2017 books

for the last ten or so years, i have tried to read 100 books a year .... some years i don' try very hard ... some years i have read SHORT books on purpose to get caught up .... some years i don't come close ... but this year, 2017, once again ... trying to read 100 books ... should  be easier since i have three in person book clubs and one online book club pushing me forward!


january

1.....sister carry for january tennis book club ... did not love this ... old and dull

2.....the power of one for church lady book club in january ... epic novel about africa .... coming of age story ... excellent story ... even more fun because we african food at book club ...

i'm in a harry potter book club ... and i'm basically just rereading these over and over again non stop ... haha ... but i love the book club and the nuances that we discuss ....
3....harry potter and the sorcerer's stone by jk rowling
4....harry potter and the chamber of secrets by jk rowling
5.....harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban by jkr
6.....harry potter and the goblet of fire by jkr

7.....POETRY aimless love by billy collins ... SIGNED edition ... that julia gave me ... lovely lovely.  probably my favorite poet.

8.....POETRY the complete collected poems of maya angelou. just wonderful.

9.....POETRY blessing the boats by lucille clifton ... i loved this ... and felt a particular affinity to the poet who doesn't use capital letters...

10.....POETRY best loved poems edited by neil phillip ... lots of new to me poems ... lots of poems i read in school as a child ... lots of poets i have heard of but didn't recall their poems ... like a poetry refresher ... it is interesting to me how different old poetry is from modern.

11.....POETRY decembers poems .... by jim perkins, a friend of my mother in law .... he wrote one each christmas for many years .... irony, humor, sentimental

12.....POETRY rest in the knowing by (i met her/know her) Lynda Allen .... my favorite poem is 'for i am one" ...

13.....today will be different by maria simple .... for my first book club .... i LOVED it .... this totally discombobulated woman just made so many bad choices that made me laugh ... and just when you worry that they are going to fall back on the standard "he had an affair" thing, it isn't ... it's way better/funnier/more surprsing.... good laugh

14......the perfect son for tennis february book club ....

february

15.....end of your life book club for church lady book club in february (at my house/my pick) .... made me want to read all the books mentioned ... had read some .... i think a novel about what you are reading and how it changes you or effects your day to day is very accessible .... the woman in the story, the one at the end of her life, was lionized by her son ... lovely book

16.....unexpected by kg fletcher .... yay ... we met the author ... she came to my first book club ... she talked about her life and writing and her next book which i will for sure read .... the book is a romance .... with suspense ... it's a new genre .... fun. easy to read.

17......harry potter and the half blood prince by jk rowling
18.....harry potter and the order of phoenix by jk rowling
19.....harry potter and the deathly hallows by jkr
20.....harry potter and the cursed child by jkr .... actually have already read this three times ... it is the play manuscript

21.......my grandmother told me to tell you she's sorry .... i picked this one for march tennis book club ... i loved the voice, the young girl, the ornery grandma with some mystery to her .... the whole thing seemed like a parable.. loved it...

22......POETRY what my hand say by glenis redmond .... i heard glenis at the first life is a verb camp ... and she came back in 2016 ... and i met her and i love her. "i hope these words from my hand speak to your heart" she inscribed. they do.

march

23......underground railroad by colson whitehead ... for church ladies book club ... i loved it .... a mix of history with fantasy ... like, there was an actual factual train in the underground tunnel ... some hated that part ... epic story of one woman's life ....

24.......the shack ... because it came out as a movie ... read it long ago ... liked it both times .... charming depiction of god as a woman. i like that part!

25......POETRY picnic, lightning by billy collins. he is always awesome. i want to call him folksy or homey or comfortable ... but those words seem too simple for how powerful his poetry is.

26-31 .....coma girl 1,2,3,4,5,6

april

32.....vinegar girl by anne tyler .... dysfunctional, oddball family .... with a modern day science professor dad trying to arrange a marriage so his research assistant can stay in the country .... quirky like anne tyler always is.

33...POETRY .... TORN by c. dale young .... i've read this book a couple of times in the last maybe year .... some of these poems are EPIC.

