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akocomyk · 7 years

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The Top 10 Books I Read in 2017

Funny how I wasn’t able to read as much books as I wanted to despite the fact that I wasn’t really doing anything for two and a half months. I was able to read 25 books in 2017, just enough to hit my Goodreads 2017 Reading Challenge. Usually, I go over my pledged number of books. This was the only time, if I remember right, that I wasn’t able to surpass my reading challenge.

Finishing that challenge was an effort, mind you. I finished reading the last book for 2017 on December 30, and i pushed myself just so that I can finish the challenge. I blame all this slow reading to Miss Peregrine. If you’ve read my thoughts on that book, you’d know why.

Going back to the real purpose of this blog... Of the 25 books I read this year, 15 were considered for this list. I know that’s quite a lot, but that’s good, in reality. That means I'm now more careful on choosing which books to read.

The sad part about this—similar to my dilemma last year—is that I have too many books that I want to include in the list. It’s with great regret that I won’t be able to put them in here even if I wanted to.

Anyway... here it goes.

*The books in here are included regardless of their genre, release date, and author—whether they be Filipino or international. As long as its a book that I’ve read within the given year, they can be considered for the list.

(Scores are on a scale of 1-5, inspired by Goodreads’ rating format)

10. A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett (2005)

SCORE: 4.250

This is the second book in Pratchett’s Tiffany Aching series. I really loved the first book and I’m so thrilled that whatever it is I liked from the first one continued with this—at times, even better. But I’m a nothing-bests-the-original type of person, so the first book scored higher for me. You’ll see it further on this list.

9. The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Allire Sáenz (2017)

SCORE: 4.275

One thing that t I really love about Sáenz‘s books is the tone of his writing. It’s utterly simple, yet very poetically beautiful—which for me makes it very quick and easy to read.

His other book that I read, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, is one of my favorite books. Having known that he recently released a new book, I din’t mind that it’s still only available on hardbound, I immediately bought it when it came out. I had high expectations for it.

This book gave me the same feelings when I read Ari and Dante, though it wasn’t as effective. Toned-down would be a good word for it. There are parts where it would hit you right on the heart. Ironically, this is what the books is all about—love. It’s about all types of love, even if the book never had an ounce of romance in it—maybe just a little bit.

8. The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett (2003)

SCORE: 4.330

The story in itself is very similar to a fairy tale and you can even identify a few references grabbed from the classics. But unlike those old tales of fantasy, this one is void of all the atrocities and rather has common sense and unwavering cleverness—not to mention, an ample amount of humor.

One thing that I also love about the book is that all characters are very likable and have distinct personalities—even the tertiary and background characters have personalities, it’s insane!

See full review

7. The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill (2016)

SCORE: 4.345

I always love a book with amazing characters who have deeply rooted motivations. This is what I adored about this book. It felt like all the characters have valid reasons why they were doing the things that they did in the story, and the way it just pushed the plot forward and how everything went to be is just enchanting.

This is a book meant for children but it can certainly be enjoyed by any person of any age—except for the toddlers who can’t read, obviously. This book is for the people who looooove fantasy. I got into reading because of fantasy books—hello Chronicles of Narnia—and this creation by Barnhill is a unique jewel in the midst of middle grade to young adult novels which nowadays are starting to sound too similar to one another.

6. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (1999)

SCORE: 4.405

I had setbacks when I decided that I wanted to read it. It was on the bottom of my I-plan-to-read-list primarily because I’ve already watched the film adaptation and I’m worried that I wouldn’t appreciate the book that much since I already know the story and thought that it would take away too much of the book’s charm.

BUT I WAS WRONG.

I didn’t really plan on reading it but on June 10, when I was alone in our house and wanted to do something so that I won’t get bored, I went out to find a book and eat at a local café. Turns out, this was the cheapest book I found that actually pulled my interest.

Anyway, the book—much like the film—is very touching and fun to read. Like, I never would’ve thought that the book was written during the 90′s because it gave me the modern YA feels, like it totally blended in with the books that I love reading.

It gave me the feels. You know, the weird feeling in your heart when you read a book or watch a film. It was very prevalent in this book.

5. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (2007)

SCORE: 4.475

I got this book as a Christmas gift from a fellow Star Wars nerd. She loved it that’s why she gave me a copy. Basing from the reviews it got from Goodreads, it is an amazing book. AND IT LIVED UP TO MY EXPECTATIONS.

I just love how the characters are fully made up… although some feel like cardboard cutouts, I don’t mind. I mean, they’re very minor characters. At most, the main characters are very interesting.

It’s a good substitute to those who are reading the A Song of Ice and Fire series. It has the same amount of epicness, same amount of characters, ample amount of secrecy and mysteries, but thankfully not as grandiose and confusing\ as GRRM’s (yeah, as much as I love the ASOIF books, sometimes it goes a little too far).

