My Favorite Books of 2017 (So far!)

You can do so many things in your day-to-day life.

Go to work.

Perfect your eggplant stew.

Watch the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt S03E02 for the fourth time. For obvious reasons.

And read!

You can read!

Illustration by Andrew Chin! 

Because I have great taste – in the sense that I unapologetically and passionately love what I love regardless of status and appropriateness for my age, I decided to share my favourite books of the past year. I read a lot, in public transit, during boring parties and every night before bed.

I follow quite a few “booklrs” on Tumblr, upcoming authors on Twitter AND I get great tips from my friends, especially Eva.

So if you are in need of some book recommendations, you’re in for a treat. These are my favourite books of 2017 (so far). Some I discovered in 2016, but I am still reading them in 2017, which is why they’re included! These are some all time favourites that I may have mentioned in this post before.

I’m including affiliate links. If you don’t want to support my blog financially, totally cool. Just know that if my four imaginary children starve it’s totally your fault.

the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan

These are my all-time favourite books to read before I fall asleep. I can read these over and over. I love all the main characters, they’re all three-dimensional and fun in their own way, and Rick Riordan’s style makes the book feel like you’re a part of a really cool videogame; you’re watching and playing along. Very relaxing to read.

The Percy Jackson series (and the latest Trial of Apollo book) are fun too, I’ve read everything by Rick Riordan except the Magnus Chase stuff.

I just prefer Heroes of Olympus because it is a bit more complex, with a cooler, complicated plot and so many fun characters.

Daughter of Smoke & Bone series by Laini Taylor 

I reread this series every year. You cannot go wrong with an epic love story in an epic battle of the angel world and the chimaera world IN the human world.

Very beautiful writing, very poetic. Also, quite a bit of twists I never saw coming, which is always nice.

  • How many books? 3
  • How easy to read? Like a knife through very poetic and smooth butter.
  • How Young Adulty? The love story is a bit YA, the rest of it not so much.
  • Where to get them? This gorgeous giftset for 35 euros. Or the ebook for 5.50. (For some reason they are not available for purchase on Amazon for the Netherlands.)

Penryn & the End of Days series by Susan Ee. 

I love love love me some good horror. Stephen King is bae after all.

In this trilogy, we’re in an apocalyptic-style dystopian where angels have destroyed the world, and Penryn’s younger sister gets kidnapped. The only option to get her back is to team up with a wounded angel. An archangel. And Penryn finds out some seriously fucked up shit as she goes to find her babysister.

The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Northfuss.

Some of the best fantasy, perhaps even fiction, that I have ever read in my life. And I read EVERYTHING by Feist, Hobb and others.

One of the very first blog-friends I ever made, Kris LOVED these books. I registered that fact but somehow never got around to reading them.

Until late 2016 when I started in the Name of the Wind, the first book. I was completely shook by how good these books were. I messaged her right after I started in the second book (the Wise Man’s Fear). I now too was obsessed.

  • How many books? Two, and unfortunately the release date for book 3 has not been announced yet, however this makes me feel better about me taking ages to write MY book.
  • How easy to read? In terms of fantasy this is a breeze, but fantasy is always a bit more mystical and riddled with complicated words and new things than general fiction. BUT SO BEAUTIFUL YOU GUYS.
  • How Young Adulty? Not at all! Just a very, very good story.
  • Where to get it? Bol.com offers the ebook for 8 euros and the paperback for 12!

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer 

Fairytales set in a future with cyborgs, mythical creatures and space? Yes please.

The reimagining of Cinderella (Cinder), Scarlet (Little Red Riding Hood), Cress (Rapunzel) and Winter (I don’t know? Generic Fairytale Princess #14? Because that’s the one with the evil stepmother and right to the taro-oooooh wait a second this is Snow White #streamofconsciousness)

  • How many books? 4 in the general series, 2 side novels and 2 graphic novels.
  • How easy to read? Average, I’d say. The writing is easy to follow!
  • How Young Adulty? No sign of love triangles for the most part, so only young adults in the fun way.
  • Where to get it? The collection box is one of the prettiest I’ve seen, but it’s 80 euross here (but on sale on Amazon for 57$: you just gotta check how bad shipping costs are). If you first want to try one, get Cinder on Kindle for 7$!

The Parttime Junkie by Renee Kelder (Dutch)

An incredibly fucked up true story about a girl with a drug problem in a very simple, easy to read format. I read the whole thing in an afternoon. If there ever was a story to steer you clear of the drug scene, this is it.

  • How many? One, very short, very simple but very strong book.
  • How easy to read? One of the easiest books I’ve read, ever.
  • How Young Adulty? Not at all, as it is non fiction.
  • Where to get it? Is out of stock and only sells in the iBooks/iTunes Store at this point.

