My Books to Read in 2017

In January 2016, I posted a list of 10 books I wanted to read las year. Confession - I only read three of them. I started a fourth, but just couldn't get into it and watched a fifth in movie version which was really good, so, then, I didn't read the book. 

I did, however, read a total of 15 books on 2016. That number is tiny compared to some of my friends who read 50+  books last year, but it's a pretty good number for me. Part of the reason I didn't read all 10 of my original list was because I kind of went on a Liane Moriarty tangent reading four of her books. 

My favorite books of 2016 were: 

• The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (BEST BOOK EVER!!)
• Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
• The Light of Paris by Eleanor Brown. 

My least favorites were:

• Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris
• After You by JoJo Moyes (Sequel to Me Before You which I loved. The sequel fell very flat in comparison).

I've been researching and checking out other lists of best 2016 reads and upcoming 2017 reads to compile this list of 10 books I'd like to read this year. Hopefully, I can stick to my list for this go-round! 

Books that will become movies in 2017

• The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman - This is a true story in which Polish zookeepers who, after their zoo is bombed, save hundreds of people fleeing from the Nazis. The movie will star Jessica Chasten and Daniel Bruhl. Click here to watch the chilling trailer.
• The Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin. I'm reading this one now. In short, two strangers, Ashley (a writer who is trying to get to her wedding) and Dr. Ben Payne (trying to get home from a medical conference), have their flights cancelled and share a small charter plane in a last ditch effort to get to their destinations. Inevitably, the plane crashes and the two are stranded in the wilderness. Injured and alone, they must depend on each other to survive. The main characters in the movie, set to be released in October, will be played by Kate Winslet and Idris Elba.

Books that will be released in 2017

• The Sleepwalker by Chris Bohjalian was scheduled to be published on Jan. 10. Annalee is a chronic sleepwalker whose disorder has led to some crazy scenarios and, now, she has gone missing. As her daughter, Lianna, tries to uncover the mysteries surrounding her mother's disappearance, she is attracted to the detective on the case, but also unearthing many, many questions. The New York Times deems it "a spine-tingling novel of lies, loss, and buried desire."
• Swimming Lessons by Claire Fullers set to be published on Feb. 7th. Ingrid writes letters to her husband, Gil, but she doesn't give the letters to him. She hides them inside her thousands of books. Twelve years after Ingrid's disappearance, her daughter, Flora, returns home to care for her father and attempts to finally discover what really happened to her mother. She doesn't realize the answers she is seeking are all around her. 
• Into the Water by Paula Hawkins is expected in May 2017. You may remember Hawkins as the author of the oh-so-popular The Girl On The Train. In this novel, also a psychological thriller, females keep turning up dead at the bottom of the river that runs through town. When that leaves a teenage girl alone and parentless, her aunt comes to care for her. But, her aunt had previously - and purposefully- run away from this place, vowing that she would never return. 

Books from 2016 (and beyond) That I Want to Read

• Small Great Things by Jodi Piccoult is not a plot line that I would usually be drawn to, but it has gotten such high praise, I decided to give it a try.  Although Piccoult is an extremely popular author, I have actually never read any of her books. In this one, an African American labor and delivery nurse, Ruth, is told that she is not to touch one of the white infants in the nursery. But, when that infant goes into distress, she has a difficult choice to make. Her decision leads to a court case that becomes a media spectacle and requires people to reconsider things they have been taught their whole lives. 
• The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer is reminiscent of a female Jason Bourne novel, based on the synopsis. An ex-agent with a very specific skill set, is on the run from her former employers. However, she must take on one final case in an effort to clear her name. Goodreads calls it a "gripping, page-turner."
• Commonwealth by Ann Patchett was on my friend Dana's list of holiday season reading suggestions and I was intrigued by her description. When Bert Cousins and Beverly Keating have a little rendezvous, their marriages are dissolved and their families are forever intertwined. Years later, when daughter Franny Keating becomes involved with author, Leon Posen, the story of these two families - four parents and six children - becomes the basis for a book that brings him great success and forces that family to face their feelings head on. 
• The Secret Life of Violet Grant by Beatriz Williams is described on BarnesandNoble.com as "a story of love and intrigue that travels from Kennedy-era Manhattan to World War I Europe." Vivian Schuyler is an up and coming professional in 1964 Manhattan when she receives a package that leads her into her family's past and the life of her aunt, Violet Schuyler Grant in 1914 Berlin. Violet is enduring a terrible marriage to support her position as a female, American physicist, but, when a British Army Captain enters the picture, she must make some difficult choices. As Vivian delves into the life of an aunt she never knew, she realizes how much they have in common.
• The Memory of Us by Camille Di Maio is the story of Julianne Westcott, a well-to-do young woman in prewar Liverpool. Julianne learns that she has a deaf and blind brother who was institutionalized since his birth. When she secretly visits her brother, she meets Kyle McCarthy, a groundskeeper studying to become a priest. As war encroaches, Julianne is forced to leave her life behind to protect her loved ones, but after twenty years of hiding from her past, it finally catches up to her. 

There's my list! Putting it all together, I realize that it's quite a bit of historical fiction and suspense. I can't wait to get started!

Have you read any of these books? If so, what did you think? What books are on your 2017 reading list?

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