So, the other day, my mom made some kind of remark about not seeing me post anything yet about my favorite books of 2016. I'm at least 99% sure she was mocking me when she mentioned it, but I started thinking... Although it was probably the toughest year of my life so far, I did read a lot of great books last year and it would be a shame if I didn't share that list with you. It's always quite the challenge for me to narrow it down to ten books, but we'll see what I can do. I barely reached my goal of 150 books this year, so at least there are about fifty less to choose from than last year. ☺ I hope you find something on this list that stands out to you and finds it way onto your own book shelf. Note that these are not necessarily books published this year, I just happened to read them in 2016. Happy reading!
#1: A Song of Ice and Fire series
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Author: George R.R. Martin
Published: Bantam Books
Dates read: June 27th-Aug 7th
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Other than getting my puppy, of course, the highlight of 2016 for me was officially joining the Game of Thrones fandom in all of it's nerdy, fantasy-loving glory. Other than some really crushing character deaths and GRRM's procrastination on giving us a sixth book, there is nothing about A Song of Ice and Fire that I do not love (okay so there were some major issues with A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons, but it didn't take away from my overall love of the series--but that's a story for another time). I just can't even begin to describe the enormity and complexity of this series and all of the different plots, sub-plots, settings and characters. This series makes my heart race and my palms sweat and fills me with rage, elation, and often outright fear. If you read this, you will see villains and heroes rise, kings and queens die, the dead walk,direwolves prowl, and dragons fly.
“When you play a game of thrones you win or you die.”
“What is honor compared to a woman's love? What is duty against the feel of a newborn son in your arms . . . or the memory of a brother's smile? Wind and words. Wind and words. We are only human, and the gods have fashioned us for love. That is our great glory, and our great tragedy.”
And my personal favorite, as an avid supporer of House Stark who knows no King but the King in the North whose name is Stark:
“Winter is coming.”
#2: Lady Midnight
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Author: Cassandra Clare Published: 03/08/16 by Margaret K. McElderry Books Date read: 03/14/16 |
There's just something about Cassandra Clare's Shadowhunter world that I find irresistible. I first fell in love with this author and world with
The Mortal Instruments series, but my absolute favorite (possibly my favorite series of all time) was
The Infernal Devices. I have fond memories of feeling like my heart would burst and sobbing a mixture of sad and happy tears at the conclusions of both series, but I must say that I do not recall feeling that way with the first books of either series. Miraculously, with
Lady Midnight, I most certainly did.
I honestly feel that
Lady Midnight is by far the strongest series debut that Clare has written yet. I had an immediate emotional connection with these characters and felt that their chemistry and the ferocity of their bond was so palpable and visceral. Cassandra Clare depicts Julian and Emma's passion and incomparable love for one another in a way that I felt in my gut. I love these two and I feel for them so much, even though I know so much more lies ahead for them.
This lovely, lovely book is full of magic, murder, curses, Downworlders, Nephilim, betrayal, loyalty, love, and so much more. I absolutely can not wait until the next book is released. I'm madly in love with this series already. This is Clare's best work yet.
#3: The Glass Castle
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Author: Jeannette Walls Published: 1/17/06 by Scribner Date Read: 06/19/16 |
The Glass Castle is a stunning memoir that I'm so glad was written. Despite the overall bleak content of the book, there was a whimsical quality to Walls' storytelling that made parts of her childhood seem otherworldly. She was able to let in a little sunshine even in the darkest moments of her life and every little triumph experienced by the Walls children kept the first three parts of the book from being too unbearably depressing.
This was a book I read slowly, as it was draining and somewhat painful for an empathetic reader such as myself. Predominantly, I felt anger at Jeanette's parents, for failing their children in order to fulfill their own selfish whims, but at the same time (like Jeanette) I felt a very conflicted loyalty towards her father. Despite his failings and never-ending battle with alcoholism, Jeanette's bond with Rex Walls wrung my heart out. Although she faced years of near-starvation, molestation, being beaten and bullied at school, and living in deplorable conditions, it was the times she was let down or betrayed by her father that seemed to be the most significant hardships of her life.
This book is a pretty bleak look at life well below the poverty threshold... It speaks harsh truths about the reality of poverty, homelessness, mental illness, and addiction and will undoubtedly make you appreciate your family, the food in your belly, and the roof over your head. For these reasons, I think it should be required reading for all Americans.
