Favorite Picture Books of 2017

2017 was the year I got really, really into picture books. I tried to read as many new ones as I could get my hands on, and I started figuring out which authors were my favorites, as well as really sharpening the library of titles I can choose from when it comes to storytimes. These are my favorite picture books of 2017:

A Different Pond by Bao Phi: This semi-autobiographical picture book features Phi as a young boy, fishing with his father in Minneapolis. The story is contrasted with Phi’s father talking about fishing in his homeland of Vietnam. Gorgeous images accompany Phi’s lovely prose. It’s a striking, moving story, and it features some beautiful pictures of Minneapolis’s Lake Street.

Little Fox in the Forest by Stephanie Graegin: A little girl brings her stuffed fox to the playground, and a real fox steals away with it. The illustrations in this wordless picture book are so beautifully drawn, and the story so sweet that it’s impossible not to be sucked into it. Totally marvelous.

Stay: A Girl, a Dog, and a Bucket List by Kate Klise: Eli the dog has been with Astrid the girl since she came home from the hospital as an infant. Astrid is getting older, and so is Eli, so Astrid decides they need to complete a bucket list of experiences together. These things include eating together at a restaurant and sliding down a slide at the playground. This novel, written and illustrated by a pair of sisters, made me ugly cry. But it’s also one of the sweetest, smartest picture books I read this year. The story perfectly encapsulates the love between humans and canines, and I completely loved it.

The Storm Whale in Winter by Benji Davies: Noi is waiting at home while his dad takes one last journey to the sea to fish before winter settles in. But a storm comes in and Noi’s dad doesn’t return, so Noi sets out to look for him. When Noi gets stuck in the icy sea, his whale friend comes to the rescue. I actually read this sequel before Davies’ original tale, and I loved both so much. A sweet story about friendship and family, this moving little book is guaranteed to satisfy kids and adults alike.

Out! by Arree Chung: Everyone in the family is ready for bed after a long day, except for the baby. When Jo Jo the dog goes to check on the baby, she finds that the baby wants OUT. Shenanigans ensue. Repetition of the same word and fun, colorful illustrations make this a crowd-pleaser, and yes, I love picture books about dogs. It’s a whole thing.

 

Wolf in the Snow by Matthew Cordell: A girl gets lost in the snow on her way home from school and encounters a wolf pup, separated from its pack. She helps him find his family, and then they return the favor. This simple, nearly wordless picture book had me crying, and so much of that is due to Cordell’s ability to express a myriad of feelings in his pen-and-ink-and-watercolor illustrations. I loved this compelling book about kindness.

What picture books stood out to you this year?

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What I Read This Week

These are the books I read this week. Without further ado:

The Assistants by Camille Perri: Tina Fontana is an executive assistant to Robert Barlow, a multimedia billionaire CEO. She’s living paycheck to paycheck while he rakes in literal billions. When a technical error with an expense report offers Tina a chance to pay off her student loan debt, she hesitates and then actually does it. But then other assistants start cashing in favors about their debt, too, and before Tina knows it, she’s caught up in a scheme that is completely illegal.

It’s probably best not to think about this one too hard, because it’s pretty silly, but it’s also kind of fun to read a story about a bunch of women taking down a billionaire man. I wanted it to have more depth, and I wanted the characters to have more development, but it was a perfectly diverting read.

Dear Martin by Nic Stone: Justyce is at the top of his class, on a scholarship to a prestigious prep school, and he’s definitely Ivy League bound. None of that matters when a police officer puts him in handcuffs. Another altercation with an off-duty cop puts Justyce in the midst of controversy he never wanted any part of. Turning to the teachings of Dr. King to try to find answers, Justyce has to find a way to grapple with the realities of his life.

I really liked this moving account of a black kid caught between two worlds. It’s a great readalike to The Hate U Give, which I thought had more nuance than this one, but both are definitely recommended reading. Nic Stone will be an author to watch.

Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling: Harry keeps dreaming about a locked door at the end of a corridor. Dumbledore insists Harry should study occlumency lessons with Snape but won’t say why. An anti-Voldemort group called the Order of the Phoenix is hard at work but won’t let Harry know what they’re planning. A new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is making life hell at Hogwarts.

I’m still going strong on my re-listening to the Harry Potter series, and I enjoyed this one immensely. I can’t wait to get into the last two books, which I remember the least of all of them.

 

 

 

Book Review: Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin

Aviva Grossman is a young and impressionable congressional intern when she falls for her married boss. A mistake in and of itself, but then she blogs about it, and it gets discovered, and she’s basically run out of town. So she moves to Maine, changes her name, and raises her daughter to be strong. But when she decides to run for public office herself, she finds that her past mistakes aren’t so easily erased.

Gabrielle Zevin offers a fresh, funny, and compelling take on slut shaming and modern society in Young Jane Young. Told in five parts from the perspectives of five smart and very different women, this is a delight of a book that whizzes by and leaves the reader thoroughly satisfied. Although Zevin presents a story that’s very familiar, she does so with a freshness and cleverness that makes it new again. 

Comparisons to Monica Lewinsky abound here, but Zevin does it so carefully that it’s a powerful connection to real-life source material that doesn’t overwhelm this story’s original narrative. Because there are five different narrators, parts of the story are revisited over and over again, but because they’re seen from different perspectives, it doesn’t feel as though the story ever lags. It just helps add further dimension to characters that feel real and very human.

I loved this one. It’s inspiring and full of strong female characters. It’s funny and warm, and Zevin has crafted one of the best critiques of slut-shaming I’ve ever seen. It skewers the sexism inherent in our society, and it does so beautifully. Recommended.

Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin. Algonquin: 2017. Library copy.

Book Review: Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

Eliza Mirk’s real life is quiet and friendless. But online, she’s got a core group of friends and is the author of the insanely popular webcomic Monstrous Sea. No one knows that she’s the writer except for her two best friends. When she meets Wallace Warland at school and discovers that he’s a MS fan as well as the most popular writer of the series’ fanfiction, the two slowly start to become friends or maybe more. But she doesn’t tell him who she is, and she’s stacking a house of cards that’s sure to fall down at some point.

This smart, sweet, captivating novel about high school misfits who find each other through their shared love of fantasy is a standout. Zappia has created not only one memorable world, but another fully-realized world within a world. Fans of Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl will find a great readalike here, with a ton of depth and complexity.

What stands out in this novel is Zappia’s commitment to showing the how painful and self-absorbing mental illness can be while also developing characters who are more than just their illnesses. Wallace and Eliza’s relationship is unusual to say the least, but it is realistic and absorbing. Their relationship with one another, as well as their own grappling with their own issues, helps illustrate the feelings of helplessness that young people so often experience.

Incredibly respectful to fandoms the world over, this is a memorable read. Teens are likely to tear through this one more than once (I had a seventh-grade girl tell me she’s on her fifth read of it the other day), and it’s very likely to find a fervent audience. I enjoyed the hell out of this one. One of my favorite reads of 2017.

Recommended.

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia. Greenwillow Books: 2017. Library copy.

 

What I Read This Week

Here’s what I read this week:

Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares:

It’s been 10 years since the girls lost the Pants on a trip to Greece. Although they all have careers and men in their lives that they love, they feel like something is missing. When Tibby reaches out to them and plans a reunion trip in Greece, they all realize they need to see one another. But a tragic accident sends the girls reeling in another journey of self-discovery.

I read this when it came out and haven’t revisited it since. I remember really liking it, but I wonder now how much of that was fueled by my love for the series, because this was Not Great. The characters are totally stalled in terms of development, and they’re all kind of the worst, to be honest. There’s a lot of stalling in terms of the plot, too, which makes for a strangely bogged-down read. This is one that didn’t age well.

 

Every Exquisite Thing by Matthew Quick:

Nanette O’Hare is a star soccer player and straight-A student. But she’s lonely, and when her beloved English teacher gives her his copy of The Bubblegum Reaper, she becomes obsessed with the piece of fiction. She befriends the author, falls in love with a troubled young poet, and discovers more about herself than she ever thought possible.

