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Best & Worst book you read in 2016?
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Best Dressed
It Ends with Us ~ My only "official" 5-star book, though I rounded up from the 4.5 stars I couldn't officially rate it. Honestly, the only negative for me was the dumb concept for Lily's florist shop which was an utterly trivial part of the book. Ladies, read this one!
Timeline ~ This was a reread at the beginning of the year because I was in a rut and needed something fantastic. I'd probably rate that 5 stars as well, but I joined Goodreads in June and didn't want to go back and rate everything I had previously read during the year (I had been keeping a list on my iPhone).
Still Alice ~ Absolutely fantastic! I rated it 4 stars, but I don't know now why I didn't give it 5. Having watched my grandfather deteriorate from dementia, I could completely relate to so much in this book. It was excellently done.
The Lorien Legacies series (I Am Number Four) ~ I read this during the first several months of the year and, while there were some discrepancies throughout and a few of the books weren't stellar, the series in it's entirety was a remarkably entertaining read. I am almost certain I will be rereading the entire series again someday (perhaps when my son is old enough for it).
And... Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President ~ This book was fascinating. I was never big on history so I have very little knowledge about most things in history. But my aunt recommended this to me and, after loving her previous recommendation of The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America, I picked it up. It was so good, it made me want to learn more about history.
All the Light We Cannot See was also very good... and it looks like that's going to be the BOTM for January. I hope everyone who participates enjoys it! (Assuming it ultimately wins ;-)
Worst Dressed
Infected ~ A cousin recommended this to me, but it was ridiculous and awful. Sadly, not only did I finish, but I also read the next book...
Contagious ~ So. Flipping. Awful. Somehow, I gave these books 2 stars each. Perhaps I couldn't bring myself to give a 1-star rating to books I had actually taken the time to finish, although...
This Is Where It Ends ~ The Big Library Read for October... I actually gave this book a 1-star rating. It had the potential to be so good, to give readers an insight into what's going through the mind of a school shooter, but it was so badly done. It was absolutely abysmal.
The Light Between Oceans ~ This book made me angrier than any book I've ever read. I wanted to give up on it, I was ready to give up on it, but my mother-in-law kept urging me to finish because she saw and liked the movie. I ultimately gave the book 3 stars because of the ending, but it really didn't deserve that many.
And... though I had quite a few other duds this year... I'll end with
The Nightingale ~ How this book got a 4.53-star rating on Goodreads boggles my mind.
Can't wait to see others' favorites and perhaps add some titles to (or remove some from?) my TBR list!
Erin wrote: "I'm breaking the rules and listing multiple favorites and least favorites!"
Thanks for the info on some good and bad ones, Erin! Y'all feel free to mention more than one book in each category, like Erin did.... but point out a top fave or most-hated title if you like.
Erin, it's interesting that one of your LIKED books was titled "It Ends with Us," and one you DISLIKED was "This is Where it Ends" !
And since Erin broke the rule (go GO, girl!), here are 4 good & 4 disappointing books I read in 2016:
THE UPPERS:
The Reapers are the Angels
4 stars
Post-apoc, some realism issues. But good! Avoid only if you're severely allergic to brain splatter, weird chicks, or creative punctuation.
The Girl with All the Gifts
4.4 stars, rounded up to 5
I was hooked by the 3rd chapter. I'll never forget little Melanie, or the ending. I was expecting only 3 stars, and was pleasantly bulldozed by this different angle on a popular genre or two. This was my most fave book read in 2016.
Out of My Mind
5+ stars
A juvenile/middle school-ish book about a girl with a severe disability (and some attitude). An "everyone should read" book that everyone really should. Have a tissue ready (don't worry, there are some smiles, too). This was the best kids' book I read in 2016.
Robot Coconut Trees: Break Through Writer's Block, Unleash Your Creative Voice, and Become the Writer You Already Are
5 stars
Non-fiction, inspiration for writers -- and the first self-published book I've given 5 stars to. Woot!
~~~~~
THE DOWNERS:
The Fire
1 star
I found this rip-off young wizards tale shallow and annoying. So bad I didn't bother finishing it (skipped to the end). But many folks rated it highly, so what do I know? Since I have been disappointed by so many Patterson+Co-author X books, I'm calling this the worst book I attempted in 2016.
