I wrote eleven book reviews and five of them ranked well enough to receive the coveted HIGHLY RECOMMENDED distinction, LOL. These are the books that I thoroughly enjoyed and that stood out above the others:
The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale is a World War II story set in German-occupied France. I recommend this novel for anyone who enjoys World War II fiction and a good story. Find my complete review here.
The One Man
Andrew Gross’ The One Man is another well-crafted World War II story this time set in Poland. Once again, I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys World War II fiction and a gripping story. Find my complete review here.
Extreme Prey
John Sanford’s Extreme Prey is also on this list because it is highly recommended but it earned that distinction from a guest writer for whom I have the utmost respect, my husband. Chris has read and enjoyed almost all of Sandford’s works so obviously, I must check out John Sanford in 2018. Meanwhile, you can find Chris' complete review here.
Mr. Mercedes
Stephen King’s Mr. Mercedes is an unexpected book addition to both my reading list and to this list of highly recommended books. In 1987, with the release of the book Misery and the subsequent movie, I decided that King's works were too horror filled for me. Until that year, I had read every book he had written but since that day, I have read none. That is, until Mr. Mercedes.
Anyway, Mr. Mercedes was a book club pick from a member whose preferred books are by Stephen King. She wanted to introduce the members of our group who had never read one of his books to his writing. In my mind, this was an excellent choice and many were enthralled by this police detective novel though of course it opens in a very horrible manner. Crime/detective stories often do. Find my complete review of Mr. Mercedes here and be sure not to miss the rest of the trilogy.
The Century Trilogy
Finally, Ken Follett’s The Century Trilogy, which includes three volumes: Fall of Giants, Winter of the World and Edge of Eternity. These three lengthy novels kept me thoroughly entertained for many, many hours. Find my review here.
------------------------------------
Other books that I wrote about but that did not receive the top designation of HIGHLY RECOMMENDED were Losing Graceland by Micah Nathan, Remains of the Day by Kazuo Isiguro, A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, Hallmark’s A Century of Caring, Talking As Fast As I Can by Lauren Graham and The Art of Racing by Garth Stein. They are still worth options for your book list.
How does my list stack up? Did you enjoy any of these books? What were your favorite reads in 2017?
Here’s to another
great year in books!
Brenda
Quick Links:
See all of the book reviews on Review This.
Amazon’s Bestsellers 2017 Book List.
(Yes, I may receive a small commission if you make a purchase through this link.)
My favorite, because he's one of my VERY FAVORITE authors, was John Sandford's EXTREME PREY. I have read (and own) all the Prey books AND the Virgil Flowers series by Sandford. In fact, I am in the process of re-reading my way through both series at the moment. I also read Mr. Mercedes after reading your review, even though I've seldom read Stephen King because of the 'horrible-ness' ... LOL. King IS a marvelous writer, though many of his stories are a bit 'too much' for me. Whether an author is a favorite or one I've never read, book reviews are very helpful in deciding whether I'd enjoy reading a certain book. As always, thanks for your book reviews, Brenda.
ReplyDeleteYour recommendation is one more reason why I need to read John Sanford! Thanks for sharing your thoughts here on my post.
DeleteYou have certainly introduced us to some wonderful books this year that I never would have picked up on my own. What I like best about your reviews is that I never know what to expect next because you explore and recommend so many different genres. You have certainly widen my reading field of interest too. Thank you for all the great reviews in 2017. I look forward to seeing what you recommend in 2018.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cynthia and you are welcome. I guess for me the oddest choice was the Stephen King novel, which I read as a book club book. I look forward to seeing what I recommend in 2018, too, LOL!
DeleteMy absolute favorite book of the year was BEFORE WE WERE YOURS by Lisa Wingate. and it was great fun to watch it zoom to the top of the reader's charts. I have not read any of the ones you reviewed, but Extreme Prey will be on my "to read" list immediately. I am sure the others are good ones -- I just stopped reading all war books, and never have read horror. I just read things that are non-violent in my old age.
ReplyDeleteHi, Joan! It is so very nice to see you again. At your recommendation, I added the book Before We Were Yours, which sounds like it must be good if it zoomed to the top of the charts!
DeleteMy favorites here are the Century Trilogy by Ken Follet. I know they are long but I thoroughly enjoyed the read.
ReplyDeleteOh....I did not try to pick a favorite, LOL. Don't know if I could! These books were all excellent but the Follett trilogy has me ready to read more Follett and I am on the third in the Stephen King trilogy.
DeleteI can see I have some catching up to do based on your list. The one book here that I have read is Extreme Prey. I've read most of John Sandford's books. Thanks for the recommendations.
ReplyDeleteMany of your book reviews have caused me to add to my "to-read" list. I LOVE that you have written this, to signify your favorite books from those reviews.
ReplyDeleteI confess I've not yet read any of these. I'll have to look into the reviews. I tend to stay away from suspense because I can't handle it.
ReplyDelete