2020 End of the Year Book Survey

Quarantine is the perfect time to reorganize your bookshelves! 

This year was surreal for a lot of reasons. All of the exterior circumstances had a huge impact on my choices in reading material. I read Biden and Harris’ memoirs before the election. I read many books on social justice to push myself to a deeper understanding of diversity issues. I started a virtual book club, Pandemic Pages, with a few of my closest friends and we had a blast connecting on zoom. And then, when it all became too much, I signed up for Audible Escapes for a month and sunk into some mindless clean YA romances to give my brain a break.

Quarantine for me meant life at home with two kids (ages 1 and 4) while trying to work. It’s been hard. It also included a LOT of books! I read plays for the American Theatre Critics Association’s new play award. I listened to tons of audiobooks to keep my sanity while at home. I reread many old favorites and returned to authors I hadn’t read in years. And I curled up with my kindle or a real book when I needed a moment's respite from the stress of this year. Here are some of my favorites from 2020.  

Number of Books You Read: 212

Number of Re-Reads: 12

Fiction: 115 

Nonfiction: 48

Plays: 33

Graphic Novels: 4

1. Best Books You Read In 2020

Classics — If Beale Street Could Talk, Death on the Nile, and Go Tell It on The Mountain 
Historical Fiction — Lovely War 

Mystery — A Madness of Sunshine, Little Secrets, The Guest List 

Literary Fiction — Anxious People, Nothing to See Here

Nonfiction — Talking to Strangers, The Body, Furious Hours, The Hiding Place, and I'm Still Here 

Fantasy — The City We Became 

Play — Every Brilliant Thing, Silent Sky, and Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley

YA — Clap When You Land and Piecing Me Together

Science Fiction — This Is How You Lose the Time War 

Children’s — Ramona Quimby series and Gooseberry Park

Graphic Novel — Pumpkinheads

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and The Glass Hotel 

3. Most surprising (in a good way) book you read?

I Love You, But I Hate Your Politics 

4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?

Clap When You Land and The Hiding Place 

5. Best series you started in 2020?

To All the Boys I've Loved Before 

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2020?
Elizabeth Acevedo and Georgette Heyer 

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

Untamed, I'm not a big self-help fan, but I got a lot out of this one! 

8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

Wylding Hall, an unputdownable, gothic gem for sure. 

9. Book You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

The Kitchen Counter Cooking School, I learned so much. I know I'll return to it to refresh my cooking skills in the future. 

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2020?

With the Fire on High, Shadow and Light, Twisted, and The Vanishing Half 

11. Most memorable character of 2020?

Sheba from South of Broad, Emoni from With the Fire on Hire

Scenes from a quarantine life of reading in 2020.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2020? 
This Is How You Lose the Time War and If Beale Street Could Talk 

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2020? 
So You Want to Talk About Race and I'm Still Here

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2020 to finally read?

Go Tell It On the Mountain and The Hiding Place

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2020?

“The world changes, the ground shifts. We still make plans. We still find gifts.”       - Gmorning, Gnight!

“I think that control might actually be the opposite of love because control leaves no room for trust. And love without trust is not love at all.” - Untamed

“It’s true that we haven’t done very much recently other than keep two small people alive.” - The Guest List

“Traveling changes you. It open to up to in ways you never imagined and makes you appreciate home.” - Piecing Me Together 

“One of the benefits of being a journalist is that I get to be nosy for a living.” - The Year of Living Danishly

“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.” - Atomic Habits 

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2020?

Silent Sky - 64 pages 

Angle of Repose - 569 pages 

17. Book That Shocked You The Most?

Talking to Strangers, the way he unfolds how the training of police officers has led to our current situation was enlightening and heartbreaking. 

18. Favorite Couple?

Dash and Lily

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship of The Year?

Everyone in Anxious People and Hig and his dog Jasper in The Dog Stars

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2020 From an Author You’ve Read Previously?

How the Light Gets In and the rest of the Inspector Gamache novels 

21. Best Book You Read In 2020 That You Read Based SOLELY On A

Recommendation From Somebody Else?

The Soul of the Octopus 

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2020?

Peter Kavinsky and Dash

23. Best 2020 debut you read?

The Jane Austen Society 

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
The City We Became, The Searcher, and House of Salt and Sorrows

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

The House in the Cerulean Sea and the Christy Miller marriage and baby series. 

