Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah - This is one of my favorite books of all-time, not just 2017 and I highly recommend reading this. But more importantly, I recommend listening to the audio. I am 100% convinced that the reading experience wouldn't be as powerful and entertaining if you just read the novel, instead of listening. It's available on Audible, and even if you never listen to audio, go use your first free credit to listen to this one. Trevor Noah was literally born a crime, a colored boy born to a black mother and a white father in apartheid Johannesburg. His story is eye-opening, yet humorous, and just done so, so well. READ IT.
Part Time Cowboy by Maisey Yates - Though I've read many contemporary romances, I have read very few cowboy romances and my, did I love this one filled with snarky banter and sexual tension.
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch - This sci-fi thriller got me right from the beginning, and made me want to race through to the end to see how this ends. I don't read a ton of sci-fi so even though this plot may be something that has been done before in talking of 4th dimensions, but it was completely new to me. I think the success of this novel is that it is accessible to those who do not read sci-fi, but can totally get down with an exciting thriller.
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles - The popularity of this novel over the last year has been immense, but not surprising. I read Towles' first novel, Rules of Civility for book club years before and it was a favorite of the book club, so I was excited to read his next novel. A Gentleman in Moscow is very different from Rules of Civility, but I think it is even better. This is a tale of a member of the aristocracy in Russia right at the revolution being put on "house-arrest" at the Metropol hotel in Moscow. It is hard to describe how captivating and CHARMING this novel is, because the premise doesn't sound super-exciting. But me and thousands of others have loved this story, and I implore you to please check it out!
A Court of Thorns and Roses Trilogy by Sarah J. Maas - Fangirl over here. LOVED this series soooo much. It's fantasy, it's new adult, it's sexy, it's romantic, it's fun. Highly recommend. My one thing to say is that the first book is my least favorite and a good read, but nothing amazing. It's a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. It is necessary to read to introduce you to the world and you just have to get through that to the second and third books which completely flip the story and expand the world ten-fold. So basically, don't let the first book decide whether or not you want to continue, just do.
Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay - this is one of the most raw books I have ever read, and listening to Roxane narrate it makes it even more personal. Not an easy read, but a necessary one.
Called Up and Calling Out by Jen Doyle - These are books number 2 and 3 in a contemporary romance series set in IOWA - no joke. Bonus is that I've met the author as she lives in Boston. These are perfect romantic comedies, yet are quite steamy as well. Called Up is a friends -to-lovers story (my favorite) and Calling Out is a story of a hero who has done some wrongs and a single mom heroine (this is my favorite couple of the series so far). Hoping she writes more in the series, there are many men and women still single ready for their own book ;)
Rejected Princesses: Tales of History's Boldest Heroines, Hellions, and Heretics by Jason Porath - Loved this! The illustrations were amazing and I loved getting the descriptions at the end of most entries to point out the things I missed at first look. This is more of a coffee-table book, not just because of it's size but because it's hard to just read this cover-to-cover, which is why it took me awhile to find time to read an entry here or there. I'd highly recommend this though, lots of humor but also awesome information about women in history and the things they did (or maybe didn't do).
So there you have it, my favorites of 2017! Hopefully I'll have more "read" posts to come that aren't just full-year wrap-ups, but we shall see what I have the time for : )