CBR Diversion – End of Year Reading Wrap Up

The end of the year is a perfect time for reflection. Let’s reflect on the most important part of your year – the books you read.

First, I want to talk about the worst books I read this year. These books were a pain to read, but I did finish them (I am one of those always finish what you start people.)

• Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White – a read for my YA book group which we all hated, extremely violent story of sociopath teens.
• Audition by Katie Kitamura – this book has gotten high praise this year (Booker Prize finalist), but not by me. A read for my fiction book group, the author thinks she is above the use of quotation marks, that alone is enough to turn me off!

I was able to read new mystery installments from two of my favorites and they were great – Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman (Thursday Murder Club) and Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz.

Here are more of my favorites from this year:

• My Friends by Fredrik Backman – Backman never fails me, his view of life is unique, funny, and honest.
• Under the Same Stars by Libba Bray – a YA historical fiction which is one of the best historical fictions I have ever read (and I read a lot of those).
• A Curious Kind of Magic by Mara Rutherford – a charming YA fantasy that has it all – magic, romance, found family, friendship, and adventure. 
• The Homemade God by Rachel Joyce – this one restored by faith in Joyce, I loved so many of her previous books and then she got hung up on returning over and over to Harold Fry. Glad to see her back in her old groove.
• Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher – only Kingfisher can write a Snow White inspired tale like this. I love her work and was lucky to see her at two author events this year!

My annual goal is to read 100 books each year, which I track on goodreads. I have been on a tear and should end up way above that number this year.