My book goal for 2016 was to read (or listen to) 27 books to beat last year's 26 books. I'm happy to say the final count for 2016 was . . .
. . . 35 books! Boo-yah!
What's my secret? I'm usually listening to books rather than music while I'm driving or editing photos (I also love me some podcasts). Audiobooks can get expensive, so I use the good old library to get them for free. Most libraries now have eBook options available to you which include audiobooks. I use the Overdrive App (your library might use a different app) to download books straight to my phone. I love it.
Below are the remaining books I devoured in 2016. {To see the previous books I read in 2016, click HERE}. The little tidbit about each book was taken off Amazon. Click the book title for even more info on the book. The "recommendation" of each book is my personal opinion. 😊 21. The Most Dangerous Animal of All: Searching for My Father and Finding the Zodiac Killer by Gary L. Stewart (non-fiction): When Gary L. Stewart decided to search for his biological father at the age of thirty-nine, he never imagined his quest would lead him to a horrifying truth and force him to reconsider everything he thought he knew about himself. *Highly Recommended
22. Escape by Carolyn Jessop (non-fiction): The dramatic first-person account of life inside an ultra-fundamentalist American religious sect, and one woman’s courageous flight to freedom with her eight children. *Highly Recommended
23. The Good Girl by Mary Kubica (fiction/thriller): In this tale of a kidnapping gone wrong, Mia, the black-sheep daughter of prominent Chicago judge James Dennett, impulsively decides to go home with Colin, a young man she meets in a bar. *Highly Recommended
24. Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandburg (non-fiction): Sheryl Sandberg examines why women’s progress in achieving leadership roles has stalled, explains the root causes, and offers compelling, commonsense solutions that can empower women to achieve their full potential. *Recommended
25. Soul Surfer by Bethany Hamilton (non-fiction): In this moving personal account of faith and fortitude, internationally ranked surfer Bethany Hamilton tells how she survived a shark attack that cost her arm--but not her spirit. *Recommended, especially for preteens/teens
26. My Story by Elizabeth Smart (non-fiction): Ten years after her abduction from her Salt Lake City bedroom, Elizabeth Smart reveals how she survived and the secret to forging a new life in the wake of a brutal crime. *Recommended
27. Two by Two by Nicholas Sparks (fiction): In a matter of months, Russ finds himself without a job or wife, caring for his young daughter while struggling to adapt to a new and baffling reality. *Recommended
28. Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín (fiction): Committed to a quiet life in little Enniscorthy, Ireland, the industrious young Eilis Lacey reluctantly finds herself swept up in an unplanned adventure to America. *Recommended
29. The Circle by Dave Eggers (fiction): When Mae Holland is hired to work for the Circle she feels she’s been given the opportunity of a lifetime. The Circle, run out of a sprawling California campus, links users’ personal emails, social media, banking, and purchasing with their universal operating system, resulting in one online identity and a new age of civility and transparency. *Not my favorite book but I'd still recommend it.
30. Seriously . . . I'm Kidding by Ellen DeGeneres (humor): If you like Ellen, you'll like this book. 😜 31. Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng (fiction): From the first sentence, we know the oldest daughter of the Chinese-American Lee family has died. What follows is a novel that explores alienation, achievement, race, gender, family, and identity. *Not my favorite book but I'd still recommend it.
32. Food: A Love Story by Jim Gaffigan (humor): Feast along with America’s favorite food comedian, bestselling author, and male supermodel Jim Gaffigan as he digs into his specialty: stuffing his face. *Funny but not for everyone. 😁
33. The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer (non-fiction/humor): For a comedian of unbridled (and generally hilarious) causticity, Schumer has written a probing, confessional, unguarded, and, yes, majorly humanizing non-memoir. *Funny but explicit
34. Not that Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham (non-fiction/humor): *Not terrible but not my favorite
35. Hollow City: The Second Novel of Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (fiction/series): It pains me to say I could hardly finish this book. I liked the 1st book but this one was too juvenile. *Not recommended
What were your favorite books of 2016? Have you read any of the books I have??
Happy reading!
xoxo~
Colette