The first half of this novel feels like well-trodden ground, and then it veers off into something quite different. The result is a strong offering from Quick, who is a smart writer of prose and an even better writer of dialogue. A strong female protagonist also makes this one a standout. I really liked it.

The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller: 

Olivia Rawlings is a renowned pastry chef who literally sets the Boston dinner club she works at on fire with her flambeed dessert. Since her love life is also a fiery mess, she decides to hightail it up to rural Vermont to crash with her best friend. But then a job offer at the Sugar Maple Inn comes available, and Olivia finds herself settling down out of the city and forging connections she never thought possible.

I loved, loved, loved this one, devouring it in about two sittings. It might be a case of the book coming to me at the right time, but it hardly matters, because it was pure escapism. Something about this reminded me a little of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books, although hers might delve deeper into her characters. Even so, this was a delight from start to finish and I hope Miller has more to offer in the future.

What did you read this week?

 

Book Review: There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

Moving from Hawaii to Nebraska was supposed to give high school senior Makani Young a chance to start over. Her past is full of dark secrets, and she’d like to keep it that way. She’s found friends and has started dating Ollie Larson, but just when she thinks things might start to go her way, her classmates start getting murdered in really gruesome ways. Can Makani confront her past and maybe save some lives at the same time? Or is she next?

Perkins takes a sharp turn out of the YA romance genre to explore YA horror with a bloody, fast-paced slasher story. While Perkins doesn’t shy away from the violence in this one (seriously, it’s super, super gory) and it’s clear that she has a love of horror movies, her talents at writing budding love stories still manage to shine through here. This overshadows the slasher storyline significantly.

Makani’s burgeoning relationship with Ollie is sweet, compelling, and believable. They have a nice rapport and chemistry that jumps off the page. Perkins works hard to not reveal Makani’s secrets nor the killer’s identity in an attempt to ramp up the tension, it’s the two teen’s relationship that allows readers to feel any connection to the characters. The result is a mixed bag: it’s not a scary read, but it is a bloody one.

The novel’s very bloody end wraps things up, providing the killer’s identity as well as their motivations, but it feels like almost too little too late. While teens are likely to gobble this one up quickly, there’s not a lot of substance here, and it could have been a lot scarier than it was. Still, it’s an interesting direction for Perkins to go, and it will be equally interesting to see what she does next.

There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins. Dutton Books for Young Readers: 2017. Library copy.

Book Review: Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips

Joan and her son Lincoln are spending a late afternoon at the zoo, enjoying the sunshine and each other’s company. It’s just before closing, and as Joan and her son leave the zoo, she sees something so horrible that she turns around and runs back into the zoo, looking for a place to hide. The next three hours are spent trying to keep Lincoln alive as they are literally hunted. Relying on her knowledge of her son and of the physical layout of the zoo, Joan will stop at nothing to keep him safe.

Part literary fiction, part suspenseful thriller, readers will not want to stop turning pages until the very end of this taut, well-crafted novel. Told in real-time over the course of the few hours they are trapped in the zoo, this novel whizzes by as fast as the bullets that are being spewed in the zoo. Although the majority of the novel is told from Joan’s perspective, readers also get glimpses into the other people in the zoo, including one of the shooters.

The crafting of the characters in addition to the tight pacing of this novel make it a standout. Her prose is strong, and her characters are well-developed, allowing readers to get inside the minds of the people who populate this book. Timely, poignant, and terrifying, this is a standout novel of 2017.

Not for the faint of heart. Although the novel’s descriptions of violence are not particularly graphic, the premise alone will hit too close to home for some readers (and animal lovers will have a hard time with this one especially). The ambiguous ending also means that some readers will be left disappointed or angry. But readers who love their thrillers complex and literary will tear through this one. Recommended.

Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips. Viking: 2017. Library copy.

 

What I Read This Week

I’m in this weird place right now where I don’t want to read any of the books I have checked out from the library. The result is a lot of starting a book, setting it down, and picking something else up. But here’s what I got through this week:

The Party by Robyn Harding: Jeff and Kim Sanders’ daughter Hannah is turning sixteen, and they allow her to have a sleepover party with four of her friends. But things go horribly awry, and the aftermath of the accident will have lasting consequences for all of those involved.

The book’s blurb compared this to Herman Koch’s The Dinner, which is kind of hilarious, because this isn’t anything like this. It’s also not particularly interesting, and though Harding does her best to ramp up the tension by skipping around in time, there just isn’t that much tension built into the story to merit it. The result is kind of a snoozefest, with characters who don’t feel realistic and a plot that feels like a retread of so many other family dramas. Snooze.

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger: When Clare meets Henry for the first time, she is six and he is in his thirties. When Henry meets Clare for the first time, he is 28 and she is 20. Thus begins their love story, spanning years. Henry travels through time against his will, making for a challenging partner.

This was a reread for me. I read this about 12 years ago and LOVED it, and I wanted to revisit it to see how my relationship to it changed. It, uh, changed a lot, because this time it left me pretty cold. I found the characters grating, the story largely unmoving, and was deeply unsettled by the almost pedophilic reverence Henry has for young Clare. Yuck.

 

Book Review: The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare

The Duke of Ashbury has not been the same since he came home from the war. Badly scarred, he spends his time brooding and being a general grouch, scaring London’s thieves at night for a bit of fun. But he also needs an heir, which means he needs a wife. Convinced he will never find a woman to fall in love with him, he convinces Emma Gladstone, a vicar’s daughter who is working as a seamstress, to marry him. His rules are clear: there will be no love between them, and once she has given him an heir, she will move to his country house to live out her days. But he didn’t count on feeling so much for Emma, nor did she plan on falling for him.

The first in a new series by romance royalty Tessa Dare, this sneakily feminist historical romance is smart, funny, sexy, and a hell of a lot of fun. Dare has crafted two leads with enormous chemistry on the page while also allowing them to be fully formed characters with distinct personalities, wants, and desires. The dialogue is witty, the banter absolutely charming, and the sex is hot.

Dare allows Emma to form friendships with other women in the town, and she allows the Duke to be an asshole without ever making him a sexist piece of shit. The secondary characters are well-developed, and the plot moves along at a great pace. This is one that begs to be read in one sitting.

I really loved this one, and I can’t wait to see what Dare has in store for her characters next. This is a great gateway romance into the genre for novices, but it’s sure to delight seasoned romance fans as well. Highly recommended.

The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare. Avon: 2017. Library copy.

November 2017 Recap

I spent a lot of November writing for NaNoWriMo (and finished by the skin of my teeth), which meant I didn’t read as much as I would have liked, and I stopped blogging almost completely. But here’s how the month shook out:

Books:

Total: 32
Picture Books: 22
Middle Grade: 3
YA: 2
Adult: 5
Fiction: 32
Non-Fiction: 0
Audiobooks: 2
Total Pages Read: 2927

Favorite Reads in November:
Bonfire by Krysten Ritter: Abby left her tiny hometown in Indiana and never looked back. But now she’s an environmental lawyer in Chicago, and her team has been sent back to her hometown to investigate a company that might be leaching chemicals into the water. She has to confront the demons of her past as she digs deeper into a conspiracy that’s more far-reaching than she ever imagined.

I devoured this twisty thriller in a couple of days. Ritter’s debut novel is compelling, smart, and super well-written. I was blown away by this one, and it’s one of my favorite reads of the year.

Viewing

Total Movies: 4
New: 4
Re-Watch: 0

Favorite Movies in November: Thor: Ragnarok 

Other Things I’ve Been Watching:

Somehow I’ve ended up deep into a rewatch of Grey’s Anatomy, which has taken over my life. I’m into season 6, and I don’t even know how it’s happened.

We’re onto the last month of the year! I’m hoping to squeeze in a few more movies and books before revamping my goals for the new year.