Celebrating My Best Reads of 2017

Best Debut Novel Read

was  The Thing With Feathers by McCall Hoyle.

As soon as I started reading The Thing With Feathers by McCall Hoyle I was captivated and it held me all the way through.  It's a YA book and Emily the heroine struggles with epilepsy.

Delightful Book from a  Favourite Author

On Second Thought by Kristan Higgins was a read that I couldn't put down. I came back to it any time I had, other things I thoroughly enjoy were put aside. I was totally hooked into this book, I laughed and at times a few tears slipped down from the sheer perfection of some of the relationships and how they worked out.

One That Surprised Me

There were a few that surprised me. like In a Dark Dark Wood by Ruth Ware because I didn't expect to like it... but I did. However the one that surprised me the most was The Stars Are Fire by Anita Shreve. I regard her books more as literary fiction and not always a page turner but this book had me totally listening on.

Best Audiobook

I had some great listens this year, I think perhaps by a tad The Chilbury Ladies Choir  I'll remember as a stand out listen. There were about four others that also received 5 stars in all aspects as well. This is the story of a small village at the start of WW11 and some very interesting goings on. Great narrators.

Best Book by a New to Me Author 

was The One in a Million Boy by Monica Wood. I just have to explore her writing in another of her books.  This is about a 104 woman and a boy obsessed with records. It was both sad and uplifting. A top read of 2017.

Best of the Series Books

I love series books if the series is good!  I had lots of great new book in the series reads this year. However my favourite book goes to a favourite series.  Yes to Silver Silence by Nalini Singh. Its a paranormal with changelings  - changelings that I totally love reading and this book moved to a new location - Moscow and a new clan - bears. 

Coverlicious

What a beautiful cover. Usually my taste runs to purples and autumn hues but this delicate one is my choice for my reads in 2017.

Most Addictive Read

There is one series I must buy and read as soon as it publishes and that is Marie Force's Fatal series and this year was no different.  Romantic suspense. Hero the VPOTUS and heroine a very active police woman and now second lady of the US.  Fun!

Most Thought Provoking

This was such an excellent read - exploring racism, justice, compassion, change. 

Best Book Buy of 2017

Well to be honest a number of books could be taking a bow here, like One in a Million Boy and Silver Silence or Map of the Heart by Susan Wiggs, however The Devil's Cut was a very much anticipated auto - buy for me in 2017 and as far as I am concerned it delivered. I love J. R. Ward's contempories, wish she'd write more of them.

Best Book Read from my Groaning TBR Pile

Delightful and for sure on my keeper shelf.

Character that Stole My Heart and so Memorable

I loved so many characters however one that just stands out is Eleanor form Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. Possibly the fact it was an audiobook version I listened to, because the narrator did such a great job of being Eleanor.  I loved Eleanor's growth as the story unfolded.

Not For Me

I had a couple of disappointing reads in 2017. To be expected I guess! What a gorgeous cover, but the story or characters just did not gel for me.

My first and last reads of 2017

I began with Kristina McMorris'  book and it was such a good read

And my final book - a cozy book, a genre I don't often read but .... good to go out on.

Top Read

Many of the above mentioned books could qualify as my top read but as I looked through my Goodreads books that I have read over the year this one stood out to me because of the way it surprised and delighted me and just downright appealed to me. It may not be every reader's book but it was mine and one I'll want to reread in the future.  How did I pick it, it was because my heart lifted when I came to it as I cast my eye over the covers of my books on Goodreads.  Dragonslayer  was a Kindle reissue in 2017 and was first published in 1993. It won the RWA award for Best Long Contemporary in 1994 so I am not alone!

The Little Paris Bookshop. Nina George

The Little Paris Bookshop
Nina George
Translated: Simon Pare
Published: Abacus
Date: 14th April 2015
Format: ARC Paperback
Pages: 317
Genre: General Fiction
Source: Thanks to Hachette NZ

On a barge on the Seine, Jean Perdu runs a bookshop, or rather a 'literary apothecary', for this bookseller possess a rare gift for sensing which books will soothe his customers' troubled souls.