Hex by Thomas Olde Barnevelt 

Horror so good Stephen King himself spoke highly of this book. And as mentioned, Stephen King is bae.

It’s a story of a haunted town in the modern age (so Twitter, Facebook and YouTube exists and the town has to contact all sorts of stunts to prevent their hauntedness from going viral) and it is the most horror that ever horrorred. It’s so awful in the best, best way.

  • How many? One book you will not be able to put down.
  • How easy to read? You’ll be hooked.
  • How Young Adulty? Nope.
  • Where to get it? There is also a Dutch version, where the story takes place in the Nederlands: this is the original version and you can buy the ebook here for only 5 euros! Mine is the English version that I got for 12 euros

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom by Amy Chua

Bitch. If I ever become a mother, I am taking a page out of Amy’s book. It’s well written, Amy doesn’t take herself seriously and she fully realises she seems crazy and horrible to other people, but she tells you her story anyway.

I’m all for discipline, so I get where the crazy bitch is coming from, and I just love reading how everything goes down: from the straight up crazy discipline to the musings about it, to the inevitable showdown with (one of her) kids.

  • How many books? Just the one.
  • How easy to read? Just fine.
  • How Young Adulty? Well, at one point there is a protagonist that breaks free (spoilers) so just a little.
  • Where to get it? 7$ on Amazon. Just sayin’.

The Grisha Triloy by Leigh Bardugo. 

I love it when writers can actually surprise you in a book; where you can actually not see what is coming. These books are unlike anything I have ever read in Young Adult Fantasy. It’s set in a Russian-type fantasyland where the Grisha are highly regarded for their magic. Much to the protaganist’s surprise, she turns out to be one. A great one. But can she heal the world while still protect the person she loves, a laidback soldier who has been her friend since childhood?

I thought they were s good I bought them for my cousin’s birthday.

  • How many books? 3.
  • How easy to read? Very, and so so enjoyable.
  • How Young Adulty? Very, but in a grown up sort of way. The protagonists make the right decisions for the right reasons and you don’t go “wtf man!” all the time.
  • Where to get it? THE BOOKS ARE ON SALE RIGHT NOW ON AMAZON. Both the Kindle as the real versions are super duper cheap right now. GET THEM. 

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness 

This book made me cry. I think it is an excellent book for anyone with a parent with cancer or someone who is close to you and will die ‘before their time’. This book finds a way to beautifully touch its topic without being over the top.

  • How many books? One.
  • How easy to read? Apart from getting choked up, easy.
  • How Young Adulty? This might actually be more of a children’s book?
  • Where to get it? Apparently it’s beautifully illustrated in this paperback for 11 euros, I have the Kindle version via Amazon.

(Apparently this is also a movie! I did not know that! Will watch when feel the need to be emotionally destroyed.) 

The Abyss series by Emily Schrutskie 

I LOVE any story with monsters, and if it’s sea monster a book has my heart forever. (So on that note, if you know any good Sea Monster Books, PLEASE tell me.)

And the Abyss series does not just have sea monsters, it has girl pirates. Lesbian girl pirates. Honestly, what else could we need right now? Plus, the author is awesome on Twitter

Buffering by Hannah Hart 

I strongly disliked Hannah Hart’s first book: I just didn’t get it, the recipes were borderline gross and I just expected more of it.

But Buffering? So real. So raw. So touching. AND really well-written. Go Hannah.

A Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winter 

Any girl who likes feminism should read this book. Not because it is super-deep or enlightening, but in a really cute story you learn a bit about the suffragette movement and how women were really supposed to stay quiet and not make decisions.

In this book you read about Olivia, who is put under hypnosis to not say what she thinks because her father wants her to be quiet. But the cute hypnotist adds that she will see things for what they are, which results in interesting situations.

  • How many books? Short novel on Amazon!
  • How easy to read? Supereasy.
  • How Young Adulty? This gets so many points for originality that I don’t know how to answer this.
  • Where to get it? It’s on bol.com for 9,50 and for 7$ you can get the Kindle version on Amazon!

The Tao Series by Wesley Chu

This series was recommend to me by my friend Eva, and I now follow the (funny) author on Twitter. I also found out these books were Good Reads Finalists for science fiction, and I can see why:

“When out-of-shape IT technician Roen woke up and started hearing voices in his head, he naturally assumed he was losing it.

He wasn’t. He now has a passenger in his brain – an ancient alien life-form called Tao, whose race crash-landed on Earth before the first fish crawled out of the oceans.” 

