2017 Book Favourites

This year I miserably tried and failed to reach my minuscule reading goal, but with senior year running after me -literally- and my usual reading slump, I only managed to read 24 books, some even went unfinished.

However, I think I managed to squeeze in good ones among these reads from my never ending tbr list, and these are my top picks, if you care whatsoever about what I think.

Goodreads

• The Daughter of Smoke and Bone Series by Laini Taylor – 5

At number one I absolutely need to put the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series by Laini Taylor.

The writing, oh my god. As someone who likes to humour herself by thinking she is a good writer I often find myself reading something that makes want to set fire to myself and everything I have ever written, and well this series was one of them, BIG TIME!

Everything from the plot to the writing style to the character development was done in a an almost flawed pattern, it was so good I could not put them down, I also questioned myself why it took me so long to read them, I am an idiot.

The blurb (from Goodreads): 

Around the world, black hand prints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky. In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real, she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands", she speaks many languages - not all of them human - and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that colour. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When beautiful, haunted Akiva fixes fiery eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

What struck me the most about these books was the imagination, I could not for the life of me figure out how one person could come up with all this made up *stuff*. It just seemed impossible to me.

My favourites were the first and last book, the middle one for some reason did not have that high of a score with me, however, overall it is definitely a series worth reading if you are into parallel universes and weird creatures and magic and mind blowing twists. 

My only complaint, I would have liked an ending that wasn’t so—open ended I guess?

The next two picks on the list are by the same writer, but oh my god, I thank the day I decided to pick up one of his books.

As a person I am rather very interested in people writing about their cultural backgrounds and different perspectives than the average American plot we usually get, and Khaled Al- Hosseini absolutely does that and more.

With his books I wasn’t just enjoying myself, I was also getting educated, seeing parts of the world that I would not be able to see for myself, through a native’s words and eyes

Goodreads

• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Al Hosseini – 4.8

The first book by him and second on this list is A Thousand Splendid Suns.

I don’t know of any other man who can write about women and be able to reflect and portray their struggle that way. The way he takes the reader through the two stories, and then tie them together, all through the tragedy was very interesting to me.

I was not bored for one moment whilst reading this which was surprising to me, because it is not my usual choice. But it did not disappoint. I again, could not put it down, I wanted to know what happens next and then next and next, and then its 3 am and I have to go to bed because I have a class in the morning, that’s how good it was.

The characters he portrayed were very enriched, and beautifully portrayed. Another thing I loved about his writing was how real it was, it reflected reality with all its bittersweet moments, the good and the bad, the awful and the hopeful.

The book at so many points was as equally heartbreaking as it was eye opening, it left me wanting to know more about the world and also, realizing how privileged I really am. 

Another thing I loved about this book was how well the relationships between Mariam and Layla were portrayed, and how admist all this, he managed to squeeze such sweet moments that only reflect how life is not all black and white, how its always changing and giving us the bad and the good. 

The blurb (from Goodreads): 

Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them—in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul—they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation. 

With heart-wrenching power and suspense, Hosseini shows how a woman's love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice, and that in the end it is love—or even the memory of love—that is often the key to survival.

• The Kite Runner by Khaled All Hosseini – 4

Goodreads

The next book is the Kite Runner.

With this book, I didn’t know how to feel, because unlike the last one this was real, way too real. It almost made me uncomfortable at points. I went into it excited to read more from him and was not disappointed, just surprised.

But I think that this is what good writing is supposed to do to you, make you feel something and be uncomfortable with getting exposed to the reality you can’t even imagine in your wildest dreams.

I disliked the characters at a lot of points, but I think that’s also normal because of how real they were. Real people who commit foolish mistakes, stumble, fall and then stand up again, that’s how most of the characters portrayed were.

I think in portraying this character, Khaled Al Hosseini managed to portray a lot of reality in the Afghan life, their struggles and how they adapted to their entire lives being taken away from them and having to build new ones, and what made it so real was how personal it was.

The blurb (from Goodreads): 

“It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime." 

Amir is the son of a wealthy Kabul merchant, a member of the ruling caste of Pashtuns. Hassan, his servant and constant companion, is a Hazara, a despised and impoverished caste. Their uncommon bond is torn by Amir's choice to abandon his friend amidst the increasing ethnic, religious, and political tensions of the dying years of the Afghan monarchy, wrenching them far apart. But so strong is the bond between the two boys that Amir journeys back to a distant world, to try to right past wrongs against the only true friend he ever had.

The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their sacrifices, their lies.

A sweeping story of family, love, and friendship told against the devastating backdrop of the history of Afghanistan over the last thirty years, The Kite Runner is an unusual and powerful novel that has become a beloved, one-of-a-kind classic.

• Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie – 5

Goodreads

Another book by Agatha was going to be included in this list; my all time favourite ever since I was thirteen -And Then There Were None-, however this one definitely trumps over it.

What can I say? Personally, I always found Agatha Christie’s imagination fascinating, ever since I read the very first book by her I never stopped wondering how she managed to come up with all that.

This book is weird, it takes you through so much in a rather confined place if you ask me. The idea, plot and characters were all so well put together to the point where I found myself speechless reading the last few pages.

Christie’s famous for her plot twists but for some reason I found this to be one of her best ever in my opinion. The way she takes you through the story itself, the plot line, who’s who and who does what is all very captivating, I honestly could not put it down once I got a few pages in.

The blurb (from Goodreads): 

What more can a mystery addict desire than a much-loathed murder victim found aboard the luxurious Orient Express with multiple stab wounds, thirteen likely suspects, an incomparably brilliant detective in Hercule Poirot, and the most ingenious crime ever conceived?

I cannot talk more about this book without giving its greatness away, but seriously read it. One piece of advice though, do not watch the movie beforehand, it can be great, but after reading the book I rather found it disappointing.

Goodreads

• Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak – 4.5

Choosing this final pick was really hard because there were several equally great reads, however the reason I decided to choose this is because of its well-remembered plot, it left a mark, and almost a year later I still remember it very well.

I found the storyline to be bizarre, it took me a while to get who’s who and be able to alternate between the two storylines going on, however once I got it down, I was pleasantly captivated by all the raw emotions and how well they were expressed by people and characters.

The blurb (from Goodreads): 

Ella Rubenstein is forty years old and unhappily married when she takes a job as a reader for a literary agent. Her first assignment is to read and report on Sweet Blasphemy, a novel written by a man named Aziz Zahara. Ella is mesmerized by his tale of Shams's search for Rumi and the dervish's role in transforming the successful but unhappy cleric into a committed mystic, passionate poet, and advocate of love. She is also taken with Shams's lessons, or rules, that offer insight into an ancient philosophy based on the unity of all people and religions, and the presence of love in each and every one of us. As she reads on, she realizes that Rumi's story mir­rors her own and that Zahara—like Shams—has come to set her free.

The mix between the two stories and how the writer tied them together centuries apart was very interesting. I think that a lot of readers may find themselves relating to the main character – Ella – despite her being a 40 something mother and wife searching for her identity.

Going into the world of Rumi, and finally realizing why people make such a fuss about his poems and writings was a pleasant experience. I must admit, some characters did not sit well with me, but that’s my personal opinion, and yet the journey was a very entertaining one with a lot of surprises on the way. Although the rhythm of the book is somewhat slow, I did not feel bored of tired of it at any point through.

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So there they are, my top five favourite books of 2017. 

What were some of yours? 

other favourites that did not make it to the list but I feel like I need to mention them are;

• Holding Up The Universe by Jennifer Niven
• The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins 
• and finally, The rest of us just live here by Patrick Ness. 

Here's to many more fantastic reads in 2018!