This year was a difficult reading year for me, with very few OMG YOU MUST READ THIS books. Still, there are few I will recommend, if you haven’t discovered them already:
Because there were so few five-stars this year, I thought I’d highlight some of the Really Good Reads that juuuust missed. I’ve also excluded most series books, because either you like the series (and will read) or don’t:
Best Surprise: Travis Baldree ‘s Legends and Lattes (I thought it would be pretty standard, but the humor!); Rob Rufus’ Paradise, WV (I read this for my post-Alex book club)
Best Speculative Fiction: F.T. Luken’s So This Is Ever After (for those who wonder “what happened next?”)
Best Historical Fiction: Jessie Burton’s The House of Fortune (technically a sequel but can be read as a standalone, brings 18th c Amsterdam to life)
Best Mystery/Thriller: Bella MacKie’s How to Kill Your Family (unreliable narration, revenge and a great twist)
Best Nonfiction: Sarah Horowitz, The Red Widow (murder, royalty and haute Paris – what’s not to love?)
Best Debut: Sunyi Dean’s The Book Eaters (books as food? yes please!)
Links are to Bookshop.org, because supporting your local independent bookstore is important, but I don’t have an affiliate deal with them.
If you want additional idea for books, there are tons of “Best of” lists – RA for All has a great round-up of them.
Venn Librarian 