There’s never enough time to get to all the books you mean to in a year…especially after adding even more books from various Best Books of 2017 lists to my TBR! But, y’all know my 2017 wasn’t the best reading year. I normally have trouble narrowing this list to just ten books, but this year I was hard pressed to come up with eight.
The good news is that I actually managed to read 6 (60%) books from last year’s 2016 Books I Missed list! I’m hoping I’ll be able to do the same this year.
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Eight 2017 Books I Missed
American Radical
This memoir from an undercover, Muslin American FBI agent fighting terror comes highly recommended by Renee at It’s Book Talk. She called it “the most fascinating book she’s read in a long time” and said it “reads like a page-turning novel.” I’ve always been fascinated by the FBI and anything undercover, so I’m definitely looking forward to this one even if I don’t get to it until Nonfiction November 2018!
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Castle of Water
This plane crash / survival page turner got almost no press last year, but a couple of my Go-To Bloggers (Renee at It’s Book Talk and Susie at Novel Visits) raved about it. I’m planning to read it as a potential for my 2018 Summer Reading Guide.
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Eveningland: Stories
This collection of short stories set in Mobile, Alabama right before a major hurricane comes recommended from Rebecca Schinsky on Book Riot’s All the Books podcast and from Kelly at the Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, VA.
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Fierce Kingdom
Liberty Hardy called this page turner about a mother and son caught in a zoo during while a tragedy unfolds “the most stressful book she’d ever read.” It was also an August Book of the Month selection, which is one of my Go-To Bookish Media Sources. Another book I’m hoping will be a potential for my 2018 Summer Reading Guide.
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Heating & Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs
I actually sampled this series of “micro-memoirs” (some are just a few sentences long) when it came highly recommended from Annie Jones of From the Front Porch podcast (one of my Go-To Bookish Media Sources), but the book is so short, there wasn’t actually anything to sample other than the intro pages. It jumped back on my radar when I saw it on Leigh Kramer’s Best Nonfiction of 2017 list.
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Nomadland
Susie at Novel Visits said this investigative story into a growing population of people that can’t retire, so they roam the country living out of RVs and working various jobs was surprising and fascinating. Since then, Tara at Running N Reading and Joann at Lakeside Musing have said good things about it. I’m hoping to read it during Nonfiction November 2018 if not before.
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The Almost Sisters
It’s been awhile since I read Joshilyn Jackson (Someone Else’s Love Story
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The Second Mrs. Hockaday
Catherine at Gilmore Guide to Books told me I should read this Civil War-era story about a young mother who murders her own child while her husband is away at war back when it came out, but I’m skittish about historical fiction, so I never got around to it. I also don’t think I really understood the premise, which does sound enticing to me. Then, I recently heard it discussed on The Readerly Report Podcast, which put it back on my radar (and alerted me to its short length!), and I now have it on hold at the library.
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What 2017 books did you miss? And, which ones do you realistically think you’ll get around to reading?
Nomadland looks really good. Jenny at Reading Envy wrote that it was particularly poignant after reading Evicted by Matthew Desmond. Evicted is on my review stack and I would like to read both this year if I can.
I’ve been meaning to listen to Evicted on audio forever! Will definitely happen in 2018…maybe then followed by Nomadland?
I wish my library had an audiobook copy of Nomadland…it seems like a good book for audio. Who knows though, maybe they’ll get one by the time I’m ready to read it.
I haven’t heard of many of these, so it looks like I missed them too! Looks like I have some more books to add to the list!
I missed all of those too but want to get to a few of them sooner rather than later.
Interesting list. I actually downloaded American Radical last night and am going to start listening on my way to work today. I hadn’t heard of Heating & Cooling, but it sounds interesting. I’ll let you vet it. Save Castle of Water for when you either have a book hangover or have had a few DNFs in a row. It’s a nice little pick-me-up.
Oh yay! Thrilled to hear you’re going to vet American Radical for me! Heating and Cooling is super short, so I know I’ll get to it. Maybe even soon b/c I’m feeling a little rut coming on. Or Castle of Water. I’m about to have some library holds come in, so may stick with Heating & Cooling since it’s so short.
Thanks for the shout out and link up! I really hope you like American Radical and Castle of Water…I have a good feeling about both for you:) I’m really looking forward to chatting with you about Fierce Kingdom, I didn’t review it on my blog but I have many thoughts about it!! I have The Almost Sisters too and have moved it to my 2018 tbr so another to discuss.
You’re welcome! Apparently Susie just downloaded American Radical on audio, so I’ll be interested to hear what she thinks of that version. If I don’t get to it soon, I’ll definitely get to it during Nonfiction November.
Nomadland was so well written! It certainly opened my eyes, and you’ll think twice before ordering anything from Amazon! 🙂
I keep hearing about The Almost Sisters, but the only Joshilyn Jackson book I read, A Grown Up Kind of Pretty, was a dud for me.
Fierce Kingdom has been on my radar, but Annie’s last Love It or Loathe It podcast really has me intrigued!
Oh no! I order from Prime constantly – saves me so much time on running errands! I might want to stay ignorant…
I’ve heard this is one of Jackson’s best, so we’ll see.
