It seems like everyone is either looking back or looking ahead right now, so it’s the perfect time to celebrate my favorite books and movies from the last year. I highly recommend adding all of the following to your 2017 or winter reading list.
I owe all my favorite reads this year to one thing – the library. It’s like this novel (ha) concept where books are completely free!
But seriously, I can’t believe I waited so long to stop buying every single book and revisit my childhood love of the library. Now I get ebooks right on my Nook and audiobooks through the Overdrive phone app, then buy my favorites for a more permanent addition to my collection.
Best books of the year:
- Trouble is a Friend of Mine, and Trouble Makes a Comeback by Stephanie Tromly – Veronica Mars meets Where’d You Go Bernadette. Enough said.
- Legend series by Marie Lu – Everything you loved about Divergent story and the Hunger Games characters, but so SO much better. NOTE: Read the ebook versions. The print version has an incredibly annoying font treatment to differentiate the point of views.
- Cormoran Strike series by Robert Galbraith – JK Rowling returns with the world-building detail of Harry Potter + the sarcastic investigating of Sherlock Holmes + the will-they-won’t-they of Suits’ Donna and Harvey. Worth the long read.
- The Duff by Kody Keplinger – After reading and then promptly rereading, I thought “I wish someone would make a movie of this” While I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, too, it bears absolutely no resemblance to the book.
- We Were Liars by E. Lockhart – I tried to figure out the mystery and talked-about twist the whole time and was still completely surprised. Haunting.
Honorary mentions go to these light yet poignant “beach reads” about worthwhile complicated relationships:
- The First Husband by Laura Dave
- 800 Grapes by Laura Dave
Stay tuned for my “Best of” movies edition next week!
finding tiffany's 
What is the legend series about?
It’s a dystopian series from two points of view – a Robin Hood-esque, lower-class rebel and the badass, wealthy girl-made-officer in charge of arresting him. He’s trying to help his family, and she’s trying to avenge hers. There’s a romantic component, which I loved, quite the Romeo and Juliet situation… Meanwhile, there’s government corruption and a lot about their country’s past that has been hidden, which they band together to try and figure it out. The author did a great job weaving everything together and building a world I could really see as I read!
Wowza! I have to read it now! 🙂