2017 in books.

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I set out to read 52 books in 52 weeks this year. As someone who works full-time and goes to school mostly full-time and also appreciates a good, long Netflix binge, I wasn't sure if it could happen. But last night, I curled into a blanket and stayed awake until 12:30 in the morning to finish my last book of the year, a murder mystery by Gillian Flynn. So I did it. That was number 52.

I have a lot of reflections on this year of reading. About discipline, and falling into habits, and creating new ones, and redefining and relearning solitude, and what it means to spend time. And I have a lot of reflections on this list of books, too. I realized that I read a lot of books about death (The Year of Magical Thinking, When Breath Becomes Air, The Bright Hour); in some ways, that seemed fitting for 2017. I finally dug into collections of poetry (Citizen, Salt, Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude) that, in other ways, restored my faith in 2017. I realized that I can read mysteries and thrillers, but still can't watch horror movies. I unashamedly read self-help books and young adult novels and memoir, and read even more of some of my favorite authors (Rob Bell, Anne Lamott, Roxane Gay), their books lining my shelves. And maybe most importantly, I realized that it doesn't matter what you like to read -- non-fiction or sci-fi or historical biographies -- as long as you read. Or not read. What matters is that you spend your free hours doing something that is good to you; maybe that is reading 52 books, or hiking 52 hikes, or doing 52 of literally anything that makes you smile/light up/feel true to yourself. What matters is that you spend your time enjoying your life.

And I loved this year of reading. The hours sitting in my bed or on my couch or at my desk, in coffee shops and the library and in bookstores. The stories and feelings and voices that met me each time I opened a book, started a chapter, read through the acknowledgments and dedication. I've kept track of every book I've read in a spreadsheet since I was a 9th grader to remember these moments, these words and titles, but I wanted to put this year in books in a separate list here. To remember, and to maybe add a few new titles to your lists, too. They're listed in the order that I read them, and then I added my top three below.

2017 in Books:

  1. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion
  2. When Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalinithi
  3. The Art of Memoir, Mary Karr
  4. There Is No Good Card for This, Kelsey Crowe & Emily McDowell
  5. Wherever You Go, There You Are, Jon Kabat-Zinn
  6. Salt, Nayyirah Waheed
  7. Citizen, Claudia Rankine
  8. A Prayer Journal, Flannery O'Connor
  9. Furiously Happy, Jenny Lawson
  10. Scrappy Little Nobody, Anna Kendrick
  11. The Marriage Plot, Jeffrey Eugenides
  12. Love Warrior, Glennon Doyle
  13. How to Be Here, Rob Bell
  14. Hallelujah Anyway, Anne Lamott
  15. Shrill, Lindy West
  16. The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence
  17. The Courage to Teach, Parker Palmer
  18. The Odd Woman and the City, Vivian Gornick
  19. The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion, Christopher Germer
  20. The Tao of Leadership, John Heider
  21. The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins
  22. Why I Wake Early, Mary Oliver
  23. You Are Therefore I Am, Satish Kumar
  24. Difficult Women, Roxane Gay
  25. Upstream, Mary Oliver
  26. Talking as Fast as I Can, Lauren Graham
  27. Where'd You Go, Bernadette?, Maria Semple
  28. Hunger, Roxane Gay
  29. What is the Bible?, Rob Bell
  30. Sex Object, Jessica Valenti
  31. The Dream of a Common Language, Adrienne Rich
  32. Into the Water, Paula Hawkins
  33. On Living, Kerry Egan
  34. The Inner Voice of Love, Henri Nouwen
  35. The Bright Hour, Nina Riggs
  36. Dog Songs, Mary Oliver
  37. The Princess Saves Herself in This One, Amanda Lovelace
  38. The Sun and Her Flowers, Rupi Kaur
  39. Everything, Everything, Nicola Yoon
  40. Turtles All the Way Down, John Green
  41. No One Belongs Here More Than You, Miranda July
  42. The Sabbath, Abraham Joshua Heschel
  43. Make It Happen, Lara Casey
  44. Braving the Wilderness, Brene Brown
  45. Manual of the Warrior of the Light, Paulo Coelho
  46. We Are Never Meeting in Real Life, Samantha Irby
  47. Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, Ross Gay
  48. The Child Finder, Rene Denfeld
  49. Caribou, Charles Wright
  50. Unbelievable, Katy Tur
  51. Devotions, Mary Oliver
  52. Dark Places, Gillian Flynn

2017's Top Three:

  1. The Bright Hour, Nina Riggs
  2. Upstream, Mary Oliver
  3. When Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalinithi

I'm not sure I'll read 52 books again in 2018. I have more classes to take and a thesis to write and maybe a new hobby to start or resolution to make. But I went to the library this morning to stock up again, picking up four books I might try to read while in Fargo over the next five days. It's unlikely, but I'm grateful that -- among other things -- this year of reading left me wanting to read more.