And I didn’t listen to Annie’s episode on Fierce Kingdom b/c I still was interested in reading it and didn’t want it spoiled. But, I feel like I’ve heard people feel strongly about it one way or another. If I get to it, I’ll certainly go back and listen to that episode!
The Almost Sisters is $1.99 on Kindle now!
I saw that! I’m right at top of the hold list, though, so will just do that…
The Almost Sisters was one of my favorite reads of 2017! I hope you enjoy it.
I’ve not yet read The Second Mrs. Hockaday, but it has been on my radar for awhile. I’m hoping to read it with my book club this year!
Glad to hear it!
I’ve also been wanting to read The Second Mrs. Hockaday and Castle of Water. Fierce Kingdom sounds amazing and I hadn’t really given it much attention before. Silly but I’m not drawn to the cover and I wonder if that’s part of the reason it never got on my radar.
I’ve heard mixed things about Fierce Kingdom but I’m kind of curious!
Hope you (and I) get to the other two!
I LOVED Fierce Kingdom, but I do warn people with young kids that they may want to pass on this one if they go to the zoo often. I will never look at a zoo the same way again!
I have a version of this post coming up tomorrow! I can tell you that you are really not missing much with Fierce Kingdom — it’s so short but I could not power through it. The Second Mrs. Hockaday was always something I saw and was skeptical about too, so I’m interested to see what you think when your hold comes in!
American Radical sounds amazing! It’s going on my TBR list. Thanks for sharing.
Oh, the pressure! I still think you’ll like Mrs. Hockaday, but it is short so you won’t be stuck if you don’t.
The first missed book of 2017 that comes to mind is Evelyn Hugo, which I have on hold. The only other one I can think of is Sycamore which Susie raved about. I had the arc but gave it away and am now thinking I need to read it.
Oh, The Second Mrs. Hockaday!!! I LOVED that one! I so hope you can get into it and enjoy it.
I am curious to see what you will think of Fierce Kingdom. I really enjoyed it; such a powerful story. However, I was reading it at the same time as the Las Vegas massacre went down, so I know that skewed my impressions of the book a bit.
Yay – glad to hear that!
And – wow – I’m sure that made for a super intense reading experience. I hope I’ll get to it!
Fierce Kingdom was unputdownable for me, though I felt like it could have used another chapter or two. I also have mixed feelings about going to the zoo anytime soon after reading this book!
I bet you do!
I’m determined to read Castle of Water ASAP; that has been on my list for months! I think I’m going to try the audio version of American Radical; currently listening to Unbelievable (so good!) and I think this will be a good addition to my listening list.
Susie is about to start American Radical on audio, so she can tell us how it is! I’m trying to decide whether I want to do audio or read it.
And I’ll definitely get to Castle within the next few months!
Nomadland is on my list next! I am currently reading In The Rear View Mirror by Lee Livingston. He hitch hiked across America in the early 60’s. What a look into that era, something we really can’t do nowadays. A really neat time in our nation! intherearviewmirrorbook.com for the info!
Oh good – hope it goes well for you! Haven’t heard of that one!
American Radical sounds awesome and somehow slipped my notice, so thank you. I think you already know I recommend Fierce Kingdom and Nomadland, look forward to your thoughts if you get to them!
I hadn’t heard a peep about it until Renee mentioned it! And, yes, I saw those two on your list!
Castle of Water sounds like something I’d love. This is the first I’ve heard of it – thanks for bringing it to my attention – just put it on hold!
Not sure if you receive a lot of comments and feedback from male readers.
If you do, please post more replies and comments from them also. Or is your webpage 99% focusing on women? (I say 99% because I have received one, maybe two comments from you).
Thank you,
Steven Reads
You know, I don’t. I actually just did a survey of my blog readers and it came back that 97% are women. I don’t think that’s super surprising for book blogs.
I’m actually a bit of a tomboy, so do read books that would be considered “guy books” and sports books. I have recommendation lists for those under the Recommendation List option in the menu bar.
By “receiving comments” from me, do you mean in response to comments you’ve left on my blog? If so, I try to respond as often as possible. Some weeks are better than others. And sometimes I’ll respond to comments that warrant a response, but not every single comment a post gets. If I haven’t responded to some of your comments, it’s definitely not because you’re male! I love hearing from all my readers and do read every single comment, even if I don’t respond to every comment every time.
Sarah, love your list! noted!
about book “Fierce Kingdom: A Novel”…
This book is really hard to put down. Though there are parts that are a little more mundane than others, you keep plugging away because you have to know what happens. It’s beautifully written and it’s touching to read about the relationship between Joan and Lincoln.
Although I really enjoyed the book, I didn’t like how it ended so abruptly. I wound up with way more questions than answers. I also think it could’ve benefitted if the story unfolded under a couple other perspectives, like Joan’s husband or one of the policemen so we could’ve had a better idea of what was going on on the other side of things.
Julie,
https://www.julieannepeters.com/
I still haven’t read it, believe it or not! I think I sort of lost interest partway through the year.