had time to write your own reviews, here's a chance to review your entire 2016 reading and post it under this title so that others can see what your reading year was like. Together, all the reviews of 2016 on Goodreads should make an interesting and varied catalogue of books to inspire other readers in 2017.

For those of you who don't like to add titles you haven't actually 'read', you can place 2016 on Goodreads on an 'exclusive' shelf. Exclusive shelves don't have to be listed under 'to read', 'currently reading' or 'read'. To create one, go to 'edit bookshelves' on your 'My Books' page, create a shelf name such as 'review-of-the year' and tick the 'exclusive' box. Your previous and future 'reviews of the year' can be collected together on this dedicated shelf.

Concept created by Fionnuala Lirsdottir.
Description: Fionnuala Lirsdottir
Cover art: Paul Cézanne, Still Life with Onions, 1896-1898
Cover choice by Kalliope and Matt, graphics by Jayson

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Essays, Books About Books, Audiobook, Unfinished

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2016

About the author

Various is the correct author for any book with multiple unknown authors, and is acceptable for books with multiple known authors, especially if not all are known or the list is very long (over 50).

If an editor is known, however, Various is not necessary. List the name of the editor as the primary author (with role "editor"). Contributing authors' names follow it.

Note: WorldCat is an excellent resource for finding author information and contents of anthologies.

Reviews

[Emily May · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my most FAQ of 2016 was "how do you read so many books?" Maybe the 9-page count ^ has something to do with it XD

2016 has been a real mixed bag of highs and lows for me, both with books and in "real life". This year saw the birth of my baby boy, and a more permanent move to the United States. But I also dealt with a cancer scare and, of course, there has been an increasingly disturbing political climate in both my home country and my current country of residence, as well as the deaths of many wonderful people.

I'm not going to sugarcoat it or turn it into a lighthearted joke: this year has hit me very hard. I know it has hit others a lot harder. Recent events have soured previously enjoyable places like Goodreads; the online atmosphere has become more poisonous. I sympathise with Anna's sentiments: something as simple as sharing my bookish opinions with other book lovers has become a daunting exercise. I triple check every review, looking for things that people might use against me. I don't know what there are more of right now: those out looking to anger and offend others, or those ready to be offended by everything they don't agree with.

A couple of years ago, I was angry at Goodreads and even joined alternative sites like Booklikes and Leafmarks, but I never felt like I wanted to leave. Not really. I was always desperate to get back to GR. This is the first year I've really considered it. The first year I've dropped offline for a few weeks and felt... relieved. But I plan to stick around for now. Beneath all the shit, there are a whole lot of wonderful people on GR. I have friends all across the globe because of this place. I'm not exaggerating when I say that GR has literally changed my life.

I hope 2017 will be better for all of us. Thank you to all the people who continue to make me smile and support different opinions. I'm sorry if I was a bitch to a book you loved, but remember always: They All Saw a Cat.

Now for the annual Emily Choice Awards.

Best Fantasy: Senlin Ascends and The Fifth Season (pub. 2015)
Best Sequel: Crooked Kingdom and A Torch Against the Night
Best Soft Science Fiction: We Are the Ants
Best Hard Science Fiction: Railhead
Best Mystery/Thriller: The Trespasser
Most Fun Book: My Lady Jane
Best Historical Fiction: Homegoing and The Wonder
Best Classic I Read This Year: East of Eden (pub. 1952)
Best Graphic Novel: Saga, Volume 6
Best Non-Fiction: Between the World and Me (pub. 2015) and We Should All Be Feminists (pub. 2012)
Best General Fiction: All the Ugly and Wonderful Things and You Will Know Me
Best LGBTQIA Lit: Bad Boy
Weird But Good: Saint Death

Others worthy of mention: The Passion of Dolssa, Every Heart a Doorway, The Rose & the Dagger, When the Moon Was Ours, Dark Matter, Still Life With Tornado, The Queen of Blood, The Midnight Star and If I Was Your Girl.

****

Death by Purple Prose: The Girls
All of the Cliches: Roseblood (pub. 2017)
Why I Rarely Read Romance: Blackhearts
I Am Fantasy, Not Romance (I Also Lie): The Crown's Game
Inspired by Tumblr: The Princess Saves Herself in this One
Meyer at it Again: The Chemist
Emo Teens Pretend to be Deep: The Graces
Hot Guy Gives Girl Self-Esteem: Holding Up the Universe
Why Call the Police When a Hot Guy Can Help Solve the Mystery?: The Outliers
Pretty Words That Don't Make Sense: Nevernight

Until next year...

[Brina]

Greetings and best holiday- whichever one you celebrate- and New Years wishes to all my Goodreads friends. This year I moved from being a stay at home mom primarily reading mysteries and fun books with my kids to a reader who reads a wide variety of genres. No longer do I make my weekly trip to the library, clueless as to what to read next. I attribute this to being active on Goodreads and to joining groups such as catching up on classics, the southern lit trail, and African American historical fiction. I have read more books this year than I can ever remember and am looking forward to even more fantastic reads next year. I don't know if anything can top 2016 both from a reading and personal standpoint as my beloved Cubs finally won it all on the week of my birthday. Much is in store for 2017 but, without further adieu, here are some of my favorite books from 2016.

Best middle grade kids books:
The Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library
Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics
Because of Winn-Dixie
The Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson
Crossover
Booked
Brown Girl Dreaming

Best mystery series:
Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus series

Best contemporary books:
People of the Book
Homegoing
News of the World
The Pecan Man
The Book of Unknown Americans
Into the Beautiful North
Calico Joe
The Japanese Lover
Another Brooklyn
Interpreter of Maladies
The G-D of Small Things
Miller's Valley
Fences

Best biography/memoir:
Sum it Up
Hank Greenberg: A Biography
Negroland: A Memoir
Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake

Best books made into movies:
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
Where the Heart Is
In the Heat of the Night
Serena
Casino Royale

Best classics:
Murder on the Orient Express
Gone With the Wind
To Kill a Mockingbird
Keepers of the House
In Cold Blood
Breakfast at Tiffany's
A Streetcar Named Desire
The Merchant of Venice
A Raisin in the Sun
Death on the Nile
Annie Allen

Best 2016 books that I missed but hope to read next year:
A Gentleman in Moscow
In Other Words- Jhumpa Lahiri memoir

Last book read in December:
Small Great Things

Best 2017 books I am most excited for:
Ministry of Upmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy
Julie Andrews memoir
New V I Warshawski mystery by Sara Paretsky

Best oldies but goodies:
Shoeless Joe
Moneyball
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent
House of the Spirits


Hoping that 2017 is an even better reading year for all!

[Jayson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every Rating & Review for 2016

Raging Heat by Richard Castle
(B) 75% | More than Satisfactory | ⭐⭐⭐ – 01/14/2016
Notes: Low stakes and washed-out, the story builds its final scene upon a muddy ground of gory violence and hurt feelings.

Driving Heat by Richard Castle
(B) 74% | More than Satisfactory | ⭐⭐⭐ – 01/30/2016
Notes: Promises personal but ends up pedestrian. It's a convoluted story driven by paranoia, street chases and plot retreads.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
(A-) 83% | Very Good | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – 02/07/2016
Notes: It's about escapism, lack, and how plausible suggestion autocorrects figments into memory and strangers into circles.

Disraeli or The Two Lives by Douglas Hurd and Edward Young
(B+) 78% | Good | ⭐⭐⭐ – 03/01/2016
Notes: Depicts Disraeli as a mythic trickster: a boundary-crossing mischief-maker, who by wit and cunning reshapes nature.

The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye
(B+) 77% | Good | ⭐⭐⭐ – 04/10/2016
Notes: It revels in period authenticity, though its heroes' progressive social attitudes feel too twenty-first century for the era.

Seven for a Secret by Lyndsay Faye
(B-) 70% | Satisfactory | ⭐⭐ – 05/30/2016
Notes: Cautious and wimpy, it's cloyed by retrospective moralizing: so delicately inoffensive as to be narratively ineffectual.

The Fatal Flame by Lyndsay Faye
(B) 72% | More than Satisfactory | ⭐⭐ – 06/29/2016
Notes: Secondary characters are mere objects of outrage or pity, vital insofar as they act out a narrative of moral correctness.

The Ice Dragon by George R.R. Martin
(B+) 76% | Good | ⭐⭐⭐ – 07/01/2016
Notes: A latter-day Grimm's tale, it's endearing and atmospheric, though its symbolism's peculiar and its message abstruse.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R.R. Martin
(A-) 82% | Very Good | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – 07/06/2016
Notes: It's about obstinate idealism, social mobility, and how knightly ambition means stumbling into other people's drama.

The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
(B+) 77% | Good | ⭐⭐⭐ – 08/04/2016
Notes: What energy there is in the latter two-thirds comes from illustrations, as narrative's meted out rough and piecemeal.

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
(B) 72% | More than Satisfactory | ⭐⭐ – 08/25/2016
Notes: There's meaning to be taken from its final few chapters, though the journey there is tiresome, plodding and colorless.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts 1 & 2 by John Tiffany and Jack Thorne
(B+) 79% | Good | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – 08/28/2016
Notes: All the charm of the originals, but too steeped in revisiting previous storylines to be much more than good nostalgia.

Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore
(A) 85% | Extraordinary | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – 08/30/2016
Notes: A discomforting, audacious book that compels re-readings and focused, lingering looks at specific pages and panels.

Nightwing: Ties That Bind by Dennis O'Neil and Alan Grant
(B) 74% | More than Satisfactory | ⭐⭐⭐ – 09/03/2016
Notes: Disposable, unambitious and lazy, its paper tiger villains may as well be cardboard standees for all the fight in them.

Nightwing: A Knight in Blüdhaven by Chuck Dixon
(B+) 78% | Good | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – 09/05/2016
Notes: Art full of youth and whimsy, but so stylized that action scenes require Magic Eye levels of perception to break down.

Nightwing: Rough Justice by Chuck Dixon
(B+) 77% | Good | ⭐⭐⭐ – 09/09/2016
Notes: It's about the uncertain in-between of transition: looking at liminality through fear, introspection and transfiguration.

Nightwing/Huntress by Devin Grayson
(B) 75% | More than Satisfactory | ⭐⭐⭐ – 09/12/2016
Notes: Its romance gimmick makes for fun dialogue, but the story's murder mystery is about as riveting as elevator Muzak.

Nightwing: Love and Bullets by Chuck Dixon
(B+) 79% | Good | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – 09/15/2016
Notes: Edgier, more violent plot elements clash against its cartoonish art style, but define the tone and personality of its city.

Nightwing: A Darker Shade of Justice by Chuck Dixon
(B+) 76% | Good | ⭐⭐⭐ – 09/18/2016
Notes: Made up of crossovers, debuts and plotline setups, it lacks autonomy and has the ancillary feel of a companion book.

Nightwing: The Hunt for Oracle by Chuck Dixon
(B+) 77% | Good | ⭐⭐⭐ – 09/21/2016
Notes: It's about assumed identities, short-term team-ups, and how visual cues and character reveals redefine relationships.

Nightwing: Big Guns by Chuck Dixon
(B+) 78% | Good | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – 09/25/2016
Notes: Arguably self-derivative: two stories each debut a red-clad villainess on a murder spree, fueled by family vengeance.

Nightwing: On the Razor's Edge by Chuck Dixon
(B+) 77% | Good | ⭐⭐⭐ – 09/29/2016
Notes: Wherein big names play bit parts, and its lead villain's formidability lies in besting hitherto ineffectual henchpersons.

Batman: Hush by Jeph Loeb
(A-) 81% | Very Good | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – 10/06/2016
Notes: A grandiose, sprawling, byzantine epic, it's about exploiting vulnerabilities and the tactical manipulation of memory.

Batman: Death and the Maidens by Greg Rucka
(B+) 76% | Good | ⭐⭐⭐ – 10/13/2016
Notes: Batman plays a passive, token, background role, flashbacks and visions drive the plot, while logic and clarity suffers.

Batman: Broken City by Brian Azzarello
(B+) 78% | Good | ⭐⭐⭐ – 10/19/2016
Notes: It has an Elseworlds feel, with Batman as a hardboiled P.I. in a noir world of bloody jaws, busted teeth and heavy rain.

Batman: As the Crow Flies by Judd Winick
(B+) 77% | Good | ⭐⭐⭐ – 10/23/2016
Notes: Though suitably Batman in tone and character, its convoluted, monster-centric, far-fetched plot feels very Scooby-Doo.

Batman: War Games Book One by Andersen Gabrych, Bill Willingham, Dylan Horrocks, Damion Scott, Randee Carcano, Devin Grayson, A.J. Lieberman and Ed Brubaker
(B+) 79% | Good | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – 12/01/2016
Notes: Accentuates Batman's malleability, like an oft-covered song, differently iterated in voice, mien, tone and appearance.

Batman: War Games Book Two by Andersen Gabrych, A.J. Lieberman, Devin Grayson, Bill Willingham, Dylan Horrocks, Ed Brubaker and Bruce Jones
(B+) 77% | Good | ⭐⭐⭐ – 12/14/2016
Notes: A consequential, albeit meandering, road to conclusion, beset with plot-holes, swerves and a sharp descent downhill.

Nightwing: Year One by Chuck Dixon
(B+) 78% | Good | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – 12/16/2016
Notes: Bright and optimistic, it's big on callbacks and takes the familiar path down memory lane over treading new ground.

Nightwing: Mobbed Up by Devin Grayson
(B) 74% | More than Satisfactory | ⭐⭐⭐ – 12/18/2016
Notes: Built on clichés and self-loathing, it has the twists and turns of a side-scrolling beat-'em-up, but without the direction.

Nightwing: Renegade by Devin Grayson
(B) 75% | More than Satisfactory | ⭐⭐⭐ – 12/20/2016
Notes: Juvenile and disjointed, it carries out its gimmick by half-measures, and feels small potatoes next to its own epilogue.

Batman: Under the Red Hood by Judd Winick
(A-) 82% | Very Good | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – 12/28/2016
Notes: Full of snark and raw emotion, it's a kind of Coriolanus tale, and plays variations on themes of betrayal and salvation.

[Michael Finocchiaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic year for reading for me. I started reading some classic Batman and Daredevil comics (and keeping up with TWD, Saga, Low, Descender, and Rick and Morty in graphic novels) before a long phase of baroque/classical/romantic composers' biographies which led me to a huge transformation of how I listen to music. I especially loved biographies about Bach, Haendel, Mozart and Beethoven.

I finally finished (and loved) Infinite Jest and went on to digest nearly all of Bellow, all of Pynchon, lots of DeLillo, Cormac McCarthy, Updike, and Roth - all new writers for me to discover. I also started reading a lot of recent Pulitzer and Man Booker prize winners and found some I loved and some I hated. More recently, I have been reading about Rome (Gibbon), WWII (Atkinson and Malaparte) and started diving in the incredible Nobel-winning universes of Mario Vargas Llosa and Orhan Pamuk. So much to read and so little time.

Another high point was becoming active on GR - I wrote 400+ reviews over about 4 months and loved meeting so many brilliant and creative people (who graced me with 1000s of likes for which I thank all of you!) . What a difference from fake news on FB, management bullshit on LI and depression on "real news". You all have helped me become a better reader and inspired me to write. I hope to finish my first book early next year so THANK YOU!

Happy Holidays to all and raise a glass to more amazing reading and exchanges in 2017! As my friends say in Helsinki, nostetaan malja!

