Sunday 17 December 2017

My Top 25 Books of 2017


I took a long time choosing my favourite 25 out of the just over 100 books I have read this year (not all reviewed on this blog).  Please click the title of the book for my review, which contains Amazon and Goodreads links.  The ratings given to my chosen books range from 4.5* to my rarely given 5 GOLD stars; all come highly recommended.   One writer shows up twice, another four times.


Genres:
Historical Fiction: 10
General contemporary/psychological drama: 6
Thriller: 4
Travel/Memoir/0ther non-fiction: 4
Zombie Apocalypse: 1


Numbers 25-11 are in no particular order.....

Everlasting by Jo Carroll 
Travel Memoir ~ Malawi


A Hundred Tiny Threads by Judith Barrow
Early 20th century family drama


Twisted Memories by Kate L Mary
Zombie Apocalypse


Victims by Joel Hames
Thriller


The Most Dangerous Enemy by Gemma Lawrence 
Book 3 of the Elizabeth of England Chronicles, about Elizabeth 1


Lad by Andrew Webber
Lad Lit


The North Water by Ian McGuire
19th century thriller


Fully Loaded by Blake Crouch
Short stories, mostly crime/thriller


Lion by Saroo Brierley
Memoir, family adventure/drama


Gone: Catastrophe in Paradise by O J Modjeska 
True life 1970s air disaster account


The Heart of the Conqueror by Gemma Lawrence 
Saxon/Norman historical fiction


The King's Mother by Judith Arnopp
Book 3 of The Beaufort Chronicles, about Margaret Beaufort

Faring to France on a Shoe by Val Poore
Travel Memoir


Whispers in the Alders by H A Callum
Coming of Age Drama 


A Tincture of Secrets and Lies by William Savage
18th Century Murder Mystery




 ~ The Top Ten Countdown ~


Shining brightly at Number Ten...

A Shiny Coin for Carol Prentice by Mark Barry
Contemporary revenge drama


Psychologically fascinating at Number Nine:

The Unravelling of Brendan Meeks by Brian Cohn
Contemporary psychological drama
 

Pleasing enough to reach Number Eight:

Pleasing Mr Pepys by Deborah Swift
Based on fact, 17th century drama/mystery.



A modest, unassuming Number Seven:

The Beaufort Woman by Judith Arnopp
Book 2 of The Beaufort Chronicles, about Margaret Beaufort 



Silently cycling along to Number Six:

The Silent Kookaburra by Liza Perrat
Dark 1970s Australian family drama.



First of my Top Five books of 2017 ~ at Number Five:

Strands of My Winding Cloth by Gemma Lawrence
Book 4 of the Elizabeth of England Chronicles, about Elizabeth I.



An outstanding debut at Number Four:

The Unrivalled Transcendence of Willem J Gyle by J D Dixon
Dark drama about a homeless man in Scotland.




Bronze medal: a wonderfully wicked Number Three

Wonders & Wickedness by Carol Hedges
Victorian Murder Mystery



A thrilling silver medallist at Number Two:

Jonah by Carl Rackman
WW2 Naval Thriller



And.... my Number One book of 2017....



Above All Others by Gemma Lawrence
Book 3 of The Lady Anne series, about Anne Boleyn



Thank you, wonderful authors, for many happy hours of reading ~ putting this list together was hard, as there were some I wanted to include that didn't quite make the final cut.  All my reviews have 'labels' at the end, showing author, genre, star rating, etc, and these can be clicked on to find other, similar books.  I hope you will give some of my Top 25 a try.  And if you like them, don't forget to stick a few words on Amazon to say so!







17 comments:

  1. Honoured is the only word. Such elite company too!

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  2. A fantastic selection, TT and I am honoured to be among them! I’ve only read three of the others, but absolutely agree with those. For the rest, I will have a look at some of them! Your tastes are so wide ranging, it gives me olenty of choice! Wonderful!

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  3. There are a few on here that are on my TBR list that I really must get around to reading!

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    1. You must, you must - I love comparing reviews!

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  4. Thank you, Terry, for including me in this list - it is indeed great company to be among! It’s been an honor and privilege getting to know you this year. And your recommendations are definitely filling out my TBR list! Thank you again!

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  5. Thank you, Terry. Honoured to be amongst all these great books. Some of my favourites as well!And some I'm tempted to try, so thank you for that.

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  6. Great list, Terry, we've doubled up on a few again ;-) I haven't got round to Above All Others or Fully Loaded yet unfortunately.

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    1. Very much look forward to seeing which ones we've agreed on!!!!!

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  7. A really great list, I'm drawn to several of the Histfic titles.

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  8. So honoured and more pleased than I can say! Thank you so much, Terry. I shall go about with a great grin on my face fir days!

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    1. Thanks, everyone, for your comments. And the pleasure was mine :)

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  9. A few there I've added to my wishlist, Terry - and delighted to see a Top 25, as I think I'll now stop struggling with the impossible task of reducing my list to a Top 20! What a great year's reading it's been...

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  10. Thank you so much for including Pleasing Mr Pepys in your selection. And even better considering the fabulous list. Have added several to my TBR shelf.

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  11. I'm kicking myself because I still haven't read any of Gemma's books!! I shall rectify this in 2018. Great selection of books here, Terry x

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  12. Yikes! I'm on it twice - best Christmas present so far!! Thank you for the honour.

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  13. I feel very honoured to be on your list, Terry! So happy to have "met" you too, and also to be enjoying your own, wonderful novels. I'll certainly be adding some of these books onto my own TBR list.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks again to everyone who has commented on and shared this post, and you're all most welcome! x

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