26. Book That Made You Cry in 2020?

Lovely War

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

I loved Mythos and Heroes by Stephen Fry, but I've heard almost nothing about them. They retell the Greek myths with famous art, illustrations, and Fry's clever commentary. 

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

If Beale Street Could Talk and Every Brilliant Thing

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2020?

Endurance, a nonfiction book that is set in space! 

30. Book That Made You the Maddest?

The Great Alone, that ending, ugh. 

31. Best Audiobook?
Arabian Nights and the Inspector Gamache series 

32. Best Book to Film Adaptation?
Dash and Lily 

Thanks to Perpetual Page Turner for once again hosting this survey! It’s always so much fun to look at everything I read throughout the year and think about what I loved/hated. 

Photo by me.

2019 End of the Year Book Survey

Such a weird reading year. For the first time, I took part in a committee which selects a new play to win a big grant. That added about 30 new plays to my regular reading list. Plus, I had a baby in April, which had a big impact on my choice of books. I read a lot fewer classics and a lot more YA, "chick lit", and mysteries. I also tried to binge through more new releases than normal because of the publisher rules with libraries that might be changing and restricting use of ebooks soon. 

All that being said, it was a good reading year. I made a goal to read more from my shelves (at least 30 books) and to quit reading books that weren't working for me. I did both! I also FINALLY completed the last two Shakespeare plays I hadn't read. Now I just need to see more of them performed live. 
  

Any books I reread this year are not eligible for this list. I also didn’t count the piles upon piles of children’s books I read, except to list a couple new favorites. I also don’t limit myself to one book per answer if there are two or three that are a perfect fit.

Number of Books You Read: 187

Number of Re-Reads: 13

Genre You Read The Most From: Literary fiction and mysteries

1. Best Books You Read In 2019?

Classics — North and South
Historical Fiction — Daisy Jones and the Six and Where the Crawdads Sing

Mystery — The ABC Murders and The Inspector Gamache series 

Literary Fiction — Once Upon a River, The Dutch House, and The River

Nonfiction — Educated, I'd Rather Be Reading, Just Mercy, From Scratch, Becoming, Garlic and Sapphires, and Being Mortal 

Fantasy — The Starless Sea 

Play — Pericles, Witch, and Cambodian Rock Band 

YA — Amy & Roger's Epic Detour, The Royal We, The Sun is Also a Star 

Science Fiction — Recursion and The Testaments

Children’s — The Little House on the Prairie series, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore 

Graphic Novel — Kid Gloves, Here and March

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

Here and Now and Then and A Court of Thorns and Roses, Chances Are...

3. Most surprising (in a good way) book you read?

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour  

4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?

From Scratch and The River 

5. Best series you started in 2019?

Little House on the Prairie and the Inspector Gamache series

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2019?

Peter Heller and Ruth Reichl, I read two books from each author this year and loved them all! 

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

The Royal We 

8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

Recursion, The River, and The Turn of the Key

9. Book You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

The Starless Sea, without a doubt!

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2019?

The Lager Queen of Minnesota, The Immortalists, Time After Time, and The Dutch House

11. Most memorable character of 2019?

- Inspector Gamache 

- Maeve from The Dutch House

- Kaz from Six of Crows

- Kya from Where the Crawdads Sing 
- Sunja from Pachinko

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2019? 
The Starless Sea

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2019? 
Being Mortal

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2019 to finally read?

The Earthsea books by Ursula LeGuin 

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2019?

“The day had stretched her thin, to the point where she felt the boundary of herself dissolving into the atmosphere.” – Once Upon a River

“The last time always seems sad, but it isn’t really. The end of one thing is only the beginning of another.” – These Happy Golden Years

“Married love is in the details — The purloined plums, the casual kiss on the way out the door, the midday phone call just to say hi, the arm wrapped around your shoulders through a winter’s night. It’s not exactly happily ever after, but it’s the only place I know to find fireflies in March.” – Pitching My Tent

“Humility is a most excellent barometer,” he said, “and ought to be looked for in all those we are made to look up to.” – The Golden Tresses of the Dead

“Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.” – Just Mercy

“Singing a new song is like making the audience eat their spinach.” - A Dream About Lightning Bugs

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2019?

- Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics & Pesky Poltergeist: 64 pgs

- The Unexpected Everything: 560 pgs

17. Book That Shocked You The Most?

The Lost Man (the ending) and Just Mercy (our broken legal system) 

18. Favorite Couple?

- Leon and Tiffy in The Flatshare 
- Inspector Gamache and his wife
- Celine and her husband in Celine 

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship of The Year?

- Meredith and her step-grandpa in The Honey Bus

- Holling and his teacher in The Wednesday Wars

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2019 From an Author You’ve Read Previously?

Once Upon a River and The Lager Queen of Minnesota 

21. Best Book You Read In 2019 That You Read Based SOLELY On A

Recommendation From Somebody Else?

The Unhoneymooners

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2019?

Sam from One True Loves

23. Best 2019 debut you read?

The Silent Patient 

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
The Starless Sea 

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

#IMomSoHard 

26. Book That Made You Cry in 2019?

Lift, a letter from a mother to her two daughters... can you blame me?

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

The Honey Bus and Dear Mrs. Bird 

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

The Big Burn, two pieces of that book really got to me. First, that Teddy Roosevelt's mother and wife died within a few hours of each other. Second, that Pulaski, a man who worked for the forest service and saved many during a forest fire, was treated horribly by the government and left destitute and dying.  

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2019?

My Lady Jane 

30. Book That Made You the Maddest?

One Day in December and Normal People 

31. Best Audiobook?
Daisy Jones and The Six

32. Best Book to Film Adaptation?
The Sun is Also a Star and Little Women

Thanks to Perpetual Page Turner for once again hosting this survey! It’s always so much fun to look at everything I read throughout the year and think about what I loved/hated. 

Photo by me.

2018 End of the Year Book Survey

It was an interesting year for reading for me. I found some absolute gems, but read some forgettable ones too. For the first time in quite a while I was lacking in the classics department, though I did finally conquer Ulysses! This was also a banner year for new releases from favorite authors of mine. Some were beautiful (Bridge of Clay), some were disappointing (Nine Perfect Strangers and The Clockmaker’s Daughter), and The Labyrinth of Spirits provided closure to one of my favorite series (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books).  

Audiobooks have continued to be a lifesaver for me as I balance life with a toddler. We’re expecting a new kiddo in the Spring and so I’m sure that side of things will be even trickier next year. I maintain that even when life is crazy and you’re exhausted by work/kids/pregnancy/life you can still find time to read if it’s important to you. During my most hectic times I’ve learned that sometimes a comfort reread is just what I need. Other times it’s a brainless fiction story that won’t ask me to think too much. That’s ok! As long as I’m still reading, I’m happy.

Any books I reread this year are not eligible for this list. I also didn’t count the piles upon piles of children’s books I read, except to list a couple favorites. I also don’t limit myself to one book per answer if there are two or three that are a perfect fit.

Number of Books You Read: 142

Number of Re-Reads: 9

Genre You Read The Most From: Total mix of genres this year: classics, YA, fantasy, nonfiction, etc.

1. Best Books You Read In 2018?

Classics — The Mayor of Casterbridge, The Island of Dr. Moreau

Historical Fiction — Love and Ruin 

Mystery — Lethal White (A Cormoran Strike Novel)

Literary Fiction — Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk

Nonfiction — All the President's Men, American Wolf, The Day the World Came to Town, I'll Be Gone in the Dark, Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake

Fantasy — Circe, the Grisha trilogy 

Play — Henry IV, Part 1 and Birthday Candles

Poetry — Milk and Honey

YA — If You Come Softly,  An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

Science Fiction — Sleeping Giants (The Themis Files), the Red Rising series

Children’s — Anatole, Where Is the Green Sheep? and Little Owl's Night

Graphic Novel — Displacement, Bones

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

How to Stop Time, Nine Perfect Strangers, and Crazy Rich Asians (loved the movie version of this one though!)

3. Most surprising (in a good way) book you read?

The Rules of Magic, I had very low expectations for this Practical Magic prequel, but I was pleasantly surprised to find wonderfully drawn characters.   
4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?

Sleeping Giants 

5. Best series you started in 2018?

Grisha Trilogy and Red Rising

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2018?

Leigh Bardugo 

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

Reading People, a fascinating look at how personality types can impact the way we approach things.

8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

Bird Box and the Red Rising Trilogy

9. Book You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

The Red Rising trilogy (are you seeing a trend? It was SO good!)

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2018?

