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My Reading List for 2017 (And What I Read in 2016)

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My Reading List for 2017 (And What I Read Last Year)

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I’m so excited about my reading list for 2017! I’ve already gotten started on my first book (a Dorothy Sayers mystery). I feel FREE because for the past two years I’ve included a huge and overwhelming classic that TOOK OVER the year. In 2015 it was Les Miserables and in 2016 it was The Brothers Karamazov. I’m not doing that to myself this year. There’s some classics on my list but nothing that I’ll have to slog through.

I got so stuck in The Brothers Karamazov this year that there were oodles of books I planned to read that I never got to. Sure, I was homeschooling three kids, working from home, buying a new house, and moving in but it was The Brothers K that really did me in.

I felt like I couldn’t start anything else until I finished The Brothers K, but I also felt like I could NEVER FINISH The Brothers K.  So I did a lot of staring at the cover and then grabbing my laptop and watching Poldark. So I’m not thrilled with my reading progress in 2016. And a significant portion of the books I read are Austen re-reads that I escaped to when I couldn’t face another page of The Brothers K. But 2016 was kind of a bad year all around, right?

Anyhow here’s what I read:

I read a few more re-reads here and there (I read most of the Anne books by L.M. Montgomery every year, etc) and I read a bunch of good non-fiction ebooks on health and natural living from this sale.

The best book I read this year was All the Light We Cannot See. For sure. Read it. It’s so good.

The worst book was Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (and this is why).

The most delightful read was The Awakening of Miss Prim.

With the Kids:

Benjamin (age 7) also got very into The Spiderwick Chronicles and the How to Train Your Dragon series.

And a million picture books from the library. (Here’s a few of our favorites)

And now onward! Here we come, 2017!

January

With the Kids:

February:

With the Kids:

March:

With the Kids:

April:

With the Kids:

May:

With the Kids:

June:

With the Kids:

July:

With the Kids:

August:

With the Kids:

September:

With the Kids:

October:

November:

December:

What’s on your reading list for 2017? Did you read something wonderful this year?

 

Comments

  1. I just finished The Father’s Tale by Michael O’Brien. It’s over 1,000 pages but I still plowed through it in two weeks. Not only was it an excellent book with character development reminiscent of Austen and adventure a la Tolkien, the spirituality of this book challenged me and deepened my prayer life. I highly recommend it if you haven’t read it already. It’s a hefty one, but I’d love to hear it discussed on your podcast or blog someday!

    Reply

    • I was going to recommend Island of the World by OBrien! I’ll have to check out the Fathers Tale. IotW is my absolute fav book.

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      • Island of the World won’t take over your year! I read it in less than two weeks (and I have four tiny children) because I couldn’t put it down, and then passed it on to ALL my frends, who read it, and passed it to their friends, etc. it’s truly life-changing.

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  2. My favorite reads this year were Silence by Shusaku Endo (I had no idea a movie was being made until after I started it. It came highly recommended based on my all-time favorite book, Come Rack! Come Rope! aka the greatest book ever). Also loved Fr. Michael Gaitley’s The Second Greatest Story Ever Told: Now Is the Time of Mercy, which interestingly he says he wrote before Pope Francis announced the year of mercy.

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  3. I’ll have to check out the podcast to hear more of what you thought on All the Light We Cannot See. It is, hands down, one of the best books I’ve ever read. Gaudy Night, too, so thanks for that ;).

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    • I have! I think Lancelot is the only novel I haven’t read yet? I lent most of my Percy to a friend a few years ago and then he moved and I never got them back 🙁

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  5. Your reading list(s – both this and next year’s) are inspiring to me! I had high hopes for my reading this year (after I did 50 books last year) but Anna Karenina put a dent in me, much the same as Brothers K sounds like it did to you! I like how you plot them out in advance, though- I might have to give that a try, although I’m always so susceptible to library visits or used book sales that I’m afraid would derail it…

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    • Totally! I just allow library visits and book sales to change things up because what’s the fun of being a grown up if you can’t switch things up and read whatever when you want to when you want to? But having a frame for the year helps me stay motivated 🙂

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  6. I have an ambitious reading plan for this year… 48 books in all, but will be happy if I accomplish half.

    For 2016 reads, hmmm. Outlaws of Ravenhurst was excellent! I am reading that with my MS English class. It would be a great read-aloud for younger kids. It is an amazing story of faith. I also started the Kristin Lavansdatter trilogy, and loved the first book. (I might have heard about it from your blog, can’t remember.). The other two books are part of the plan for 2017. I sadly fell away from reading new books after an illness and recovery (I re-read numerous books). I may have needed familiar books. But thankfully I am itching to read new things again! I am thankful I am over that phase.

    Thanks for sharing your reading plan.

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  7. Love the fact you have a reading list for the year.
    BUT
    What no Jane Austen in the 200th anniversary of her death ??? !!! I’m shocked – especially as you were the person who got me into Austen.

    Reply

    • Oh, Claire! I re-read them all every year. But I don’t put them in my reading list because I just pick them up whenever I need to 🙂

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  8. I was excited to see your Brandt Pitre book, The Jewish Roots of the Eucharist. A few months ago I read his “A Case For Jesus”, and it was probably one of the most compelleing theological books I’ve ever read. It’s not hard to read at all. I would highly recommend it!

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  9. Middlemarch is my favourite novel of all times, enjoy! (There is also an excellent mini-series – just saying…)
    The Daughter of Time is also fabulous.

    About The Eyre Affair, I LOVE the whole series, but the first one is the weakest of the bunch, as it takes a while to get going (plus getting used to the alternate universe etc), but keep going, each book only gets better! (You need to meet the Miss Havishams, get to the stupidity surplus and the anti-smiting shield. It’s probably the most inventive series since Douglas Adams, with an enormous and delightful helping of book-nerdness! ?

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    • I’ve held off on the miniseries for years because I want to read the book first. Good to know it’s waiting for me on the other side! And thanks for the advice on The Eyre Affair!

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  10. Good choices, all around! Spirit of the Liturgy is excellent. So is Mary: Church at the Source. My husband loved Canticle for Lebowitz. And the Father Brown stories are awesome!

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  11. “Drunks and Monks” a hilarious conversion story that Jen Fulweiler recommended–could not put it down. Willa Carther’s “My Antonia” was excellent, such an amazing writer. “Be Healed” by Bob Schucht, couldn’t put down–highly recommended for anyone with emotional wounds. “Evangelical Exodus” by Douglas Beaumont-about a evangelical seminary whose students are becoming catholic through teachings of Thomas Aquainis (beautiful stories from many ex seminarians turned catholic) anything Anthony Esolen’s–such a treasure to our faith. “Something Beautiful for God” by Malcom Muggeridge was just awesome. “Seven Story Mountain” by Thomas Merton was my favorite, maybe of all time. Crazy writing ability!

    Reply

    • Thanks for the recommendations! I haven’t heard of Drunks and Monks. And I read My Antonia when I was a girl but I remember nothing about it! Time for a re-read. Bob Schucht is actually from my hometown I think. I love Anthony Esolen! And I really loved Seven Storey Mountain, too 🙂

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  12. My favorite books I read in 2016 were:
    – The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner – it’s a memoir of growing up in and escaping from a polygamist cult. It was hard to remember this was a “real” story and that people are living this way right now. My bookclub read it and then Skyped with the author – she was lovely and so gracious in answering all of our questions. Everyone in the group LOVED it (which is fairly rare).

    – The Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah – this hit me because of the sister relationship – how they react to their parents’ aging differently because it reminded me of my relationship with my sister. The story is that while on his deathbed he makes their mother tell them all of a fairy tale she told them as children. Through her story they and we find out about her life in Russia before and during WWII. It was beautifully told and heart-breaking.

    In 2017 the book I’m looking forward to is The Polygamist’s Daughter by Anna LeBaron. It comes out in March. Anna is Ruth Wariner’s cousin (from Sound of Gravel) and Anna’s father had Ruth’s father (and others) killed so it’s a different POV of the same extended family. I was able to read an advanced copy and LOVED it – I cried for young Anna and as adult Anna realized the truth about who she is in God. I can’t wait to see the final version of the story – I’ve already pre-ordered and “made” friends and family pre-order too because I know they will appreciate Anna’s story.

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  13. Oh my gosh, Trumpet of the Swan!! I loved that book, read it in 3rd grade. Also, The Essential Father Brown is SOOOO great! In my opinion, it’s the best way to be introduced to the Father Brown stories, because this collection is curated so thoughtfully, and is really comprised of the best of the best. Lastly, the Addy books! These books really helped me to begin (in an age appropriate way) to have a (of course limited) conception of what slavery might have been like when I was very young. I really appreciated this as I grew older and learned more about the realities of slavery, and I am so grateful that these books provide that to children. All of the original American Girl books are great!

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    • I know I read it when I was little, but I don’t remember it at all! And the Addy books were my favorite AG series. And I completely sympathize. I think they really helped me understand that era of history and how evil slavery is.

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  14. Is it weird that I read this post like 3 times? I love book posts. I put 14 on my 2017 list because I know I’ll find others as the year goes on. This is the first year I’ve done a lost and I’m so excited!

    For the kids books, do you read them to all 3? My oldest is a year younger than yours so I’ve been looking at your book lists for where to go for our read-alouds. My second is 4 and is much more sensitive than my first so I’m never quite sure what he can handle.

    They have committed themselves to finishing Magic Treehouse so I’m not sure when we’ll get around to something else. I’m thinking Boxcar Children next maybe.

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    • I LOVE reading people’s book lists. I don’t even know why! But I never skip them, haha.

      I read some things aloud to all three and some separately (just Benjamin or just the girls). Have you tried The Little House books (like Farmer Boy) with your kiddos? Those are often crowd pleasers for a variety of ages.

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  15. Your Brothers K experience sounds like mine with Doctor Zhivago. Took me two years to labor through it (no joke!), and it seriously affected all my other reading.

    On a different note, All the Light We Cannot See was one of my favorite reads this year too. So rare that a book lives up to the hype but this one did!

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  16. Happy to see some Walker Percy in there!! He is from our town and is buried just a few miles away from us. Lancelot is pretty heavy, and I probably need to reread it. It’s good though! Have you read The Moviegoer?

    Also, I love this! You inspire me to read more!

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    • I love Percy! I think this is the only novel of his that I haven’t read yet. And I really should re-read The Moviegoer!

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  17. THE SPIRIT OF THE LITURGY IS SIMPLY THE BEST EVER!!!! If you get to that mid-year crisis where you can’t read all the things, at least read TSOTL. And if you get in the middle of it and Pope B is going on about ethos and logos and you don’t know what’s what, just skip ahead until he’s comprehensible again.

    I have an MA in Theology and this is by far one of the most important books on Catholicism / life / theology / liturgy I’ve ever read.

    IT’S SO GOOD!!!!

    🙂

    Ps. