Superlatives for the Books I Read this Year (2017 Edition)

Looking back at my book log for this year, it appears I only read 17 novels this year. And to think, I was disappointed in myself for only reading 19 books the year before. Sigh.

Side note: I’ve been composing my list of 2018 Resolutions, and one of my goals of next year is to read at least 22 books. Two books per month (not counting November, because I’ll be busy writing that month) seems pretty reasonable. Maybe. I’m hoping for the best, anyway. Also, the fact that I have 22 unread books currently sitting on my dresser is a mere coincidence, I swear.

Much like last year, I decided to have some fun with my rather measly amount of books that I read in 2017. I mean, I don’t know about you, but after reading so many “Best of” lists at the end of the year, I don’t care to read another review. So you get book superlatives instead.


Best Sequel

A TORCH AGAINST THE NIGHT by Sabaa Tahir

The novel is told in three different character perspectives, and I honestly don’t know which one I preferred reading the most. Part of me wants to say Helene, but I also liked Elias. I guess not Laia – sorry, girl. Anyway, each character had a very distinct story arc and I think Tahir did a nice job at making each one worth reading. Their journeys were intertwined, but it wasn’t like there was one character that solely had their arc wrapped around another character’s story. I appreciated it. 

The Only Stand-Alone Book I Read

TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN by John Green

First of all, it’s it pathetic how I only read one book this entire year that didn’t belong in a duology or a trilogy. I need to change that. (But judging by my current stack of books, probably not anytime soon.) Second, I briefly talked about this book in my last blog post, so I won’t repeat everything, but I think it’s interesting how, even within the novel, the protagonist and her friend talked about how sometimes there is no proper ending to a story. Sometimes you only get to read about a particular point in time.

“You pick your endings, and your beginnings. You get to pick the frame, you know? Maybe you don’t choose what’s in the picture, but you decide on the frame.” (p. 277) 

So by that logic, perhaps there is no such thing as a “stand-alone” book. Maybe all stories exist before and after their chosen focus of time, but what happens beyond those pages is just a great mystery. Life marches on. (Another theme that the novel touches upon.)

Runner-up: THE FORGETTING by Sharon Cameron

This book gets half a point for being a “stand-alone”. Its companion book was released in the fall, so it takes place within the same world, just in the future and with different characters. (Side note: I did not read the companion book yet.)











Best New Author to Me

Katharine McGee for THE THOUSANDTH FLOOR

Despite how many characters the book focused on, each of them felt unique to me. And I loved the futuristic world (New York, in particular) that McGee built, which could totally be a character itself. Also, lots of societal drama. 

Runner-up: Kiersten White for AND I DARKEN

I’ve definitely seen this author around on bookstore shelves for years, but I never actually picked up a novel from her until I saw this book. The cover was awesome, and I was intrigued at an Ottoman Empire story, loosely based off of the Impaler, Dracul – with the gender reversed.










Book That Made Me Cry

THE MIDNIGHT STAR by Marie Lu

Ugh, that ending. Lu is very good at finishing each of her books series with a bittersweet note. I have to reach for tissues every single time. You earned my tears.

Longest Book

CROOKED KINGDOM by Leigh Bardugo

Bardugo won this title for the second year in a row. The novel clocked in at 536 pages, so it beat last year’s record. I’m always impressed at how Bardugo managed to write a fantasy heist duology that continuously pulled surprises out of me. 

And in case anyone was curious, I read a total of 7,522 pages in 2017. That’s an average of 442.47 pages/book. (Yay, math! Wish I knew the word count for reading that many pages, though.) Hopefully, I’ll achieve my goal for next year and read much more pages (and books) than that. As always, I’ll keep you updated on my progress.



P.S. Fun fact of the day, but I discovered this morning that the word “run” is the most complicated word in the English language, due to its 645 meanings. Who knew? (Well, clearly I didn’t.) Can you imagine creating a list of meanings for just one word, five days a week, for nine months, as your job? For me, I’d probably never want to see this word for the rest of my life. But I suppose someone, somewhere, could compose a doctoral thesis about “run”…