Uncommon Type and Loving vs. Virginia

11. Most memorable character of 2018?

Sevro from the Red Rising trilogy and Uncle Hal in The Witch Elm 

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2018?

Circe and Bridge of Clay

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2018?

Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls, so many incredible women that I hadn’t heard of! I had so much fun reading it to my daughter.

Ulysses, this one was a struggle for me. But I got a lot out of it and I loved seeing the impact it had on censorship and literature.

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2018 to finally read?

A Wizard of Earthsea, planning to continue reading this quartet in 2019.

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2018?

“I still find a long walk through an unfamiliar neighborhood teaches me more about what’s new and exciting than any number of hours of television can.” -Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk

“Really, every time a person said good-bye to another person, they should pay attention, just in case it was the last time.”- When Will There Be Good News?

“What I really love about travel is that it takes us outside ourselves... it unhomes you. And allows you to see possibilities for change, growth, a new life.”- An Age of License

“At the time I was just a kid and life was still a few sizes too big for me.” The Labyrinth of Spirits

“It’s silence was something awesome—an enormous playground for the guilt to wreak havoc, to work him over.” - Bridge of Clay

“A conversation is a dialogue, not a monologue. That’s why there are so few good conversations: due to scarcity, two intelligent talkers seldom meet.” - Music for Chameleons

“I don’t believe that blood makes a family; kin is the circle you create, hands held tight.” - An American Marriage 

“I suppose that is what every man must tell himself in war. That there will be an end, and when it is done, enough of himself will remain. Enough to be a father. A brother. A lover. But we know it isn’t true. Don’t we, Darrow? War eats the victors last.” - Iron Gold 

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2018?

Kindred Spirits: 41 pages & Ulysses: 816 pages

17. Book That Shocked You The Most?

Bridge of Clay and Morning Sun  

18. Favorite Couple?

- Nate and Bronwyn in One of Us Is Lying 

- Max and Ory in The Book of M 

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship of The Year?

- Auggie and Jake in Wonder 

- Flavia and Dogger in The Grave's a Fine and Private Place

- Fermin and Daniel in The Labyrinth of Spirits

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2018 From an Author You’ve Read Previously?

Force of Nature and Circe 

21. Best Book You Read In 2018 That You Read Based SOLELY On A

Recommendation From Somebody Else?

If You Come Softly and The Music Shop

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2018?

Jesse from Out of the Easy

23. Best 2018 debut you read?

The Book of M

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

Circe 

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

Smile: The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland. This one just gave me hope. On such a dark day, the world was still full of selfless people willing to help complete strangers.

Most Fun: The Sense and Sensibility Screenplay & Diaries, Emma Thompson is hilarious and I wish we were friends.

26. Book That Made You Cry in 2018?

- American Wolf, I don’t handle animal deaths in books very well.

- One True Thing, a Mom dying of cancer hits a bit close to home for me.

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

I Am, I Am, I Am 

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

Under the Banner of Heaven, the book is well written, but the real events are just awful.

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2018?

Sleeping Giants, loved this one! Even the way the author approached the story telling was unique. We see it all happen through interviews conducted by a nameless man. I would highly recommend the audio version of this one.

30. Book That Made You the Maddest?

All the President’s Men, excellent book, just a little too close to our current situation. 

Thanks to Perpetual Page Turner for once again hosting this survey! It’s always so much fun to look at everything I read throughout the year and think about what I loved/hated. 

Photo by me.

2017 End of the Year Book Survey

What a year! I read a ton on audio this year. With a toddler I'm still struggling with print books and have found I do best with re-reads in that format. This was a fantastic year for nonfiction books for some reason.

Any books I reread this year are not eligible for this list. I didn’t count the piles upon piles of children’s books I read in this list. I also don’t limit myself to one book per answer if there are two or three that are a perfect fit.

Number of Books You Read: 143

Number of Re-Reads: 17

Genre You Read The Most From: I feel like there was a ton of nonfiction and mysteries this year. I was way down on the number of classics I read.

1. Best Book You Read In 2017?

Classics — Adam Bede and Crossing to Safety

Historical Fiction — The Paris Architect

Mystery — In a Dark, Dark Wood 

Literary Fiction — A Gentleman in Moscow

Nonfiction — At Home in the World, My Own Words, Five Days at Memorial, Lab Girl, A Spy Among Friends, and Four Seasons in Rome

Fantasy — Norse Mythology and The Bone Clocks

Play —  Amadeus

YA —  The Hate U Give

Children’s —  The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

Graphic Novel — Bone

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

Caraval, ugh, I heard this was like The Night Circus, but that was NOT the case. Also, Today Will Be Different, I loved Where'd You Go,Bernadette by the same author, but this one fell flat for me.