#4: The Bird and the Sword
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Author: Amy Harmon
Published: CreateSpace
Independent
Publishing 5/2016
Date read: 08/21/16
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" Swallow Daughter, pull them in, those words that sit upon your lips. Lock them deep inside your soul, hide them 'til they've time to grow. Close your mouth upon the power, curse not, cure not, 'til the hour. You won't speak and you won't tell, you won't call on heav'n or hell. You will learn and you will thrive. Silence, daughter. Stay alive.”
--Amy Harmon, The Bird and the Sword
The Bird and the Sword was so beautifully, flawlessly written that I simply wanted to live inside of it forever. While I'm classifying this as a fantasy novel, it reads so much like a fairytale that I'm confident it will appeal to anyone with a love of princes and princesses, curses and true love. While I loved the plot and fairy tale type qualities, the real magic was in the words. I'm finding it impossible to really describe the writing style for the sake of this review, so just believe me when I say it was gorgeous. I love a book that doesn't just tell you what happened to a character, but allows you to experience every sight, sound, and feeling firsthand. The Bird and the Sword isn't just about magic, it is magical.
#5: A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
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Author: Anthony Marra
Published: 2/4/14 by Hogarth
Date Read: 11/15/16
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A Constellation of Vital Phenomena takes place from 1994-2004 in war-torn Chechnya. Anthony Marra provides just enough historical fact and detail to allow a rudimentary understanding of the Chechen-Russian conflicts, but the main points of the novel have nothing to do with the Chechen republic's quest for independence from Russia or Russia's claim to a "war against terrorism" in the primarily Muslim region of Chechnya. The true treasure of this beautifully devastating book is that it gives a voice to those who suffer the most during these types of conflicts: the ordinary people who are just attempting to stay alive and maintain a sense of humanity among so much suffering and strife. The book covers multiple such characters: a failed doctor with an ailing wife, a brilliant surgeon with a missing sister, an arborist who lost his fingers during an interrogation, an elderly man living with someone he loves who is now a stranger, an informant who hates himself almost as much as he wishes to stay alive, and a little girl who has lost everything but her life.
Between the beautifully written prose and the delicate way in which these characters' lives were intertwined into a web of unimaginable loss and uplifting hope, this novel is one I won't forget. As I described to the friend who recommended this book to me,
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena was awful and devastating and yet still one of the best books I read last year.
"Only one entry supplied an adequate definition, and she circled it in red ink and referred to it nightly. Life: A constellation of vital phenomena--organization, irritability, movement, growth, reproduction, adaptation." --Anthony Marra, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
#6: We Were Liars
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Author: E. Lockhart Published: 5/13/14 by Delacorte Press Date Read: 02/06/16 |
"My name is Cadence Sinclair Eastman.
I suffer migraines. I do not suffer fools.
I like a twist of meaning.
I endure."
I can see why E. Lockheart's writing style in
We Were Liars may have been too "over the top" and tedious for some readers, but it was absolutely my kind of writing. I adore; crave; heck, worship fluff and flowery prose and novels that step outside the box stylistically. The short, choppy sentences that pack a punch... The line breaks mid-sentence... The poetic, metaphor-rich descriptions of thoughts and feelings... Like:
"It tasted like salt and failure. The bright red shame of being unloved soaked the grass in front of our house, the bricks of the path, the steps to the porch. My heart spasmed among the peonies like trout." Ahhh.. 💙
This book feels like summer, which I love, and is set on a private island in Massachusetts, which I love much more than the idea of a Florida beach for some reason. There is a lot of family drama that I imagine is the quintessential picture of "old money Democrats" who own their own island. What I loved most though was the suspense and air of mystery and how I felt so connected to these characters, while simultaneously being held at arm's length and left in the dark.
I feel like you'll either fall madly in love with this one (like me) or else you'll find it over-written like some of the other fuddy-duds out there (just kidding...kind of).
#7: The Cellist of Sarajevo
"There was a moment before impact that was the last instant of things as they were.
Then the visible world exploded."
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Author: Steven Galloway Published: 5/15/08 by Riverhead Hardcover Date read: 04/10/16 |
The Cellist of Sarajevo follows four individuals during the siege of Sarajevo that lasted from 1992 to 1996 during the Bosnian War. The siege is experienced through the eyes of a baker, a father, and a sniper--three strangers whose lives are touched by the cellist who plays Albinoni's Adagio every day for twenty-two days at the site where twenty-two people were killed while waiting in line for bread...