Favorites for 2016:
Best Book I finally finished: Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
Best book I discovered via a friend: A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
Favorite Writer that I discovered: Thomas Pynchon (but also Philip Roth)
Favorite Classical Biography: Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician by Christian Wolff and Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph by Jan Swafford
Best Rock-n-Roll Biography: When Giants Walked the Earth by Mick Wall
Best non-Biography about Music: Play It Again by Alan Busbridger
Favorite Non-fiction: Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
Favorite Graphic Novel Series: Saga by Brian Vaughn and Fiona Staples
Favorite Re-Read: Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy and A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Favorite Anti-war Novel: either Catch-22 by Joseph Heller or Kaputt by Cuzio Malaparte
Favorite Kid's Book: Billionaire Boy by David Williams
Favorite Classic: Purgatorio by Dante
Favorite Series: Rabbit Angstrom books by John Updike or The Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy
Favorite Book I Read This Year Written before 1960: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison or The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow
Favorite Book I Read This Year Written before 1970: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller or Herzog by Saul Bellow or Rabbit Run by John Updike
Favorite Book I Read This Year Written before 1980: Rabbit is Rich by John Updike or Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon or Humboldt's Gift by Saul Bellow
Favorite Book I Read This Year Written before 1990: The Counterlife by Philip Roth or Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy
Favorite Book I Read This Year Written before 2000: Sabbath's Theater by Philip Roth or Underworld by Don DeLillo or Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace or Mason&Dixon by Thomas Pynchon
Favorite Book I Read This Year Written before 2010: Against the Day by Thomas Pynchon or Everyman by Philip Roth and My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
Favorite Book I Read This Year Written since 2010:
A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James or The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson or The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Longest Book Read: Mozart: A Life by Hermann Abert (1541 pages!)
Shortest Book Read: The Dot and the Line by Norman Juster (80 pages but fantastic :) and Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville (81 pages)
Best Collection of Short Stories Read: Licks of Love by John Updike and Goodbye Columbus by Philip Roth
Best Book of Poetry Read: Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
Authors I Discovered and could not get enough of: Saul Bellow, John Updike, Thomas Pynchon, Philip Roth, Donna Tarrt, Curzio Malaparte, Mario Vargas Llosa, Marlon James, Orhan Pamuk
Nobel Winners Read: Saul Bellow, Orhan Pamuk, Mario Vargas Llosa
Pulitzer Winners Read: Adam Johnson, Saul Bellow, John Updike, Philip Roth, John Kennedy Toole, Anthony Doerr, Donna Tartt, Michael Chabon, Edward P Jones, Cormac McCarthy, Junot Diaz, Jennifer Egan, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Rick Atkinson, Jared Diamond
Worst Book Read in 2016: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr and Zero K, Players and Ratner's Star by Don DeLillo

For 2017, I want to finish Gibbon's The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Fox's Augustine: Conversions and Confessions, Sebag's The Romanovs, On the Shoulders of Giants edited by Stephen Hawking, more by Roth, more earlier Pulitzers and more writers outside the US (Vargas Llosa, Javier Marias, Knausgård, etc). I also want to read Shakespeare's plays again...might come in handy given the Macbeth-ish period of history we are entering into...

[Elyse Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't choose to write any comments when Goodreads introduced this new feature at the end of 2015. Immediately after reading a couple of my friends comments- which were enjoyable.....I felt satisfied. Many of their favorite books were my favorite books - so I didn't feel any burning desire - need - or pull to add anything more.
I have something to share this year.

At the bottom of the page you'll see a list of books I read - not all - but books I'm REALLY GLAD I READ!!! I enjoyed every book I've posted on this page - for different reasons -- ( I'm sure I forgot a few others to boot) --but this was a wonderful year of reading for me!

THE SOMETHING I WANT TO SHARE.........
I love Goodreads and all that it has to offer. I like the freedom this site provides for readers - lovers of books - to participate in ways that work for them. We have very few rules --and the rules we do have are the rules we should have learned in kindergarten
anyway. So....many thanks to the people over-seeing this place...creating the best book site - my personal favorite site period.

For the past few years -My book reviews have become a steady incline in length and time invested. Time spent on this site has increased. I've had a great time -- and am thankful for the many wonderful and varied experiences with this community.
I want to continue to have a great time next year, also, by taking more of a back seat.
I'm redesigning my participation for 2017 a little differently for myself.
So... if things look different from me - it's because things are going to be different.

These are a few of the basic changes I'm making:
.....I'm basically retiring from writing reviews. At the start of 2017...I will no longer write
a long review for ANY book!!! My limit will be 3 sentence reviews... or less.

.....Authors, publishers, can no longer expect me to write more than 3 sentences of an advance reader book. It's their choice if my 3 sentences are valuable enough to advance me early books.

So ... that's the basic change -removing myself from being a major reviewer.

I apologize to friends if I have not returned mail - missed mail - and not liked your reviews often enough. It's never personal.
If EVER--- any friend has a review you sincerely want me to read,
ASK ME. I'll be delighted!!!

We each have busy lives - perhaps complicated lives -
Some of my friends deal with health issues - or are busy with kids - stressful jobs- or
have Financial Concerns- or relationship issues -
Or have unfulfilled desires - bucket lists of dreams.
I have the respect for other people's lives. At times I haven't respected my own as I have a others
I want to treat myself in the same way, I have often treated complete strangers: as a
priority.....in other words: "I count". So .. I'm creating a little more 'free play time' for myself next year.

Reading adds comfort to me. Goodreads is an extension of pleasure - a private satisfying 'alone time' .....pleasure to connect with friends here!!!!
At the same time.....
I feel more powerful when I remember --I get to choose how much or little I want to participate.
So-- if I don't return mail for weeks - or respond to comments - either forgive me - or stop leaving comments! lol

I do adore this community!
Wishing each of you a peaceful - joyful - New Year


Books I VERY MUCH enjoyed in 2016

This road I ride
Hag-Seed
Balls
Desperation road
Siracusa
Killing Time
A Gentleman in Moscow
The Nix
Valley of the moon
Idaho
Heroes and Frontier
Entwined
Before the Fall
Homegoing
Highly a Illogical Behavior
Scary old sex
The Course of Love
Nutshell
Mischling
Here I Am
Commonwealth
Small Great Things
Liva Lone
History of Wolves
Desperation Road
Christodora
The Girls
The Summer that Melted Everything
The Unseen World
The Gustav Sonata
The Girls in the Garden
The Snow Child
To the Bright Edge of the World
Fredrik Backman
Hot Milk
Lilac Girls
The Bear and the Nightingale
The Animators
The Most Dangerous Place on Earth
Moonglow
Itche & Ari
IQ
The Mother's
The Trespasser
The Wonder
The Angel of History
Bright Air Black
The House of Silence
The Trophy Child
Harmless Like You
Setting Free the Kites
Difficult Women
Eveningland stories
The Clay Girl
A Woman Looking At Men looking At Women
The Fortunes
Dragon Springs
All the Ugly Wonderful Things
Flannery - teen
Black Widow - thriller
Coulrophobia & Fata Morgana -stories
Mamaleh Knows Best
My Last Continent
The Virginity of Famous Men
The Book of Esther
My Name is Leon
Moonstone
The Vegetarian
My Father Before Me
Dancers After Dark -art book
The Girls
Zero K
Perfume River
Imbeciles
Lions
The Fat Artist and Other Stories
Miller's Valley
The Women In The Castle
The Fall of Lisa Bellow
The Guest Bed
Sea Change - children's
Year of Wonder
Long Man
A Separation
Hillbilly Elegy
At Her Majesty's Request
One True Loves
Gloaming
Like Family
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating
Multiple Choice
Dear Mr. M
The Glorious Heresies
All Stories Are Love Stories
The Atomic Weight of Love
The One Man
The Pecan Man
Lillian Boxfish takes a Walk
Swimming Lessons
And The Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer
The Signal Flame
Nine Folds Make A Paper Swan
Lucky Boy
News of the World
Next Year, for sure
Woman No. 17
White Fur
In the Land of Armadillos
My Struggle: Book Five
Our Souls
Best Place on Earth
Hot Little Hands
Two Family House
Tsar of Love and Techno
The Guest Room
The Waiting Room

[Val ⚓️ Shameless Handmaiden ⚓️]

Oh 2016..how do I love/hate thee?

Let me count the ways.

Several people asked me if I planned on doing one of these "Year in Review" deals so I figured, why not?

I have no clue what to write here really...so I figure...

Fuck it.

I'm just gonna let it ride with some stream of consciousness ish and offend some people, (since that seems to happen with anything I write these days), no?



So let's begin.

*
*
*

2016 has been one FUCKED UP year for the ages, has it not?

On the social front...

Political correctness has become so goddamned pervasive that it's stifling, really.

If you say ANYTHING at all these days, you get raked across the coals by every self-righteous hypocrite who thinks they are automatically more brilliant and SMARTER than you because they drink artisan coffee and wear black rimmed glasses they don't even need.

On the political front...

The US presidential election...WOW. I have no words.

In a time of what - for so many - is filled with abject fear, uncertainty, and general disillusionment in our government and country as a whole - I just feel even further shocked and saddened by how much hypocrisy, judgement, and just plain HATE that this process has brought out in so many.

I know lifelong friends and FAMILIES that have been torn apart as a result of the vilification caused by this election - on ALL sides.

This is NOT a statement for or against any particular political view.
This is just me saying the whole thing just sucks ass.

So please don't ASSUME you know anything about my political stance and start calling me a racist bigot.

Yes, that happened. On fucking GOODREADS.

I respect and believe in the equality of ALL races, religions, sexes, sexualities, and doggyness.

That's right. I said doggyness.

Because pugs are people too.

And if you identify as a gay female Hindu pug, more power to you.

I support you. Rock your puggyness.

I am just one of those people who doesn't like blasting my political, religious, and existential leanings all over the internet.

I don't do it on my personal social media platforms either.
Not knocking those who do, it's just not my jam.

Anyway.

All that said. I love my country. And I am scared of what the future holds for us - on EVERY level.

On the personal front...




NOT.

But really though...My husband had a huge change in the workplace (a GOOD change, although still stressful) that changed our lives quite a bit...

We bought a new house and moved.

And we got needlessly sued by our former landlords. (It's been settled. And we won, so fret not, but STILL)



On the goodreads front...

This new feed format SUCKS big brass blue donkey balls and I loathe it.

I seem to be getting trolled every day on the regular now and...it's getting tired. And lame.

In fact, I'm sure THIS post will get heinously trolled.

Can't wait.



Also, the review bumping and shenanigans around here are out of control now (although vastly amusing in my opinion, I might add).

As a result of all of that, I find myself reviewing less and logging on less and less...

In the face of all this craziness though, I must say this:

*
*
*

Life is still pretty fucking good.

I am happily married to my best friend in the world.
My family is healthy and thriving.
I live in a pretty bitchin' country and city.

And.

I.

Still.

Have.

BOOOKS.

And all of you.

So thank you all for...being you.

Thank you reading my ramblings on books.

And thank you for sharing yours.

Ya'll make me laugh.

Which is my favorite thing to do.

So much love, my peeps.



I know I was supposed to make a list of my favorite reads of the year and all that.

But what can I say?

#YearInReviewFail

I wish you all the best and hope for a great 2017.

[Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ · Rating 3 out of 5]

► Writing this post puts a taste of failure in my mouth.
Of change.
Of disappointment.

Since 2014 I've been very active on Goodreads and the truth is, I've enjoyed these times so much. I mean, reading books, writing reviews, playing with Photoshop to create pictures, fangirling about books I love, ranting about fucking messes of books, what could be possibly better?

Yet I will remember 2016 for the year when I grew out of it. I could explain my sensation of not belonging here anymore with several reasons : my work in class that's been crazy as hell, my disenchantment in YA, the political mess which is our world.... But in the end, I think that I'm just tired of it. Tired of the likes, the competition, everything every book blogger says it doesn't matter even though it does, the trolls, the pressure Goodreads puts (or that I put) on my reading schedule, everything that made being goofy impossible for me anymore.

I don't want to.
I don't feel like it.

I'm tired of participating in the Big Forgetting of Real Life every time I write reviews. I'm tired of people saying that we shouldn't get political. Please, I'm forever doing that because of my work as a civil servant, I sure don't want the same fate for my anonymous alias in the internet. What is this fuckery.

Don't get me wrong, I admire people who are able to separate themselves from their real lives and from the news. I really do. Yet it seems that I cannot, not anymore. Perhaps it's because I already do that every day as a teacher. Perhaps it's because I feel so angry all the time that I don't see the point in sharing my point of view and adding to the shitty atmosphere. I don't know, but what I do know is this : every time I start writing something, I feel breathless. Every time I want to comment on something, I find myself pondering my opinion endlessly to not offend anyone or not coming across as a bitch.

I hate that feeling. I don't want to feel like that. Until it changes, I'm not coming back, as much as I miss the elation I used to feel when writing reviews, because THAT feeling? It's not coming back anytime soon, I'm afraid.

If you've read all that : thank you. Thank you for what you're all doing for the book community, thank you for sharing your honest opinions. Thank you. Never let anyone tell you that what you're doing is not worthy. You're amazing.

As for me, I'm telling you goodbye with some of my favorites from this year. See you soon, I hope <3

- Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
- Saint Death by Marcus Sedgwick
- All the Lights We Cannot See by Antony Doerr
- We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson
- The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison
- Split by Swati Avasthi
- Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King
- Genesis by Bernard Beckett
- A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab
- Glitterland by Alexis Hall
- The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
- The Crimson Crown by Cinda Williams Chima
- Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan Macguire
- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- In the Woods by Tana French
- City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennet
- The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

You can also check these books out :
- False Heart by Laura Lam
- The Scorpio Rules by Erin Bow
- Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys
- Rites of Passage by Joe N. Hensley
- Second Position by Katherine Locke

and of course Fitz - Fool's Assassin by Robin Hobb.

Note that I'm currently reading Half of a Yellow Sun and that it's probably going to end on that list as well :)

Bonnes fêtes tout le monde <3

PS. For those of you who want to contact me, I'll probably be around on twitter. Granted, I'll never be a twitter addict, but I do go there often to check on the reporters and friends I'm following <3

[Petra X · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally, after 4 years, no more vague talk of doing a review 'soon' but here it is the 15 books I rated 10 stars in 2016

Food and chefs:
1. Life, on the Line: A Chef's Story of Chasing Greatness, Facing Death, and Redefining the Way We Eat. One of the very best books of the 'chef tells just how hard it is and what a genius but still humble, they are' genre.
2. Beaten, Seared, and Sauced: On Becoming a Chef at the Culinary Institute of America Another chef-y book.
3. Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking I love Middle Eastern cookery (my taste buds have no politics) and this is one of the best books, also the pictures are close to edible themselves.

Adventure:
4. An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth. Everything you ever wanted to know but written beautifully.
5. Adrift: Seventy-Six Days Lost at Sea I especially liked this one as I had sailed some of
the same route that the author was shipwrecked on.
6.438 Days: An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea An illegal immigrant (into Mexico!) survives longer than anyone else ever has after being wrecked at sea. He now lives inland in El Salvador as far away from the sea as it is possible to get.

Fiction:
7. Memories of My Melancholy Whores In common with 438 Days at Sea, both authors say 'never give up hope'. This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read in my life.
8. A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James. A Booker Prize winner.I don't read much fiction. This was so good I read it in print and listened to it. The audio was even better.
9. The Book of Night Women Also by Marlon James and just as good as A Brief History. The author has a startling talent for getting into women's heads.
10. The Boy in the Dress. David Walliams is a traditional storyteller for 21st century children. He's a lot kinder than Roald Dahl and all his tales have morals. I loved the book and the film.