34.....POETRY ... the trouble with poetry by billy collins. i laugh every time i read the title of this collection of  poems .... i always look for "monday' to read first.

35.....POETRY ... mules of love by ellen bass. yes. when i read poetry, i always think that this is the poet that is most like me. like, she knows what i think and writes it down for me. that's surely now what she think of her poetry ... but it makes me like her extra.

36....language of flowers ... church ladies book club

37.....ost and found by jacqueline sheehan .... we ended up being oddly morbidly chatty about our funerals at this book club .... a woman lost her husband and then is saved by a dog ... and then some murder stuff, ya know how that goes? .... so love and loss and murder and a dog and a happy ending.

38.....a paris apartment ... first book club ... really enjoyed this .... a bit into it, realized i'd read it before ... it was familiar but i didn't remember it really .... so it was a surprise all over again .

39....two family house ... for tennis book club at beginning of may ... LOVED this book .... complex characters, great story

40....body movers by stephanie bond .... a murder mystery and a romance ... and quite comical .... the kid brother is hired by a body mover for murder scene body removal .... the girl's ex fiancee might be the murderer ... she might be framed .... all sorts of stuff to sort out ....

may

41....POETRY complete poems of e.e.cummings .... i didn't read all of it this go ... but i read enough of it to write it down on this list!! haha.

42....persepolis ... church ladies book club .... graphic novel about iran .... just excellent .... love that such a serious story can be told in such an artistically appealing form ... 
43....persepolis II .... excellent

44....crimes against a book club by kathy coopeman .... a funny, weird book that was recommended because it was free on kindle ... and who doesn't love free .... but it was perfectly good .... two women who needed cash for noble reasons, made it off a wealthy book club/group of women in a very unscrupulous manner .... spoof on affluent white women book clubs .... i'm thinking/hoping i don't fit the stereotype .... i'd never spend that kind of money on a lotion potion ... haha. thank goodness.

45....the bucket list to mend a broken heart .... by anna bell .... a kindle sale book .... romance .... i'm a bucket list sort of girl and a biking sort of girl ... making this book appeal to me .... and it was sweet.  good book.

46....the forgotten recipe by amy clipston  ... AMISH .... i love amish books. they are always just the sweetest romances. 

47....POETRY BOOK milk and honey by rupi kaur.... really a heart breaking and powerful book of poems around hurting, loving, breaking and healing. ... my daughter recommended it which made me love it more.


....48i like you fine when you're not around by ann graven ... for june 1 tennis book club ...

49.....the nix ( i listened to this while walking ) .... great book ... kinda epic ... crazy story about a writer, his present and his past and his mom's past .... reinventing yourself.


june

50.....the readers of broken wheel ... sarah flew across the world to meet a friend that she'd made over the internet due to a shared interest in  books .... ended up discovering herself in an oddball little town ... quite enjoyed this one ....

51.....-marked by dragon's blood .... so many typos but a lovely invented  fantasy land and a good story ... can imagine it as a movie or tv series ...

52.....-fueled by dragon's blood ... by n.m. howell ....
***** book 3 comes out end of july ... NOTE TO SELF TO GET IT ....

53.....witch is when it all began ... by adele abbott .... a witch PI mystery ... she finds out she's a witch ... but keeps her day job ....
54.....witch is when life got complicated (book 2) by adele abbott
55.....witch is when everything went crazy .... book 3 by adele abbottt

56.....murder any witch way (book 1 of brimstone bay mysteries)
57.....witch way to hallow's bay (book 2) by n.m.howell .... journalist witch in a small town
58......bewitch you a merry xmas (book 3) ^ like that ....
59.....witch souls to save (book 4) of nm howell books

60.....the signature of all things ... june ...wednesday church lady book club

61.....orphan train  by christina kline for my first book club ...i really enjoyed this ... i bought it ages ago but just never got around to reading it, i think .... june book club

july

62....frankenstein ... by shelley .... i read this as a kid but guess i had no real recollection of it ... the narrative was not familiar AT ALL .... interesting ... as rereading classics often is ... didn't love it ... but glad i read it again. (for tennis team book club in july)

63.....a man called ove by fredrik beckman ... for my first book club ... read already for another book club ... but enjoyed it enough to read it again ... AND it's just so much faster the second go round!

