Sunday Post: Bookish Best of 2017

 

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog…

Good morning blogland. It is very cliché but where did this past year go? It went by so quickly. I feel like the older you get the faster time goes. We had a nice White Christmas last week and now the temps are really dropping. Single digits this week especially at night and early mornings.

I wanted to take a minute to thank you all for taking the time to stop by my blog and read my posts and leave thoughtful comments. I have known several of you for many years and I appreciate our online friendships. I have also met some new blog friends this past year and it has been awesome chatting books and finding new blogs to visit. To all my blogging friends, Happy, Healthy New Year. May 2018 be full of good books, good health and joyful moments. xo

Well, I rounded up a few of my favorite bookish things from 2017 to share with today’s Sunday Post. It is always fun to reflect on the past reading/blogging year.

Here are my Bookish Favorites of 2017 in no particular order alongside my Christmas cookies. This is the recipe that I’ve been using for years and it never fails. The key is to line the cookie trays with parchment paper when baking so they don’t burn.

Favorite Book Quotes of 2017

“Life has to end,” she said. “Love doesn’t.”
p.173, The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

“They are what all lovers are: pieces of the same one sigh.”
p.169, Crescendo by Amy Weiss

“Full circle, he thought while the lethargy crept into his limbs. Full circle. A new terror born in death, a new superstition entering the unassailable fortress of forever.
I am legend.”
p. 161, I am Legend by Richard Matheson

“Yesterday was gone and tomorrow as a blur on the horizon. The night, this moment, was time eternal.”
p.255, Destiny, Rochelle Wayne

“our backs
tell stories
no books have
the spine to
carry
-women of color”
p. 171, Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur

“I believe in happy endings with all my heart.”
p. 232, The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

Favorite Books of 2017

I read 20 books in 2017, which is my usual for a year. I am still trying to get that number up to 50, I will try again in 2018. I find a month or two out of the year where I don’t finish reading a single book at all, so I’m going to try to change that. I was able to finish one last Christmas book yesterday just in time to finish off 2017 which was nice. For some reason I don’t like to bring last year’s book into a new year.

–The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom This is one of my daughter’s favorites so I read it and it became one of my favorites as well.
–The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins I read it then watched the movie and this was a solid mystery thriller.
–Crescendo by Amy Weiss A gorgeous and poignant read.
–I Am Legend by Richard Matheson I finally read this classic and was very impressed with Matheson’s futuristic take on vampire/zombies and at the influence he left on the genre.
–Destiny by Rochelle Wayne This book made it to my favorites of the year not so much because of the book itself, but the reading experience was fun. I co-read it with my daughter while on vacation.
–The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick I loved both the film and the book.
–Christmas at Conwenna Cove by Darcie Boleyn This was a sweet Christmas contemporary romance that left me sighing.

And the book that had me on a thrill ride was:

–Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter This book blew me away and had me up late night reading and then left me with a book hangover.

My DNF for 2017 was: Orange Is the New Black by Piper Kerman. 

I tried and I tried again and I still remember trying. I just could not get through this one, I made it about halfway. It actually threw me into a reading slump. It also sucked because I purchased this one at Target to read during an upcoming snowstorm. I enjoyed the series so I just don’t know, the book just paled in comparison.

 

Reading Goals for 2018

In 2017 I read 4 romances, 1 non-fiction, 2 crime thrillers, 3 short story collections,  2 mystery/paranormal thrillers, 1 poetry collection, 4 general fiction titles and 3 Christmas themed books. What I’d like to read more of in 2018 is more crime thrillers and horror. I feel like I was not scared enough during my reading in 2017, so I’m thinking more Stephen King and definitely Karin Slaughter this upcoming year. I also don’t want months to go by where I don’t finish at least one book. And of course, I still want to continue tackling my TBR mountain.

That covers by Bookish Updates of 2017. What were your favorite reading/blogging moments of the past year? Happy New Year!!! See you next year xo

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disclaimer: Nothing in this post is available for download.