7 Favorite Books of 2016: A Year in Review
2016 was a great year for reading. I consumed 80 books in three different formats, a personal best this century.
To be fair, a handful were children's books, but Goodreads assures me the average length of books on my "read" shelf in 2016 was 298 pages, so I rest easy with my total (thanks, Joe Hill!).
My Exceptional Reading Year included an inordinate (for me) number of re-reads: six books. For the most part, I credit this to catching up on original or first books before launching any sequel or companion books. However, Good Omens was re-read via Audible just for fun — and it remains one of the funniest books I have read.
Audiobooks changed my reading habits: one-fifth of the books I read this year were audiobooks, and three of those were re-reads. This format gives me an opportunity to read while I run or work out in the gym. I listened to Caitlin Moran read her immensely funny memoir, and I discovered Juliet Stevenson reading Sense and Sensibility. Audiobooks are not always the best format; I kept getting lost during The God of Small Things, and David Sedaris' essays waxed a bit too long for a listen.
Additionally, I was surprised to discover that nearly one quarter of the books I read were on my Kindle. I own most of those in print, but I found the Kindle version more convenient; my bedside lighting is not stellar, and I have limited nightstand space.
(Full disclosure: I recently purchased new furniture in part due to the nightstand size; however, my cats aren't keen on sharing their nightstand space with each other, let alone books that can be oh so fun to rearrange. As a result, I read my books on Kindle — and occasionally on audio — for the convenience of my cats. Do not judge my indulgences, and I shall afford you the same courtesy.)
Here are seven of my favorite books I read this year, in no particular order.
What books did I read in 2016 I would I not recommend?
Thankfully, most of the less-than-stellar books were library loans.
Here is the complete list of books read in 2016. Most of them are good reads, so I hope you find a few to add to your nightstand (or e-reader, or listening device). I have indicated the format of each book (e-book 📲 , print book 📖 , or audio 🎧 ) and whether they were borrowed from the library (via nerd face 🤓 ).
To be fair, a handful were children's books, but Goodreads assures me the average length of books on my "read" shelf in 2016 was 298 pages, so I rest easy with my total (thanks, Joe Hill!).
![](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s58rZ1o6ZQg/WGXYLxnlyGI/AAAAAAAAFB0/4gGjIefFxc4EhpG2fbpJn7PQ8RblbM0QgCLcB/s200/moran%2Bcover.jpg)
Audiobooks changed my reading habits: one-fifth of the books I read this year were audiobooks, and three of those were re-reads. This format gives me an opportunity to read while I run or work out in the gym. I listened to Caitlin Moran read her immensely funny memoir, and I discovered Juliet Stevenson reading Sense and Sensibility. Audiobooks are not always the best format; I kept getting lost during The God of Small Things, and David Sedaris' essays waxed a bit too long for a listen.
Additionally, I was surprised to discover that nearly one quarter of the books I read were on my Kindle. I own most of those in print, but I found the Kindle version more convenient; my bedside lighting is not stellar, and I have limited nightstand space.
![](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zJDEGEuWV1k/WGmd2QvbUuI/AAAAAAAAFD0/M4TMONAH8fYopxNCED-LhimN61wpf1IHwCLcB/s200/Aristotle_and_Dante_Discover_the_Secrets_of_the_Universe_cover.jpg)
Here are seven of my favorite books I read this year, in no particular order.
- Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe — I began this book because of the narrator and finished it because it was a beautiful read. I have never been in the mind of a teenage boy, and Benjamin Alire Sáenz was a wonderful guide. There is no Big Reveal at the end of the book, but the truth still feels large, and it was gorgeously wrought.
- The Year of Yes — Shonda Rimes is an amazing person, and very wise. She hit her stride after the commencement speech and never slowed down. Would I call it a memoir, a self-help book, a feminist book, a humor read? Yes.
- The Cure for Dreaming — Cat Winters writes good books, so I recommend them all. However, this one I read in late October, and its examination of early 20th century suffrage was revolutionary.
- The Underground Railroad — Imagine... no, don't imagine the world Colson Whitehead brought to life in his novel. Read it. It will change your perception of antebellum America.
- Life After Life and A God in Ruins — Must be read in this order. I reviewed the first book a few years ago. Together, they command readers to re-think what life is, their own and others.
- The Invisible Library — I am a sucker for library and librarian stories, and this is a good one. I recently reviewed this book, which is the first of a trilogy. I can't wait to start the second volume. (The third book will be released in the U.S. on January 20.) Find out more about this trilogy on the author's website.
![](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aq5VdwJGWps/WGmemtEunTI/AAAAAAAAFD8/K1ny6-6ytEwhpOo705s3yN7FCdWz_CkPACLcB/s200/invisible_library.jpg)
![](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hRJFKmzNJD4/WGmeXuIBcjI/AAAAAAAAFD4/QgcYJXrdm9MHop1yNMNyQ9yNdPInlXLIgCLcB/s200/The-Cure-For-Dreaming.jpg)
What books did I read in 2016 I would I not recommend?
- The Museum of Extraordinary Things — Weird, disappointing, and hard to follow.
- The Bookseller — The premise was intriguing, but the resolution was unsatisfying. Read my review here.
- Everything We Keep — The story stretched out so long before the second act that the resolution was singularly unsatisfying. The story coda, which attempted to bring the story full-circle, was awful.
- Big Magic — A self-help book that did not provide any new or interesting information. (Full disclosure: I avoided reading the author's chart-topping memoir, and I really disliked the movie.)
Thankfully, most of the less-than-stellar books were library loans.
Here is the complete list of books read in 2016. Most of them are good reads, so I hope you find a few to add to your nightstand (or e-reader, or listening device). I have indicated the format of each book (e-book 📲 , print book 📖 , or audio 🎧 ) and whether they were borrowed from the library (via nerd face 🤓 ).
- Passage 📲 🤓
- Bear Counts 📲
- Ish 📲
- The Roll-Away Pumpkin 📲
- The Deep and Snowy Wood 📲
- Plum Spooky 📖 🤓
- Octopuppy 📲
- Between the Plums 📲 🤓
- 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People 📲 🤓
- The Year of Yes 🎧 🤓
- Thirteen Chairs 📲
- Commonwealth 📖
- The Invisible Library 📲
- Good Omens 🎧
- Thin Mint Memories 📲
- The Forgetting Time (½) 📲 🤓
- Lamb 🎧
- The Cure for Dreaming 📖 🤓
- A Mew to a Kill 📲
- Sense and Sensibility 🎧 🤓
- Fates and Furies 📲 🤓
- Summer House With Pool 📲
- Between the World and Me 🎧 🤓
- Ghostly Echoes 📲
- Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls 🎧 🤓
- The Underground Railroad 📖
- The Uninvited 📲
- Who Goes There? (The Thing) 📲
- Big Magic 📖 🤓
- Dorothy Parker Drank Here 📖
- A Spirited Tail 📲
- The Goodbyes 📖
- Secondhand Souls 🎧 🤓
- Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe 🎧 🤓
- Everything We Keep 📲
- If Books Could Kill 📖 🤓
- The Bookseller 📲
- Unlikely Friendships 📲 🤓
- Homicide in Hardcover 📖 🤓
- Ghostly Paws 📲
- The Sleeper and the Spindle 📖 🤓
- The Body Reader 📲
- Blackout 📖 🤓
- Me and Earl and the Dying Girl 📲 🤓
- Vacations From Hell 📖 🤓
- 168 Hours 📖
- Farewell, Dorothy Parker 📖
- When Breath Becomes Air 📖
- In the Heights 📖
- Crenshaw 📲
- How Do You Sleep 📲
- In the Shadow of Blackbirds 📲 🤓
- NOS4A2 🎧 🤓
- The Humans (play) 📖
- Random Harvest 📲
- Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? 📲
- Vader’s Little Princess 📲
- Darth Vader and Son 📲
- Darth Vader and Friends 📲
- Good Night, Darth Vader 📲
- Americanah 📲 🤓
- Winter of the World 🎧 🤓
- A God in Ruins 📲 🤓
- Rip Van Winkle 🎧 🤓
- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow 🎧 🤓
- The Fall of Giants 🎧 🤓
- Life After Life 📲 🤓
- How to be a Woman 🎧
- Twenty Yawns 📲
- True Grit 🎧 🤓
- It All Changed in an Instant: More Six-Word Memoirs 📲 🤓
- The Museum of Extraordinary Things 📲 🤓
- The Luckiest Girl Alive 📖
- Grandma Drove the Snowplow 📲
- The Map 📲
- Beastly Bones 📲
- Impossible Things 📖
- Girl Waits With Gun 📲
- Library of Souls 📖
- Emerald Green 📲
What did you read in 2016? Anything you can recommend? Do tell!
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