TOP TEN TUESDAY | 2017's Best Reads So Far

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme for bloggers who like books and lists. It's awesome and is graciously hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  

Time to take stock of the reading year so far!  This week's TTT topic is:

Best Books You've Read In 2017 So Far (break it down however you want -- by genre, strictly 2017 releases, whatever!) 

Looking through the list of books I've read so far this year (about 45 books), it seems it's either been a pretty good year or I am getting soft.  I've given about half of the books read 4 out of 5 stars.  This seems high as I am usually pretty stingy and if I like a book but didn't find anything super special about it, it gets a three.  So 20+ special books at the halfway point of the year is good.  However, when I looked through the list I had a hard time picking out ten that I really felt earned a "best of" designation.  I should also mention I do have a few 5 star books but they are all in one series (The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett) and they are a re-read so I didn't count them.  You should however go forth and read this Historical Fiction series, IMMEDIATELY.  Ahem, with all those caveats, here's my list:

************

1) Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

I read this early in the year.  It's a really lovely coming-of-age/mystery that takes place in 1950s small-town Minnesota.  Beautiful writing, wonderful characters, great story. My Review

2) Six of Crows Series by Leigh Bardugo

I'm tapping both books in this duology because they consumed my soul for a two week period.  A step up even  from her awesome Grisha trilogy, it is set in the same world with a diverse band of  characters pulling heists.  So much fun.  Really well plotted and the characters are the best. My Review for Six of Crows.

3) A Curious Beginning (Veronica Speedwell #1) by Deanna Raybourn

Have you ever met a book that seems to have ticked all your special boxes? This book was mine.  19th century British setting, two MCs that are naturalists, a bluestocking and outspoken lady, a gruff but decent man and a slow burn romance. PLUS, it's a mystery.

4) Shrill: Notes From a Loud Woman by Lindy West

A series of memoirish essays by comedic writer Lindy West.  I didn't know much about her but really appreciated her humor and she made me aware of some issues that could use some attention. Her essay about her dad's passing really resonated with me.   A well-written, thought-provoking and hilarious collection.  The audio was great!

5) The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

This relatively quiet Sci-Fi story about a rag-tag group of people finding a home on a broken down ship as they travel the galaxy hit so many sweet spots.  My Review.

6) The City of Mirrors (The Passage #3) by Justin Cronin

Books one and two of the The Passage Trilogy alternately thrilled and frustrated me but the concluding book in the series finally gave me everything I wanted.  Overall, a great series and this was a perfect ending.

7) Sunbolt (The Sunbolt Chronicles #1) by Intisar Khanani

This  fantasy novella is the start of a series about a street-wise girl named Hitomi who hides her magical gifts while fighting to free her land from a tyrant.  The story description sounds generic  but Khanani does a lot of wonderful and original-feeling things with it.  I didn't love the first full book in the series as much but this novella was really wonderful.  My Review.

8) Cormoran Strike Series by Robert Galbraith

J.K. does what she does but with curse words and a lot more sex.  Rowling is the master at creating characters you want to read about and plots that keep you reading late into the night.  This modern-day mystery series featuring the huge, one legged PI Cormoran Strike is no exception!

9) Starflight by Melissa Landers 

This is in the same general realm as The Long Way... but it's YA, more action packed, and it has a wonderful slowly developed romance at its core.  Note quite the beautiful book The Long Way... was but so much fun.  My Review.

10) TIE:  Lady Cop Makes Trouble (Kopp Sisters #2) by Amy Stewart and The Dark Days Club (Lady Helen #1) by Alison Goodman

Both of these books deserve a place on this list so I'm putting them in as a tie for the last spot though they couldn't be more different.  Well, I guess they both have a strong female character at their center. Lady Cop Makes Trouble is the second in a historic crime series set in the nineteen-teens about the first female deputy sheriff and it's based on a true story! My Review.   The Dark Days Club is about a young Lady in Regency Era England who discovers there are demons in the world and she has the special ability to slay them.  My Review.

*************

How would you rate your reading year thus far?  Do you have a number one favorite book yet?