Wooooo!!!! It’s the end of what is unequivocally the best year of my life, so here I am with a Cap’n Morgan and Coke in hand and thinking of my favourite books of the year.

Goodreads informs me that I’ve read a grand total of 111 books this year:

I’m pretty good at picking books that I enjoy, so I threw out a lot of 5 star reviews this year so I’ve picked the books that I still remember with love at the end of the year.

In no particular order

Everealm by J.D. Wright

I LOVE this series – it’s a fantasy soap opera with sex, magic, romantic drama and a group of young adults destined to run a kingdom together.

I took a break after book 4 in the series, but 2017 demands that I carry on!

Flying by the Seat of my Knickers by Eliza Watson

The first in a brand spanking new series, a young woman is putting her life back together after getting out of a bad relationship. I can’t really name the genre of this book, but it’s somewhere between a comedy and drama, Caity’s mishaps while she’s learning the ropes at her new event organiser job had me giggling like a loon.

 

 

 

 

 

Death by Diploma by Kelley Kaye 

   This book led to my very first blog tour post! I also discovered the term ‘cozies’ when researching this book.

It’s the perfect mix of funny female friendship and murder mystery and put me on to the entire genre!

I can’t wait for more books in this series, I’ve never known murder to be so entertaining!

 

 

 

Unmemorable by A.P. Jensen

As a firm fan of paranormal romance, this blew my mind as it’s the first completely original storyline I’ve come across in ages!

My only problem with this story is that the kickass heroine takes a little bit too much crap from her love interest. Heroines with superpowers don’t need to take crap from ANYONE!

 

 

 

Braineater Jones by Stephen Kozeniewksi

 

I heard this in audio format, as performed by the glorious Steve Rimpici. It’s a gritty detective noir, only with zombies and a twisted sense of humour.

This was also my introduction to the work of Stephen Kozeniewski, whom I now consider to be one of my favourite authors.

This book is my absolute favourite of his and would recommend it as a starting point…. before you read his entire bibliography.

 

Nina is not O.K. by Shappi Khorsandi

This was a life changer – it’s about a teenage girl struggling with alcoholism. It feels so real, she starts off as a party girl who drinks on the weekends to blow off steam and then her drinking starts to creep into her days and she loses control of her own behaviour.

For such a depressing subject, this book is very funny and very touching. Nina is a breath of fresh air, reading this book is like listening to your best friend.

This is one of those books you need to read to understand.

Strawberries by Casey Bartsch

This is a killer debut novel! (ahahahaha puns. The rum is working)

This is a brutal serial killer story, expertly written. This book isn’t for the faint of heart and is a step beyond your usual murder mystery.

 

 

 

 

The Forever Year by Bill Fuller

Oh god. I cried so much at this book.

It broke my heart, spat on the shattered remains and laughed at my misery.

That’s only a slight exaggeration, too. It’s based on the true story of College football player George Gipp and the love of his life, Iris Trippeer.

It’s heartbreaking and beautiful, and 100% worth a read.

 

 

 

Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix

This book was so much fun to read! It’s a highly original haunted-house type horror/mystery set in an its-not-IKEA furniture store. However, what makes it even better is that the paperback is laid out to read like an IKEA catalogue, complete with illustrations and assembly instructions. This was the book that I told everyone to give as a gift to the horror lovers in their life this Christmas, hope you were wise and listened to me or you have no-one to blame but yourself!

 

 

And there we have it! It’s turned 2017 since I started writing this post so I wish you all a happy year ahead – the world’s a rocky place at the moment so make the most of what makes you happy and above all, be kind to each other!

Much love,

Nia