64.....you and i and someone else .... by anna schanchner ... july wedn. church lady book club ... EXCELLENT ...  super quirky characters and character development ... and a touching story ...

65....witch is when things fell apart(book 4) ... by adele abbott ... very much enjoy this series .... mystery

66.....witch souls to see by nm howell(book 5) .... journalist .... different series .. like it too! weird to be reading them simultaneously ....

67....short stories from hogwarts of power, politics and pesky poltergeists by j k rowling .... short ... interesting ... additional tidbits to go along with the series ... only for die hard fans ..

68.....witch is when the bubble burst ... adele abbott ... witchy p.i.

69.....which is when the penny dropped ... adele abbott .... more jill gooder adventures .... still enjoying the series .. this is book 6

70.....britt marie was here by the same guy who wrote OVE .... oh my gosh i ADORED THIS BOOK .. best book i've read in a long time .... she is quirky .... she bravely starts a new life ... soccer ... kids ... goodness ...

i read these post apocalyptic YA books all on a big trip this summer ..... they were excellent on my long plane rides .... :
71.....The testing
72....Independent Study
73....Graduation Day
all three by joelle charbonneau ...... in the same vein as hunger games or divergent ..... well done ... would be a good movie series as well ....

august into september ....

74...witch is when the floodgates opened ... #7 adele abbott
75....witch is when the hammer fell ... #8 adele abbott ... both great ... i shall continue on with the series ...

76....witch is when i said good bye ... adele abbott ...
77....witch is when my heart broke ... adele abbott ....

78...mermaid by jodi piccoult ... a novella or a short story ... and i loved it ..... a haunted back yard ... just great ...

79.... 800 grapes for sunday book club in august .... my rec ... have read it before ... loved it .... betrayal ... sibling problems ... all sorts of good themes ....

80.....ordinary grace by william kent krueger .... a retelling of a long ago horrible summer ... and god's grace and faith ....

81....zeus is dead: a monstrously inconvenient adventure ..... by michael muni .... so ... if the greek gods have just been hiding ... or in hibernation ... cause zeus said they had to because they'd been too much trouble ... and then someone kills zeus so the gods decide to go back in public .... so they have a press conference ... and along with the gods coming back there are demons and stuff too ... and muses ... i liked the muses ....

82....no baggage by clara bensen .... quick, take a BIG trip with NO luggage ... with a newish boyfriend ... would you? before this book i would have said i could ... after this book, i'd realistically say no way. why put yourself through that .... interestingly it was not just a whacky travel story but a frank discussion of the author's mental health struggles ... great book.

83....the hate u give by angie thomas. EXCELLENT book. so timely. incredibly complex and well done. LOVED it ... already had j read it ...

84.....the last girl .... by joe hart ... book 1 of the dominion trilogy .... post apocalyptic YA book ... yikes .... no girls left!! the ones who remain, are held hostage for experimenting ... escape! great book. will read the next in the series

85....calling me home by julie kibler ... OH SO GOOD.... sweet and dear and poignant ... a relationship between an older white woman and the black woman who does her hair ... so good ... complex characters ... surprising story. loved it.

86....the wonder ... for my wednesday book club ... by emma donoghue .... in olden days ireland a little girl who might be a miracle .... loved it.

octoberish ...

87 ... before we were yours .... first thurs book club .... a heart breaking olden day orphanage book....the past and present intertwined .... well done. loved it.

89 ... maybe in another life .... i've read this before but read it again for book club so i could participate fully ...it had been a while .... and i read too many books to keep them all straight in my head ... but this one is light but cute .... two timelines stemming from one event .... i liked it.

