Top Ten (Or So): Books Read in 2017

This was a small year for books. Only 33! That's the least amount of books I've read in a year since I started keeping track, and possibly since I learned to read. Of course, I had a good excuse (getting engaged!!!), but it's made making a list like this a little more difficult. Fortunately, there were a couple of amazing ones.

So without further ado, in sort-of approximate order from least to most favourite, are some of the best books I read in 2015:

Section Three--these were great, I loved these ones: the "all the good ones" section:

--Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. This is first on the list because I forget almost all the details and only remember that I enjoyed it a lot. One of my favourites in the "Yeah, it was great!" category.

--A Darkling Sea by James L. Cambias. I remember this one much better, and I remember being confused at the end, and not being quite as impressed as I'd hoped to be based on reviews. Nonetheless, it made me think, it entertained me, it remained memorable, and I'd recommend it to scifi lovers, even picky ones.

--Surprised by Joy by C. S. Lewis. I'm surprised this one didn't end up being higher up the list, since it's Lewis. But, wonder of wonders, I've discovered I've outgrown Lewis just a little. I still loved it (thus it's on this list). Especially when he talks about Joy itself. Lewis gets Joy in a way few people do, and I've always longed for it.

Section Two--these are just so good: the section with my actual favourites of the year:

--The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. This came at a good time in my life. So many good ideas to increase happiness, plus the central idea that you have to work for it. Being joyful is a choice, in many ways, and one you can actively pursue.

--The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. This almost went in Section One, for all-time favourites. So, so close. In fact, one of the only reasons why it isn't there is because I didn't want Section Two to be too small. Because this one is great. So inspiring. Such good ideas. Such an amazing end goal, that I want so much. Yeah, she can be a bit weird sometimes and I don't always agree with her. But when does that not happen? With some caveats: Read this if you want to change your life.

Section One--life-changing, ground-breaking, or astonishing: the new additions to my all-time favourites

--The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. Changed the way I thought about food, and made me interested in it for the first time in my life. Now cooking, gardening, farming, hunting, gathering, society's relationship to all those, are all in my areas of keen interest. It was so great, and so entertaining and interesting. Plus the cover is gorgeous, so that always helps.

--The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North. This is MY kind of book. This is it. Any attempt to explain it is going to get at the wrong sort of idea.

--The Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster. This changed my life. Part of that is definitely because it came at just the right time, when I was longing for something to teach me about the little disciplines to make my life better. Part of that is probably because it comes from a different perspective than I'm used to. I'm Catholic, and though this book doesn't go against Church teachings at all (except maybe in a couple obvious places (like the part on Confession)), there's still some new ideas for me. Ideas that I think could be very useful for Catholics to internalize. One of the most striking for me was the idea of practical prayer. Don't want to get into it too much, but this is one of the best and most inspiring practical guides to living a Christian life I've found.


Runners Up (In No Order Whatsoever and Possibly Missing Some Good Ones Because I'm Really, Really Bad at Making Up My Mind)
--The Sunbird by Elizabeth E. Wein. Some great, great characters in this slim book.
--What If? by Randall Munroe. So funny. So informative.
--Little Sins Mean a Lot by Elizabeth Scalia. So great at making me want to be better!

P.S. See also the Top Ten (Or So) lists from previous years: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016.

Top Ten (Or So): Covers of Books Read in 2017

I don't have the time and energy to keep up this blog anymore. But the Top-Ten Lists are just so fun to do, that I can still manage to find what I need to do two of these per year. Here goes the first one.


Here they are--in only approximate order--favourite to least favourite, the best covers of the books I read in 2017. There are fewer than ten because this was another disappointing year for book covers. Maybe because I read so few books last year? Anyway, whatever. Here goes. The first two are a tie because I loved them both so much.

I don't know what it is about Jackaby. Partly the colour scheme--I love blue, and then there's that little, striking bit of red. Partly it's the look of the character on the front. Partly it's the interesting way the scene is shown inside his profile. Partly it's the reference to Sherlock Holmes and Buffy on the quote on the front.

The Omnivore's Dilemma has what I've come to learn is a not uncommon style of cover for food books. But at the time, I found it striking, and I still do. I love the experience of reading a book that looks like this. Just looking at that food on the cover, standing out in the stark, black background, makes me want to be enormously healthy and energetic and productive and knowledgable about food.

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. It's just cool looking. I've always loved recursion.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is simple and elegant, like how your life can be if you follow the guidelines in this book.

What If? has a dinosaur being lowered into a wormhole with tentacles. Enough said.

I'm not totally sure why I like the cover for A Darkling Sea. It looks kind of dark and mysterious, I guess?

Archivist Wasp isn't by any means my favourite cover for the year, but it's striking. You can't deny that. It always stood out to me in book lists I looked at.


Runners Up (in No Particular Order): Food Rules and In Defense of Food by Michael Pollen, because they were cool in the same way as The Omnivore's Dilemma, but I didn't want to put three books by the same author on the list; Little Sins Mean a Lot by Elizabeth Scalia, maybe because it stood out from all the rest? It's suitable to the content of the book, too; Miss Ellicott's School for the Magically Minded by Sage Blackwood looks like the kind of Middle Grade book I'd like to read--the children look fun and the adventure looks adventure-y.

P.S. See also my previous lists: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016.