Best of 2016

Happy new year! Here it is January 1, 2017 and I am just now getting to my “best of 2016” list. However, some of my “best ofs” are simply books I read or TV shows/movies I watched in 2016, not necessarily published or released last year, so I suppose if I look at it that way, it makes little difference if this post came out in December or now! Here is my list, in no particular order:

BEST BOOKS

According to Goodreads, I read 67 books in 2016. This surpasses my goal of reading 60 books that I had set, and averages out to a little over a book a week. Not bad, but I am raising my challenge to 75 books for 2017. Perhaps this isn’t a very difficult goal, as it is only 8 more books than last year, but I don’t want to make it unattainable either. Of those 67 books, there was not, sadly, one stand out that eclipsed all others. I’m not sure that I have read anything like that since The Goldfinch. But, there were plenty of excellent books in there. Here were my favorites:

• Where’d you Go Bernadette by Maria Semple. Published 2013. Satire. What goes on in the mind of a housewife? Laugh out loud funny.
• State of Wonder by Ann Patchett. Published 2011. This is a beautifully written book, an adventure/mystery, with lovely prose and a story to sink into.
• Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff. Published 2015. Character study of a marriage, told first from the husband’s POV and then from the wife’s. Fascinating, with bold, interesting characters.
• Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. Published 2016. This might be my favorite book I read last year, come to think of it. This is a very original sci-fi story but it is totally accessible for everyone, not just people who enjoy sci-fi. It’s sci-fi “lite.” At its heart, it is an adventure story and a love story. Trust me and give it a try.
• Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel. Published 2016. This is already being made into a movie. Another sci-fi lite story, and another amazing one. I love this book too, and loved the characters in it. This book and Dark Matter will give you adventure, great characters, but also get you thinking…highly recommend both.
• The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. Published 2015. WW2 novel set in France that follows the lives of two sisters. Inspired by true events. Fast moving, incredibly sad, but well worth reading.
• Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig. Published 2016. Non-fiction account of one man’s life dealing with depression and anxiety. Honest, heartfelt, raw and real, with optimism underlying it all.

BEST MYSTERIES

I read so many mysteries (often murder), that this seemed to deserve a separate list. I won’t bother with descriptions, because, well, mysteries.

• The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson, The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware, Don’t Breathe a Word by Jennifer McMahon, The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon (supernatural mystery), All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda, You by Caroline Kepnes.

WEIRDEST BOOKS

These deserve mentioning, but they will definitely not be for everyone.

• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Published 2004. This is satire -hilarious, silly, brilliant, witty, cult classic sci-fi fantasy adventure. Highly recommend but be prepared for ridiculousness, tempered with sharp intelligence: “There comes a point I’m afraid where you begin to suspect that if there’s any REAL truth, it’s that the entire multidimensional infinity of the Universe is almost certainly being run by a bunch of maniacs.”
• The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins. Published 2016. This book is INSANE. Very hard to get into because it is so out there but once I was past about page 50 I couldn’t put it down. Fantasy, completely nuts, violent, crazy, original. I promise you have never read anything like it.
• The Fireman by Joe Hill. Published 2016. This is Stephen King’s son. Need I say more?

BEST YA BOOKS

• Cinder by Marissa Meyer. Published 2012. First in a 5 book series. Retelling of Cinderella in a dystopian future with elements of steampunk. Great fun and also enjoyed by the teen girl in the house.
• The Call by Peadar O’Guilin. Published 2016. Teen dystopian novel set in Ireland, with a fantasy twist involving bloodthirsty fairies. Pretty dark, but gripping and a very interesting story.

BEST TV

I binged several shows in 2016. My two favorites were definitely Downton Abbey, which ended in 2016, and Penny Dreadful, which also had its final season last year. These are VERY different shows! Downton is pretty famous so needs no explanation. Penny Dreadful is a period piece as well, set in Victorian England this time, and it brings together mythologies tied into original story lines, so you have characters such as Dracula, Dorian Grey, Victor Frankenstein, etc. Extremely violent and weird, but with emotional performances, especially by Rory Kinnear, that are nothing short of amazing. I’m also enjoying The Affair, which is currently still running.

BEST MOVIES

Huh. I am trying to remember what movies I even saw last year and all I can think of is Zootopia, which I have to admit was cute. Bad Moms was pretty funny, and the whole family got a kick out of Nerve, which is geared for teenagers. I confess I haven’t seen most of the year-end movies that were released just in time for awards season, so this is a category where I don’t have much to offer at the moment. I do feel with movies that I am never that thrilled by any of them anymore, and I tend to disagree with critics on independent films and find them boring. I feel like TV is more entertaining at this point in time. Maybe 2017 will have more to offer!?

Here’s to a year of new books, TV, and movies to enjoy!