My 2016 in books

In 2016 I joined Goodreads challenge, and decided I would read 24 books, I managed 26. (Half read and half listened to on audible)

Click here to see my list

If you check out the list you will see it is fairly varied but there are two themes that run through my choices this year; (although I would be hard pressed to come up with the reason for these criteria)
1. Books set in bookstores or libraries
and
2. Books set in Scotland
(One was even set in a bookstore IN Scotland!)


My favorite genre of novel is magical realism, with time travel being a close second,
and
My favorite authors are: Alice Hoffman, Sarah Addison Allen, Sue Monk Kidd, Bill Bryson and Tom Robbins, and now after this year's books I have to add Kate Morton and Susanna Kearsley.

I tried but cannot pick a favorite of the books read this year, I loved almost all of them for different reasons. And I could never be a critic because I feel bad admitting there was one I didn't enjoy....I would be crushed as an author to read a bad review so I wouldn't want to be the one to write one either. But, OK, I really didn't care for the writing of 'Christmas Kiss', and I am usually a sucker for any Christmas book if it's read in the weeks before Christmas. This one just was all tell, tell, tell not "show". (But don't tell L.L.Muir I said that.)

Wildwood was one of the last books I read this year. I picked it up in a free bin because of the cover art. And as a bonus it had an illustrated map or two or three in it. (I am always a sucker for a book with a map of it's setting.) This is a middle reader book and I did enjoy it, and plan to get the sequel. It is the kind of book I would like to write and/or illustrate.....



















'Mr Penumbra's 24 hour bookstore' was the last book I listened to this year. It was narrated by Ari Fliakos, who does a great job at using multiple voices. It was the second book about books that I listened to narrated by Ari. He is perfect at reading slightly sarcastic oddball lines like.... "I can never go to any parties because my shift at the store starts at precisely party o'clock" and "this is gerritszoon display, suitable for billboards, magazine spreads, and apparently occult book covers, see it has pointier serifs. Matt nods, the serifs are pointy indeed." And when he reads them they end up sounding clever and sarcastic, but not geeky. I really enjoyed it and have put the sequel on my 'to read' list.

And lastly...






I got a ton of art books for Christmas so I thought later in another post I would show my full stash of art books and pick my all time favorites.

See ya in a few more days with a 2016 look back!

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