I’m so sorry for leaving you hanging yesterday! If you missed the original posts, you can find Part One HERE and Part Two HERE. I won’t hold things up here at the front; let’s get back to more books of 2016!
Best Paranormal (Suspense) 2016
Lisa Unger has been a favorite author of mine for years; you know, the ones where you just auto click pre-order for anything they publish? I think this is due to her consistency to putting out quality fiction, but also due to her novels containing so much variety in plot and thematic elements. I don’t typically read a lot of paranormal books but have been a long time fan of her “series” containing Jones Cooper and the gang at The Hollows; this isn’t over the top and in your face supernatural but one that adds subtle elements of the genre. I was blown away with where Unger chose to take us in this installment; we got an amazing sense of closure and all kinds of answers to previously open-ended questions. You can find my original thoughts and review HERE.
Best Science Fiction 2016
If you follow me on Goodreads than you know I initially was wary of this book. I was in no means interested in a “love story” from Blake Crouch. No sir. I’m really glad I was curious enough to give this one a go; it’s hard to say much about this book without giving anything away, but let’s just say if you find yourself a fan of the Netflix show Stranger Things you will likely enjoy this read. Another captivating and classic Crouch read. Highly recommended, even if Sci-Fi isn’t your typical go to. You can find my original thoughts and review HERE.
Best Literary Fiction 2016
This one caught my eye while my Goodreads friend Shelby was reading it, and once she posted her review I knew I had to have it. This book was nothing of what I expected and touched all my feelies with that ending (which was unexpected to me but lots of people said they saw it coming). The less you know going into this one the better; this was a read best experienced slowly in order to savor it. I found most people who read this book either loved it or hated it, not many in betweeners. You can find my review HERE.
Best Young Adult 2016 (uh… 2017?)
Alright, so technically this book comes out this month, but it was truly SO good that it surpassed all my other YA reads of the year with flying colors. That’s right, it was better than A Court of Thorns and Roses (1 and 2), Six of Crows, and Crooked Kingdom. I was completely taken by this fantasy world that Garber created and I am dying for the next in the series! This was a perfect example of age-appropriate YA writing; there were elements of adventure, romance, mystery, and magic while keeping everything below adult level, graphic content. I cannot recommend this book highly enough; adults and teens alike will benefit from reading this. It’s one of the few books I am considering as a re-read in 2017! You can find my original thoughts and review HERE.
Best Contemporary Romance 2016
CoHo was a game changer for me this year; I have never been a fan of romance novels and have unfairly judged the entire genre based on a handful of cheesy, bad eggs with terrible covers. It Ends With Us focuses on an abusive relationship with a twist in the typical plot; Hoover made this book deeply personal as it’s inspiration came from her own parent’s abusive relationship and how they turned the dysfunctional into functional. Incredibly moving and deeply passionate, this was a highly emotional read with an ending I can get behind. You can find my original thoughts and review HERE.
Book of the Year 2016
It’s finally time for my pick of all around Book of the Year! Yes I’m a total KS groupie, but that’s honestly not why I picked this one. I’ve been waiting for years for an installment in the Will Trent series that focuses on Angie and gives us backstory, and we finally have it. This particular read was a little more elegant than typical for a Slaughter read; sure it has the trademark gore and graphic content, but this one stood out in the sense that it gave us more sentiment and emotion to try and understand Angie, even though we’ll never like her. I can’t emphasize enough how this SHOULD NOT BE READ AS A STANDALONE. Even the individual murder mystery has ties to past books, so please don’t ruin your life by reading this out of the blue. There are two series that I recommend to everyone I meet; one of which is Karin Slaughter’s Grant County/Will Trent books. Yes, I just made those into one series, sue me. You can find my original thoughts and review HERE.
That’s it for this year folks! I hope you were able to either reminisce on some of your favorite books from 2016 or grab some new books to catch up on in 2017 between these three posts. Happy reading in 2017 and best of luck to those of us participating in this year’s Goodreads Challenge. Wishing everyone a happy and healthy new year!
So happy to see The Summer That Melted Everything made this list! It was also one of my favorite reads of 2016. I actually got the opportunity to meet Tiffany at a book festival and at another book event a few weeks later. I definitely hope to see more of her work in the future.
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I’m excited about Caraval, and I bought Dark Matter when it went on sale, so I am looking forward to reading both!
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It Ends with Us is on so many lists, I feel like this is the popular book of 2016. I enjoyed Dark Matter, a different read. Ink and Bone is on my Kindle and thanks for saying the KS is not a stand alone. Happy New Year
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Thanks for reading Marce and Happy New Year to you as well! 😊
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Brilliant list, Chels, and a couple of ideas for me!
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The Summer That Melted Everything is fantastic
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Ink and Bone has been on my list forever. I need to read it!
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👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
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I am so excited for Caraval, it’s not even funny hahah! I can’t wait! I also loved Dark Matter! Kept Woman and Ink and Bone are on my list, so I’ll have to move them up!
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Yay! I hope you enjoy them all!
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Grant County/Will Trent IS one series 😂😂 Awesome list!
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PREACH! 😂🙌🏼
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They really need to remarket the whole series as one, we know things 😂
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Great list! My TBR list grows nearly every time you post!
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Aw thanks Nichole! 😘
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I have Ink and Bone waiting patiently on my Kindle from this summer I believe. I need to get to that one for sure in 2017. My issue with Karen Slaughter’s book in the past have been the level of graphic gory details…would you say the Will Trent series is heavy on that compared to her others outside the series? I have heard it’s a fantastic series though and I do think her writing is excellent. So…what’s your 2nd recommended series:)
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Very true… they are very graphic! I found the Will Trent series is still graphic, but not quite as over the top as her standalones. Pretty Girls (IMO) was her most graphic book and it even put me off slightly bc it felt unnecessary.
Glad you asked! The second is the Myron Bolitar books by Harlan Coben. 😊
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I was going to mention Pretty Girls as I barely finished that one, it was just too graphic for me as well
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Awesome list!! This is the second time I’ve seen The Summer that Melted Everything, so I think I need to check it out. Dark Matter was one of my favs. I just requested Caraval on Netgalley…fingers crossed! It is on EVERYONE’S list for this year! Must be good. The Woman Kept was awesome. I haven’t read any of the other books in the series and still really enjoyed it!
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Oh I’m so glad you still enjoyed that one! You are a hardcore reader for sure then. 😘 And yay! TSTME was so great and the author is a fabulous person. Caraval is a MUST!!
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The Kept Woman has been on my shelf FOREVER and I think this is just the push I needed to start it!!
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Yay! So glad to hear it!
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Ink and Bone has been on my TBR forever; now I have to move it to the top of my pile! By Adam, your posts are messing up my reading order!
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BAHAHAHA! So sorry for that, but so glad we have so many books in common! 😘😘
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I really need to read It Ends With Us because the concept intrigues me so much! I pre-ordered Caraval and I’m so excited to get it! And Dark Matter was one of my faves this year as well! ❤️
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I can’t wait to continue with Will Trent’s books. I love Karin Slaughter! Great selection ❤
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Thanks Annie!
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