“Top 10 Tuesday” is a weekly meme by The Broke and the Bookish

The end of the year is rapidly approaching and since we love end-of-the year reviews and also making lists we thought this is the perfect timing to go back into Top 10 Tuesdays. We were kinda shocked when we realized that our last TTT post was already six months old – which unsurprisingly was about our favorite books of the first half of 2017.

While we were already quite happy with (most of) the books we’ve read in the first months of the year we’re glad that there were still lots of great books for us in the second half – even though it made putting this list together quite a challenge, especially for Maraia. Unfortunately, we still had to leave out a few titles that would deserve a mention and we hope that maybe there might still be a few highlights to come in the last weeks of the year but ultimately we’re quite satisfied with our picks and proudly present OUR FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2017!

Assassin’s Fate – Robin Hobb
This was an emotional, satisfying end to a reading journey that has spanned four years and sixteen books. The experience was made even better by buddy reading it with my Hobb Squad girls. No other book stood a chance against this sentimental conclusion to Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings series.

A Conjuring of Light – V.E. Schwab
I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect ending to one of my favorite fantasy series. It was everything I’d hoped for.

Starfish – Akemi Dawn Bowman
If not for Assassin’s Fate, this would have been the book that made me feel the most this year. Three months later, I still can’t stop thinking about it. It’s an #ownvoices coming-of-age story about a biracial girl with severe social anxiety.

The Unhewn Throne Trilogy – Brian Staveley
It didn’t take me long to become hooked on this epic fantasy series and the excellent audiobook narration. Each book is better than the last, and it’s the side characters who are the real stars of the series.

Dear Martin – Nic Stone / The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas
Everyone has heard of The Hate U Give, and for good reason. It’s a powerful book with an important message about racial injustice in America. Equally powerful and important is Dear Martin, and I encourage everyone to read it.

Song of the Orphans – Daniel Price
This was another highly anticipated sequel, and it more than lived up to my expectations. Daniel Price outdid himself with this fantastic science fiction novel.

Failure to Communicate – Kaia Sønderby
This book came highly recommended by my friend Lucille and quickly solidified its place as one of my favorite books of the year. While diversity is becoming an important part of YA contemporaries, SFF authors are taking their time catching up. Fortunately, this book delivers both an exciting science fiction world and an awesome main character who happens to be on the Autism spectrum and bisexual. It’s also #ownvoices.

Everything All At Once – Katrina Leno
This is the second year in a row that a book by Katrina Leno has made it to favorites list, and I fully expect the trend to continue in 2018. Leno truly understands the teenage experience, and she translates it so effectively into words. I wish I’d had her books growing up.

Down Among the Sticks and Bones – Seanan McGuire
I loved the previous book in the Wayward Children series, but this one truly shines. I’m not usually a fan of novellas, but McGuire’s dark fantasies always work for me.

The Fourth Monkey – J.D. Barker
Out of all the mysteries and thrillers I read this year, The Fourth Monkey is the one that stands out most. It’s a sick, twisted story, as are all my favorites, and I can’t wait for the sequel.

Runners up: Six Wakes, Our Dark Duet, Bruderlüge, The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye, Murder on the Orient Express, Words in Deep Blue, and The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue.

The Fourth Monkey – J.D. Barker
This book was teased as „Se7en meets The Silence of the Lambs“ and even though it reminded me of neither of these movies it could totally live up to my high expectations. This novel was not only as addictive as hell but also as sick and disturbing as I had hoped for and I just couldn’t put it down. If you’re going to read only one 2017 thriller, make sure it’s this one – it’s the best.

The Song of the Orphans – Daniel Price
This one was probably my most anticipated book of the year and I’m so glad (but not surprised) that it didn’t disappoint. The Song of the Orphans was maybe even more epic than The Flight of the Silvers and some reveals really blew my mind. Now I can’t wait to get my hands on the next (and sadly final) book of the Silvers trilogy!

