My Year in Blogmoir

Life of a Migraineur: Shared moments of my life with migraines.

03.24.2017 Like Cranes in the Sky 

11.09.2017 Lodak Blue

My Blogmoir: A memoir in blog format of events and people in this fuckery called life.

01.07.2017 I'mma Just Put My Life in Rice: A Blogmoir

03.02.2017 Lent Goals

03.09.2017 I Just Want to Watch My Eyelids: A Blogmoir

05.27.2017 Thick of It

07.19.2017 The Story of Big Brother

08.28.2017 Blogmoir: DAMN

09.20.2017 Chat w/Chickadee

11.07.2017 4:44 a.m.

11.09.2017 Lodak Blue

My Year in Books

 

2017 Memes & Reading Challenges Roundup

2017 Goodreads Challenge: Read 84 books in 2017. 

Challenge Met: Read 105 books this year. (125% of goal)

2017 Page Count Challenge: Read 27,000+ pages.

Challenge Met: Read 32,252 pages this year. (119% of goal)

Keeping Up with Patterson Challenge: Read books in the Alex Cross, Women's Murder Club, and Michael Bennett series by James Patterson. BOOKSHOTS are a bonus!

Challenge Met: Read 7 KUWP books this year.

Perpetual Kinsey Millhone Challenge: Continue to read books in the Kinsey Millhone alphabet series by Sue Grafton.

Challenge Met: Read 3 Kinsey Millhone books this year. (N,O, and P)

Challenge Update: The alphabet now ends in Y. Crime author Sue Grafton dies at the age of 77. Fuck cancer!

Perpetual Jack Reacher Challenge: Continue to read books in the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child.

Challenge Met: Read all of the Jack Reacher short stories this year.

2017 Bookish Kill Your TBR: 12 reading challenges designed to help knock out titles on To Be Read shelves.

Challenge Met: Read all Bookish KYT themes this year but not in order.

1. January - Read a Book That Supports My New Year's Resolution
2. February - Read a Love Story
3. March - Read a Book Published The Decade I Was Born
4. April - Read a National Book Award Winner
5. May - Read a Book About Mental Health
6. June - Read a Book Set Outside of My Home Country
7. July - Read a Book About an Overlooked Figure in History
8. August - Read a Collection of Essays or Short Stories
9. September - Read an Entire Series
10. October - Read a Book That Scares Me
11. November - Read a Graphic Novel or Comic Book
12. December - Read a Book About Belief

2017 PopSugar Reading Challenge: Read a wide range of 52 books spanning topics.

Challenge Not Met: Sometime during the year I lost keeping track.

Lit Tidbits: Shared current literary news.

07.11.2017 Lit Tidbit: A Game of Thrones Graphic Novel 

10.19.2017 Spoiler Alert

11.08.2017 Book Bust

US vs. UK: Compared covers of books released in US/UK.

10.17.2017 US vs. UK

10.25.2017 US vs. UK

View all of Literary Marie's Memes and Reading Challenges here.

 

DNF of 2017

Bookhearts, you are familiar with my 50-Page Rule. If not, click here for more info. There are too many good books to read in the world to waste time struggling through a novel. So I moved quite a few books to the DNF (Did Not Finish) pile this year. Perhaps I will revisit them at a later date if one of my trusted bookhearts recommends. Otherwise, the books below shall remain unfinished. Ah well.

1. The 12 Slays of Christmas by Abby L. Vandiver and Various Authors - Only 17% through and found 14 errors. Nope. Hire me as your copyeditor next time.
2. No One is Coming to Save Us by Stephanie Powell Watts - At page 39, I thought I might not make it. And I didn't. This was no recast of The Great Gatsby.
3. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan - When you're late to the series party, but should've stayed home anyway. Overhyped. 
4. In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume - Way too many points of view and characters. I so wanted to like this book!
5. Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker - Where were the twists and suspense?  
6. Red Clocks by Leni Zumas - Five women. One commonality. Zero interest from me.
7. X by Ilyasah Shabazz - Even the strength of being Malcolm X's daughter and the Michigan Humanities Council endorsement couldn't persuade me to finish.
8. New People by Danzy Senna - Awkward writing as if it's a draft or outline of plot ideas.
9. We Could Be Beautiful by Swan Huntley - Only six pages in and annoyed by the Oh-woe-is-my-rich-ass-incomplete-life main character. No empathy from me!
10. This Heart of Mine by C.C. Hunter - Serious subjects (heart transplant and suicide) but simple-minded characters.
11. How to Make White People Laugh by Negin Farsad - Enough already about "feeling black." Why did I even pick this book up?
12. Keep Her Safe by Sophie Hannah - I was duped; this book also goes by the title Did You See Melody?
13. The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen - I prefer Pekkanen alone because this collab just didn't flow.
14. The Things We Wish Were True by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen - Another alternating POV.
15. Desperation Road by Michael Farris Smith - Enacted the rule at exactly page 50.
16. Have You Met Nora? by Nicole Blades - A book about passing...in 2017. Enough said.
17. Piper Perish by Kayla Cagan - "Be now. Then be bow." Huh? That was me the whole time.
18. You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero - One (1) sentence turned me off.
19. The Wangs vs. the World by Jade Chang - So disappointing.
20. Into the Water by Paula Hawkins - At page 52, it was already too many different points of view. But at page 98, I was over it. 
21. A Teeny Taste of Scandal by Michael Lee West - I waited for this book to be published (originally in 2013) but it keeps getting pushed back. So I pushed it to DNF by default. 

Top 10 Books of 2017

It is my literary duty to bring the top books I've read this year to the forefront and highlight my favorites—both fiction and non-fiction. Please note that my list is purely my opinion. It is not influenced by authors, other readers, other bloggers, fellow reviewers or publishers that may have provided free or advance copies in exchange for my honest review. I would spend my hard-earned coin on all of the books below.

Click the title/author for my previously published review of the books featured in my Top 10 Books of 2017. *Please note some of the reviews will be posted early next year.

Honorable Bookish Mention: This is Not a Love Letter by Kim Purcell

10. The Rooster Bar by John Grisham*

9. Say Nothing by Brad Parks

8. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

7. One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

6. The Marriage Lie by Kimberly Belle*

5. How To Be a Bawse by Lilly Singh

4. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

3. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

2. Hunger by Roxane Gay*

1. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

You may also be interested in:

Top 5 Series of 2017

Top 10 First Lines of 2017

Top 10 Book Covers of 2017

Reading Challenges of 2017

My Year in Books
My Year in Blogmoir

Top 10 Book Covers of 2017

A book cover is the most important feature of a novel. I always wonder why the author or publisher chose a particular image to represent the story within the book. Does it grab my attention from a bookshelf? Does it represent the author or characters, especially those of color? Does it really portray the plot? Is it appealing and public-friendly? These are the factors I considered when choosing the best covers of books I've read this year.

Click the title/author for my previously published review of the books featured in my Top 10 Book Covers of 2017. 

10. The Mango Season by Amulya Malladi

9. Hola, Morocha! by Jennifer Poe

8. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

7. A Messy, Beautiful Life by Sara Jade Alan

6. Summer of the Cicadas by Cole Lavalais

5. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

4. Arrogant Bastard by Zara Cox

3. American Street by Ibi Zoboi

2. Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson

1. But Then I Came Back by Estelle Laure

You may also be interested in:

Top 5 Series of 2017
Top 10 First Lines of 2017

Top 10 Books of 2017

Reading Challenges of 2017

My Year in Books
My Year in Blogmoir

Top 5 Series of 2017

Series Sunday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along. Have you ever read a book and wasn't quite ready to leave the characters yet? Or what about books with a helluva cliffhanger? This is why I heart series! And oh, have I read some good ones this year.

Click the title/author for my previously published review of the books featured in my Top 5 Series of 2017.

5. Good Behavior: The Pain of Others by Blake Crouch (Letty Dobesh Chronicles #1)

4. Chasing Down a Dream by Beverly Jenkins (Blessings #8)

3. The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat by Edward Kelsey Moore (Supremes #1)

2. Finding Gideon by Eric Jerome Dickey (Gideon Serial)

1. You Don't Know My Name by Kristen Orlando (The Black Angel Chronicles #1)

You may also be interested in:

Top 10 First Lines of 2017

Top 10 Books of 2017

Top 10 Book Covers of 2017

Reading Challenges of 2017

My Year in Books
My Year in Blogmoir

 

Top 10 First Lines of 2017

First Lines Friday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along. First lines of a book are what grab a reader's interest. It is our first impression. Oftentimes, it makes you go hmmm. It sets the tone for the remainder of the book.

Click the title/author for my previously published review of the books featured in my Top 10 First Lines of 2017.

10. "This being human is a Guest House. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor." ~ Lover by Anna Raverat

9. "The older woman sipped her coffee. 'I have thought and thought about everything about Emmett Till, the killing and the trial, telling who did what to who,' she said." ~ The Blood of Emmett Till by Timothy B. Tyson

8. "About 2% of the population suffers from some form of bipolar disorder." ~ Bipolar Disorder: A Guide for Patients and Families by Francis Mark Mondimore, M.D.

7. "I looked down the barrel of my Glock 19 service weapon." ~ Haunted by James Patterson & James O. Born

6. "This story began, as all writing must, in failure." ~ We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy by Ta-Nehisi Coates

5. "This fairy tale begins in 1968 during a garbage strike." ~ The Changeling by Victor LaValle

4. "'Unreliable witness': that was the phrase a member of the Special Committee in the Lower House of the United States Congress who was investigating the assassination of John F. Kennedy used to discredit me when I gave testimony in 1978 under the protection of an order for immunity from prosecution. I was a witness to events, and more. I was close to the people and places that marked a turning point in political life in the second half of the twentieth century." ~ Marita: The Spy Who Loved Castro by Marita Lorenz 

3. "My life began with one of the biggest lies men tell women: I'll pull out, I promise." ~ I Can't Make This Up: Life Lessons by Kevin Hart

2. "Some children are just born bad, plain and simple." ~ Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson

1. "Please make a list of every possession you consider essential to your life." ~ The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney

You may also be interested in:

Top 5 Series of 2017

Top 10 Books of 2017

Top 10 Book Covers of 2017

Reading Challenges of 2017

My Year in Books
My Year in Blogmoir