8 Favourite Reads of 2017 (so far)
We’re approaching the mid point of the year so what better opportunity to review the last six months and pick my favourite reads to date. Top Ten Tuesday this week in fact is all about the best 10 books of 2017. Of the 30 books I’ve read so far there were eight that stood head and shoulders above the rest.
Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel: I never thought to find myself choosing a sci-fi novel as a favourite read. But this was outstanding. My review noted: The combination of beautiful style of writing and a compelling narrative made this a book I found hard to put down.
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy: Not only is this one of my favourites of 2017, it’s high up on my list of favourite Booker Prize winners because of its glorious characters and dazzling language. My review is here
Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney: Bold and brash, this is a novel that pulls no punches in its depiction of the underbelly of Cork in Ireland. But as much as the drug dealers, prostitutes and thugs will have you rolling your eyes in despair, there will be times you can’t help but feel a wave of sympathy for their predicament. As I noted in my review, this is a novel which poses serious questions about salvation and guilt.
My Ántonia by Willa Cather: It took me long enough to get around to reading what is considered one of Cather’s finest novels. It celebrates the pioneering spirit but not in a rose-tinted glasses way; there is plenty of sorrow mixed in with the nostalgia. My review is here
Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey: “a marvellously idiosyncratic tale of two misfits” is how I described this Booker Prize winner in my review. It has some wonderfully surreal scenes including one where a gangly young priest is hoisted aboard a steam ship in a cage normally used for transporting animals.
His Bloody Project by Graeme Burnett McCrae: a cleverly constructed novel that purports to be a true account of a young Scottish lad accused of three murders. It’s presented in the style of a case study into the murders in late 1860s and the subsequent trial so readers get witness statements, a newspaper account and an investigation by a criminologist. My review is here.
The Vegetarian by Han Kang: This has to be the most bizarre and disturbing novel I’ve read this year. It begins with a decision by a Korean housewife to stop eating meat and traces her mental and physical decline. My review summed up my reaction: This is not a novel you can say you ‘enjoy’ or ‘like’ but it’s certainly one that you will not forget.
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki: this is quite an extraordinary novel which covers a dazzling array of topics and themes. Zen Buddhism; environmental degredation; bullying; suicide; memory – to name just a few. The result should be a complete mess but it’s a surprisingly mesmerizing story of a Japanese teenager writing a diary to express her feelings of dislocation – that diary is found many years later washed up on a beach in British Colombia. I haven’t got around to reviewing it yet in full.
I am glad you loved The God of small things. It is one of my favourites too. Glorious Herseies was a favourite of mine last year. Both the books really make the place where they are set come alive
I hadn’t thought about that but yes they do evoke a powerful sense of their setting
Nice to see My Antonia on this list. I may re-read that one!
i think its one that will withstand re-reading
Quite a few of my previous favourite books here (as in previous years favs, not previous favs!)
I was quite conflicted about A Tale for the Time Being at the time, but parts of it have stuck with all this time.
The Ozeki was an odd book in some ways – I’ve never come across a novel with footnotes so extensively unless it is a ‘classic’
Great to see My Antonia on your list – I really enjoyed it too, especially the sections where Antonia herself takes centre stage. Cather wrote so beautifully about the landscape and nature, that combination of beauty and brutality was very striking.
I was puzzled initially why antonia didn’t make as much of an appearance as I would have expected given her name is in the title.
I’ve read all but two of your choices and agree that they’re all outstanding albeit in different ways. I do intend to read His Bloody Project at some point, but more than anything, your review has made me regret returning Station Eleven to the library unread. I shall have to remedy that on my next visit!
Station Eleven was such a surprising book for me to enjoy
Great list. Delighted to see My Antonia there, The God of Small Things is a wonderful novel though so long since I read it. I enjoyed The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundahti Roy this month too.
Your review of Arundhahti Roy is prompting me to get this new one by her. I hope the library can furnish me with a copy
This is a great list! I loved The Glorious Heresies, Station Eleven, and The Vegetarian 🙂
Delighted to know we are on the same wavelength Rachel
Have just finished Glorious.. it’s love. I thought this book was just brilliant – my second 5-star read of the year (the first being Commonwealth by Patchett).
It’s a heady book isn’t it? I was tempted to read her new one which has some of the same characters
I will certainly read her new one but will wait a month or so – don’t want to binge and be disappointed!
Interesting choices! I could probably pick some now, but I bet they’d change by the end of the year!
Some of the list will undoubtedly change. Anything I read from here on is going to have to work hard to beat Station Eleven and A Tale for the Time Being however
All of these are superb (well, I haven’t read Oscar and Lucinda yet, but I assume it is too), and I’m especially pleased to see A Tale for the Time Being – such an intelligent book, full of surprises.
Did you read/understand all the info in the appendices Elle – I tried to grasp the point about the experiment with the cat but didn’t get very far
I read all the appendices, and knew about the Schrodinger’s cat experiment from before (but am not sure I would say I fully grasp it – quantum physics being one of those things that I don’t think anyone actually can!)
i’ll read it again and see if any more of it sticks second time around
Looks like you’ve had a great reading year so far! Station Eleven and A Tale For the Time Being are both phenomenal reads that have really stayed with me since I finished them.
Both of them were surprisingly good. A Tale for the Time Being I started reading last year but wasn’t in the right mood. I’m so glad now that I didn’t give it away
Wonderful choices in here, although I haven’t read all of them… yet…
You read so many good books anyway that missing a few won’t matter too much 🙂
With you, absolutely, on Oscar and Lucinda – so good I’ve read it three times!
I fin I have so many books to read for the first time that I rarely get to do any re-reading.
Once was for work, but the other two were for pleasure – a rare event.
I’ve read 7 of your 8 (all but Glorious Heresies). Some terrific picks here!
Will you read Glorious Heresies at some point do you think?
I’ve seen The Vegetarian everywhere and I’ve not really looked into it that much, but you having it on this list has got me a little more interested. I saw it in a charity shop near my work for £1 which I may go pick up in my lunch break today! 😀
Well worth £1 I think Zuky!