Final Girls – Riley Sager
I had expected some kind of horror slasher but even though Final Girls turned out to be surprisingly slow and less violent than expected it was still addictive as hell and definitely one of the best thrillers of the year!

All In – Jennifer Lynn Barnes
I still can’t believe that a YA thriller made it to a 5-star-rating and even onto my 2017 favorites list but the Naturals series keeps getting better with every book and totally deserves this rank. Might not be as brutal as an adult thriller but no less addictive and shocking than a Chris Carter or Cody McFadyen novel.

Schwesterherz & Bruderlüge – Kristina Ohlsson
Kristina Ohlsson was already one of my favorite crime authors due to her fantastic Fredrika Bergman & Alex Recht series but this duology was at least just as good and had me hooked the whole time with lots of evil twists and turns.

An Evil Mind – Chris Carter
While this was not the best Robert Hunter novel it was still addictive from the very first page on and disturbing as usual and had a really evil villain that could totally live up to the book title. I don’t think I’ll ever grow tired of this series soon!

The Hatching – Ezekiel Boone
I didn’t really have high expectations for this spider horror novel but it became one of my positive surprises of the year – even though it wasn’t even that creepy. But reading the novel felt like watching a big summer blockbuster and for me it was almost perfect entertainment.

Murder Park – Jonas Winner
A thriller set in a theme park that was inspired by serial killers – with this disturbing setting Murder Park was a must-read for me and I’m really glad that this book gave me everything that I had wished for. I had some mixed feelings about the ending but enjoyed everything else a lot and if you like Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None then this book will probably be right up your alley.

Verfolgung („The Girl Who Took an Eye for an Eye“) – David Lagercrantz
I was already relieved when Lagercrantz’ first Millennium novel turned out to be worthy of the original Stieg Larsson trilogy but while book 4 was a bit too action-packed the fifth novel focused more on journalistic research and almost felt like one of the first books again. If Lagercrantz keeps going on like this with the series then I’m definitely looking forward to some more Millennium stories!

Murder on the Orient Express – Agatha Christie
This one was only my second Agatha Christie novel (after „And Then There Were None“) and I liked it even more than the first one. Once again the setting was really interesting and I enjoyed that this was and old-school investigation with some good detective work.

What were your favorite books of the year so far?
Have you read any of our favorites already?

Kommentar verfassen:

48 Antworten zu diesem Beitrag

  • Wow, a lot of new books to add to the growing tbr list!

  • Well unsurprisingly I only know books off Maraia’s list!! (Sorry??) And am so so here to flail over Dear Martin, Starfish, ACOL, and Brian Stavely!! Which reminds me I should probably read the 3rd book before I forget the previous two but it’s giving me such anxiety. ?? They damaged my Valyn and I’M NOT OK. Excuse me. Also I want to buy Everything All At Once so I can reread and maybe take a million photos. On the to-do list!

    • Von Maraia am 13. Dez 2017 um 13:34

      Haha, poor Sebastian. YES, please listen to it. I promise you’ll survive it! I’m still sad that you didn’t preorder EAAO. The preorder incentive Katrina Leno sent out was adorable. <3

    • I’m totally not surprised 😛 I always feel like the only people reading „my“ books are Maraia and myself XD

  • „Murder on the Orient Express“ was amazing, I was so shocked by that ending. Normally I`m quite good at picking up clues, but I did not expect that reveal.

    Carmen`s Reading Corner

  • Yay! Failure to Communicate! XD
    I liked (but didn’t love) Every Heart a Doorway, but I’m seeing such great things about Down Among the Sticks and Bones at the moment!

    • Von Maraia am 13. Dez 2017 um 13:16

      Haha ?
      Ooh, I hope you like Down Among the Sticks and Bones more! It really was better than the first.

  • Everything All At Once is still on my TBR, and I have yet to read anything by VE Schwab – pretty sure I’m the last person on earth!