The only person he is unable to cure, it seems, is himself. For twenty-one years he has nursed a broken heart - and never dared open the letter his love left behind. But the arrival of an enigmatic new neighbour inspires Jean to unlock his heart, unmoor the floating bookshop and set off for Provence, in search of the past and his beloved.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George.  When a book lover sees book or bookstore in a title we're drawn to it.  Sometimes it is worth the read, sometimes not so much.  For me The Little Paris Bookshop was a joy from beginning to end. I was hooked by the dedication - do you always read the dedication - I always do!

I followed the journey of Jean Perdu with interest. While able to read the souls and emotions of others, he is so closed up himself.  There is a room in his apartment that has been closed for a very long time.  Why?  A mystery.  Jean himself is closed, he doesn't like touch, he avoids things. This is his journey, how he again opens up to life and to living and loving.  

He has a great affinity for books, he owns a barge, Lulu, and that is his bookshop.  People come and buy books from him, and he sells them what they might need.  A couple of cats make their home there too.  

He meets Max Jordan, an author who has writer's block.  He has written one book that has sold very well, now he hides out, afraid to be sort out, because he can't replicate his first success. He is cynical about all kinds of love.  I love how Max and Jean relate and journey together.

Along the journey there are many quirky and wonderfully human characters to be met and experienced.

This is a book that if I was marooned somewhere I would love to have with me.  I could open it at any page and visualise and smell and feel.  I could ponder on the many bits of wisdom it contains.  I could hold it up to my own life and ponder some more.  There are so many pieces to be reread and savoured.  As I read there were so many places that I marked.

"There was now an edge to Monsieur Perdu's voice too. 'What is wrong with old? Age isn't a disease. We all grow old, even books. But are you, is anyone, worth less, or less important, because they've been around for longer?'  Page 10.

George, Nina.  The Little Paris Bookshop  For those who love books, want to live life fully and appreciate friends and family.

Side effects: 

• Will make you look again at your own life and have you pondering.
• Falling in love with France
• Wanting to cook the recipes mentioned
• You will believe even more deeply in the magic of books

New Zealand Author Giveaway

In New Zealand our national celebration day is the 6th of February - it is called Waitangi Day in remembrance of the Treaty that was signed in 1840 between the British Crown and the local Maori chiefs.

This year to mark this day on my blog I am giving a fiction book by a New Zealand author ( of your choice). There will be one  book for international readers and one for New Zealanders or those living in New Zealand.

Here are some that I have enjoyed in the past.

Essie Summers
Wrote romance and I devoured many of her books when I was much younger.

Keri Hulme  Bone People

I was gifted this book in 1984 when it first came out.  I was entranced by it, once I got into it I couldn't stop. I haven't reread it since but I must dig my copy out from my shelves and reread it some time. This is the first edition cover which I have.
Bone People went on to win the Man Booker prize 1985 - I'd read it by then and I usually am not that fond of award books!

Sherryl Caulfield says of it:

The quintessential New Zealand novel about an artist, a battered Maori and a shipwrecked, autistic boy on New Zealand’s West Coast. A must read.

Janet Frame
1924 - 2004
I've read a few of Janet Frame's books my favourite being the three books that are like an autobiography.   Sadly in moving around in my life I left these books behind me inadvertently.   I always loved the small anecdote about her when she trained to be a teacher but walked out of the school on the first day by morning tea I think and never came back.

These days here are a few of the present day New Zealand authors I've read.

Nalini Singh.
I know is Fijian Indian but she came to New Zealand when she was ten so I am counting her as a New Zealander!
I adore her Psy/Changeling series and very much like the Guild Hunters series as well.  Even if you are not a paranormal reader give her a go.  I wasn't into paranormal really until I read her books.  She broadened my genre reading a little!

