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!