  • I actually just started reading Dear Martin. I totally agree with your thoughts on it so far.

    Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!

  • I really loved Murder on the Orient Express, it was a great first Agatha Christie book!

  • ACOL was on my list this week too!

  • I feel like a serious slacker because I haven’t read a single one of these. I’m going to bury myself under my TBR pile and never return.

  • What an amazing list! So many books to look at. Fab choices.

  • A Conjuring of Light was indeed such a perfect ending to an amazing series 🙂

  • Haaaaa I loved so many of those too! Of course Assassin’s Fate T^T <3
    I really need to get to Last Mortal Bond, I loved the first two!! And Dear Martin too! Also need to take a look at Daniel Price too since you both loved it!
    Maraia's number 7,8,9 yesss <3 <3 I'm so glad you loved my recommendation :'D

    I see someone got ready for an upcoming movie 😉 One of my goal for 2018 will be to read more Agatha Christie novels! I only read this one and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd! Such a genius writer

    • Von Maraia am 13. Dez 2017 um 13:49

      Ooh, I don’t think I realized that you’d already read Brian Staveley! I hope you get to Last Mortal Bond and Dear Martin soon. And definitely Daniel Price. ?

      I really want to read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, too! Just stay far away from Passenger to Frankfurt. It nearly bored us to death. ?

    • Just as always we prepared for an upcoming movie and then didn’t make it to the movie theater in time >.< But we're definitely going to watch that movie one day! 😀

  • I seem to forget that I haven’t read all the books. I think Murder on the Orient Express is the only one in common, but I recognised a few from my Goodreads TBR.

  • I’m just into the last 100 pages of A Gathering Of Shadows, and I’m loving it . V E Schwab is such a compelling writer. I don’t usually go for fantasy but I can’t wait to finish the series!

    THUG was a great read too. I haven’t read Dear Martin yet but it’s on my TBR!

    • Von Maraia am 13. Dez 2017 um 13:32

      I hope you’ll love the ending as much as I do! And that you can read Dear Martin soon. More people need to be talking about it!

  • I read ORIENT EXPRESS this year, too. Like you, the only other Christie I’ve read is AND THEN THERE WERE NONE. I liked it better, though. Both good, compelling mysteries for sure.

    Happy TTT!

    Susan
    http://www.blogginboutbooks.com

  • Assassin’s Fate reminds me that I need to read that trilogy, I think I stopped after the Fool books so I have a little catching up to do! Murder on the Orient Express I’d like to read too. And All In has been on a few lists this week- that’s another series I’d like to get to in 2018. I remember thinking The Naturals had such a great premise.

    • Von Maraia am 13. Dez 2017 um 13:03

      Yes, it’s amazing! But I definitely would make sure you’ve read all of the previous series before starting on this one. ?

  • So many great books on this list! This also reminds me that I need to read Fourth Monkey.

  • Dear Martin was such a good book. If the topic was Top Eleven Tuesday, it would have made my list. Glad to see it here on yours.

  • No offense Sea-Bastard, but this will mostly be in response to Maraia’s top ten because I don’t tend to read Thrillers/Horror/Crime/whatever-you-read books. I think I SHOULD give them a chance some time but with my move coming up, the only thing I’m focused on is reading whatever unread YA books I have sitting on my shelves.

    Unfortuately, most of my unread books don’t relate to your list, Maraia, and because I’m not part of the book blogosphere as much anymore I don’t recognize a lot of the books you mention, but here we go:

    Sixteen books in the Robin Hobb series? I mean, dang. I’ve heard of her before but haven’t read any of her material. That sounds like such a commitment though. I think it’s great that the series lasted that long and came to a satisfactory end for you. It would been horrible to stick with the series that whole time and end up hating it. The longest series I’ve ever stuck with and enjoyed is the obvious one – Harry Potter. I think it would take a special series to get me that stuck in it these days.

    I’m glad to see Schwab’s book on your list! I have ADSOM unread on my shelf so I do plan on reading that series at some point. I’m really excited to delve into it but I’m hoping I don’t overhype it in my mind beforehand. I’ve only heard good things!

    I actually looked up Starfish this past week after seeing you and Val mention it in Twitter (she alluded to some criticism it got that bothered her so I wanted to see what that was about, I can’t help but being curious sometime). Though it sounds like some people find it problematic, it does seem to really connect with a lot of people – which makes me curious about it. It’s a book that I’ll likely forget and never read since I’m so behind on my own TBR right now but I’m going to try and keep that author on my radar for the future!

    And lastly, The Song of the Orphans. I STILL need to read The Flight of the Silvers. Honestly, it drives me nuts how slowly I read lately because there’s so many books I want to read that I’ve had for so long – such as that one. Soon! Anyways, I’m definitely excited for this series since I’ve only heard good things and am hoping you all won’t let me down with your good words. And obviously, if I feel the need to talk to someone about it while reading, I know who to turn to. (But hey, the good thing about being a slacker like me is that by the time I get to it, I can likely binge the whole series in one go instead of having to wait for each book to be released, haha.)

    Anyways, enough rambling. (Have you missed my super long ass comments? My fingers haven’t, ha.) I’m glad you had such a good reading year and hope next year is even better. 🙂

    • Von Maraia am 15. Dez 2017 um 15:12

      Yep! And she has another trilogy, plus short stories/a novella that are related to this one. It’s definitely a commitment, and I don’t recommend it for you. xD I hope you find another series like Harry Potter eventually!

      I think overhyping Schwab is always a worry. Maybe wait another 10 years. 😛

      Starfish is SO GOOD, and I don’t agree that it’s problematic at all. Out of all the books on my list, I think that’s the one I’d recommend to you the most.

      Being able to binge the Silvers series will be great! I’m almost jealous, haha.

      OF COURSE we’ve missed your comments! (Well, maybe I shouldn’t speak for Sebastian. xD)

  • I can’t help it, but I laugh every time I see Asti and Sebastian calling each other Ass-Tea and Sea-Bastard. It’s so silly.

    As you know by now, I have read Everything All At Once and A Conjuring of Light, and both were amazing. EAAO was such a lovely read, and ACOL… we just couldn’t have asked for a more perfect finale, could we? I’m also really looking forward to reading Starfish. I was part of the blog tour, but due to formatting issues couldn’t read the ARC. It sounds so amazing though!

    • Von Maraia am 17. Dez 2017 um 21:23

      Haha, same.

      I really don’t think it could have been any better! That’s so disappointing about Starfish. I can’t wait for you to read it. I’m sure you’ll love it. Do you already have a copy?

  • I’m really not surprised to see Robin Hobb on the top of Maraia’s list, haha.

    It would be great to see more of you guys in TTT. 😉

  • Hi ya’ll,
    well you are early with your Favorites! *.*
    I wish, my year would have been that great in books. But I kind of get the feeling, that I had I a lot of okay-is reads while the real great ones didn’t end up on my pile.
    Though I totally agree with Maraia on THUG. That book kind of knocked me of. And I still have „Dear Martin“ on my need-to-have-so-badly list. Totally want to read this. Especially because it’s out of a guys POV. That will be interesting.
    Also, I will make sure to read „Starfish“ which I got from you guys. Very excited about that one.
    Have a great Christmas with a lot of food and good movies!

    Cheers,
    Sandy

    • Von Maraia am 22. Dez 2017 um 15:48

      Haha, I suppose we were. Maybe we still have another 5-star read ahead of us. I’m sorry you didn’t have as good a reading year. I hope Starfish will change that next year! And Dear Martin. I almost liked that one more than THUG. Thanks for commenting, Sandy! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas as well. ?

  • Great lists! I read Every Heart a Doorway a few weeks ago and it totally has me itching to read Down Among the Sticks and Bones, too!