Memoirs and biographies:
11. January First: A Child's Descent into Madness and Her Father's Struggle to Save Her. Schizophrenia in very young children was believed to be impossible. But sadly, it isn't.
12. In Pursuit of the English: A Documentary Doris Lessing was a wonderful writer.
13.Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood Best book of the year. A 100 stars worth of genius writing, stories and a llife that is just like ours but not really, not in any way.

History:
14. My Father's Paradise: A Son's Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq. Life in a village from biblical times where Aramaic is still spoken.
15. The Children's House of Belsen. Survivors, little children, in a Nazi factory of death. A very unusual book.

This is all about why I never got round to writing this for four years.

Excuses Now what am I to do? I've thought of what I want to write for 2016 (I gave up on 2015 it was frying my brain) but I've got nowhere to write it since I filled this review up with excuses. So if I can't find anywhere to write it, I just won't bother. . I sort of feel a sigh of relief washing over me after that. It's like giving up a diet (for the night) and fetching out the half bar of chocolate gone solid in the freezer.

Procrastination I'm still at the thinking stage of how to sum up the books I read in 2015. I expect to come to a conclusion about what to write in a year or two or perhaps a little longer. It is hard to sum up a year of 100+ plus books some of which I've already forgotten either because they were unmemorable, I suppressed the memory of the sub-1 star crap or age has erased the details in much the same way as each wave sweeps away the ripples in the sand.

Waffle I'm much better at procrastination than reviewing. It's not just reviewing, it's anything, except eating. No hesitation there, can you tell? .

I"m going to start work on 2017 soon!

Review 12/2020

[Sean Barrs · Rating 5 out of 5]

2016 has been another great reading year!

I've read so much and my to read list has practically doubled. Every time I read a book I swear I find at least three I want to read. I will never finish my list; it perpetually grows, so all I can do is read as much as possible as I travel through life. But in the process I find even more niches I want to explore. Recently I’ve delved into Buddhism, though at the moment I have a stack of books on marathon running that need to be read. There’s just so much to read, and so little time. And that’s not even mentioning all the epic fantasy series’ I want to lose myself in……

So many thanks to those that like my reviews, follow me and leave me comments. You guys rock! Honestly, though, your support and encouragement keeps me writing. You guys are truly awesome.

Here are some of my 2016 highlights:

Sandman by Neil Gaiman- This completely blew me away. I’ve only read the first volume and The Overture, but I’m already in love with the series. I’m taking my time with it, and savouring it. Gaiman does something really special in these pages.



Stoner by John Williams- I love this book simply because it made me realise the true value of books. Stoner’s life is shit. When everyone he knows starts to die, when his marriage becomes a disaster, and when his carer turns into a catastrophe, he has one bastion; he has one refuge: books.



The Vegetarian by Hang Kang- This is a truly special book. It captures the attractiveness of freedom and the importance of being who you are in a world that dictates a sense of conformity. It’s a beautiful work.



Jane Austen- I read three Austen’s this year, and damn, that woman sure knows how to write. She is sarcastic, brutal and thoroughly brilliant.



And here are the bad ones

Harry Potter and The Cursed Child- This was nothing short of fan fiction. It is not Harry Potter.



Calamity by Brandon Sanderson- I didn’t think it was possible for Sanderson, but he truly fucked up here. This was the biggest disappointment of the year for me.



Truthwitch by Susan Dennard-This was dreadful. It is the epitome of everything that is wrong with modern fantasy.



Tess of the D'Urbervilles- I don’t believe in Tess. I can’t honestly believe that a character could be this weak and naïve. Hardy really wrote a shit storm of anti-feminist values in a supposedly feminist text.



What’s on the horizon in 2017?

So much. I have big reading plans. The Sandman series, for one, also everything written by Tad Williams and a bit more Terry Brooks and the Robert Jordan. I also want to delve into some Lovecraft. The Necronomicon has been sat on my shelf for years fairly untouched. Star Wars, the same as last year, is another thing I want to explore more of. But, I also have many texts on my university reading lists, so there’s going to be the usual random assortment of reviews appearing on my feed.

I’ve also starting writing for The Bookbag website, which means I have more access to ARCs. I can post my reviews here, but not until after three months of posting it over there. But it’ll be worth it to get those books nice and early!

And here's my full year: https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_i...

Happy New Year Everyone- I shall repost my review of my all-time favourite book of 2016; it’s going to be a hard choice though I have narrowed it down to two!

Carry on reading folks.

[Canadian Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been a wickedly fantastic year for reading. I decided early on I would gravitate to those GR friends whom seem to have very similar tastes. They did not let me down. Thanks to Goodreads, I've had fewer bad reads and am much more selective on what I spend my time reading.
Not only that, I've learned to utilize my library system which may be borderline abusive. Requesting they buy books, requesting if they don't carry them to have them transferred in from another city, putting holds on my holds! Because, hey, I had no idea until my GR friends enlightened me that not only was this doable, it's totally acceptable!
And ....I am buying fewer books now - only good ones thanks to my trusty GR list which I have even learned to export into an excel file. Viola!

So, here are my beloved & most memorable 5 star reads for 2016. (these are 23 of my 53 reads this year!)

Worthy of more *****
Island of a Thousand Mirrors - standout
City of Thieves - standout
What Lies Between Us - standout
Lilac Girls -standout
When Breath Becomes Air - standout
Did You Ever Have a Family - standout
The Narrow Road to the Deep North -standout
Good Morning, Midnight -standout
But You Did Not Come Back - standout
The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko -standout
A Gentleman in Moscow -standout
The House at the Edge of Night - standout
The Ballroom - standout
Homegoing -standout
Christodora -standout

Memorable
My Name Is Lucy Barton
A Yellow Raft in Blue Water
Miller's Valley
Ru
Dear Mr. You
The Expatriates
LaRose
Lions

Only 6 of my reads this year were rated at 3*. The remaining 27 were 4* and pretty darn good as well!

Maybe for 2017 I'll even try an ebook...or maybe not.

Thank you, thank you to my GR friends for making my reading experience so extraordinarily wonderful. Cheers to 2017 and sharing more GR!

[SueBee★bring me an alpha!★ · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ MY BEST READS IN 2016! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Wow another year has gone by! This was not easy. I tried to represent different authors. Several are book 1’s of what has become epic series.
Thanks for many great recommendations! Thank you all authors!

❤️ First Touch, book 1 of 2 ❤️

“Reeve stood still and set the world crashing around him.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


❤️ Betrayal, book 1 of 5 ❤️

“This man dominated every situation. He was a man who knew what he wanted and took it.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


❤️ A Bloody Kingdom, book 4 of 4 ❤️

“Me. Her. Everything…it equaled nothing.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


❤️ The Anatomy of Jane, book 1 of 2 ❤️

“It was like I was mesmerized by it… two grown men in love… two men fucking.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


❤️ Breaking Him, book 1 of 2 ❤️

“Breaking him until he was as broken as me was the only thing that would ever be enough.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


❤️ Pennies, book 1 of 5 ❤️

“You’re worth pennies, but I’ll make you worth fucking millions. However, what I expect in return will be unpayable.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


❤️ Balance, book 1 of 3 ❤️

“We were a revolving door of temptation and persuasion.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


❤️ El Diablo ❤️

“She was trying to save me when all I would do was destroy her.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


❤️ Broken English, book 1 of 2 (4) ❤️

“Then stop eyeballing me like you wanna ride my cock,” I said. “You were doin’ it all through English class.”
“I was not!”
“Liar. You even did it during detention.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


❤️ Marriage Games, book 1 of 2 ❤️

“I loved her. Wanted to love her. Needed to love her, and the second she kneeled, she’d be nothing to me.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


❤️ American Queen, book 1 of 3 ❤️

“The secret he keeps, the lies he tells.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


❤️ Enthrall Sessions Trilogy ❤️

“His stark beauty was the least of his eminence. His stature, that self-assuredness, that ability to handle anything or anyone was what made him so enigmatic.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


I need to include two 5-star novellas:


❤️ Sinclair, book 0.5 of 3 ❤️

“Nothing was out of place. Perfection was my favorite form of control.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


❤️ Naughty Boss ❤️

“For the record, per your email with the subject heading, ‘I WONDER IF HE EATS PUSSY’...”
He looked me up and down. “I do eat pussy”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


Best Books read in 2015: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...’

And in closing: My Year 2016 in Books, according to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_i...

THANK YOU to all my Goodreads friends from near and afar for another year of exchanging next read ideas and chatting books and heroes! xo

[Jaidee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hi everybody....Jaidee here !!

I am mostly going to use the format I did last year but since its still early in December it may be modified as I complete new books until the end of the December.

I mostly love Goodreads but am much less active due to work and personal commitments and I apologize for not reading all the reviews that I would have liked to have read. I have met some fabulous new virtual buddies this year and that makes me feel really happy.

Unfortunately I have also been unfriended by some people I really liked. They never shared why they unfriended me but they did. I am a bit saddened by this but I wish them the very best.

I read a lot this year. So far 72 books and I hope to finish a few more by year's end and I will adjust this as time passes. I read so much as life has been very challenging this year due to a number of factors but I am blessed to have my spirituality, my family, my friends, my work, my cat and my beloved sweetheart. And of course the arts....opera, music, film and those lovely things called books.

So let's get started :

Let's begin with the raspberries.

BOOK I WAS MOST AFRAID TO HATE :

Runner Up: The Grown Up by Gillian Flynn - a huge marketing sham not to mention poor writing and story

but the book I was most afraid to hate was the one I just tried to complete and is considered a European Modern masterpiece :

Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred Doblin - i tried for two months and just could not get my head or heart around this one !!

WORST READS OF THE YEAR:

Runner Up : -The Pianist in the Dark by Michele Halberstadt - 1 "mouldy sponge cake, rotting strawberries and spoilt cream!!" stars

Absolute worst: -The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
- made me want to lie on the train tracks....yes it was the absolute worst !!

MOST DISAPPOINTING READS OF THE YEAR (tie)



The Magic of Ordinary Days by Ann Howard Creel
- this could of and should of been a masterpiece and not the final three stars I gave it !!



The Proof of the Honey by Salwa Al Neimi
- i was warned about this one but of course I didn't listen !!

THE JEEZ LOUISE AWARD (first year for this one)
-for the book that I cannot believe exists !

Married to Murder by William Webb

MOST AVERAGE OF AVERAGE AWARD



Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
I would say that this is the book that divided the good and excellent from the fair and bad

REVIEWS I HAD THE MOST FUN WRITING

4th place fun Twinkle Twinkle by Kaori Ekuni

3rd place fun Happy by Chris Scully

2nd place fun Know not Why by Hannah Johnson

Most fun ever The Complete Grimms fairy tales

BOOK WHERE i WISH I WAS EDITOR

Storm and Silence by Robert Thier

-o how I wanted to get my hands on this lively and wholesome adventure romance !!

Now to the best of the best awards.

First to the Honorable Mentions of the Year which were all 4.5 stars:

- A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn
-Fearless in Tibet by Matteo Pistono
- The Turner House by Angela Fluornoy
- Moxyland by Lauren Beukes
- Beatrix Potter Illustrated Collection
- short story collection by Virginia Woolf
- the book of Q by Jonathan Rabb
- the Real Retirement by Fred Vetese
All the Rage by Courtney Summers
-Skinny by Ibi Kasilik
- My Brother's Secret by Dan Smith
- Little Wolves by Robert Maltman
- Nearest Thing to Crazy by Elizabeth Forbes
- The Saint's Mistress by Kathryn Bashaar
- Dilemmas of Desire by Deborah Tolman

The following books are 5 stars but did not quite make the top ten list

Honorable Mentions with High Distinction :

- Dark Rooms by Lili Anolik
- The Oracle Glass by Judith Merkle Riley
- Quicksand by Junichiro Tanizaki
- Christodora by Tim Murphy
- Illyria by Elizabeth Hand
-I Will Send Rain by Rae Meadows

Now we will do Jaidee's Top Ten Awards. . I will list the book and a phrase that encapsulates for me why the book is great.

(Drum Roll Please....)

10. Eileen by Ottessa Moshfeigh "repugnant, vile, fierce, exhibitionistic"

9. The Conversion by Joseph Olshan "moving, melancholy, resplendent"

8. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez "masculine, organic, decaying..."

7. The Death of Sweet Mister by Daniel Woodrell
"desolate, organic, heartbreaking" (tie )

The Heretic' Daughter by Kathleen Kent "illuminating, tragic, intricate" (tie)

6. The Orchids by Thomas H. Cook "dark, unfathomable, grotesque and repulsive"

5. The Immoralist by Andre Gide "satanic, provocative, deceptive"

4. The Silence in The Garden by William Trevor "elegant, understated, masterful"

Now to the Jaidee Medal Award Winners (strings are furiously playing in the background)

Bronze Award (3rd place -tie)

Outline by Rachel Cusk “pristine, refreshing, clear”

In Another Life by Julie Christine Johnson "soulful, elegaic, miraculous"

Silver Award (2nd place -tie)

Long Man by Amy Greene "earthy, transcendent, mind-blowing!"

Three Strong Women by Marie NDiaye "sorrowful, exquisite, anguishing"

Gold Award (Best Book of the Year)

The Metropolis Case by Matthew Galloway "imperfectly delicious, emotionally resonant and unapologetically melodramatic"


Whew.....best of reading to all of you in 2017 !!

[Mohammed Arabey · Rating 5 out of 5]

السلام عليكم، كل عام وانتم بالف خير Happy New Year
عام آخر انقضي، مع امنيات أن يكون القادم افضل واجمل

ودوما أبدأ بشكر كل الاصدقاء القدامى أو من كانت حسنة 2016 اننا تعرفنا عليهم بها
Million Thanks to all my Friends & Fellow Potterheads Worldwide for keeping my flame to write always on.

