We're spending most of this week in staycation mode - slowing down after the whirl of a Kentucky Christmas and an epic New Year's at a cabin with friends. Today alone we've finished two loads of laundry and organized two closets, a wardrobe, a set of draws, a side table. (But who, indeed is counting.)
Grad school and a calendar full of work are waiting just around the corner, but for today we're enjoying life in our joggers.
It seems appropriate to post my (Laynie's) 2017 book list on this cozy winter day. As you may remember, (I never make new year's resolutions, but) I always attempt reading 52 books a year. I rarely succeed. This year, however, I happily read many wonderful books and am excited to share them here.
Since I have been writing fiction, I read a lot of fiction this year, but there are a few non-fictions to round it out.
I didn't do an official rating system (and there are some I would definitely recommend *not* reading), but I did put extra stars by a few of my favorite reads from 2017.
Talking As Fast As I Can - Lauren Graham
Permission to Parent - Dr. Robin Berman
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter - Kim Edwards
The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo - Amy Schumer
The Connected Child - Dr. Karyn Purvis
Perfect Match - Jodi Picoult
The Hating Game - Sally Thorne
Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell ****
Emotional Intelligence - Daniel Goleman
Emotional Intelligence 2.0 - Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves
The Prison Book Club - Ann Walmsley
Remember Us (I read this at least 6x) - Lindsay Blake and Layne James ****
Twelve Hearts (read at least 2x) - Lindsay Blake and Layne James
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou
The Little Book of Hygge - Meik Wiking
My Grandmother Said to Tell You She’s Sorry - Fredrik Backman
The Whole-Brain Child - Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson
Leaders Eat Last - Simon Sinek
A Man Named Ove - Fredrik Backman
Loving Frank - Nancy Horan
A Dance With Dragons - George R.R. Martin
Home Front - Kristin Hannah
Letters From a Skeptic - Dr. Gregory Boyd
Small Great Things - Jodi Picoult ****
Please Understand Me - David Kiersey & Marilyn Bates
Travelling Mercies - Anne Lamott ****
Essentialism - Greg McKeown ****
Commonwealth - Ann Patchett ****
Quiet - Susan McCain
The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman
Still Alice - Lisa Genova
Tiny Beautiful Things - Cheryl Strayed ****
Three Signs of a Miserable Job - Patrick Lencioni
From Good to Great - Jim Collins
Oprah - Kitty Kelley
Start Something - Mathu Thomason
Another Brooklyn - Jacqueline Woodson
Circling the Sun - Paula McLain
We Were All Drowning (read x5) - Layne James
Crazy Rich Asians - Kevin Kwan
Zookeeper’s Wife - Diane Ackerman
Lion - Saroo Brierley
The Invention of Wings - Sue Monk Kidd
China Rich Girlfriend - Kevin Kwan
It Ends With Us - Colleen Hoover
Where’d You Go Bernadette? - Maria Semple
The Practice of the Presence of God - Brother Lawrence
When Breath Becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi and Abraham Verghese ****
Nantucket Nights - Elin Hilderbrand
The Couple Next Door - Shari Lapena
The Other Einstein - Marie Benedict ****
The Mess and the Moxie - Jen Hatmaker
The Pact - Jodi Picoult
The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood ****
The Underground Railroad - Colson Whitehead
The Rapture of Canaan - Sheri Reynolds ****
All the Stars in the Heavens - Adriana Trigiani
Vanishing Acts - Jodi Picoult
I Remember Nothing - Norah Ephron
Inside the O’Briens - Lisa Genova
My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward - Mark Lukach
On Doing Fieldwork in Palestine - Dr. Celia Rothenberg
Leaving Time - Jodi Picoult
What Then Must We Do? - Gar Alperovitz ****
Four Futures - Peter Frase
Kids These Days - Malcolm Harris
The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss ****