How quickly another year has passed... It feels like only a few days ago that we were writing our 2015 recap post (which you can read here) and now it's time for another one! So let's see what kinds of books we read and enjoyed during the year of 2016. And if you want to see our comprehensive 2016 reading lists, those can be found here (Anna's) and here (Laura's).
Anna
Here are my top reads of the year according to the ratings I gave them on Goodreads. This year I feel that even now that I'm looking back on them, the ratings are accurate and give a good overlook at my reading year 2016. So here we go:
5 stars:
The Last Letter from Your Lover -Jojo Moyes-Who knew I was a sucker for romantic novels? And if you know me you wont be surprised how the aspect of letters affected me -swoon!A Brief History of Time -Stephen Hawking
-Still a nerd and #proudofit(Reread, but still: The Hunger Games -Suzanne Collins)
4 stars:
Auringon ydin -Johanna SinisaloTeemestarin kirja -Emmi Itäranta
-I really made an effort to read in Finnish and appreciate Finnish literature this year and these two books really impressed me (thanks to a dear friend for pushing me to give them a chance!)Harry Potter and the Cursed Child -John Tiffany, J.K. Rowling
-A nice "comeback", but definitely not the original, points for nostalgiaThe Monogram Murders -Sophie Hannah
-Learned two things: I can totally read in Swedish and Hercule Poirot is a keeper (even without Christie)The Shadow of the Wind -Carlos Ruiz Zafòn
-Ah the Barcelona memories!The Bone Clocks -David Mitchell
Laura
When it comes time to do my end of the year recaps I've noticed that how I rate a book immediately after reading it has very little to do with which ones I want to highlight as my favorites of the year. Even though a book might not have been worth 5 stars, it might have affected my thought processes or how I view the world and thus had a huge effect on my life and/or year. Thus, I don't tend to look at how I've rated a specific book when I decide which ones to feature in this post year after year. So here, in no particular order are my favorite books of 2016:
- The Magicians by Lev Grossman
- Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
- The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
- A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
- The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye
- A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab
- Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi
- The Devourers by Indra Das
- The Princess Saves Herself in This One by Amanda Lovelace
- My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows
- Naive. Super by Erlend Loe
- Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
- The Utopia Experiment by Dylan Evans
While I'm proud of the slight amount of diversity, both in genre and author, shown in my list, the sad truth is that most of these books are fantasy and written by white authors. This is one thing I'd like to change in 2017: actively read in other genres and to read books written by more diverse authors. Despite all that, these are all books that I would highly recommend to everyone!
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