& the Oscar goes to;
&Soon


ولأن 20000 حرف فحسب مسموح هنا، لنر بإختصار حصاد 2016 ورحلاتها
ولنبدأ بـ

الرحلات التاريخية
بدأت 2016 برحلة تاريخية لأجواء الحرب العالمية الثانية عام 1940 في دراما كين فوليت الجذابة "شتاء العالم" بين حياة شعب المانيا المأساوية، والتغيرات السياسية والإجتماعية ببريطانيا وروسيا وأمريكا

وقبيل نهايتها كنت برحلة تاريخية رهيبة بعام 640 مع لعبة العروش والخلافة والفتنة التي أساءت للدين الإسلامي، و "رحلة الدم" لـأبراهيم عيسي والتصارع علي الحكم رغم انه حمل ثقيل، لمن اتقي

وانتهت 2016 برحلة تاريخية أخرى، لكن مع فانتازيا حضرية في لندن 1812 و"نادي الأيام السوداء" لـأليسون جودمان، عن وحوش متجسدة كبشر بيننا يشيعون الفحش والعداء والطاقات السلبية


الفانتازيا الحضرية


الفانتازيا الحضرية، ذلك الخيال المرتبط بعالمنا هو لوني المفضل، ومنتشر بقراءاتي خلال العام، فكان لي معه تجربة قبلها مع ريك ريوردان وكتابه الأول "بيرسي جاكسون" ورحلة ممتعة مع أجواء آلهة الأوليمب وربطها بعالمنا

وهي تجربة موفقة اكثر من "مجنوس تشيس" لنفس المؤلف ولكن مع الآلهة النرويجية
وتجربة أخرى مع آلهة المصريين القدماء، بالاخص القطط، في تجربة مثيرة لمؤلفة جديدة

والجزء الثاني من "بيت الآنسة بيرجيريني للاطفال الغرباء" يعيدني لأجواء الحرب العالمية الثانية في 1942 ولكن بعالم فانتازي مخفي بين طيات عالمنا

والجزء الأخير من "بيت الأسرار" لـكريس كولومبس ونيد فينزي، حيث يصطدم عالم الفانتازي بعالمنا الحقيقي

ولكن لا أنس ابدا سبب عشقي لهذا النوع، جي كي رولينج، والتي قدمت امتداد جديد لسلسلتها الاجمل هاري بوتر في "الوحوش المدهشة وأين تجدها" وعودة لعالم السحرة المخفي بين طيات عالمنا مرة أخري ولكن في نيويورك، 1926

ولكنها سيناريو فيلم وليس رواية، كما فعلت بنفس العام وسكريبت مسرحي شاركت فيه مع جاك ثرون كقصة ثامنة واخيرة لهاري بوتر "هاري بوتر والطفل الملعون" بروح مختلفة شيئا ما عن سلسلتنا المفضلة

وهذا ليس كل شئ، فقد قدمت بعضا من المعلومات الغزيرة عن عالم هاري بوتر في ثلاث كتب الكترونية من عالم مدرستنا الحبيبة
- -
هوجوارتس، والتي لا يمكن ان ينقضي عاما دون دخولها مرة أخرى بإعادة قراءة كتاب لهاري بوتر، بالاخص بصدور "هاري بوتر وحجرة الأسرار" بنسخة مصورة فاخرة


وإذا كانت كل سنة من الثلاث السابقة تشهد صدور كتاب لرولينج من سلسلة الجريمة التي تكتبها بأسم مستعار، فإن للأسف هذا العام يغيب كورموران سترايك وتحقيقاته

الجريمة والغموض

ولكن عوضا عن ذلك فقد كان لي تجربة أولى مع هيركول بوارو في لقائي الثاني مع أجاثا كريستي و "من قتل السيد روجر اكرويد" المدهشة

ومرة أخري معه ورائعة اجاثا "جريمة في قطار الشرق السريع" ورحلة للعشرينات بإثارة خالدة

ومن قطار اجاثا إلى قطار مؤلفة جديدة و"فتاة القطار" لبطلة مثيرة للشفقة واحداث غامضة

وجريمة أخرى ل، وائل مجدي عن قاتل متسلسل ومؤامرة كبري علي مصر

أما مارتين اميس فقد كتب روايته بالمقلوب..عن جريمة البشر بأنفسهم ورحلة بمدار القرن العشرين بحروبه وتدهور أحواله الاجتماعية والسياسية ومؤامراته


نظريات المؤامرة

ويظل للجريمة طابع آخر عندما يختلط بنظريات المؤامرة والظواهر الغامضة بعالمنا.. كما يحقق مولدر وسكالي في اكس فايلز ، وبتعاون 16 مؤلف في مجالات الرعب والاكشن صدرت المجموعة القصصية "الملفات السرية: لا تثق بأحد" و تحقيقاتها

ولكن هذا لا شئ بجانب نظرية مؤامرة متخذة الطابع الفانتازي ونظرية نهاية العالم المجنونة التي ابتكرها جيمس فراي في سلسلته لعبة النهاية وجزءها الثاني

وفي السلسلة الجانبية الخاصة بها ستسلط ضوءا أقوي علي شخصيات اللاعبين من خلال ماضيهم..وصور مختلفة من الحب..الصداقة..الأمومة والقوة

ولكن قام بجمع كل نظريات المؤامرة في رواية ساخرة مثيرة قوية أدبيا ومؤثرة، فهو أمبرتو إيكو و "بندول فوكو" والتي هيكلها السردي نظرية مؤامرة وحده


الرواية الأجتماعية المصرية

هيكل السرد الفريد الذي بناه إيكو يضاهيه فيما قرأت هذا العام الرواية الاجتماعية العجيبة لـنجيب محفوظ "حديث الصباح والمساء" وحكايات أجيال منذ أوائل القرن التاسع عشر وحتى سبعينات القرن العشرين

ورواية إجتماعية ايضا في السبعينات ورائعة عبد الحميد جودة السحار "الحفيد" الجزء الثاني من أم العروسة

لننحدر إجتماعيا لعصرنا الحالي مع محمد صادق و "هيبتا"، والتي قد يشفع لها هيكلها السردي المختلف المناسب لفكرتها

ولكن هذا لا يقارن بما يسمي برواية صادرة بالانجليزية بعنوان فرعي 'قصة من مصر' لا تدل علي تدهور اجتماعي بمصر بل وتدهور قصصي فج


الرواية الأجتماعية عالميا

بينما عالميا، رواية اجتماعية مختلط بها شيئا من الرومانسية الجميلة برع بها غيوم ميسو عن دور الهواتف الذكية في حياتنا و"نداء الملاك" ورحلة بين فرنسا وامريكا وانجلترا

ومعه ايضا في "فتاة من ورق" بخط اجتماعي عن الفرص الثانية، مكرر ولكن مع قصة حب مختلفة بها شيئا من الخيال وسحر الكتب

اجتماعي وشيء من الفانتازيا وسحر الكتب هي ايضا لعبة كارلوس زيفون وجزء "مقبرة الكتب المنسية" الثاني "لعبة الملاك" ورحلة لبرشلونة بأوائل القرن العشرين، ولكنه زاد جرعة الرعب هنا


والمنازل المرعبة

وبالحديث عن الرعب ، كان لدي جولات في البيوت المسكونة المرعبة، بدأت في "منزل السيدة البدينة" والتي احتجزت مصاص دماء في قصة قصيرة ذات عدالة شعرية جميلة لتامر ابراهيم

لقصة قصيرة أخرى مرعبة مثيرة وذكية عن منزل غامض آخر وطفل شيطاني لجيلين فلين

لمجموعة قصصية تبدأ في السبعينات وتحدث كل 9 سنين في "بيت سلايد" وربط الرعب بالخيال العلمي

لبيت في شارع عماد الدين، وحكاياته المرعبة من بدايات القرن العشرين وحتي زمننا الحالي مع حسن الجندي

لبيت ضخم كلاسيكي لشيرلي جاكسون وقصة نفسية اجتماعية مرعبة ومؤثرة

وهناك "بيت الاوراق"، تلك القصة الممتعة السخيفة الغربية ذات الشكل التجريبي السريالي العجيب

ويظل ذلك البيت المرعب في "مدينة سالم" هو الاكثر رعبا، فهو من قريحة ملك الرعب ستيفن كينج
والذي قدم هنا مدينة كاملة تتغير في عبقرية رمزية لتغير المجتمع بتوليفة غريبة لقصص مصاصي الدماء


بالحديث عن المدن المرعبة، قدم ايضا احمد خالد توفيق عودة رفعت إسماعيل في "تلك المدينة" مبنية على أسطورة حضرية أمريكية حقيقية عن مدن مهجورة تظهر انوارها ليلا


ديستوبيا وممالك الفانتازيا

والمدن أنواع، ليس مرعبة فحسب، هناك مدن فانتازيا مررنا بها، كالاسكندرية في عالم موازي وديستوبيا ممتازة لريتشل كين عن مكتبة الإسكندرية

لكن للأسف جاء جزئها الثاني بحبكة أضعف رغم ثراء عالمها وانتقالها بين الإسكندرية و روما ثم لندن

كضعف سلسلة "الجامحة" في الجزء الأخير من ديستوبيا مدينة شيكاغو

ومثل المدينة مثل مملكة ديستوبيا سلسلة "الملكة الحمراء" وحبكتها المكررة

وايضا مملكة ديستوبيا "تيرلينج" وبنائها المتخبط ونبرة الفيمينزم العالية الفجة أحيانا

ومملكة اخري في إعادة حكي ألف ليلة وليلة لكنها جائت جافة شيئا ما

وحتي رينيه اهديه في جزئها المتمم من إعادة حكيها لمملكة ألف ليلة وليلة لم يكن بقوة الجزء الأول

وإذا كانت فكرة المملكة الخيالية في "ست من الغربان" جيدة وحبكة مثيرة، لكن عابها الثرثرة والتطويل

بالاخص في جزئها الثاني مما أفسد شيئا من جمال الحبكة وذكاءها

ثم ديستوبيا بمركبة فضائية مستقبلية، كانت خيبة أمل أخرى رغم جمال نسخة الكتاب

أما الديستوبيا الغير مفهومة ولا الواضحة لستيفين كينج في شبابه كانت بداية غير موفقة لي بسلسلته برج الظلام

ديستوبيا مصرية ايضا كانت مخيبة للآمال مع أحمد خالد توفيق رغم تنبؤه ب"يوتوبيا" من 10 سنوات والتي بدأت بالتحقق للأسف

بينما نجحت ديستوبيا اخرى امريكية ممتزجة بلعبة كمبيوتر رسمها مهووس الألعاب والخيال العلمي ايرنست كلاين في "اللاعب الأول مستعد" وقصة عن الشجاعة والذكاء..والرأسمالية المتعفنة

وبين كل هذه المدن الديستوبيا وممالك الفانتازيا ظهرت "جذوة بين الرماد" كشعلة مختلفة بشخصياتها وأجواء ساحرة شبيهة -دون اعادة حكي- بألف ليلة وليلة


وغابات وجنيات خرافية

ومن الممالك والمدن، للغابات الفانتازيا وحكاية خرافية في غابة ومملكة اسطورية عانت شيئا من بطء سير أحداثها

ولفانتازيا في غابة اخري لكن باجواء معاصرة لهولي بلاك

بينما "إلي الغابة"، تلك المسرحية الرائعة والتي ربطت اشهر القصص الخرافية بشكل ذكي ورسالة مهمة فكانت من أفضل ما قرأت، رغم انها اول قراءة مسرحية لي

وبمناسبة المسرح، والغابات، فكان لي لقاء مع ملك المسرح لأول مرة هذا العام، ويليام شكسبير و "حلم ليلة منتصف صيف" وقصة رائعة بغابة ساحرة

لذا جربت معه ايضا رحلة مع "عطيل" في لعبة مكر ودهاء وانتقام

والاهم رائعته "ماكبث" ولعبة عروش بشكل ممتاز، مع شخصية حقيقية تاريخية لكن أضاف لها شطحات كثيرة ولكن مقبولة، لنعود للرواية التاريخية مرة أخرى


وشطحات أحمد مراد التاريخية في "أرض الإله" والتي لا تغتفر

ووليد الاشوح برحلة لأواخر القرن 19 عن لعنة وثأرا ما واكتشاف كنز فرعوني


وباكتشاف كنز، نصل لمحطة أخري متنوعة جدا هذا العام

الكوميكس

بدأت باكتشاف عم دهب لكنوز الإنكا

وتنوع أمريكي


وتاريخ ايراني

ومانجا ياباني

وفنية


وفي ال75، كتاب وليس رواية
روحانية ، تمس القلب

لياسمين مجاهد و"استرجع قلبك" ..قبل فوات الاوان


ومع امنيات بأن يكون العام القادم أجمل.. أثري وافضل في كل حياتنا
شكرا لكم
وكل عام وانتم بالف خير

محمد العربي
من اول يناير اللي فات
لأخر ديسمبر ده
2016

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

2016 on Goodreads was both the best of times and the worst of times for me. There were some great books, but it was also a year marked by tragic events that seriously affected my reading.

First, my mother died of cancer. (Writing those words still guts me: My. Mother. Died.) The ominous sign that 2016 was going to be a rough year was when my mom had a seizure and collapsed on Dec. 31, 2015, so I spent New Year's Eve and New Year's Day at the hospital with her. The book I carried with me was Jane Austen's Persuasion, which was a comfort during that extremely difficult time.

While mom recuperated, I read to her from the Little House on the Prairie series, which could usually make her smile.

After my mother passed, I read numerous books about grieving, which also provided some comfort. The ones I can recommend are This is How by Augusten Burroughs, Mourning Diary by Roland Barthes, and Wild by Cheryl Strayed (which I chose to re-read because Strayed had also lost her mother to cancer). Delia Ephron had some good essays on grieving in her book Sister Mother Husband Dog. A grief memoir I like but haven't finished yet is The Long Goodbye by Meghan O'Rourke.

In addition to war, terrorism, and the untimely deaths of beloved artists and performers (Prince died on what would have been my mother's 71st birthday, goddamnit as if that day wasn't already hard enough) another tragedy in 2016 was America's presidential election. That shocking event sent me searching for books to provide a better understanding of the issues. Some nonfiction titles I can recommend are All the Single Ladies by Rebecca Traister, The Notorious RBG by Irin Carmon, The Shallows by Nicholas Carr, and The Influencing Machine by Brooke Gladstone. (Two books that I need to read but I'm dreading because they will make me even more sad and outraged are Dark Money by Jane Mayer and The Unwinding by George Packer.)

If you're looking for inspiration in the year ahead, some titles I liked were The Book of Joy featuring the Dalai Lama, How to Be a Person in the World by Heather Havrilesky, Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes, Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin, and Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert (the last two were excellent re-reads).

I read more than 140 books in 2016, and there were a lot of good novels in that bunch. The notable standouts were Commonwealth by Ann Patchett, The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert, and All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Other novels I enjoyed were Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson, Travelers by Chris Pavone, Before the Fall by Noah Hawley, Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler, The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker, The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore, The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber, An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin, Belgravia by Julian Fellowes, In the Woods by Tana French, Brooklyn by Colm Toibin, and the Wolf Hall books by Hilary Mantel. Some classics I enjoyed re-reading were Howard's End by E.M. Forster, Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

2016 was also a great year for nonfiction reading. Some favorites were Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle Melton, Hero of the Empire by Candice Millard, Secondhand Time by Svetlana Alexievich, Walking the Nile by Levison Wood, Evicted by Matthew Desmond, John Adams by David McCullough, Lab Girl by Hope Jahren, True Crime Addict by James Renner, The Shepherd's Life by James Rebanks, My Reading Life by Pat Conroy, When Books Went to War by Molly Guptill Manning, Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself by David Lipsky, Down the Nile by Rosemary Mahoney, A Night to Remember by Walter Lord, One L by Scott Turow, and Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand.

Finally, I need to give a shout-out to the March books by John Lewis, which are three volumes of comics about his experiences during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. They are amazing works of social history that I'm glad I found.

Looking ahead to 2017, my goals are to catch up on some classics I haven't read yet, and to try to read more of the books I already own, as opposed to getting distracted every time a new book comes in at the library. (Ooh, shiny!)

Here's hoping 2017 is a happier and more peaceful reading year.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Instead of chatting about the books I’ve read this year I’d rather celebrate the people that bring me such pleasure each day, my circle of friends on GoodReads. Most of you I know only through your participation here. The following is a hodge-podge mix of thoughts about who you are to me. I’m not going to call you out by name though I’ll bet some of you will recognize yourself. I can’t possibly list all of you but each of you has contributed to my tbr lists in some way. When I see your profile pictures you bring a smile to my face and often make my day. Thank you each and every one of you for loving the written word and for sharing your love of reading with others and me on GoodReads.

Happy Reading today and everyday.

One of you reads mostly classics and gives me a goal to mirror.

A few of you use distinguish their stars by using the same number of beautiful words to describe their exuberance of what they’ve read.

Another makes me snork because her reviews are just plain down right funny but she never misses the mark of the substance of the book.

Many of you are standouts for all things mystery, crime and thrillers, adding so many books to my pile with their fine reviews. A few have become my go to people, providing a prescription for mayhem.

Someone includes such extensive background and additional notes that the review sends me off in other directions. I don’t know how you find the time to do this.

One reviewer who I have met chooses books with timely topics and evaluates them both critically and with insight. You should be a professional reviewer.

Another is a former librarian who rarely reviews anything but audio books, making it so much easier for me to choose mine, by rating the narrations.

A few who only write a sentence or two but manage to say so much.

Someone who smokes a cigar and has keen insight to the books they share.

The many genre experts, the sci-fi aficionado, the super-hero wonder who writes in two languages, the graphic novel reader with a good eye to design, the horror queen of library land, the historical fiction buff, the romance lovers, poetry, etc.

A California gal who not only reviews with her heart but shares so much of self and emotion of what she reads. You can find her reading everywhere, walking, exercising, in the sauna; you name it she’ll find a way to read.

A few who know the importance of posting picture books review to help out those of us who don’t read these as often anymore

The guy who dares anyone to post a spoiler on the pain of…

Several authors who not only are fantastic writers in their own right but actually read and share their thoughts.

The guy down south who always blows me away with what he has to say.

A man across the seas who writes so eloquently that I’m often afraid to review the same book he has.

A nod to the many wonderful people that I’ve met at Booktopias. You all are such voracious readers and smart and fun. I may only see you once a year or even less but our bond in books keeps the friendships alive.

The guy with the smile who doesn’t review but poaches and is so kind in his praise of others.

Many come from my state of Connecticut. I have collected you like gems.

One is a RA wonder. I met you once but hear your voice in many places. We both love wine. I don’t know how you keep your figure as you eat those yummy desserts. You gamble a bit and often take the gamble on new books. You are the standard to reach in providing Readers’ Advisory services even though retired now.

Librarians, library staff, soon to be Librarians, all of you are a treasure.

All the reviewing Carols who share my name.

The guitar woman...such a dear GR friend.

My friends that change their profile picture to fit the season.

Some have nifty formats that encourage my hook, line and sinker. Very clever people here.

A blogger or two or three or more who share their thoughts here and on their pages.

Sprinkle in a few podcasters too with lots to share and say.

My friends who edit, who translate, who read and write.

Mostly women but a few good men, my GR friends are the best.

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

December isn't over yet so there may be more books added to this list. I don't think I did this last year so I'm doing it now. My friend "Elyse" made me feel inspirational in writing my own feelings here and listing some books. I'm only going to list favorites or ones I loved because I have read almost 400 books. A lot being graphic novels and other short books. This opens the topic that I hate more than anything. I have posted on my profile not to ask me how I read so many books, because I'm home bound with medical issues but people tend to not read all of your profile or don't care so I'm not answering that question any more. I'm sorry if that offends anyone but that's just the way it's going to have to be.

I have met so many wonderful friends on here. Friends that we text on the phone now, friends that I have wonderful emails with. Some shout outs to Sarah, Erin, Donna, Dom, Jean, and Anne. If I have left anyone out I apologize because my brain isn't working properly right now. And yes, I do have that problem due to some of my medical issues.

I have also run into the trolls and mean people on here but luckily most of the second are gone and blocked and the others are just as easy to block. I have my settings on friend only can email me to cut down on a lot of things. Unfortunately, people can still be harassed on this wonderful site.

That being said, I'm not finding the new GR as user friendly. I have my homepage set to reviews only so I don't miss anyone, but I still miss people. I go back and forth between top friends and all friends and I still miss some of you so I apologize. Also, I try to like as many of my friends reviews as I can and comment when I can. I have a lot of friends on here and some seem to take offense if I don't comment on every single one of their reviews and I find this rude and hurtful. I can't do every thing. I'm only one person struggling with my issues and family stuff so I apologize if I can't write a generic "Great Review!" I would rather have time to comment on those that I have the time for and read the review and make my comment that way and be genuine about it.

Like some of my friends I'm going to cut down on my reviews, long normal reviews that is because I am having a lot of trouble with my medical stuff and trying to write a review. Trying to think of what to write on the review while I'm reading the damn book and that's not good for a happy reading experience. Some books I love to review and add my pictures and gifs that show some of my feelings. I love spending time designing things to put in my review, that is fun. It's a little disheartening how much time is put into these things and no one seems to care. So it's going to be a different year for me in a lot of ways. I can't sit and design and write a review that sometimes takes an hour or more to do because I'm also copying and pasting to my blog. Many times I thought of quitting all together but with some of the friends that sincerely love my reviews because they make them laugh or cry or in some cases tinkle, I want to keep going for them.

If I offend anyone for not writing the same "great review" on ALL reviews I'm sorry, I can't get to all of you. I mean I have friends that hurt me because they never like my reviews but like everyone else's so it's all the same thing I guess.

I haven't done netgalley in some time because once again, stress. I have about 500 books I own that I haven't read yet so that's going to be my goal for next year. AND I'm not going to let it be stressful. I read all kinds of different books and I thank the ones that like my reviews even if it's a genre they don't like. I'm particularly excited about my 12 + 4 book list I have added for next year in one of the groups I mod. It looks like a great list. I also have a 12 + 2 in another group for next year and it looks good too. Some of the books have transferred over because I have some tomes listed. "What was I thinking" Anyway, I do want to get through a lot of tomes next year and take my time. I'm going to try my best to do what I'm saying here because after a really bad doctor visit the other day I realized I can't do this much more. I had an emotional breakdown worse than I have had in a long time because of reading, mean people, health issues with my family and myself and I can't do it any more.

I want to get stronger relationships with those people that are dear to me on here and not worry about the fake ones. You are a wonderful group of people and this is the only place I come to on the net besides google + but that is because that is where I have my blog and I have some good friends on there too. I don't tweet, instagram, facebook any more, snapchat or whatever else is out there. Goodreads and google + is it for me. So I thank you to all of the wonderful people I have met and hope to still meet that love books as much as I do. I love you all ♥

NOW ON TO THE BOOKS (SOME BOOKS)

SOME FAVORITES IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER

1) Scythe My Review
2) The Serpent King My Review text
3) The Diabolic My Review
4) Heartless My Review
5) Gemina My Review
6) Pet Sematary My Review
7) Theft of Swords My Review
8) Empire of Storms My Review
9) The Age of Myth My Review
10) Out of my Mind My Review
11) The Count of Monte Cristo My Review
12) Up To This Pointe My Review
13) Nevernight My Review
14) A Thousand Boy Kisses My Review
15) The Unexpected Everything My Review
16) Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda My Review
17) Amy & Roger's Epic Detour My Review
18) Clockwork Prince My Review
19) A Court of Mist and Fury My Review
20) The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You My Review
21) I'll Meet You There My Review
22) The Name of the Wind My Review
23) Written in Red My Review
24) Heart of Ice My Review
25) Menagerie My Review

I'm hoping to add some of the books I thought were great to this list but I'm not sure if I'm going to have time for all of that because I have read many wonderful books this year! <---Wow, that was one big run on sentence!



Either way, I hope everyone finds even better books to read in 2017! Happy Reading ♥

[Manny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, it's that time of year again. Here are my prizes for books first read in 2016, split up by category:

New languages

I thought I'd see if I could read books in Russian and Italian - I did a couple of years of Russian at school during the 70s, and my mother is Italian, though she never taught me her language. How hard could it be?

Answer: Italian does in fact seem pretty easy, though so far I've only read a few children's books. Russian is considerably harder! I did however manage to get through a long chess book, Защита Алехина , and I'm sure it's improved my command of the language a great deal. More Italian and Russian in 2017!

German

I've been working on German for two or three years now, and I'm starting to feel more confident. I can read books for children and younger teens without difficulty, and adult books if I'm prepared to guess a fair number of words. For people who don't already know, there is some wonderful German children's literature. I think my favorite was Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer , which I'd barely even heard of before I found a copy on a Berlin bookstall, but there were several others that ran it close.

A big thank you to all my Germanophone Goodreads friends, especially Matt, who have been amazingly kind and supportive towards this newbie's efforts!

Scandinavian

We unexpectedly inherited a bunch of Swedish books from the aunt of a Geneva friend - he didn't know anyone else who read Swedish, so I was the lucky recipient. Thank you Gio! As a result, I finally got around to reading Ingmar Bergman's Laterna Magica , which was indeed just as extraordinary as I'd been led to believe. I have plenty more interesting Swedish books on the shelf! I only read one Norwegian book, but Pan was utterly brilliant. I must get back to reading Hamsun.

French

I read sixteen French books this year. The one I liked best was La carte et le territoire ; unlike many novelists, Michel Houellebecq seems to be improving as he gets older. I thought this was a wonderful black comedy, and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in the world of modern art. Soumission, the book that followed it, is even better.

English fiction

I didn't read a huge amount of English fiction, but Geoff finally persuaded me to pick up Against the Day . Geoff, you were right... it's as good as you said. It was the first book I read this year, and I was going to read some more Pynchon, but we're already in mid-December. Oh well... more Pynchon in 2017, I think!

Non-fiction

I read 26 non-fiction books - it's difficult to pick a clear winner, and I think I'm going to have to share first place between Helge Kragh's Niels Bohr and the Quantum Atom and Catherine MacKinnon's Towards a Feminist Theory of the State . The first one convinced me that I had to carry on with quantum mechanics; the second, that I needed to start on feminist theory. My 2017 list gets longer...

Special prize

If only more people had read Trump University 2010 Playbook , things could have been different. Anyway, you might want to take a look now. You can't say you weren't warned.

[فرشاد · Rating 5 out of 5]

اعتراف خاموش ژان ژاک روسو وار من

گودریدز و کتاب ها،
یه تعداد ناقابل خوندم ) بد نبود. میشد همینا رو هم نخوند )

بهترین ترجمه
هیچ ترجمه ای نبود که خوشم بیاد.

بدترین ترجمه
افسانه سیزیف رو با همه ترجمه های موجود خوندم. نتیجه این بود که فهمیدم هیچ مترجم ایرانی این کتاب رو نفهمیده.


گودریدز و آرزو
دلم یه ماشین تحریر کلاسیک نو میخواد. بجز اون، جهان به تمامی، زمین و زمان به تمامی و آسمان به تمامی.


گودریدز و نگفته ها
شبا قبل از خواب چایی میخورم و بیسکویت، این روزا اما فکرم میره سمت آدمایی که روزهاس چیزی نخوردن. و حتما سردشون هم هست حالا که بارون هم میاد. اینو نوشتم تا لاله سوخته به یاد آرد باز

یکی پرسید بهترین کتابی که توی عمرت خوندی چی بود؟
گفتم بذار فرض کنم بهترین کتاب عمرم رو هنوز نخوندم.

یکی پرسید، توی گودریدز چه خبره؟
گفتم این جا، جنبش شاید، اما جمنده ای در کار نیست زیاد.

یکی پرسید چرا اومدی گودریدز؟ مگه چشه بیرون؟
گفتم دو سال پیش اومدم تا به کسالت زرد تابستان پناه بیارم. شاید بخندد مردم بی لبخند.

یکی پرسید، افسرده ام، باید چه کرد؟
گفتم بیخیال باش داداش، زندگیتو بکن.
باز پرسید افسرده ام. چه باید کرد؟
گفتم انسان یعنی بقولی همون وظیفه، تجسد وظیفه، یعنی تنهایی، تنهایی عریان، و توان غمناک تحمل تنهائی،
گفتم انسان یعنی جهان رو به قدر وسعت و همت و فرصت خودت معنا ببخشی، حالا که زنده ای، بازیتو بکن. گلتو بزن. خوشحالی بعد گلت رو ابداع کن.

یکی پرسید کسایی که کتاب نمیخونن رو دیدی؟ چرا اونا شادن ما غمگین؟ چرا هر کی میخونه داغون میشه؟
گفتم اولا جمع نبند! من غمگینم؟
گفت نه!
گفتم مردگان، در شب خویش، از مشاهده بی بهره میمانند. گفتم دلت میخواد از مشاهده بی بهره باشی؟ گفت نه. گفتم پس هر جوری شده نذار امید در تو بمیره، ادامه بده تا ببینیم سحر چه زاید باز )

یکی پرسید نظرت درباره زندگی چیه؟
گفتم ما نیز زندگی را دوست داریم انگاه که برایمان میسر باشد. محمود درویش

یکی پرسید معنی زندگی تو چیه؟
گفتم تصور کن دریای خون متلاطم معلق در هوا!
گفت خب.
گفتم: خب من دارم توش شنا میکنم )

یکی پرسید تا حالا عاشق شدی؟
گفتم: ما نیز - روزگاری - آری، آری ما نیز روزگاری )

سخت ترین سوالی که امسال گرفتم
نیما، زیر یکی از ریویو هام نوشته بود، گیرم که خوندی، دیگه چرا ریویو مینویسی؟
دیدم راست میگه، رفتم توجیه کنم گفتم مینویسم چون ضرورت نوشتن رو در خودم حس میکنم، و توی دلم به خودم گفتم چرت نگو عزیزم. ولی مینویسم چون حس میکنم زیباتره. یکی گفت مینویسی چون نیاز به نمایش داری. گفتم اینم میشه )

یکی پرسید آدم چطور آدم میشه؟
گفتم بستگی داره چند بار مرده باشه. بعد از شکست عشقی، آدم میمیره، بعدش یه آدم جدید. ولی فقط با عشق نیست. گفتم من تا بحال چهار بار مردم. آخرین ‌ش با خوندن یه جمله از نیچه بود که فرو ریخت همه فلسفه ای که ساخته بودم.

یکی گفت انسان رو در یک کلمه تعریف کن.
گفتم اراده.

یکی گفت دوهزار تا دوست داری. واسه چیته؟
هر دوست، به نظرم امکانی برای مکاشفه س، هر دوست، ضربه چکشی است که به میخی میکوبه که به مرزهای هستی ضربه میزنه. ینی افق دانایی ت رو جابجا میکنه خلاصه.( جمله قشنگی گفتم )

یکی گفت احساس الانت چیه؟
گفتم آرامش مطلق. امسال هم همچون پارسال حتا یک ثانیه هم دچار استرس نشدم. با این که زندگی سخت بود ولی هیچ لحظه ای دلم نلرزید و کسی رو بیش از خودم قبول نداشتم ) سه سال پیاپی که پرم از آرامش و خوشبختی )


یکی گفت آگه خدا تو رو خلق نمیکرد تو هیچ بودی!
گفتم اولا نظر لطفتونه، ثانیا خدا برای خدا بودنش به ما نیاز داشت. ولی ما برای زنده بودن به خدا نیاز نداشتیم. اگرم منتی باشه، از سمت ماست نه خدا ) ثالثاً آگه خدا یا طبیعت من رو نمی آفرید توی تخیل خودم یه دنیای بهتر با یه طبیعت زیباتر و خاص تر خلق میکردم. چونان که التهاب بیان سراب را )

یکی پرسید چرا عکس نمیذاری؟
اومدم بگم هیچ عکسی نیست که بتونه منو توصیف کنه، دیدم خیلی نیچه وار و کهنه س، ( با احترام به نیچه و فلسفه تأویل و هرمنوتیکش که هرگز نفهمید نه تنها عکسش بلکه نوشته هاش و کتاب هاش و حتی خودش هم نمیتونه خودشو توصیف کنه ). ولی جوابش ساده س، عکس نمیگیرم به چند دلیل. اول دوربین با کیفیت ندارم. دوم سیگار برگ ندارم. سوم حس خوش عکسی نمیکنم. چهارم هم این که نمیخوام تصور شما رو خراب کنم )

یکی پرسید تفریحت چیه.
من درس میخونم بیشتر، وقتی درس نخونم کتاب میخونم. هیچ چیز رو هم به اندازه فوتسال و بازی رئال مادرید و لوکا مودریچ دوست ندارم. از بین رونالدو و مسی هم خودمو انتخاب میکنم. کتاب رو هم از سر لذت نمیخونم. همون اول آرزو میکنم کاش صفحه آخر بودم. تفریح دیگم اینه که بیکار که میشم و تنها با خودم حرف میزنم. مسائل رو تحلیل میکنم. تز فلسفی میدم و فکر میکنم که دنیا توی شیش هزار سال دیگه چه فرم و محتوایی داره. آگه داره. یه دوست خوب دارم که باهاش بحث سیاسی و ایدئولوژیک میکنم و اغلب اوقات هم حسشو ندارم. چایی نبات هم دوست دارم. نوشتن رو هم دوست دارم.