Freak of Nature
1 star
Sadly, a YA
Yesterday's Gone: Season One
2 stars
Not for kids. A horror/post-apoc/SF title with over-earnest promotion by the 2 authors. It's 3x too long, oft-ridiculous, uneven, and stars a cast of trope characters trying to survive. But hey.. a main character is a creatively-cursing serial killer.
Running with Scissors
2 stars
Non-fiction. As depressing as it is turn-away-fascinating. Supposedly a true memoir -- which in real life also resulted in a lawsuit. NOT for kiddies.
Mod
I did notice that the titles are somewhat similar, however the stories are completely different :-P
BTW, I have added The Reapers are the Angels and Out of My Mind to my TBR list. I even put Out of My Mind on my TBR in 2017 list!
I'm pretty picky about the books I read - I don't bother with them unless I'm pretty sure I'll at least kind of like them. So it's not very often that I read something that I end up rating below 3 stars.That being said,
Least favorites:
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
3-ish stars. I didn't hate it. I just don't think the writer did a very good job with it. However, I do plan to read the second book in the series because it's intriguing enough to make me want to read more. My review
(Side note: I finally saw the movie, and may edit my review one of these days. They made some big changes to the story line, but I haven't decided whether they improved it or not. But the "freak twins" make it soooo worthwhile.) :)
Shadow Land
3-ish stars. This had potential but ended up being kind of meh.
It's much harder to pick one favorite because I've read a lot of great books this year. Narrowing it down, these were not only favorites for the year, but they will steadfastly remain on my "favorite books ever written" list.
Favorites:
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
5+ stars. Susanna Clarke changed the rules of writing a novel and created something fascinating. My review
The Name of the Wind
5+ stars. I think Patrick Rothfuss is a truly gifted writer. It's written with some of the most beautiful prose I've encountered in recent years. The characters are those you can't help but instantly love. And the story is enthralling. ❤
The Tempest
5+ stars. A Shakespeare play I had never read until this year. It immediately became one of my absolute favorites (only Macbeth and Hamlet top it). I found it fascinating seeing the little messages he worked in.
The Island of Dr. Moreau
5 stars. I felt like Mr. Wells had grabbed me and shaken me around. Disturbing and profound. No subtlety with his messages.
The Portrait of Mr. W. H.
5 stars. I adore Oscar Wilde. This story doesn't seem like much on the surface, but Mr. Wilde thoroughly enjoyed making people think, and wow, this one is like a massive brain-teaser puzzle. It takes some serious thought to appreciate the humor and just what's going on here. The way he was playing a game with his readers and using them as guinea pigs. Oddly, I can't really recommend it because I think it's too easy to misinterpret.
Mod
I was also unimpressed by Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. I liked the idea of forming a story around photographs, but I felt like some of them were forced and just didn't fit well. I was also very intrigued by the beginning, but then somewhat disappointed by how everything unfolded at the end. I actually have no desire to read any further in the series.
I bought a copy of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell about 4 years ago and have not gotten around to reading it. It is on my TBR list, but I don't think 2017 is going to be the year for it. It's just so big and I already have several other large books planned for the year :-P
I am, however, determined to tackle The Name of the Wind in January!
And I've added The Island of Dr. Moreau to my TBR list.
Erin, I read Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell early in the year, and at the time, there was no doubt in my mind that it would be the longest book I'd read in the year. Heh. True, it's longer than The Name of the Wind, but not by much. Wise Man's Fear is longer though. For what it's worth, none of those three seemed long to me. I didn't want them to end. In fact, I started JS&MN over because I didn't want to miss anything (no, not ocd - just decided to listen to parts of it on audiobook, then realized that was a horrible idea).I thought the idea for Miss Peregrine was really cool, and I thought some of the photos kind of made the book. But I agree, some didn't fit. And the characters in the book were very un-lifelike. I'm hoping his writing improved a bit along the way.