Sarah-Kate Lynch.  I have reviewed her The Wedding Bees on Book Date and I have a couple more of hers planned to read this year I hope.  I have at least 3 of her books in my TBR pile.

Kate de Goldi is a NZ author who writes YA and MG mostly I think. I have read a couple of her books and loved them.  The 10PM Question was one I enjoyed very much a couple of years ago.

Tracey Alvarez writes hot contemporary romance and In Too Deep is the first one in her series. 








Goodreads has lists of many more New Zealand authors in case you would like to explore. Juliet Marillier has been mentioned to me by Sheree over at The Eclectic Reader  Juliet M. lives in Australia but was born and educated in NZ.  It looks like she writes fantasy fiction and I have marked the first in a series to read. So an author who is a New Zealander but living overseas I have decided still can be counted in the giveaway.
Holly Ford has written a couple of romance novels and I have Blackpeak Vines in my TBR list and will pick up the first one from the library at some point.

While there is no need to comment to enter the giveaway if you read a book or heard of a book you'd recommend that is written by a New Zealand author please do share.

Giveaway will run from February 5th to February 10th.
One book for international readers and one for those who live in New Zealand.  Winner may choose any book written by a New Zealand author of their choice, so long as it can be bought! One entry per person.

TBR Book Challenge

This year I am going to take part in the TBR book pile challenge. What reader doesn't have a huge TBR pile? Mine got a lot larger when I joined the Susan Elizabeth Phillips Board some years ago, and the Seppies had so many book recommendations I was soon in trouble!  So this challenge will help me focus a little, and besides it doesn't sound too onerous.

Here it is - through the enthusiasm of Wendy the Super Librarian.

Monthly Review Dates And Theme Suggestions

January 16 - We Love Short Shorts! (Short stories, Novellas, category romance)
February 20 - Recommended Read (something recommended by a fellow reader)
March 20 - Series Catch-Up (pick a book from a series you're behind on)
April 17 - New-To-You Author
May 15 - More Than One (An author who has more than one book in your TBR pile).
June 19 - Lovely RITA (RWA RITA nominees OR winners.  Past winners can be found here.  Googling "past rita nominees" turns up several options from previous years).
July 17 - The Classics (Something classic within the romance genre - an author, a specific book, a trope/theme - I'm open to wide interpretations here!)
August 21 - Steamy reads (Erotic romance, erotica, something spicy!)
September 18 - Western (Contemporary or historical)
October 16 - Paranormal or romantic suspense
November 20 - All About The Hype (a book that created such chatter that it was inescapable).
December 18 - Holiday themes (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, it's all good!)

An InLinkz Link-up

Starting Up.

I have started up a new blog.  I want to use it only for reading and books, while I do track what I read at Goodreads, a book blog is something that I can use for the purpose of tracking challenges and interacting with other readers.

I tend to read what I like, and I know that what I like is not what someone else might like.  I may give 3 stars to a book that someone else gives 5 stars.  For me it is about personal taste.  If the book takes me away from the present into the book's world and I don't want to come back from it, then I am likely to give it 5 stars.  A book that has a great plot, engaging characters, is well written, and makes me think about my life and others, usually gets a big tick.

Recently on Amazon I gave one star to a book that 23 others had given 5 stars. The plot was good but the writing was pedestrian.  I skim read it.  That's the trouble with a Kindle, I buy more books that are likely to not be to my taste.  I must put the brake on and be a little more discerning.  Not get fooled by a lot of top stars in one place, note to self check it out elsewhere first.

I have heaps of books in my TBR pile, eek - sometimes I have bought a book twice unknowingly. One in on my Kindle and in paperback. I hate that. Because I have a large TBR pile I am going to begin 2013 by taking part in a challenge directed to whittling down the TBR pile. Really? I guess there won't be any whittling down, because while I am reading from it, I am adding to it.

An InLinkz Link-up