یکی پرسید توی رویای خودت، خودت رو چی تصور میکنی؟
گفتم رهبر دنیا. من روزی نیم ساعت برای جهانیان سخنرانی میکنم و خط مشی بهشون میدم )
اگرم یه روز نتونم، شب خوابشو میبینم )

سبک موسیقی و فیلم.
بتهوون رو دوست دارم و ریچارد واگنر. آگه این دو تا نبودن، موزارت و شاستاکوویچ هم خوب بودن. تروی رو صد بار دیدم. دوئل از اسپیلبرگ رو هزار بار، سنتوری رو هم زیاد، ولی کلا سینما رو نسبت به ادبیات، علیل میدونم. یه رمان رو میتونم با لااقل ده تا تصور و تخیل مختلف بخونم. ولی سینما میخواد بهت یه تصویر خاص بده. تخیلت رو کور میکنه. من به موقعیت دوربین اعتراض دارم ) من آزادی رو دوست دارم.

یکی پرسید از کی الهام گرفتی امسال؟
از نیچه، ولی آگه نیچه زنده بود، میتونست از افکار من الهام بگیره )

یکی پرسید دلت میخواد چه کتابایی بخونی؟
صادقانه بگم که دلم نمیخواد کتاب بخونم. تنها چیزی که هنوز نتونستم بهش بی تفاوت بشم اینه که یه کتاب بخرم و نخونمش. خوندنش هم برام مثل زهره. بقول نیچه کتاب خواندن کاری شرم اور است..

یکی پرسید به کدوم سمت پیش میریم؟
جواب دادم به سمت سقوط.
پرسید به آینده امیدواری؟
صادقانه بگم، نه. لااقل هشتاد سال از جامعه بودن فاصله داریم. توی توهمیم هنوز.

آوانگارد ترین حرکت سال
اول استتوس اخیر جناب افشار که خشم خدایان رو بر انگیخت ) تبریک میگم افشار جان )
دوم حرکت نون عزیز، که که علاوه بر خشم حضار, ترس خودش رو هم برانگیخت و البته باعث شد چند تا انفالو داشته باشه )

جالب ترین پیامی که امسال داشتم.
یکی مسج داده بود که آگه تا صد سال دیگه هم لایکم کنی، لایکت نخواهم کرد )
جواب ندادم بهش )

یکی پیام داد ناراحتم.
گفتم چرا؟
گفت چون لایک هام کمه)
رفتم دو تا ریویوش رو لایک کردم.
ده دقیقه بعد پیام داد که ای بمیرید همتون که کامنت نمیذارید)

شادترین اتفاق امسال
حدود هزارتا دوست محشر پیدا کردم اینجا امسال


آنفالو ها و آنفرندها
اولین آنفرند امسالم از طرف دوست بود. یه روز دنبال یه امضا بودم برای حرکت مدنی، از بین شصت چهل نفری که میشناسم فقط یکی امضا کرد. بقیه سکوت. اومدم دیدم مجله های همشهری رو از سایت حذف کردن و چندتا یی ناراحت بودن. یجا نوشتم که بابا این منش دموکراسی وار نیست. ولی خب دوست ظاهرا به دل گرفت. منم معذرت خواهی نکردم. ولی حالا از همین جا میگم، آگه ناراحت شدی، ببخش من رو. دل شکسته بودم اون روز )

دومین آنفرند از سمت معشوقه از یاد نرفته بود.
ولی خب جانا، تو آنفرند کرده هم خوبی )

یکی دیگه هم گفت بی‌معرفتی. و همین )

سال آینده
هیچ برنامه‌ای ندارم. دلم میخواد دو سه ماه چیزی نخونم.

بدترین کتابی که خوندم
جانانه شعر و جان زیبا از استاد اسماعیل خویی ) معذرت ولی واقعا بد بود )

گودریدز و زندگی
ام��ال یکبار تا استانه مرگ پیش رفتم. موقعیتی بود که شاید دیگه همه چیز تموم میشد . ولی خب هنوز زنده ام. دیدگاهم نسبت به قبل از اون اتفاق خیلی تغییر کرد. مدل کتاب خوندنم هم تغییر کرد. و مدل فکر کردنم.

گودریدز و اثرات
لاغر شدم امسال، بخاطر گودریدز، خدایا مپسند.

گودریدز و حقیقت
اینجا هیچکس حالش خوب نیست. گول نارنجیا و سرخیا رو نخورید )

پیشنهاد کتاب
خودخواه تر از اونی هستم که کتاب های خوب رو به کسی معرفی کنم ) آگه یه وقت چیزی پیشنهاد کردم بدونین خیلی مزخرف بوده )

تئاتر و سینما
برای سومین سال متوالی سینما نرفتم. کنسرت هم نرفتم. موزه هم نرفتم. فقط یه بار رفتم پارک شهر، برای فلامینگو ها دست تکون دادم، همشون یه لنگه پا خواب بودن. سوت یواش زدم یکیشون یه چششو باز کرد. برگشتنی از کنار سنگلج رد شدم. دیدم شلوغه، آقاهه گفت برو داخل نمایش آزاده. نرفتم ) ولی خب حرف اون آقا رو قبول دارم. نمایش آزاده )

برای آینده
هنوز پرواز در تداوم است...

برای آینده
ماه پشت ابر نمی مونه...

پی نوشت
از همه دوستان گودریدز ممنون و از همه چیزهای خوب یاد گرفتم. هر روز اینجا دیدم رو به جهان تغییر داد. مطلبی که نوشتم رو جدی نگیرید. خواستم یه چیزی بنویسم ولی یچیز دیگه از اب در اومد.
اونی که مشخصه اینه که راه باز هست تا نتیجه هر کتابی رو که میخونی نشون بدی.
بودن در اینجا برای من حسی از افتخار رو به همراه داشت. و داره . هر دوستی چراغی از اینده رو برای من روشن کرد و هر نقدی که خوندم من رو از بخشی از تاریکی و ظلمت بیرون کشید.
زندگی هنوز ادامه داره و راه سخت و ناهموار. سپاس از همه دوستان که من رو تنها نگذاشتند. و باعث شدن حس کنم که زندگی همچنان زیباست.

[Kemper · Rating 4 out of 5]

2016 may have sucked ass for the world in general, but it was actually a great year for me in terms of reading. And isn’t my happiness the really important thing?

The usual suspects delivered in all the ways that I’ve come to expect from them. John Sandford provided new Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers thrillers with Extreme Prey and Escape Clause. My other two book a year guy is Ace Atkins, and he added to his trend with Slow Burn and The Innocents. The authors who make up the James S.A. Corey name also continued to pay off the gamble I took by starting an unfinished series by once again keeping to their established schedule and publishing a new Expanse novel Babylon’s Ashes. Megan Abbott showed off her unique brand of suburban noir in You Will Know Me, and Richard Russo cooked up a great sequel to an earlier book of his I loved with Everybody’s Fool. Joe R. Lansdale’s creations Hap & Leonard got their own TV show as well as the fun new adventure Honky Tonk Samurai.

I also had good luck in trying out new authors. Good Morning, Midnight was a fantastic end of the world tale with heart by Lilly Brooks-Dalton. The Poison Artist from Jonathan Moore was one of the most trippy and atmospheric thrillers I’ve ever read. We got a new modern version of Sherlock Holmes with IQ by Joe Ide. J. Kent Messum was nice enough to hook me up with copies of his sharks-vs.-junkies novel Bait as well as his sci-fi thriller Husk which I’m in the middle of at year’s end. I knew Noah Hawley from his work writing and producing the excellent TV version of Fargo, but he proved to also be a great novelist in Before the Fall.

Thanks to the inspiration of Netflix and the movies I put my Marvel Unlimited subscription to good use by finishing up Mark Waid’s run on Daredevil as well as reading others like Jessica Jones in Brian Michael-Bendis’Alias, Doctor Strange in The Oath, and Daniel Way’s Deadpool. I also also enjoyed some of the that Marvel/Disney synergy with a bunch of the new Star Wars comics. In non-Marvel funny books I also kept up with the latest Saga trades from Brian K. Vaughan.

On the non-fiction side of things I got swept up in Hamilton-mania (Thanks, Sesana!) and read the excellent biography by Ron Chernow that inspired the musical. Two critics used the hook of trying to compile a list of the greatest 100 shows of all time in TV - The Book which helps explain why I can’t keep up with this golden age of television. One of the first books I read this year was The Confidence Game which examined the psychology of why people are such complete suckers for bullshit artists, and that turned out to be really helpful when I was trying to figure out what happened when November rolled around.

If I was handing out a MVP trophy for my reading year it’d go to Lawrence Block, and I’d probably throw in a lifetime achievement award, too . He continues to make excellent use of e-books to release old pulp novels like Cinderella Sims and new short stories like Keller’s Fedora. Hard Case Crime published the long lost Sinner Man that Block discovered by accident, and he’s got the excellent novella Resume Speed coming out soon. Plus, I checked out another one of his Bernie Rhodenbarr books, and I’ve got a new collection of short stories he edited on deck.

The best read of the year came in the form of two books that made up one historical fiction which added a lot of humanity to legendary figures of the Old West. Doc and Epitaph from Mary Doria Russell were not only entertaining stories but had me thinking a lot about fact vs. fiction when it comes to American myths.

The biggest disappointments came from the King family. Stephen finally gave up trying to make his underwhelming Bill Hodges trilogy work as just mystery thrillers and added a supernatural element to the final book End of Watch, but it was too little too late. His son Joe Hill showed that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree by producing The Fireman which was as bloated, unfocused, and generally messy as his dad’s worst books. But of course, both of those books won Goodreads Choice Awards so they were among the many pieces of evidence we got this year that proves once and for all that democracy doesn’t work.

However, it wasn’t all bad on the King front. I started re-reading a bunch of his older work and rediscovered gems like Misery and The Long Walk. I also reinforced my opinion that The Tommyknockers shows that it’s a good thing Uncle Stevie got off the nose candy. I also worked in a re-read James Ellroy’s LA Quartet which held up as one of my favorite works of crime fiction.

Finally, I hit a big personal Goodreads milestone with my 1000th review, and to mark the occasion I re-read No Country For Old Men which was just as good as I remembered. That ended up being bittersweet because I actually used the site far less than usual this year. The update feed changes made keeping up a hassle, and I had some new demands in my personal life that cut into my interwebs time so I wasn’t as active as I’ve been in the past.

So I’m not sure what the 2017 schedule will be like, but thanks to all of you that took the time to like a review, make a non-trollish comment, and/or send me a message. It’s always very much appreciated.

[Raya راية · Rating 5 out of 5]

ها قد شارفت هذه السنة على الانتهاء، وإنّي لاعتبرها سنة سعيدة
ومجيدة على صعيد القراءة ونوعية الكتب..

بدأت هذه السنة بترك عملي وبناءً على ذلك توقّعت بأن يصبح لدي ما يكفي من الوقت لقراءة المزيد من الكتب.

وقد بدأت بقراءة كتاب:

حيونة الإنسان – ممدوح عدوان
استكمالاً لمشروع كنت قد وعدت نفسي بالبدء به في السنة الفائتة، خصوصاً بعد قرائتي لكتاب سيكولوجية العنف: أصول الدافع الإجرامي البشري لكولن ولسون، ومشروعي هو قراءة العديد من كتب سيكولوجية الإجرام البشري والتعمّق بهذا الموضوع..

وقرأت أيضاً مجموعة جيدة من الروايات التي تتناول موضوعات متنوعة: كلاسيكية، تاريخية، نفسية، دوستوبية، رعب، فانتازيا، دينية، اجتماعية، حربية.. ولكُتّاب اقرأ لهم للمرة الأولى:
متاهة أوزيريس – بول سوسمان، كافكا على الشاطئ – هاروكي موراكامي، نحن – يفيغني زامياتين، بطل من هذا الزمان – ميخائيل ليرمنتوف، والفجر هادئ هنا – بوريس فاسيليف، كائن لا تحتمل خفته – ميلان كونديرا، فئران أمي حصة – سعود السنعوسي، العنكبوت – مصطفى محمود، جزيرة الكنز – روبرت لويس ستيفنسون، آخر أيام الأرض – خالد المهدي، أوليفر تويست – تشارلز ديكنز، أفراح القبة – نجيب محفوظ، لعبة العروش – جورج مارتن، المرحوم – حسن كمال، مثل إيكاروس – أحمد خالد توفيق، قرية ظالمة – محمد كامل حسين، ليلة التنبؤ – بول أوستر، ليكن الرب في عون الطفلة – توني موريسون، لا تخبري ماما – توني ماغواير، أبي طويل الساقين – جين وبستر، بلزاك والخياطة الصينية الصغيرة – داي سيجي، نصف ميت دفن حياً – حسن الجندي، انقطاعات الموت – جوزيه ساراماغو.

وأسوأ روايتين هما:
هيبتا – محمد صادق، في قلبي أنثى عبرية – خولة حمدي

أما المفاجأة بالنسبة لي فهي رواية
يا صاحبي السجن – أيمن العتوم
والتي كانت بدرجة من السوء لم أكن أتخيلها كونها أول رواية اقرأها له.
وهذا يُؤكد المثل الشهير: "ليس كل ما يلمع ذهباً" وليس كل كتاب تُثار حوله ضجة يستحق القراءة.

ومن المهم أن أذكر أيضاً بأنني قرأت 3 روايات من الأدب الروسي لكُتّاب غير دوستويفسكي وتولستوي وهم: مخيائيل ليرمنتوف وبوريس فاسيليف ويفيغني زامياتين وفي فترات زمنية مختلفة..
وبشكل عام كان اختياري لروايات هذه السنة موفق جداً وأنا راضية عن هذه التجربة كل الرضا.

أما بخصوص القصة القصيرة والمجموعات القصصية، فقد قرأت مجموعات مختلفة من حيث الموضوع، فمنها: الاجتماعي، والساخر، والفلسفي، والفكري والدوستوبي والعاطفي، وهي:
مأمون القانوني – ديك الجن، المعطف والأنف- نيكولاي غوغول، عنبر رقم 6 – أنطون تشيخوف، المعذبون في الأرض – طه حسين، بيت سيء السمعة – نجيب محفوظ، أرني الله – توفيق الحكيم، همس الجنون – نجيب محفوظ، ميكروميغاس وثلاث قصص – فولتير، الحب الضائع – طه حسين، المتحمسون الأوغاد – محمد طمليه،
Nouvelles à chute- مجموعة مؤلفين

أما أسوأها فكانت:
أكان لا بد يا لي لي أن تضيئي النور – يوسف إدريس

قد قرأت أيضاً مجموعة جيدة من كتب التاريخ والتاريخ السياسي والحضارات، وهي:
موسوعة الحرب العالمية الأولى: قصة الأطماع وأسباب الصراع – محمد بركات، موسوعة الحرب العالمية الأولى: زعماء وقادة.. جواسيس وخونة – محمد بركات
مما يدعو للأسف؛ إنني لم أستطع الحصول على الجزء الثاني من هذه الموسوعة والذي يتعلّق بمعارك الحرب العالمية الأولى، لأنه كان نافداً من الطبع، وغير متوفر إلكترونياً.