This is a beautifully crafted novel that is simultaneously powerful and sentimental. Despite all of the carnage, violence, and death, Galloway managed to paint scenes in which beauty and dreams of peace managed to surface from beneath the shades of gray that war had forced upon the city of Sarajevo. Those rare moments when the sun peeked through the clouds took my breath away. While this book made me feel fear, it also made me feel such a great appreciation of life and made me realize how trivial my problems are. I'm alive. I'm healthy. I have food and clean water. I can walk down the street without fearing a sniper's bullet will pass through my head. This is the type of book that may change your life and the way in which you view the world.
#8: Bright Side
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Author: Kim Holden
Published: 07/04/14
by Do Epic LLC
Date Read: 11/04/16
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The Bright Side undoubtedly proves that Kim Holden can do epic. When I read this, I couldn't remember the last time I was this emotionally invested and devastated by fictional characters, but my level of grief and the amount of mascara stained tears I shed in response to this novel reminded me a little of the time I met a man named Will Traynor and a girl named Louisa Clark within the pages of another book that sits on my "favorites" shelf... Yes, this book was that good and yes, it hurt that much.
You see, hundreds of pages before Kim Holden made me cry, she first made me laugh and grin ear-to-ear and fall in love right along with these heartwarming, charismatic, and life-like characters. These characters are realistically flawed, with bad habits, quirks, and nuances that brought them to life for me and made me wish that they were within my (admittedly small) social circle.
The bottom line is that Kate, Gus, and Keller were worth every tear and the debilitating headache I had upon completion of
Bright Side.
Be brave.
Do epic.
#9: In the Shadow of Blackbirds
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Author: Cat Winters
Published 4/2/13 by Amulet Books
Date Read: 02/20/16
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In the Shadow of Blackbirds focused pretty heavily on the Spanish Influenza outbreak of 1918 that killed somewhere between 20-40 million people from 1918-1919. Between that deadly endemic and the Great War, it's no wonder that spiritualism became so popular during the Victorian era. There was a good chance that someone, maybe even everyone you loved, was no longer among the living. In grief and desperation, people turned to seances, spirit photography, and the use of psychic-mediums to attempt to contact loved ones.
The book touches base on all of these fascinating subjects (as well as opium addiction and some really interesting Victorian era home flu remedies, such as eating kerosene-soaked sugar cubes) and like the books I love so much by Simone St. James, couldn't have possibly been more perfectly suited for me. Mary Shelley Black (named by her father after the author of Frankenstein) was one of those forward-thinking, strong-willed female characters I love to see in a historical fiction novel. Her love interest, Stephen, also was a character I instantly adored and had my heart broken by. Although the book featured a lot of paranormal experiences that if one lived through would be quite scary, don't expect this to read like a horror novel. Expect a focus on both science and spiritualism and what happens to the soul when we die. Expect to experience the fear, loss, and grief of 1918...
#10: Firefly Lane
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Author: Kristin Hannah
Published 2/5/08 by
St. Martin's Press
Date Read: 04/25/16
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Firefly Lane is a book that I found impossible not to love. It was like a soundtrack of the '70s and '80s and I felt each decade as if I had lived them: the carefree, lackadaisical vibes of the '70s; the "big haired", wild '80s. The attention to detail, down to the fashion, hit music, popular TV shows, and big social and political events of each decade made this novel seem like real life because, well, so much of it was. Little touches like that were what made this book fun and made it feel as if Kate and Tully were real best friends with real lives and real experiences.
Firefly Lane wasn't just fun though. I know without a doubt that in the future, when I'm asked if I read this book and whether or not I liked it, I will not describe this book as being fun. It was so much more than that. A simply "fun" story doesn't consume your mind and fill your heart with an abundance of raw emotions, leaving you wanting to pick up the phone and/or go hold your loved ones. Kate and Tully's friendship was so powerful and realistically full of all of life's highs and lows. The beauty of Kristin Hannah's writing ensured that I felt every triumph just as deeply as I felt every devastation that life dealt them. This gift of hers is why every book I read of hers drains me emotionally, while simultaneously filling my heart to the point of nearly bursting.