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read? 

Bonfire, I’m so skeptical of “celebrity” novels, but this one was actually a pretty decent thriller.

4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?

The Bone Clocks, it’s a strange book, but I co-hosted a readalong of it and we had a great discussion!

5. Best series you started in 2017?

The Hogarth Shakespeare series; each book is written by a different famous author (Margaret Atwood, Anne Tyler, etc.) and retells one of Shakespeare’s plays. I read four of them this year (Dunbar/King Lear, NewBoy/Othello, Hag-Seed/Tempest, and Vinegar Girl/Taming of the Shrew).

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2017?

Ruth Ware and Celeste Ng, I read multiple novels from both authors and I was so impressed with them.

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

The Book of Joy and The Reason I Jump, one is a conversation between Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the other is by a boy with autism and gives a powerful window into his complicated world.

8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

The Dry, In a Dark, Dark, World and Slade House

9. Book You Read In 2017 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths and At Home in the World

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2017?

The Fox and the Star and The Card Catalog

11. Most memorable character of 2017?

Holly Sykes from The Bone Clocks and Dinah from Adam Bede

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2017?

Everything I Never Told You, A Gentleman in Moscow, and Manhattan Beach

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2017?

Dinner: A Love Story, the author mixes her personal experience with recipes. The end result is a cookbook of sorts with family togetherness as the end goal. It’s definitely changed the way I’m approaching dinner time. 

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2017 to finally read?

Foundation and Tarzan of the Apes 

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2017?
“And the thing is, when you lose someone, you realize you’ll eventually lose everyone.” – Turtles All the Way Down"

“This is the problem of history. We cannot know that which we were not there to see and hear and experience for ourselves. We must rely upon the words of others.” – Homegoing

"Presently the smell of coffee begin to fill the room. This was morning's hallowed moment. In such a fragrance the perversity of the world is forgotten and the soul is inspired with faith in the future.” – Independent People

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2017?

The Night Bookmobile 40 pages and The Bone Clocks 829 pages

17. Book That Shocked You The Most

Rad Women Worldwide, it was shocking because there were so many incredible women whose stories I’d never heard!
18. One True Pairing (a couple that you ship):

Mal and Inara and also Zoe and Wash from Serenity: Leaves on the Wind
19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship of The Year

Count Alexander Rostov and Nina in A Gentleman in Moscow

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2017 From an Author You’ve Read Previously

Four Season in Rome (by the author of All the Light We Cannot See)

21. Best Book You Read In 2017 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else:

Clan of the Cave Bear, my Dad told me that this was one of my Mom’s favorite series when she was younger. She passed away a long time ago and I’ve always wanted to read it because of that recommendation.

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2017?

Finn Kilgore from The Alice Network

23. Best 2017 debut you read?

I Let You Go

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

The Lying Game’s description of the village of Salten and Kate’s house, also the beautiful Italian Riviera in The Enchanted April.

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

Norse Mythology, Gaiman’s descriptions of Loki and Thor’s interactions are particularly hilarious. I actually read the whole book twice this year because I loved it so much.

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2017?

The description of the sled dogs being killed in Endurance and The Paris Architect’s scene of a couple trapped behind a fireplace.

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore, I was expecting a quirky bookstore story, but instead I got a mystery of sorts as a woman with a horrific experience in her past tries to solve the reason behind the suicide of a young man in the bookstore where she works.

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

In My Hands, a nonfiction account of one Polish woman’s experience during WWII.

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2017?

The Bone Clocks by far! Six different time periods all connected through the life of one woman, it was unique to be sure.

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad?

Independent People, this tome chronicles the life of one Icelandic farmer. He is ridiculously stubborn and turns away from everyone who offers help. The writing was actually beautiful, but I struggled with it for MONTHS! Also, the scene at the end of Clan of the Cave Bear (SPOILER!) where the main character leaves her baby behind. Seriously, if you're leaving anyway, why would you not take your child?!?!

Thanks to Perpetual Page Turner for once again hosting this survey!

Photo by me.