Glad to hear you're adding Dr. Moreau! You may want to brace yourself, but it's not graphic. I tore through that one. :)
I do hope you love The Name of the Wind as much as I did. :)
It's interesting to read what books our group individually liked and didn't like, especially the ones that weren't read for the Book Snails! I like seeing what myself and others have in common, based on our book opinions :)I honestly have a ton of books this year that I loved. Lafayette in the Somewhat United States, Bridge of Scarlet Leaves, Becoming Josephine, Code Name Verity, Rose Under Fire, The Book Thief, The Girls, and Wuthering Heights were all books I really enjoyed. It's funny, too, because 6 out of those 8 are historical fiction or nonfiction, which is pretty on par for me... However, I also greatly enjoyed The Girl with All the Gifts which was completely different from what I usually read. I'm glad I got to expand my horizons with books this year!
As for the worst books of the year I've read, the (dis)honor goes to The Woman in Cabin 10 and Victory at Yorktown. I didn't finish those books, and gave them both a 1 star rating. I think the group knows how I felt about TWICT, but for the other, which was written by Newt Gingrich, (blech) I found about seven or so typos within the prologue. I tried giving it a chance, but the typos didn't stop, nothing was grammatically correct, and the tenses would switch with every paragraph. It was awful.
I'm so glad that, overall, the majority of the books I've read this year were enjoyable!
Also, I'm sorry for not linking to the books I've listed like others have. Anyone know how to do that on mobile? :)
Kelsey,I'm guessing the easiest way to link to books from the MOBILE version of GR is to switch to the regular version (yes, you can view the regular version on a tablet or phone, even if the device normally defaults to the mobile version):
GR help says:
"To switch to the full desktop version of the site, tap the menu icon at the top left of the screen (three stacked lines; some people call it a “hamburger”). Tap on “Switch to Desktop” at the bottom of the menu options and you’ll be taken to the full site.
If you’d like to switch to the mobile site from our full site, scroll to the bottom of the home page and find “Switch to: mobile version." Just tap on that, and you’ll be taken to a mobile-friendly view. "
Mod
Links do make it easier to check out others' recommendations, especially when others are using a mobile device as well :-P
I typically post from my iPhone and I use the "add book/author" feature at the top of the comment box.
Thanks, Erin, that's even easier, especially if the only thing you need to do from the mobile version is add a link to a book!
I tend to be really awful with technology, so thanks for the replies, Erin and StarMan! :)
Mod
I was totally unaware that there was a mobile version and a desktop version. Somehow my phone happened to be set to the desktop version.
2016 was a rough year for me so didn’t get the chance to read much unfortunately. However, out of the books I did manage to read, here are my picks for Best and Worst:BEST:
Me Before You
I will admit that I chose this book due to all the “hype" surrounding it (was curious to see for myself)…plus I had some time on my hands during a business trip when I was waiting for my flight at the airport, so figured I would try it. I did read some of the reviews (both positive and negative) on the book before starting and honestly wasn’t sure whether I would like the book much. The story itself was quite simple and the prose wasn’t spectacular by any means, but I was drawn in by the relationship between the 2 main characters and ended up falling in love with this “couple”. While I can understand why some people felt the ending was controversial, I personally felt it was a very poignant and appropriate ending given the premise of the book (for the record, I am neither for nor against the situation that was depicted in the ending – I basically have no opinion on it whatsoever outside of its relevance to this story). Needless to say, I ended up loving this book – way more than I expected in fact (and yes, I did cry my eyes out at the ending)! [P.S.: I didn’t watch the movie – yet. Debating whether I should watch it or not, since I’m very picky when it comes to movie/TV series adaptations of books and usually end up hating the movie versions…]
WORST:
After You
Yes, this is the sequel to Me Before You, which I ended up reading on the plane ride back from my trip. While I loved the first book, I absolutely HATED the sequel! It’s hard for me to talk about the sequel without revealing the ending to the first book, so I’m not going to say much here other than this was a very lame (excuse my language) attempt on the author’s part to continue a story that did not need to be continued in the first place. The story in the first book was perfect the way it was in my opinion and all the second book did was ruin the beautiful story – for me at least. The sequel should never have been written…and I will leave it at that!
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Books mentioned in this topic
After You (other topics)Me Before You (other topics)
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (other topics)
The Name of the Wind (other topics)
The Island of Dr. Moreau (other topics)
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1) Was there ONE particular book that delighted or surprised you this year? In other words, what's your "Book of the Year" for 2016? Do you consider it a 5-star book?
2) What ONE book came highly recommended -- or drew you in with its cover and blurb -- yet ultimately disagreed with you? What rating would you give it? Did you finish the book?
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