Best & Worst of 2017

[Roz]

I was very generous with my stars this year. For some reason I had 19 5-star books and when I gave them a second look, not all deserved it. I think it may have been the excitement of the moment. I'll have to be stingier next year. But of the 19, these are the ones I think really deserved it:

The Ballroom
We Were the Lucky Ones
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
To Kill a Mockingbird

Then there were the stinkers:

Empty (1 grudgingly given star)
The Friday Night Knitting Club
Turkey Day Murder
The Glass Room
Tinkers

If I could have listed a 5th that scored only 2 stars I would have gone on to list The Stars Are Fire, but I'll play by the rules.

[Janice, Moderator]

Roz wrote: "I was very generous with my stars this year. For some reason I had 19 5-star books and when I gave them a second look, not all deserved it. I think it may have been the excitement of the moment. I'..."

My rl book club read Friday Night Knitting Club a few years back. Several of them really enjoyed it. After that night, they deemed me to be a book snob.

[Roz]

I thought I'd like it...the knitting angle and all that. But it was just to chick-litty and some of the characters were annoying, imo.

[Janice, Moderator]

The thing that drove me crazy was all the lists.

Eg - "Even now, it still seems unbelievable to me that by pulling together a motley collection - the soft yarn, the sharp needles, the scripted pattern, the smoothing hook, the intangibles of creativity, humanity, and imagination - you can create something that will hold a piece of your soul."

Then a few paragraphs later - "Slowly she would walk around the shop, running her hands lightly over the piles of yarn that were meticulously sorted by color - from lime to Kelly green, rust to strawberry, cobalt to Wedgewood blue, sunburst to amber, and rows and rows of grays and creams and blacks and whites."

It was one of the first audiobooks that I listened to, and perhaps the medium made it seem more pronounced. I just recall rolling my eyes a lot.

[Roz]

I totally agree. It’s very hard to like a book that makes my eyes roll.

[Sandra, Moderator]

Roz wrote: "but I'll play by the rules."

Lol

[Sandra, Moderator]

Janice, sounds like she couldn't leave a thing unnamed.

[Janice, Moderator]

That does make sense.

[Annerlee]

Cherie wrote: "@ Annerlee - I agree about the Jacob de Zoet book! Brilliant!
I listened to Kate M narrate NOS4A2 in 2016 and felt the same way."

Yep. These were two most excellent reads / listens. Will revisit both at some point once I've had time to digest them (2019 perhaps... lol)

I'm trawling through people's favourites at the moment, adding to my TBR list (should know better really, it's a bit like window shopping)

[Rusalka, Moderator]

So I finally have my list. I don't like to preempt my December reads, which was a good thing on both counts in 2017.

Best:
Moral Panic 101: Equality, Acceptance and the Safe Schools Scandal
Burial Rites
Hogfather
Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea
Old Man's War
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Worst: (Only two stars this year)
The Historian
White Horse
Bone Ash Sky
Trailer Park Fae
Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure
Pietr the Latvian
The Dogs of Riga (this was probably the closest borderline with a 3. But I was not impressed)

[Peggy]

Trying to sneak in more than 5, Rus? ;-)

Glad to see Burial Rites on your top list!

[Rusalka, Moderator]

I figured I was so late, no one was paying attention anymore! Lol

So yep :P

[Sarah]

Not at all. It's great to see your list. especially your best of.