My year in books! 2016

How many books did you read this year?
66! I’m not a bookworm. I’m a bookpython.

(Why yes, I did make an almost identical joke last year, and I’m going to keep making it with slight variations until I’m tired of it, so there!)

What was your number one TOP FAVORITE of them?
Oh jeez, this is so hard, erm, agh, uhh… Gone Girl. No, wait. Wild. No! My Sister’s Keeper! WAIT, NO! The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake! A Man Called Ove! We Need To Talk About Kevin! WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT WHAT A CRUEL QUESTION THIS IS.

Final answer: “I Have Too Many Favorite Books: A Memoir,” by Shannon Noel Brady.

Favorite new-to-you author that you discovered this year?
Definitely Gillian Flynn, without a doubt. I read all three of her books this year. Normally I like a diversity of authors, but in this case, I was Team Gillian all the way.

Best new-to-you book by an author you already liked?
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby. It’s his most famous one but I do everything out of order. Dessert for breakfast and breakfast for dessert, that’s how I roll. (Seriously, I do that sometimes.)

What book were you surprised to like?
None were really surprises, because I specifically pick books that I, um… want to read? I know, crazy. If I had to pick, I guess I would say Every Day (Levithan) and Perks of Being a Wallflower (Chbosky), only because I normally don’t read YA. Both were excellent.

What was the funniest book you read this year?
Shrill by Lindy West. This was a book where the jokes were so gut-bustingly good that I immediately read them a second time so I could laugh all over again.

What book made you cry?

These two both tie for BUCKETS OF TEARS. I’m talking big, loud, sloppy sobbing. Now that I think of it, MSK probably beats out Wild because the latter’s tearbuckets mainly came at the beginning, while in MSK there was NO MERCY AT ANY TIME. Any page, any paragraph, could suddenly send you flailing for tissues.

What was the most beautifully written?
The Wisdom of John Muir, collected by Anne Rowthorn. Muir was an conservationist in the 1800s, the man who fought to preserve the exquisiteness of Yosemite as a National Park. This was a collection of his best writings on nature, and ohhh they were lovely… Fluttery-heart and wistful-sigh kind of lovely.

Most thought-provoking or life-changing?
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert had an immense effect on me. It was all about coping with fear in the creative process.

Most unputdownable?
Behind Closed Doors by BA Paris had a ruthless tension and a feeling of “OH NO” on every page, making it a book I read in about two sittings. (And the only reason I put it down between those sittings was because I had to leave for dinner with the in-laws.)

Most shocking or disturbing?
We Need to Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver. Hoooooo boy, this was an unsettling read. It’s the kind of book where it’s impossible to say you’re “enjoying” it, as it’s such a punch to the stomach, yet you’re thoroughly compelled to turn each page. Tough as it was, it also was amazing.

Most imaginative?
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender. It wasn’t packed with imagination the way the fantasy novels on my list were, but its concept was surreal in a completely unique way.

Who was the most memorable character of the year?

Get ready to have your heartstrings pulled.

Most memorable friendship or romance?
Bill and Stephen had a hilarious dynamic in A Walk in the Woods (Bryson).

What genre or subject matter did you try that you normally don’t read?
I read my first “whodunit” mystery – Where Monsters Dwell by Jorgen Brekke. Enjoyed it, would like to read more.

What book can you not believe you waited this long to get to?
Matilda by Roald Dahl. I know I know, probably everyone else read it as a kid! I also finally read Perks of Being a Wallflower after having it on my to-read list for years. It was amazing.

Favorite quote from this year’s reads?
“…it was enough to trust that what I’d done was true. To understand its meaning without yet being able to say precisely what it was… To believe that I didn’t need to reach with my bare hands anymore. To know that seeing the fish beneath the surface of the water was enough. That it was everything. It was my life – like all lives, mysterious and irrevocable and sacred. So very close, so very present, so very belonging to me. How wild it was, to let it be.” – Wild

What books did you read based mostly on recommendation or peer pressure?
Lord Foul’s Bane (Thomas Covenant #1) by Stephen Donaldson. I thought it had an awesome concept, but a few chapters in, the main character did something so horrible that my fury never went away. But I pushed through because the premise is similar to my own novel, so I felt like I had a duty to finish it.

Which of your reads did you recommend most to others?
Gone Girl

Did you start or finish a series?
I started a re-read of The Chronicles of Narnia. I was a kid the last time I read them so I wanted to refresh my memory. This year I completed the first two and will read the rest sporadically over the next couple years.