It’s excellent scifi with a really funny kick to it and its very three-dimensional characters.

The Court-series by Sarah J Maas. 

Oh.

Oh.

These books. I. am. obsessed. How did I live my life without the books by Sarah J Maas?!

When I started in book 1 (a Court of Thorns & Roses) I was kind of unimpressed with the basic premise (oh no life for a life exchange between men and faerie god I wonder what will happen oh really you’re going to fall in love gasp who saw that coming) BUT. IT got SO Good once the story got going and once shit really hit the fan I was HOOKED.

Book 2? So much better than book 1. Book 3? Insane. Crazy good.

So I was the happiest little bookworm in the world during this books. I cried when I finished the series.

(But I did already buy her other trilogy, which is  the Throne of Glass series, I’m gonna start reading those this week.)

  • How many books? 3 books that get more thrilling and beautiful as you go.
  • How easy to read? I don’t know? How easy is PURE PERFECTION?
  • How Young Adulty? Oh this is some sultry young adult-type fantasy. But so good.
  • Where to get them? These books are like 5$ on Amazon for your iPad Kindle. Do yourself a solid and get on this now.

And there you have it. My favourite fiction books (okay I sneaked 2 non-fictions in there) of the past year-ish!

Now, it’s only fair if you share your favorite books of 2017 with me!

What should I read next?

And does it have monsters?! I want more books with monsters!!

Okay, enough yelling.

Have lovely Sunday!

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10 comments

  1. Once my young-adult book proprietor stated that fairies are the new vampires I made a grab for the “A court of” series. Couldn’t be happier. I finished the third book a couple of days ago and since then I wake every morning thinking I would pay off my need to read more about the constant bickering in Velaris in gold bars. Or firstborn children. Can’t wait ’till she comes up with more books in the series (which are announced, yay)! I’m also contemplating trying the “Throne of Glass” series, but I’m afraid it won’t sate my hunger for smutty supernatural bedroom scenes 😉

    Speaking of which, I always end up recommending the Sookie Stackhouse series (on which True Blood) is based. I know it’s old news, but light reading x vampires x detective just works so well!

    I also read the All Souls trilogy about a year ago, and wasn’t at all disappointed. Ended up being a better (and less YA) read than I initially thought!

    1. Hahaha this comment is EVERYTHING. I agree: Faeries ARE the new vampires. But the Court series just does it so well and indeed, I’m afraid the Throne of Glass series won’t be able to match the Court series too!

      Ok, Sookie Stackhouse and All Souls trilogy, gotcha. Thank you Nathalie!

  2. I’m looking for a solid reading list these days as I prepare for some leisurely weekends at the beach. A Cure for Dreaming is going to the top of my list! Looking forward to reading the others as well, they look like they’ll certainly be inspirational stories.

    1. Cool!

      Since you’re a yogi, you might also love my Girl Does Yoga series and Hell-Bent by Benjamin Lorr, about Bikram yoga!

  3. Jaaa, ik ben zo blij met dit lijstje, want zo te lezen komt onze boekensmaak heel erg overeen! Dank je 🙂
    Ik was vorig jaar begonnen in Daughter of Smoke & Bone, maar ik kwam er toen niet helemaal in. Misschien toch maar weer een keer beginnen.
    Ik vond Uprooted van Naomi Novik heel goed! En de boeken van Cassandra Clare lezen ook lekker weg.

    1. Heb ik ook wel eens gehad met een boek, al moet ik zeggen: Daughter of Smoke & Bone is wel heel ‘particular’ misschien qua stijl hoor. Uprooted klinkt echt heel tof, die ga ik lezen. De boeken van Cassandra Clare zijn me eerder aangeraden. Ik heb boek 1 gelezen waarbij [SPOLER} ze aan het einde broer en zus blijken te zijn en dat vond ik zo gaar dat ik er in 1 klap klaar mee was, maar er is me verteld dat het naarmate je verder komt in de boeken steeds donkerder en cooler word, dus misschien nog wel de moeite waard!

  4. Mijn smaak in boeken is compleet anders maar ik deel wel je liefde voor je lezen, zo fijn om af en toe ook echt offline te zijn!

  5. I’m pretty sure I’ve recommended these before but all the Riyria books (by Michael J Sullivan) make for such a good read. I re-read them a lot. Royce & Hadrian are my friends now, even though they don’t know it, and Gwen is just bad-ass. They’re published in different versions, sometimes bundled together, so that’s a bit confusing when you order them. And make sure to read in order of publication, not chronological.

    Also, the Gentleman Bastard series. Which reminds me I should check if the last book in the series it out yet. (Update: it is not.)