It’s a really thick book which I would normally get bored of reading in the middle, but that didn’t happen.

4. Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (2015)

SCORE: 4.605

It is a truly wonderful book that proudly represents the LGBTQ community.

I love how Albertalli wrote it in such a sarcastic tone, and it reminds me of the time when I have a similar tone in writing—the time before I started doing all those melodramatic stuff.

There are times in the book that I almost wanted to cry.

Also, it’s one hell of a page-turner. I couldn’t stop reading it! The book laid open on my desk at work and I occasionally read a few pages every now and then. I wanted to know how it ends so badly.

I also love the way that the story is also very engaging to the readers, like the way that you want to share with Simon’s adventure and search for the mysterious identity of Blue. I had speculations. I said, if this would be him, the story would be stupid. If this would be a girl, it would be disappointing (and Will Grayson-ish). If it was this other characters, it just doesn’t make any sense. But there’s this minor character who would probably fit. AND I WAS DAMN RIGHT. I predicted it but it was good, because all the other options would make a really bad story. I predicted it but it was good, because if I was the one who wrote the story, I would’ve written it the same way.

3. Scythe by Neal Shusterman (2016)

SCORE: 4.610

This is only my second Neal Shusterman book and I think I’m starting to become a fan. In this novel, he created a world that is so thought-provoking, and he made it distinct among the over-crowded dystopian novels of the recent years.

I recommend this to anyone who loved reading The Hunger Games—or just to anyone who loves to read—because it gives you the same emotions. Different story, same feeling. It will surprise you. It will scare you. It will excite you. And at a certain point, it will crush your heart.

See full review

2. We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson (2016)

SCORE: 4.615

This book portrays the message that no person in this world has a perfect life. We are all flawed, and we all have reasons to be unhappy.

I was heavily impressed at how Hutchinson was able to incorporate that factor in all of his characters. That is what I like most about this book. Anyone in the world who loves to read may be able to have a connection to it—naturally, everyone of us has imperfections and we can empathize on the characters because of that.

I love the little sci-fi things that are enclosed in-between chapters, including the main premise that Henry (the main character) is abducted by aliens. And I love the mystery by the end as to whether or not these abductions are true or just a figment of Henry’s imagination. *Spoiler alert, if you’re wondering how this part of the story is resolved… it was never resolved*

He’s depressed and he probably has anxiety so this could possibly his mind’s manifestations to cope up with his life. This real-unreal phenomenon kinda reminds me of A Monster Calls… you know, you’re not sure if whether or not the Monster was real or not.

This factor adds a little interaction with the readers as it forces us to use our own creativity and rely solely on our imagination on how this all adds up. It can be true. It cannot be true.

And also, the book has these occasional moments that will really crush your heart. You know how much I love books that do that to me.

AND THE AWARD FOR THE BEST BOOK I READ IN 2017 GOES TO...

1. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (2003)

SCORE: 4.630

I’ve seen this book on store shelves a couple of times and I always overlooked it. Probably because the cover isn’t very much appealing to me, and I’m not a usual fan of books that center on war themes, especially those that are set in the middle east.

So when I finally paid attention to it, and saw the good reviews it had on Goodreads, I said to myself. “I effin’ need to read this.”

Also, one of the reasons why I decided to read it is for this list. At the time, this list was dominated by YA novels, all of which have LGBTQ themes in them. Had We Are the Ants topped the list, for three years straight, YA-LGBTQ books bagged the top plum. I have nothing against these type of books—I like them, obviously—but I thought that I just need some sort of variety.

Going back to this book... this has left me scarred. There are scenes in the book that I will never, ever be able to forget. Like there were scenes that I read while I was inside a bus on my way home, and I had to stop reading because I didn’t want people to see me crying in public. Unfortunately, I still cried.

For me, this book tells us that life will always be full of sh*t. You may have your good days, but it will always try to test you. Other than that, it tells us that there are people in this world who would die for honor, and for love.

I will no longer tell anymore about this book. I suggest that you should just read it. I highly recommend it. Definitely one of my favorites.

Other books considered for this list were I Wrote This for You by Iain S. Thomas, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, Chasers of the Light by Tyler Knott Gregson, Kids of Apetite by David Arnold, and Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon. I really wish that they were in the top—especially the poetry books by Thomas and Gregson, that would’ve been a first—but I only need ten and 2017 was just crowded with good books.

I read better books this year than the past year. You can just tell from the ratings. The tenth place on this was already on 4.250—I had to include a third decimal to break the ties, that’s why the scores are so close. Last year’s tenth was at 3.68, and the first book to actually go higher than 4.250 was All the Light We Cannot See with 4.32, last year’s fourth placer. Last year’s first placer— I’ll Give You the Sun which scored 4.57—was edged out by this year’s with 4.630.

I wish I would still have the same dilemma for 2018. I know it’s a problem, but it’s a good problem.

Happy book-reading this 2018!

#Top10Books

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