The Best Books of 2017

I reviewed 69 books in 2017 (and no rejects this year) which is 2 more than last year but 1 less than my target of 70. My target for 2018 is 75. I think that’s achievable. I have a new method in place which is speeding things up a little so we’ll see. As usual I’ll split the Fiction and Non-Fiction with the BOLD titles being the best of the best.

Fiction:

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Martian by Andy Weir
The Good German by Joseph Kanon
Pure by Andrew Miller
The Good Father by Noah Hawley
A Dark and Twisted Tide by Sharon Bolton
The Kingmaker’s Daughter by Philippa Gregory
Embedded by Dan Abnett
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Little Girl Lost by Richard Aleas

Non-Fiction:

A Bridge Too Far by Cornelius Ryan
Wild – A Journey from Lost to Found by Cheryl Strayed
In the Heart of the Sea – The Epic True Story that Inspired Moby Dick by Nathaniel Philbrick
Bosworth – The Birth of the Tudors by Chris Skidmore
The End of Average – How to Succeed in a World that Values Sameness by Todd Rose
Stand Firm – Resisting the Self-Improvement Craze by Svend Brinkmann
Waterloo – The History of Four Days, Three Armies and Three Battles by Bernard Cornwell
Revolutionary Suicide by Huey P Newton
Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
To Hell and Back – Europe 1914-1949 by Ian Kershaw
Where do Camels Belong? – The Story and Science of Invasive Species by Ken Thompson
Her Majesty’s Spymaster – Elizabeth I, Sir Francis Walsingham, and the Birth of Modern Espionage by Stephen Budiansky
The War of the Flea – A Study of Guerrilla Warfare Theory & Practice by Robert Taber
Stranger Than We Can Imagine – Making Sense of the Twentieth Century by John Higgs
Blowback – How the West f*cked up the Middle East (and why it was a bad idea) by Michael Luders
The Shallows – How the Internet is changing the way we think, read and remember by Nicolas Carr
The Battle of the River Plate by Dudley Pope

This pretty much reflects the fiction/non-fiction split in my reading presently. I’m definitely pleased with the range of books displayed here and certainly by subject and, indeed, publication date. There are fewer female authors than I’d like but on the whole I’m pleased with the final result. I’ll post my plans (or at least my aspirations) for this year next Monday. I’m conscious that I only completed 1 of the 15 triple reads and started 2 others mentioned as my goals for 2017. So much for completing half to be happy! But I’ll leave that to next week. I’ll also discuss my ‘significant reads’ at a later date too. Finally a new category: Best Title of the Year. This has to go to Blowback – How the West f*cked up the Middle East (and why it was a bad idea) by Michael Luders with a runner up prize to Where do Camels Belong? – The Story and Science of Invasive Species by Ken Thompson. Definitely more off-the-wall and eyebrow raising titles to come.