واستكمل ذكر باقي كتب التاريخ:
قصة الحضارة 7 :حياة اليونان 2 – ويل ديورانت، عصر الإنكا – مايكل مالباس، زيارة جديدة للتاريخ – محمد حسنين هيكل

أما في المجال السياسي فقد قرأت كتاباً واحداً وهو:
في طريق الأذى: من معاقل القاعدة إلى حواضن داعش – يسري فودة

وقرأت أيضاً مجموعة جيدة من كتب السيرة والشخصيات، وتُعتبر هذه الفئة من الكتب قريبة إلى قلبي جداً، وهي:
ماري أنطوانيت – ستيفان زفايغ، عظماء في طفولتهم – محمد المنسي قنديل، مذكرات حرب أكتوبر – سعد الدين الشاذلي، رجال من التاريخ – علي الطنطاوي، شخصيات لها تاريخ – جلال أمين، بين يديّ عمر – خالد محمد خالد، الذكريات الصغيرة – جوزيه ساراماغو، لغز أم كلثوم – رجاء النقاش، رجال ريّا وسكينة: سيرة سياسية واجتماعية – صلاح عيسى، إذاعة الأغاني: سيرة شخصية للغناء – عمر طاهر.

وشهدت هذه السنة أيضاً دخول مجال جديد في قراءاتي وهو الاقتصاد السياسي في كتاب:
عقيدة الصدمة: صعود رأسمالية الكوارث – نعومي كلاين

ومن الجدير بالذكر هو قرائتي لبعض المسرحيات المتنوعة وهي:
الأيدي الناعمة – توفيق الحكيم، رحلة إلى الغد – توفيق الحكيم، المتحذلقات – موليير، الدرس – أوجين إينسكو
ومسرحية شعرية واحدة:
مأساة الحلاج – صلاح عبد الصبور

أما في العلوم، فقد قرأت كتابين:
نظرية الكمية لا يمكن أن تؤذيك – ماركوس تشاون، الكوارث العالمية: مقدمة قصيرة جداً – بيل ماكجواير

الكتب الدينية:
هذا ديننا – محمد الغزالي، حكم النبي محمد – ليو تولستوي

أما كتب الخواطر والنصوص والرسائل التي قرأتها لهذه السنة:
خواطر شاب – أحمد الشقيري، أوراق الورد – مصطفى صادق الرافعي، ذاكرة اللوز – يامن النوباني، زحمة حكي – علي نجم وكان الأسوأ على الإطلاق.

أما في مجال الشعر فقد قرأت:
عشرون قصيدة حب وأغنية يائسة – بابلو نيرودا، وهذه المرة الأولى التي اقرأ فيها ديواناً من الشعر المترجم
لا تصالح – أمل دنقل

وفي مجال الكتب الفكرية والفلسفية والمقالات النقدية فقد قرأت:
القوى الخفية – أنيس منصور، رسائل خربر – سي إس لويس، يوميات نص الليل – مصطفى محمود، لماذا أكتب – جورج أورويل، مغامرة العقل الأولى – فراس السواح، الهويات القاتلة – أمين معلوف، الأحلام – مصطفى محمود.

وهي المرة الأولى كذلك التي اقرأ فيها كتاباً في النقد الأدبي:
الله في رحلة نجيب محفوظ الرمزية - جورج طرابيشي

وفي مجال التنمية البشرية قرأت كتاباً واحداً:
دع القلق وابدأ الحياة – ديل كارنيجي
ويمكنني القول بأنه أفضل كتاب قرأته في هذه الفئة

وفي ما يخص الكتب الخفيفة فقد قرأت مجموعة واسعة تنوّعت في موضوعاتها: العاطفية، الاجتماعية، الساخرة، السياسية، الإرشادية:
أفراح الروح – سيد قطب، يوميات حمار – أحمد رجب، افتح قلبك – عبد الوهاب مطاوع، مذكرات صائم – أحمد بهجت، حوار بين طفل ساذج وقط مثقف – أحمد بهجت، شاي بالنعناع – أحمد خالد توفيق، صديقي لا تأكل نفسك – عبد الوهاب مطاوع، تاكسي- حواديت المشاوير – خالد الخميسي، أقنعة الحب السبعة – عبد الوهاب مطاوع، اثنا عشر رجلاً – يوسف السباعي، جمهورية العبث – بلال فضل، لأننا من كوكب النساء – منى سراج.

وقد وقعت في حب الرائع عبد الوهاب مطاوع، وسأقرأ له المزيد في الأيام القادمة.

أساطير ما وراء الطبيعة للمبدع أحمد خالد توفيق والدكتور رفعت إسماعيل:
أسطورة رونيل السوداء، المتحف الأسود، مصاص الدماء وأسطورة الرجل الذئب، أسطورة وحش البحيرة، أسطورة آخر الليل، أسطورة الجاثوم، أسطورة آكل البشر، أسطورة الموتى الأحياء، أسطورة رأس ميدوسا، أسطورة حارس الكهف، أسطورة أرض أخرى.

أما مجموعة العبقرية أغاثا كريستي:
إبزيم الحذاء، جريمة في ملعب الجولف، جيب مليء بالحبوب، القصر الأجوف، بعد الجنازة.

وقد بدأت فعلاً بقراءة الأعمال الكاملة لهانز كريستيان أندرسن، وبين كل فينة وأخرى اقرأ منه قصة تنعش روحي وتنطلق بخيالي إلى عوالم الطفولة الأولى.

في هذه السنة أُصبت بحساسية في عيناي، في نهاية شهر مارس تقريباً، مما اضطرني للتوقف عن القراءة لأول مرة منذ ثلاث سنوات. وكما يقول المثل: رُبّ ضرّة نافعة، فقد اكتشفت أثناء إصابتي، الكتب الصوتية وقد ساعدتني بشدة في تخطي فترات الانقطاع عن القراءة، وأود أن أشكر تطبيق اقرأ لي وكل المقيمين عليه لما قدموا لي من خدمات جليلة..

أُغلق عدّاد هذه السنة على 110 كتب، مليئة بالمغامرات والخبرات والمعلومات والتجارب والأشخاص والروحانيات..
تجربة غنّية، مفيدة ومثرية جداً، وتعرّفت أيضاً على أصدقاء جدد أفتخر وأسعد بمعرفتهم. وفي هذه السنة أيضاً خُضت تجربة القراءة الجماعية مع المجموعات، وكانت تجربة جيدة إلى حد ما..

الحمد لله الذي بنعمته تتم الصالحات..

شكراً لكل الأصدقاء، للأهل ولكل من يُشجعني لأقرأ، شكراً لكل من اقترح عليّ كتاباً، وشكراً لطبيب العيون، وشكراً لموقع الجودريدز، وشكراً لقطرات ترطيب العيون:
Hy freshو fresh tears

شكراً للكتب التي أوصلتني لما أنا عليه اليوم، وشكراً للكتب التي جمعتني بمحبّيها.
❤


...
❤

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

2016 was a big year for me. I read a crazy amount of books, the second highest number since I started keeping track. I joined Marvel Unlimited. Oh, and I visited Goodreads Headquarters.

While I've already written up The 2016 Dantastic Book Awards, I read many more notable books than I could work into the awards. The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, Radiance, Last Days, A Pretty Mouth, and Bait were all quality reads. I discovered authors like James Renner and Hunter Shea, and read new books by old favorites like Joe Lansdale, Megan Abbott, and Tana French.

What will 2017 bring? Who the hell knows? I know I'm planning on reading less, especially less ARCs, and do a lot more writing.

[Violet wells]

Favourite read of the year – The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. I was unprepared for how much I loved this.

Worst read of the year - Some Luck. This is what a novel looks like when the author can't come up with a single drop of inspiration. The equivalent of someone cleaning a house that is already spotless. OCD writing. If you don’t have any inspiration find something else to do.

Favourite character – Lila in Ferrante’s Neapolitan series. A woman who makes no concessions to vanity – a new character in the landscape of literature.

Most irritating character – Zelda in Theresa Fowler’s novel about the Fitzgeralds. This is a daytime TV Zelda, a Zelda whitewashed into middle class respectability, stripped of her dark sorcery.

Most exciting rediscovery – Katherine Mansfield.

Most exciting prose – still Don DeLillo but his middle period books rather than Zero K.

Big thanks to all my wonderful friends for another year of stimulating reviews. As i said in my review of Jane Smiley's 13 Ways to look at a novel the reviews here are often more eloquent and insightful, certainly more honest, than what passes for a professional review. Probably 3/4 of the novels I've read this year have been as a direct result of friends' reviews here and I'm hugely grateful for everyone who takes the time to make their thoughts and feelings known about the books they read. Auguri.

[Lizzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I thought that 2015 was a good reading year for me, examining 2016's readings I dazzled myself. It's not the number of books I read, 160!, but rather what I read. I don’t know how it all begun, maybe it all started with the amazing 'Death with Interruptions', which inspired me towards another masterpiece. But why question my good fortune? Thus, 2016 was an excellent reading year and I could not feel better about it. I read amazing books, how could I not when I focused mainly on the classics? Indeed, it was an enjoyable and learning experience that just shows how many excellent books are out there for us to enjoy.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention two new authors that I met for the first time in 2016: Henry James (thanks, Jeffrey, for introducing me to Isabel Archer!) and Graham Greene. Their writings reverberated deep within me.

Besides the classics, I read excellent biographies and memoirs. How I love to read an excellent biography. And last, and not less important to me, I read a lot of great history books. My readings in this category were biased towards war. Who would imagine that I, basically a romantic that loves poetry, could not stop reading about the American Civil War and World War II? But my curiosity in those fronts was roused by the biographies of Lincoln and Winston Churchill that I loved so much to read. Doesn’t it gratify you that a great read leads to until undiscovered books and themes? That happened with me this year.

Of course mixed between the readings of classics, biographies and memoirs, and history, I read very entertaining books just for the pleasure of it. Here I include science-fiction, historical fiction, and even some contemporary and historical romances.

As I always happen, there were many books that I wanted and planned to read this year, but unfortunately, I didn’t get to them. I particularly missed some books, like 'Nutshell', 'The Gentleman in Moscow' and 'Christodora', that I noticed many of my friends so loved. I simply didn’t have the time. Thus, I’m already planning my readings for 2017, for you that might be curious, please see my new shelf ‘2017-wish-list'. If only I could read them all.

However, as important during this year was the company of my friends, with whom I had the honor and the pleasure to exchange so much. Thus, I want to take this chance to thank my friends and followers, to say how grateful I am for all those of you who have taken the time to read and liked my reviews, and especially shared such amazingly kind comments about what I wrote. I want you to know how much I appreciate it. I hope that I was equally helpful in your reading experiences this year, perhaps making them a little more enjoyable and that I have helped return the generosity you've shown me.

What makes me happy is that 2017 will bring more reading, I hope I can write more and better reviews, and that we keep exchanging comments that will further enhance our friendship. Let's keep together in further journeys through this marvelous world of books.
________
Please find below my favorites by category. Some I have read for the second time, but for most, it was my first time reading them. They are not in order of preference, as it would be hard to choose one over the other. I wrote a review for all of them (except for 2 reviews that I should be posting soon).

Classics & Literary-fiction
Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Lover - Marguerite Duras
The Portrait of a Lady - Henry James
The Golden Bowl - Henry James
The Turn of the Screw - Henry James
Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
The End of the Affair - Graham Greene
The Quiet American - Graham Greene
To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf
Disgrace - J.M. Coetzee
Life and Times of Michael K - J.M. Coetzee
The Tartar Steppe - Dino Buzzati
The Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark
Operation Shylock: A Confession - Philip Roth
The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
The Pursuit of Love - Nancy Mitford
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Persuasion - Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
Emma - Jane Austen
Blindness - José Saramago
Death with Interruptions - José Saramago
The Hour of the Star - Clarice Lispector
Dom Casmurro - Machado de Assis
Time And The Wind - Érico Veríssimo
Candide - Voltaire
Oedipus Rex - Sophocles
Medea - Euripides
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel García Márquez
All Men are Mortal - Simone de Beauvoir
Auto-da-Fé - Elias Canetti
The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien
Atonement - Ian McEwan
The Children Act - Ian McEwan
Light in August - William Faulkner

Short Stories
The Collected Stories of Katherine Mansfield - Katherine Mansfield
Cuentos completos 1 - Juan Carlos Onetti
Historias de amor - Adolfo Bioy Casares
The Lemon Table - Julian Barnes
A Vida Como Ela É... - Nelson Rodrigues
The Alienist - Machado de Assis
Sagarana - João Guimarães Rosa
La autopista del sur y otros cuentos - Julio Cortázar

Poetry
The Book of Disquiet - Fernando Pessoa
Les Fleurs du Mal - Charles Baudelaire
Multitudinous Heart: Selected Poems - Carlos Drummond de Andrade

Biographies & Memoirs
Lincoln - David Herbert Donald
The Last Lion 1: Visions of Glory 1874-1932 - William Manchester
The Last Lion 2: Winston Spencer Churchill Alone, 1932-40 - William Manchester
The Last Lion 3: Winston Spencer Churchill: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965 - William Manchester & Paul Reid
The Memoirs of Elias Canetti: The Tongue Set Free/The Torch in My Ear/The Play of the Eyes - Elias Canetti
Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life - Alison Weir
An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness - Kay Redfield Jamison

History
The Civil War, Vol. 1: Fort Sumter to Perryville - Shelby Foote
The Civil War, Vol. 2: Fredericksburg to Meridian - Shelby Foote
An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943 - Rick Atkinson
Neptune: The Allied Invasion of Europe and the D-Day Landings - Craig L. Symonds
Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942 - Ian W. Toll
The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942-1944 -Ian W. Toll

Science Fiction, Contemporary & Historical Fiction, Etc
Bulbul or An Unsung Song - Sidharth Vardhan
Barrayar - Lois McMaster Bujold
The Mountains Of Mourning - Lois McMaster Bujold
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
The Terrans - Jean Johnson
The V'Dan - Jean Johnson
Hope's Folly -Linnea Sinclair
Grimspace - Ann Aguirre
The Summer Queen - Elizabeth Chadwick
Birds of Prey - Wilbur Smith
River God - Wilbur Smith
The Grand Sophy - Georgette Heyer
The Witness - Nora Roberts
Winter Garden - Kristin Hannah
A Fatal Waltz - Tasha Alexander

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm up to 272 books this year, so narrowing it down to 16 wasn't easy for me. I loved so many books I read this year and could have easily made a top 20, 30, or 40, but these are my absolute favorites <3 2016 may have been a shit year in a lot of ways, but it's been an amazing reading year for me so cheers to that! I know this is about all my books on Goodreads, but I really like to use it as a reference to all my favorites!

1- The Silent Waters by Brittainy C. Cherry. No surprise there. Brittainy has written my top read for 3 years in a row. She is my favorite author for a reason, people! I love her words, her characters, and everything about her books. This one is especially beautiful and brilliant. <3

2- All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood. This book blew me away. It came out of nowhere and completely consumed me.

3- From Sand and Ash by Amy Harmon. This is the one book on my list I would recommend to every person I know, no matter what they read.

4- It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover. Her best book yet. Brave and Bold.

5- One Day Soon by A Meredith Walters. I read this one early this year and it's still on my mind. Yoss and Imogen's story is one I will never forget.

6/7- Full Tilt/All In by Emma Scott. These books are gorgeous. Emma's writing is stunning. She is an author I found this year and I can honestly say all of her books are wonderful.

8- Collared by Nicole Williams. Truly an epic romance. I get so offended when I hear people say this isn't a romance. It's an EPIC romance. And the ending was perfect ;)

9- Lucas by Jay McLean. Jay's books always have a special place in my heart and Lucas is one of her best. She's the best author that can bring the feels and make me laugh in equal measure.

10- Swear on this Life by Renee Carlino. One of the best second chance romances I've ever read. And I loved the unique way the story was told.

11- Some Kind of Perfect by Krista Ritchie & Becca Ritchie. This book brought me to tears so many times. These characters are like family to me. LiLo forever <3 <3 <3

12- The Hating Game by Sally Thorne. I seriously loved the banter in this one. It made me laugh so many times and was just an all around great book. I can't believe it's a debut.

13- Weightless by Kandi Steiner. Kandi is another new to me author. I've read 3 of her books this year and loved them all, but Weightless was so special to me. Kudos to you, Kandi- for writing such a relatable character to so many people.This story felt so real to me and I loved it so much.

14- The Heart by Kate Stewart. I love all of Kate's books, but this series is so emotionally charged and fantastic. Definitely my favorite by her. Jack and Rose's story stole my heart.

15- Wolfing by TJ Klune. My friend Rachel practically badgered me into reading this book, and I love her for it. Not only is this the best m/m book I've ever read, it's probably the best shifter book I've ever read. And one of my top favorites this year. Ox is one of my favorite characters ever and the audio version of this book is amazing.

16- A Thousand Boy Kisses by Tillie Cole. I think I cried more reading this book than any other book I've read this year. But I loved the pure love between Rune and Poppy. It's such a gorgeous book!

[فؤاد]

سال نوی گودریدزی ها، این موقع هاست، که گودریدز پر میشه از دید و بازدیدهای کاربرها از چالش های تموم شده ی همدیگه و سالنامه ی کتابخوانی، و صد البته "سال خود را چگونه گذراندید".

خب، امسال چی کار کردم...

دو تا چیز به ذهنم می رسه.
یکی، خیلی از کتاب هایی که مدت ها بود می خواستم بخونم ولی به نسخه کاغذی شون دسترسی نداشتم رو، با پی دی اف خوندم. قبلاً هم به خاطر مشکل ابزاری (پشت کامپیوتر سخت بود خوندن، ولی با لپتاپ خیلی راحته) و هم به خاطر مشکل اخلاقی (که تازگی از قید و بندهاشون رها شدم!! خجالت خجالت) پی دی اف خوانی هام خیلی محدود بودن. ولی امسال با حل شدن دو مانع، کتاب هایی که مدت ها بود توی لیست آرزوهام مونده بودن رو خوندم، از بهشت گمشده گرفته، تا کلیدر، از مادام بوواری گرفته تا فرانکنشتاین.


دوم، تکمیل روند فلسفه خوانی ای بود که از پارسال شروع کرده بودم. پارسال سعی کردم تاریخ فلسفه های مختصر موجود رو بخونم، تا با کلیات حرف ها آشنا بشم. امسال سعی کردم یه ذره تخصصی تر روی فلاسفه ای که فکر می کردم مهم ترن وقت بذارم. از این بین، کانت و ویتگنشتاین رو انتخاب کردم و راجع به هر کدوم، سه کتاب خوندم، که البته مقدار کمیه و باز باید بخونم.
درباره کانت:
فلسفه کانت
نظریۀ معرفت در فلسفۀ کانت
کانت

درباره ویتگنشتاین:
ویتگنشتاین
ترجمه و شرح رساله منطقی - فلسفی
درآمدی بر رساله ویتگنشتاین


و همین.
سال دیگه چی کار می خوام بکنم؟
نمی دونم.
با خوندن کلیدر، یه جورهایی تصمیم گرفتم کمتر دیگه آثار داستانی بخونم، انگار دیگه مثل قدیم ازشون لذت نمی برم. و با یکی مشورت کردم و گفت فلسفه های مضاف رو بخونم. فعلاً این دو تا تصمیم برای سال آینده م، ولی نمی خوام از پیش نقشه بکشم. ببینم توی مسیر رودخونه چه اتفاقاتی می افته و درگیر چه موج هایی میشم.

[Jessica's Totally Over The Top Book Obsession · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far I have read 302 books and I'm sure I will get a few more in before the year is up. So this year in books was good but not as great as last year. Last year I found a ton of books that I just fell in love with. That I really connected with. This year was more of a middle road for me. I gave more 3, 2, and 1 stars this year then all my years rating books combined. I did my first DNF ever this year. Anyone that knows me knows I have OCD so the fact that I dnfed a book is a huge deal.



I did a lot of rereads this year. Enjoyed some of my favorite books from years past. I felt the need to go back to books I connected more with because I wasn't finding that major hits this year and that was kinda disappointing. I also read a ton more of straight smut this year than in other years. Lots of smutty freebies from Amazon.



So here is my year in books....










Also I have posted my top 5's of 2016 on my blog page if anyone wants to see... here is the link

http://jessicasoverthetopbookobsessio...

I can't wait to see what 2017 brings. I love reading and Goodreads so much. I enjoy getting on here almost every day and having a place where I can find great books. Meet and make great book friends, and a place where I can express myself. Vent my thoughts and opinions on books. And all though I some times have trolls come at me, overall my goodreads experience is great. I have met some amazing people that have given me tons of great book recommendations and many laughs. I hope everyone else also had a good book year.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love Goodreads, and so enjoy the virtual friends that I have met here. So many of you have led me to some amazing books, this year has been the best in books!! I actually need to stop checking the updates so often, I think I would get more actual reading done, but I don't want to miss anything :)

I'm going to list my favorites I have read this year only, in no particular order, and there were so many exceptional ones!!! These were my 5 star reads.

The Signal Flame
Christodora
The Nest
Sweetgirl
Only Love Can Break Your Heart
The Lilac Girls
Tuesday Nights in 1980
The One-in-a-Million Boy
The Girls
The House At The Edge Of Night
The Ballroom
Miss Jane
All The Ugly and Wonderful Things
A Gentleman in Moscow
News Of The World
Dark Matter
Fragments Of Isabella
The Invisable Life of Ivan Isaenko
This Must Be The Place
Redemption Road
Siracusa
My Name Is Lucy Barton

[Larry H · Rating 5 out of 5]

UPDATE: I published my list of the best books I read this year at http://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blo.... Check it out if you're interested!!

-----

Every year on January 1, I post a list on my blog (http://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blo...) with my list of the best books I read the previous year. It's a tremendously enjoyable and reflective exercise, and it usually shows me just how many excellent books the year has brought my way.

I will do the same on January 1, 2017, so I won't be posting a list here, plus I like to read until the very end of the year! To date I've read 150 books and I'll be interested to see where I wind up.

I have been absolutely dazzled by so many books this year. On January 2, the first of such books, Rene Denfeld's The Enchanted , blew me away (see my review), and the surprises and amazements kept on coming. No matter the genre, I found books that left me speechless, breathless, laughing, inspired, thinking, moved, and, in more cases than I'd admit, a sobbing mess.

I am tremendously grateful for Goodreads and the amazing people with whom I've connected this past year. You've introduced me to books I've never heard of, convinced me to read some books I was on the fence about, and, in a few cases, steered me clear of some I would have regretted!

But more than that, I am grateful for all those of you who have taken the time to like my reviews, send me friend requests and/or follow me, and especially, share such wonderfully kind comments about my reviews. I hope I've helped make your reading experience this year a little more enjoyable, and helped return the generosity you've shown me.

All I know is there will be more reading, more reviews, and more commentary in 2017, and I hope you'll come along with me for the ride.

[carol. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's what I liked best about 2016:

You people.

Well, a few other people I met in real life too, but really, the community of friends, co-readers, reviewers, commenters, bloggers, 'like'ers and generally thoughtful, fun, inspirational, word-oriented (except you gif-ers), challenging thinkers who insist on devouring books in whatever form (audio, graphic, paper, electronic and likely many other ways because you just have to be creative, don't you?) and sharing your thoughts about them.

How cool is that?

It's fucking awesome, is what it is. In a year that lost more than its share of poets and dreamers, and in which the world saw more divisiveness than ever (and the U.S. lost its collective mind), it was always a relief to open up goodreads and read your thoughts about a book, about what made you laugh, pissed off, reflective, inspired, bored, passionate and ornery, and feel like at least I had a community of sorts here.

[Fionnuala]

Thinking…
Still thinking….
More thinking…

In the last two weeks I’ve thought of three different ways to begin the review of my reading year. The first version got dropped when the second occurred to me, and the second seemed ridiculous when I thought of the third. Such indecision!

That scenario reminds me of a book I read in July: Bouvard Et Pécuchet is about a comical duo who become involved in ever more ambitious projects. The two are masters at enthusiastic beginnings but are unable to follow through on anything. They dither and delay incessantly and the right moment for action invariably passes them by. The end result is that they achieve very little. I’d hate to think I had anything in common with B and P though I must admit I enjoyed reading about their adventures - and they did offer me great possibilities for fun when it came to reviewing their story. Thank you, Gustave Flaubert. I should mention that poor Gustave never got to finish Bouvard Et Pécuchet which seems very fitting.

Paradoxically, the fact that I read that book proves something: unlike Bouvard and Pécuchet, and Flaubert himself, I am able to carry through on a project. At the beginning of the year, I made some very ambitious pronouncements about what I intended to read in 2016 and Bouvard et Pécuchet was top of that list. It's true that I didn't make the book a priority but at least I got to it in the course of the year.

I had also vowed to get acquainted with another famous literary duo this year. The motivation was the 400th anniversary of Cervantes’ death in April and I was determined to read the complete adventures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza before that date. How about that for a reckless undertaking? Sometimes recklessness pays off though. Not only did I meet the ingenious pair, but we got on superbly well and shared some amazing adventures, and every time I look at the ring on my right hand, I’m reminded of the amazing time we had together.

The pleasure of reading Cervantes was heightened by having Gustave Doré’s Illustrations for Don Quijote to enjoy alongside the text. A perfect pairing.
Don Quijote also inspired me to read the book that had inspired him to become a knight: Orlando Furioso, by the Italian poet, Ariosto. I read Italo Calvino’s abridged version and found that Gustave Doré had also done an Illustrated Orlando Furioso so that was another perfect pairing.

There were other pairings that worked beautifully for me this year, sometimes serendipitously but sometimes in a more planned way. That was the case of Rabbih Alameddine's An Unnecessary Woman which led me to buy The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz. One of the ways I measure the worth of a book is the creativity it inspires in terms of a review. It was clear from the beginning of the Schulz book that no ordinary review would do for his fantastic tales; transmogrification was necessary and the review immediately obliged. It wrote itself!

On the other hand serendipity played a part in linking some very unlikely books this year. I picked up Jeanette Winterson's Lighthousekeeping on a whim and was surprised to find it propelled me back into the world of Don Quixote, and particularly the story about the man who was recklessly curious. Winterson's book also lead me to Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde which in turn offered unexpected parallels with A Rebours by J-K Huysmans to which I'd been led by Michel Houellebec's Soumission. Jeannette Winterson had quoted E M Forster's phrase, only connect in Lighthousekeeping. It became my motto of the year!

Speaking of E M Forster, in May I read A Room With a View at the same time as the autobiography of Florentine sculptor, Benvenuto Cellini, never dreaming I'd find any parallels between the two books beyond their shared setting in Florence. The convergences that soon surfaced were quite extraordinary, partly thanks to the fact that I was roaming the streets and piazzas of Florence while I was reading the two books. Such a literary treat.

I read two very different Russian-themed books this year which have been linked in the oddest way by the Goodreads ‘Year in Books’ statistics. It seems Crime and Punishment is the most popular title on my 2016 list, with 722 048 readers, and Russian Proverbs, is the least popular, with only one lucky reader, me!

I spent a lot of time in 2015 reading short story collections and I began 2016 with two further collections: The Visiting Privilege by Joy Williams and Original Bliss by A L Kennedy, both full of quirky characters, impossible to forget - and that’s just the dogs.

Two books by new authors impressed me very much in different ways this year. They were both about the writing life and they caused me to think deeply about the way I read: Pond by Claire Louise Bennet and The House of Writers by M J Nicholls.

Other new authors I sampled were Robert Seethaler and David Szalay.
I also had the great pleasure of discovering two authors who aren't new at all but whom I’d hadn't ever sampled: Robert Walser and Katherine Mansfield. Good choices both.

I revisited Henry James and José Saramago and they were even better than I remembered them. Ditto for the very subtle Penelope Fitzgerald and the equally nuanced William Trevor who died in the autumn. Autumn was not a good time for reading and reviewing for many reasons so I didn't get to post the kind of tribute to Willliam Trevor that I would have liked, but there was perhaps tribute enough in the fact that I happened to be reading one of his novels the day he died.
I also revisited Ian McEwan and Deborah Levy this year though those were rather more stormy experiences than I had with Fitzgerald and Trevor. For genuine stormy adventures, I tried A high Wind in Jamaica and English Passengers. The first suited me very well. I'm still ploughing my way through the second (edit: I finally finished it today, December 31st. Phew!).

I read two books by Irish poet Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill in 2016, the nicely matched Selected Essays and Selected Poems. They made my heart sing for all sorts of reasons. I also read two books by Scottish writer Graeme Macrae Burnet and my heart flipped with the first...and flopped with the second.

So 2016 was a year of both unlikely pairings and perfectly matched literary duos. Such a perfectly matched pair were the famous Gargantua and Pantagruel. To finally read Rabelais was my most ambitious pledge at the beginning of the year and I really carried through! I read his five books over the space of three months, and lest anyone think it was a chore, it wasn’t in the least; the comical adventures Rabelais creates for his two wine-guzzling giants suited me and my life style very well indeed.

Gustave Doré had illustrated Rabelais' stories around the same time he did Cervantes and Ariosto but unfortunately I couldn’t find a copy while I was reading about the adventures of Gargantua and Pantagruel. I’ve since come across a beautiful second-hand edition of the five volumes complete with Doré’s illustrations; I didn’t hesitate long before buying it. Next time I read Rabelais, I'll have the illustrations to keep me company.

In between reading about the many bottles of wine consumed by Rabelais’ hilarious characters (all in the pursuit of truth and wisdom of course), I read five books by Flann O’Brien in which pints of beer and nagins of whiskey were consumed in the furtherance of fun and festivity. Needless to say (why say it then, says Flann), I had a great time staggering back and forth between the world of Rabelais and the world of Flann. It could be said (just spit it out, says Flann) that the pair were designed to be read alongside each other; they are both clever, creative, wickedly funny and totally irreverent (I won’t argue about that, says Flann). I love them.

It occurs to me now, what with the number of wineskins in Don Quijote, the amount of casks in Rabelais' stories, not to mention the gallons of whiskey and beer in Flann O’Brien's work, that my 2016 reading year is setting fair to be the Year of the Bottle!
How serendipitous that there happens to be a bottle on the cover of 2016 on Goodreads..

..........................................................................

Edit: I tried to put a link to my year in Books but it didn't work so I've put links in the review instead..

Further edit: friend Hugh has found a fix for the 'Year in Books' link which took people only to their own Year in Books.
So here's the link again: My Year in Books