5 Star Reads of 2017

So here are my favourite books of 2017. I was thinking that the highest of my ratings are quite rare and these are things that I’m most likely to recommend to people. I have not included rereads as they usually will be rated highly.

Eliza and Her Monsters by Zappia Francesca

This was such an interesting book that has some really interesting elements. It was similar to Fangirl but focussed on some completely different elements. I didn’t enjoy the in story story as much but I liked the wider story.

The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

I am surprised that this took me so long to read. And I still haven’t picked up the sequel. I do love Rick Riordan and I know some people aren’t the biggest fan of Apollo but I like the story and I’m glad to be back in with a 5 book series.

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

I sort of struggled with if I should include this. I did love it. The series continued to grow but I was frustrated with how this didn’t feel like a conclusion. As a book it is 5 stars but as a sequel…. well it isn’t really one.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

One of the best books I’ve read. I just loved how this was done. It was such an interesting story premise and showed some really unique elements compared to the traditional war story. I did read this when I was on a historical war fiction bindge.

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

Everyone knows this is amazing. I did prefer Salt to the Sea but again I just loved the exposure to the different parts involved during wars.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

I think this was surprising more than anything. I did enjoy this different view on historical fiction and do want to continue on the series but BIG BOOK!

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

One of the best written historical memoirs that I’ve ever read. This was jsut such a breath of fresh air because it was just something so different especially in the world of fantasy books.

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

I really wasn’t expecting this to be so incredible but it was so amazing and I just loved how it felt so authentic. The research element of this was unbelievable and I would honestly give this to anyone to read.

Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton

This author just grew so much from her first to second book. The entire world, story, magical system and plot just took off. I am desperately awaiting the finale in September.

A List of Cages by Robin Roe

I can’t say I loved this because of the subject nature of this. It was such an amazing yet heartbreaking story that you just cannot forget.

The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett now firmly sits as one of my favourite authors of all time and I am so disappointed in myself for not having read his work sooner. The humour and imagination in this series is just out of this world.


So there we go. My best reads of 2017. What were some of your 5 star reads?

Advertisements

A Letter to a Character #2 – Jazz – Artemis by Andy Weir

So we all talk to characters don’t we, and sometimes you hear them back. Whether it be just thinking that someone would like something or shouting at them because they’re being so stupid. It could be that you just want a friend that listens and other times you’re professing your undying love for them and you heart flutters and constricts and you wonder why they aren’t real.

So here’s a snippet of some thoughts I had while reading Artemis by Andy Weir.

Hey Jazz,

Afraid this is not your usual correspondence but I hope you’ll humour me. I imagine things aren’t really going great for you eh (yo! it’s like I’m Rudy)?

You really aren’t the best person you know? But you’ve got a total badass Lady Deadpool vibe going on (probably looking more like him than when we first me – that’s creepy…. we’ve never met…. I’ve just stalked you…. moving on!)

How’s the moon? Artemis doing alright? Pretty cool place, I’ll see if I can visit and maybe you could show me around? You’ve probably got you EVA Masters Guide going right? You spent a lot of time complaining about tourists so I would like the authentic experience.

I love the moon, it’s so cool to be able to see it from down here on Earth. Mars is just a bit far away but it would be cool to get there as soon as we get something set up. Different challenges to the moon and probably not as practical, but a girl can dream.

How’s you Dad doing? And Dale, things going better there?

I’m worried about who’s reading this so trying to be PG but how’s that reusable condom coming along. Give it a spin yet?

I’m hoping you’ve not got yourself in a pickle again. And you better be working hard, none of this criminal mastermind stuff that gets you all tied up in things you would be better not being involved in.

Something I thought about is how hard it must be to meet someone right? I mean, there isn’t a lot of you…. but then again villages did it…. moving on!

 Yeah, you’re a smart girl and the science is totally cool in this but it’s maybe not the focus…. you made sure that you were the star of the show. You’re no Watney (don’t know if you hear about him) but at least you’ve got heart.

So…. I’m going to go. Next time you get a shipment I’ll sneak you some things. Would totally love to get involved.

Cheers,

Rine!

artemis

 
https://rinereads.wordpress.com/2017/12/
rinereads.wordpress.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2018-17
67983
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:ONRYSKLFSOFAAIFPMO6YMBI4IKFNJH7R
<urn:uuid:f03514ce-7336-49b5-9c51-997718ee0fd9>
2018-04-22T22:13:06Z
192.0.78.12
text/html
sha1:YNKOAQ3I3IMPM2MDKLFJR34NGKAWSIXC
<urn:uuid:ae503b88-a9e2-45aa-9a53-1f464eb3c3e9>
https://rinereads.wordpress.com/2017/12/
length
response
<urn:uuid:b05edb28-a8d9-4eb7-850e-7e220edac582>
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-35-148-49.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2018-17
operator: Common Crawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for April 2018
publisher: Common Crawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf