*Top Ten Tuesday* Favorite Books of 2017

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Joood - Hooligan of Platypire reviews bossed me into doing this, so I guess this is a thing I do now. 

This weeks theme is favorite books of 2017. Ugh. I hate lists like this because it's just so hard to narrow down my choices. On top of that, I always feel like if I use too many books that were proofreads, people will think my lists are just biased trying to drum up business or something, so then I err in the other direction and try to just not include any of them, but that's dishonest too. And it's just so annoying. But I'm going to give it a shot anyway. Here are some of my most favorite books I read in 2017 in no particular order.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell - I listened to the audiobook version of this book just last week while doing my Christmas cookie baking for my husbands work party. I made soooo many cookies because I had a lot of cookie ingredients in my cupboards that I needed to get used up before we move here soon, and that means I had a lot of time to listen to audiobooks. Even though I just finished listening to this book, I want to listen to it again already and that's quite abnormal for me.

The Holiday Gift by RaeAnne Thayne - This is one of the books that I read for my 12 Books of Christmas Challenge, and it provided everything I look for in a cheesy Christmas story. It had all the warm fuzzy feelings you want from a Christmas romance, and I would highly recommend it.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty - This was a book club pick recently and I found myself just absolutely devouring it, which is somewhat rare for me lately, especially for book club book picks. And it's not that I don't enjoy the books, it's just that I often get sidetracked for deadline books like proofreads, and they just fall by the wayside to languish on my currently reading shelf for months until I finally find some time to finish them. While I didn't have this book finished in time for the original meeting, it was finished within a week of the meeting. If you enjoy reality tv, you'll probably enjoy this book.

A Very Mer-Merry Holiday by Ginna Moran - It is very possible that my feelings about this book are biased. Not only was I hired to proofread it, but I also helped brainstorm some ideas for the basic plot with Ms. Moran. That being said, I absolutely love what she did with those ideas, and much like The Holiday Gift, this was ultimately a very warm, fuzzy, feel-good holiday tale. It has the added benefit of being set in Australia, which just doesn't get enough Christmastime recognition with it's warm sandy beaches in December.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - If you've followed my blog at all, you are probably aware that I really like WWII era historical fiction (at least you should be because I kind of talk about it a lot), so it's no surprise that The Book Thief would make my list of top books read this past year. It has the added benefit of starring a main character who also loves to read. And there are so many feels, so just be sure to have some tissues handy while reading it yourself.

Lost Boy by Christina Henry - I have been absolutely loving classic story retellings lately, and this Peter Pan prequel absolutely blew me away. If you've ever wondered how Captain Hook came to be in Neverland in the first place, and just why he hates Peter so much, this is definitely the book for you.

Confessions of a Domestic Failure by Bunmi Laditan - This book is like an ode to all the hot-mess moms out there, and I personally think it's particularly relevant for anyone on social media (which is just about everyone). It is so easy to feel like a horrible mother when you're bombarded with images of other moms being perfect (because that's all you see of their lives on social media), but this provides a bit of a reminder that most moms just aren't telling you everything, and that you're probably doing a pretty damn good job at mom-ing yourself.

Down the Rabbit Hole by Holly Madison - As a viewer of The Girls Next Door, I was interested to get a more in-depth look at what went on at the Playboy Mansion, and I actually got more than I bargained for from this book. I'm smart enough to know that reality tv is not exactly realistic, but I felt like this book really filled in some of the gaps. I'm also smart enough to know that not all the things written in this book are entirely accurate either, but I found it entertaining nonetheless.

So that's only eight books, and there are several others that I would add to the list, but I have less to say about why I liked them so much which would screw with the formatting of this post, so I'm just going to leave you with eight.

What are some of your favorite books you read in 2017? - Katie

*If you're stopping by from the linkup, please be sure to leave a link to your post so I can stop by and see your lists too.*

Have you joined the 12 Books of Christmas Challenge yet? Find out more details and sign up here!