Shortest book?
Phoebe and Her Unicorn, by Dana Simpson – a kids’ comic book, so it took like 10 seconds to read. But it was hilarious and awesome.

Longest?
Lord Foul’s Bane, 480 pages. Felt like 480,000 though.

Favorite cover of the year?

OOOOH COLORRRRS

What was your favorite reading spot?
I discovered a cliffside trail overlooking the ocean this year. I loved finding remote spots where my legs could dangle over the edge, and read as the waves crashed below.

Did you read anything published within the year?
Yup – Behind Closed Doors, Shrill, I’m Just a Person, and Borderline.

Did you watch a movie based on a book you’d read?
Yup – My Sister’s Keeper, Gone Girl, Dark Places, Before I Go To Sleep, We Need to Talk About Kevin, and Wild.

Which books were re-reads?
The Chronicles of Narnia #1 and 2

What are you most excited to read next year?
The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer. I love her comedy.

And lastly… THE LIST! All of your reads from this year, ready, go!

1. Matilda – Roald Dahl
2. When You Reach Me – Rebecca Stead
3. Shutter Island – Dennis Lehane
4. The Lot – by my good friend, Clayton Snyder!
5. The End of the Alphabet – CS Richardson
6. Letters to a Young Poet – Rainer Maria Rilke
7. The Sense of an Ending – Julian Barnes
8. My Sister’s Keeper – Jodi Picoult
9. The Snow Globe – Jenna Nelson
10. Where Monsters Dwell – Jorgen Brekke
11. Fade to Black – Tim McBain
12. Every Day – David Levithan
13. The Book of Flying – Keith Miller
14. Above – Isla Morley
15. The Book of Lost Things – John Connolly
16. Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children – Ransom Riggs
17. Find Me – Laura van den Berg
18. Borderline – Mishell Baker
19. Dark Places – Gillian Flynn
20. Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn
21. Phoebe and Her Unicorn – Dana Simpson
22. The Girl on the Train – Paula Hawkins
23. High Fidelity – Nick Hornby
24. Before I Go to Sleep – SJ Watson
25. The Quality of Silence – Rosamund Lupton
26. Six Words You Never Knew had Something to Do With Pigs – Katherine Barber
27. Hyperbole and a Half – Allie Brosh
28. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake – Aimee Bender
29. Twisted – Andrew Kaufman
30. The Light Between Oceans – ML Stedman
31. The BFG – Roald Dahl
32. We Need to Talk About Kevin – Lionel Shriver
33. Agorafabulous – Sara Benincasa
34. Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things – Randy Frost
35. The Leftovers – Tom Perrotta
36. Stitches – David Small
37. Invisible Monsters – Chuck Palahniuk
38. Lock In – John Scalzi
39. Goddesses: A World of Myth and Magic – Burleigh Muten
40. The Madness Vase – Andrea Gibson
41. A Man Called Ove – Fredrik Backman
42. Landline – Rainbow Rowell
43. Big Magic – Elizabeth Gilbert
44. The Three – Sarah Lotz
45. Sharp Objects – Gillian Flynn
46. The Magician’s Nephew (Narnia #1) – CS Lewis
47. Barrel Fever – David Sedaris
48. Thunder Dog – Michael Hingson
49. The Rosie Project – Graeme Simsion
50. The Wisdom of John Muir – Anne Rowthorn
51. The Man Who Couldn’t Stop – David Adam
52. A Walk in the Woods – Bill Bryson
53. Annihilation – Jeff Vandermeer
54. The Dogs of Babel – Carolyn Parkhurst
55. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Narnia #2) – CS Lewis
56. Lord Foul’s Bane – Stephen Donaldson
57. I’m Just a Person – Tig Notaro
58. Shrill – Lindy West
59. Wild – Cheryl Strayed
60. Behind Closed Doors – BA Paris
61. Paddle Your Own Canoe – Nick Offerman
62. Dad is Fat – Jim Gaffigan
63. The Dinner – Herman Koch
64. When Things Fall Apart – Pema Chodron
65. Lullaby – Chuck Palahniuk
66. Perks of Being a Wallflower – Stephen Chbosky

Voila! If you got a kick out of this survey, feel free to answer it yourself and let me know so I can read your answers. 🙂

Merry reading~