What’s the Best Book You Read this Year?

[Kelly]

The year is almost over, but there have been plenty of great new books to read. Many well-known authors including Dan Brown, Louise Erdrich, Jenny Egan, James McBride, and Andy Weir all have new books. Between the recently released and some older books you might not have read until now, it can be tough to choose the best book you’ve read this year.

For me, it was Colleen Hover’s It Ends with Us. It’s better if you don’t know too much about the plot before you read it, but I’ll just say there’s more to it than what’s written on the back cover. This book and its characters sat with me a long time after I read it and took me on such an emotional roller coaster while I was reading that I can say it was also the book that had the greatest impact on me.

So, looking back, what was the best book you read in 2017?

[Marcia]

I liked We Were the Lucky Ones. biographical history written about real people as the result of a genealogy study. Most books are about history with made up characters. These characters were real people

[Hari]

I enjoyed We Were the Lucky Ones, too! I thought the first-time author did a great job of telling this story of her family.

[Hari]

Hands down the best book I've read this year is A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. Towles manages to bring together such interesting characters, especially the main one, and situations in a limited geography. His sublime writing style made this a standout for me.

[Marcia]

i am reading The End Game by David Baldacci. Lots of twists and turns while Will and Jessica search for their boss Blue man who has disappeared.

[Scott]

That is tough - I have read some excellent books this year. I might have to go in a little different direction and go with Stephen King's The Bazaar of Bad Dreams - a collection of short stories.

[Hari]

I just started The End Game yesterday and am enjoying it. Tension galore!

[Scott]

This is my second entry to this same question. I am adding a second book because my first choice was a collection of short stories. So this time I am listing my favorite stand alone, non-fiction book.

I am almost done with "The Year of the Pitcher" by Pappu and hope to be done before Dec. 31. It is an excellent book and not just another "baseball" book.

I might rank this as the best book I have read this year. Tough question but a good question.

[[deleted user]]

Like Scott, I read so many wonderful books this year making it difficult to choose a favorite. With that being said, one book that I really enjoyed was A Mercy by Toni Morrison, which was released in 2009.

The book is set in America in the year 1680, while the American slave trade was still in the early stages. I'd recommend this for anyone who likes slave narratives or historical fiction.

[Abby]

Frozen in Time by Mitchell Zuckoff was my favorite book of 2017. I didn't want to put it down the entire time I was reading.

[Scott]

I just finished the trilogy of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Loved all three and I would probably rank the third book (Hornet's Nest) as the best.

[Susan]

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. It felt so very Russian all the way through, in the setting, the language, the characters (given that all I know about Russia is Chekhov and Dr. Zhivago the movie). You have to admire a work that can take you so completely to another place and time.

[[deleted user]]

So far it is the whistler by John Grisham

[[deleted user]]

Susan wrote: "A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. It felt so very Russian all the way through, in the setting, the language, the characters (given that all I know about Russia is Chekhov and Dr. Zhivago the mo..."

That's very insightful, Linda! I had a similar feeling when I read the slave narrative Property by Valerie Martin.

[Abby]

Linda wrote: "So far it is the whistler by John Grisham"

Glad you're enjoying it. Grisham comes out with a lot great books, and he's prolific enough that you don't have to wait too long for the next one.

[Scott]

I just finished Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton. I enjoyed it. A quick read. My guess is that he was done with it when he passed away but they published it nonetheless. Good fun read.

[Marcia]

I just started Kristin hannah's new book The Great Alone. I have a daughter who lives in Alaska and much of the description and places reminds me of when I went to visit her. She lived in the bush and survival was something you planned for every day/

[Scott]

I started a book entitled Valiant Ambition by Philbrick and I am really liking this book. A fresh look at what led Benedict Arnold to become a traitor. I am about 40% through this book and really enjoying it

[Hari]

Marcia wrote: "I just started Kristin hannah's new book The Great Alone. I have a daughter who lives in Alaska and much of the description and places reminds me of when I went to visit her. She lived in the bush ..."
I've heard good things about this book. I'll put it on my ever-expanding TBR list.

[Marcia]

I finished Kristin Hannah's new book, The Great Alone. The story is so powerful and if you loved The Nightingale you should read her latest book.

[Martha]

I went back to Thomas Keneally who wrote the book that became Schindler’s list. His Daughter of Mars is about two sisters in Australia who leave the farm to nurse in World War I. Vivid descriptions of the war and medical techniques ( or lack of them ) mingle with each sister’s romantic encounters and experiences in a private hospital in France and a medical trauma hut near French battlefields. Wonderful depiction of that time! Tragic, heroic, personal..he must have drawn on family stories (his wife was a nurse) to render such a direct line to that era. I highly recommend it and any of his other books.

[Scott]

I just finished Scavengers by David Morrell. A second book in a two-book sequence. Very interesting and a real page turner. Also what I liked about it - it was thought provoking

[Marcia]

I really enjoyed Before We Were Yours. It is historical fiction about a real life crime that took place in Memphis Tennessee where children from poor families were taken and then placed with rich families. The book is hard to put down.

[Lyndsie]

I'm 1/3 through my goal for this year and I haven't had a stand-out book yet. I'll have to check out some of your suggestions! I'm in a bit of a reading slump at the moment. :(

[Mel]

After reading Before We Were Yours I went on a tear, reading everything I could about that whole period of history. I found it so hard to believe that went on for 30 years. And I agree,I could not put down the book either.

[[deleted user]]

I have a new favorite Camino Island by John Grisham but I am going to read The Racketeer sooner or later.