90. love in the time of cholera .... wow. lovely book. epic really. (do i say that too much?) by gabriel garcia marquez ..... florentino has more than 600 affairs while he waits for his true love to be available again ... could be titled sex in the time of cholera ... except florentino would be insulted ... he's a romantic.

91. eleanor oliphant ... i read this five or six books ago but see that i left it off my list. i LOVED it. really loved it. quirky, oddball lady with a difficult past ....and with a new friend and some perseverance she starts to sort out what life should look like .... i loved it. i loved eleanor's voice, and outlook, and odd turns of phrase.

92. song of achilles by madeline miller. i LOVED this book so much. as a young teen i read whom the gods would destroy about a young trojan boy captured by the greeks .... and his epic adventure in the time of zeus and apollo and achilles ..... this is a similar idea ... a retelling of a story i already knew ... and i loved it. patroclus was just a stellar character ... she made him so much more than he was in the illiad .... love, love, love.

93. love letters to the dead.... by ava dellaira .... well done .... a gentle unfolding of a sad story ... told by diary like letters to dead people....

94. witch is when stuff got serious, book 11 ... another adele abbott book .... always enjoy them ... light easy read ... if you are thinking of this one, read them in order ....

95. witch is when all was revealed by adele abbott book 12
96. witch is why time stood still book 13

97. lilac girls .... by martha hall kelly.... YES ... one of the best books i've read this year ... it is a holocaust book about three different women .... an american socialite in love with a french jew who goes back to europe .... a german doctor who ends up working (hideously) in a nazi internment camp doing horrific things to people .... and a german girl who ends up in that camp ..... and how their lives circle around each other's stories .... powerful and horrible and wonderful ....

98. lincoln at the bardo... 2017 man booker prize winner ... by george saunders .... totally different (weird) book unlike any ever ... and awesome in its different look at president lincoln ... loved it.

99. reread love song by KG fletcher
100. reread unexpected by KG fletcher
101. read the new release the nearness of you by KG fletcher
KG Fletcher is an Atlanta based author (actually dunwoody) ... she came to my book club a while back ... she writes suspense romance ... so romance with a twist ....light, easy reads ... but fun and well written .... all three are great ... the last is my favorite....

102.dragon flight: vol. 1 in the dragon riders of pern series by anne mccaffrey .... i enjoyed this book ... great dragon story with the usual conundrums of time travel mix ups ....

november

l03. life as we knew it (life as we knew it series)
104. the dead and the gone (life as we knew it series) ... both of these books center on the premise that the moon is struck by an asteroid ... scientists expect it to be an interesting display in the sky but not catastrophic. it ends up catastrophic ... apocalyptic .. tides and weather change .... food becomes scarce .... both of these books are excellent stand alone stories about survival in circumstances that seem uncomfortably real.... there are two more books in the series that i know i will like, but have to rebuild up some mental fortitude before i tackle them....

105. caroline: little house revisited by sarah miller. i LOVE little house on the prairie ... i've read all of the original books multiple, multiple times .... and now this retelling from caroline's point of view .... it was wonderful for a LHOTP fan...

106. america's first daughter .... by Stephanie Dray .... for wedn. book club .... unexpected portrayal of thomas jefferson from the viewpoint of his daughter patsy .....while considering the beginning of our country, slavery, and love in many forms...

107... big stone gap by adriana trigliani .... ave maria is the main character. love that name ... small town virginia ... searching for past .... sorting out how to be, or not be, a spinster .... very good.

108. our numbered days by neil hillborn ... poetry. stunning. touching. awesome. and i met him. it was awesome.

109.... love this series. witch is why the laughter stopped book 14

 110..... for sunday book club .....  christmas letters by lee smith .... liked it ok ...

111... which is why another door opened ... book 15 of this witch pi series ....

112... the sex lives of cannibals adrift in the equatorial pacific ..... a couple on a weird adventure/trip ... pretty funny ... true story. that's the weirdest part.

113. turtles all the way down ... by john green ... heavy stuff for a YA book ... OCD and anxiety ... and a missing dad .... excellent book.








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