Landline and Other Top Reads of 2017

In December, I finished 10 books:

A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann (audiobook)
The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King
The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan (reread)
I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella (audiobook)
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
The Crown by Kiera Cass
The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer (audiobook)
Fever by Deon Meyer
The Man Who Changed Everything by Basil Mahon

This brings my total for the year to 140 books!

My Five Star reads for 2017:

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour
Behold the Bones by Natalie C. Parker
The Silver Witch by Paula Brackston
Winter by Marissa Meyer
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
Origin by Diana Abu-Jaber
Bad Blood by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
Duma Key by Stephen King
Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
The Blonde by Anna Godbersen
Just After Sunset by Stephen King
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Mongomery
Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
The Reader by Traci Chee
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Teach Like a Champion 2.0 by Doug Lemov
Landline by Rainbow Rowell
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Of these thirty, it is hard to choose a favorite. I am a little in love with Leigh Bardugo right now, and super entranced by the worlds and characters she creates. Yet none of her titles above stands out as a clear winner.

I think I would have to go with Landline by Rainbow Rowell. Unlike Bardugo, Rowell sets her stories in the very ordinary world. She populates her tales with very ordinary people. And that is why I love them so. Landline in particular felt like visiting with people that I personally know. Which is a little strange, given that the story is based on a phone having magical powers. (I won’t explain the phone thing, you will have to read it!)

While I have read a lot this year (thanks in part to having a long drive to work again filled with audiobooks), I have not been as prolific with my own words. I did finish a draft of Variations, the contemporary young adult novel set in a school of the arts, but haven’t finished revisions yet. This is at the top of my priority list for 2018. I also have a YA paranormal story lurking in the dark recesses of my brain, waiting not so patiently for its turn to hit the page.

What did you accomplish in 2017? What is on your to-do list for the new year?