Thomas > Status Update

Read 'Human Acts' by Han Kang or 'The Unseen World' by Liz Moore, both are absolutely fantastic!!!:)

Our reading lists did not overlap (much), although I did enjoy the Chodron and Brach. Thanks for the recommendations!

Good idea (again). We had much different reading this year. I should remind you the next Adam Silvera book comes January 17. I'll make my list soon for you.

So far looking back (it's 2017 here) 2016 was high on quantity, not quality. There was no notable "wow" book that I read (out of 257 books). A few of the 5-star books were from Haruki Murakami's backlist. I'm trying to catch up on all the ones I haven't read and hope to finish this year. Also, Peony from Pearl S Buck got a 5 star rating, continuing to read her list. I'll try to focus more on quality this year. There was no great fiction book published in 2016 that stands out. I plan to read Underground Railroad in February. January will have a special theme. See if you can guess from my current reading list and the books I'll be reading this month. I'll recheck my list for non-fiction. My non-fiction is usually biographies and memoirs.

Non-fiction: The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. This book for me was more than just cleaning tips. It reminded me to focus more on what's truly important in life. ( I guess I didn't do that with my reading, but I did shorten my "to-read" list to about 300 from 500, cutting books that didn't get an average 4 star rating).

Oh. For LGBT I must mention The Great American Whatever, I'll Give You the Sun, and Beijing Comrades (Don't watch the movie, Lan Yu)

Best non-fiction I read: Our Revolution by Bernie Sanders and Inventing a Nation by Gore Vidal.

Thanks for the tasty-looking recommendations, Thomas! This was an especially good reading year for me. I only read one nonfiction (I suppose) book this year, Michael Ian Black's "Navel Gazing," which I highly recommend. I guess "Son of a Witch" by Gregory Maguire, second in his Oz series, was my favorite novel. "The Sherlockian," a clever interweaving of present and past, was a close second. I also loved "Open Secrets" by Alice Munro, a short story collection, and "A Wild Swan," a clever take on fairy tales by Michael Cunningham. "Breath, Eyes, Memory," by Edwidge Danticat, I found delicious.

For 2017 I recommend:
The Inexplicable Logic of My Life &
There Will Be Other Summers (Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, #2) both by Benjamin Alire Saenz;
Honestly Ben (Openly Straight, #2) by Bill Konigsberg (read #1 first);
History Is All You Left Me & They Both Die at the End, BOTH by Adam Silvera;
The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

Rick wrote: "For 2017 I recommend:
The Inexplicable Logic of My Life &
There Will Be Other Summers (Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, #2) both by Benjamin Alire Saenz;
Honestly Ben..."

Rick, I'm sorry to hear that 2016 was a great reading year for quantity but not quality. :( But I'm glad it sounds like you did get some good reading in. And it's so wonderful that you have such amazing books on your to-read list for 2017. I feel like our tastes are very similar when it comes to our LGBTQ YA (we're both huge fans of Saenz and Silvera), so I'm hoping that this year will be a good one for us. I do think that Silvera and Saenz will slay the LGBTQ YA game. Hope you're well, friend!

Griffbluedog wrote: "Thanks for the tasty-looking recommendations, Thomas! This was an especially good reading year for me. I only read one nonfiction (I suppose) book this year, Michael Ian Black's "Navel Gazing," whi..."

Thank you so much for all of these recommendations (and I'm glad it sounds like you've had a good reading year)! While I'm looking forward to getting into as many of these as I can, I am probably most excited for the Alice Munro short story collection - I feel like she's always pretty consistent in the quality of her writing. Also, that book by Edwidge Danticat sounds fabulous. Hope you have a great reading year in 2017!

Jeanne wrote: "Our reading lists did not overlap (much), although I did enjoy the Chodron and Brach. Thanks for the recommendations!"

You're welcome, Jeanne! Glad we have different tastes and are still able to connect on Goodreads about books. :)

P wrote: "Read 'Human Acts' by Han Kang or 'The Unseen World' by Liz Moore, both are absolutely fantastic!!!:)"

Oh, these both look amazing! Thank you for the recommendations, I will get to them asap. I've been looking for great fiction, so Han Kang's books are definitely on my priority list.

I always love reading your reviews. Adding quite a few from your list. This year I'm focusing on reading more slowly and being more selective about what I read. I loved several non-fiction choices last year, none more than Evicted, which I just reviewed recently. Just curious why you don't post your year end list to 2016 on Goodreads? Happy New Year my friend. I hope 2017 is full of joy for you.

Aw Kelli, thanks for adding some of these books to your list! It's always such a joy to read your thoughts, especially when we've both read the work. I really want to read Evicted and it's high on my list, in large part because of your review of it. I'll look into posting my list on Goodreads in the future - for now I enjoy linking to my blog so that I can direct some people there if they want to see more of my writing. Hope you are well and will respond to your wonderful messages asap!