So it has been a while since I have done a blog, but seeing as it is the new year i thought I would so one, so I wanted to do one on some of my favourite books I read this year. I have seven. Yes seven. Weirdly precise number but here we are.
They are in no particular order they are just seven of the books I loved in 2017 so without further ado here we go.
7.
Nona & Me - Clare Atkins.
First off this cover is gorgeous, honestly beautiful and it was what drew me to it. Nona & Me is an Australian novel about two friends who are more like sisters Nona and Rosie based in the Northern Territory. The two girls are born only days apart and grow up living together, Nona is Aboriginal and Rosie is white but the two are inseparable until Nona moves away when she is nine and comes back when they are both in year 10.
Nona & Me deals with a racism that was in the community and how one girl has to decide where she wants to go and for standing up for her friends and family. I thought it was a beautiful book, there were some scenes with characters and what they said where I wanted to hit them but that was how it was meant to be. Atkins book was one that I highly recommend to other readers.
6.
Tales of Beedle the Bard - J. K. Rowling
Okay I am probably the only person here that hasn’t read the Harry Potter books, so you are probably wondering why this is on my list. Well I saw this in a box set and I thought i would give them ago, mainly for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and I must say I know the other two are text books Quidditch Through The Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them but they didn’t really capture my interest however Beedle the Bard did. I thoroughly enjoyed the tales inside the book, my favourite was probably The Hairy Heart I think that was what it called. It’s the only one that really stood out to me, however don’t get me wrong I enjoyed all the other but that one was just my favourite.
5.
The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas
Okay so I had been hearing so much about this book on book tube so I thought I would give it a go, it sounded interesting enough. I thought it was amazing, the main points and the content in this novel was fantastic, it was eye opening and it was a story that needed to be told.
The story of Starr Carter and the shooting of her best friend Khalil by a police officer, and how her and everyone around her deals with what happened.
I was sucked into this novel, I have seen videos and odd news clips about this kind of things and it astounds me, how this can happen, So Thomas’s novel is definitely something that needed to be told and since reading this I have seen more and more books about this topic come out… there may have been heaps before this book but honestly I haven’t heard of any. Enjoyed this book very, very much.
4.
The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue - Mackenzi Lee
This was another one I had been hearing bits about, however when I bought it I didn’t realise how thick it was. It was a chunker.
So The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue is about Henry ‘Monty’ Montague and how he and his best friend Percy set out for a tour of the continent before Percy is sent away to Holland to study and Monty has to return and work under his father. So it is his last hurrah and his last time to have a bit of fun. Oh and he is in love with his best friend Percy.
I LOVED THIS BOOK! I mean it took me a little while to get into it but once I was invested I couldn’t put it down. I loved the banter between Monty and his sister Felicity who he calls a spinster even though she is only fifteen. I loved the adventure and drama of it all. It also had quite a bit of diversity in it. Monty being bi-sexual, Percy being darker skinned and how Felicity didn’t want to fit the social norms of a woman at that time and instead wanted to study medicine which was fantastic. Oh it had pirates, and highway men, parties held by the rich there was just so much going on and it was such a breeze to read my one favourite quote of many is.
”That’ll melt your brain, Felicity,” I say as I drop into the seat beside her.
“Not as fast as gin will.” I lost it! Felicity is amazing!
Recommend to everyone!
3.
The Red Necklace - Sally Gardner
So I didn’t physically read this novel but I bough the audio and it was read by Tom Hiddleston! I was so happy. I can now say Tom Hiddleston read me a novel… XD
So this story is based in Paris and it follows the story of Yann Margoza a performer in a travelling show and Sido the unloved daughter of the Marquis. It starts a few years before the French Revolution and gradually moves into the French Revolution and what happened the royals and some of the hierarchy. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel it moved quickly and it was an interesting story especially the way elements of fantasy and heritage.
2.
Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Ship of the Dead - Rick Riordan
Okay so this is the final instalment in the Magnus Chase trilogy and to be honest I am not gonna say much other than I thought Rick Riordan wrapped it up so good!
and last but certainly not least
1.
Shalott - Felicity Pulman
Okay so this one, my friend recommended to me, she was getting rid of it and suggested I give it a go. I will admit it took me a little while to get into it but I persevered and I FUCKING LOVED IT!
Okay so this is about Callie who is in love with the tale of King Arthur in particular Lancelot and his story line, so with her father’s VR machine for school she wants to play around a little and try change the legend of Lancelot and the Lady of Shalott. However it goes awry and she along with her sister and sisters friend, El and Meg, as well as two other boys from their school, Stephen and Lev, end up being sucked into the machine and sent back in time to the time of Arthur and the Knights of the round table. So with this Callie takes it upon herself to try and change the legend of Camelot and instead of the kingdom crumbling she wants try keep it alive and that means getting Lancelot to fall in love with her and not Guinevere….
‘safe to say this book was amazing and when I found out it was a trilogy I zipped out to my local second hand book store and bought the next two devouring them. It was so good!
Anyways those are all my favourite books of 2017. Bring on 2018.
I may do a books I want to read in 2018 blog but we will see…
Are there any books you loved in 2017?
Cheers
Esther :)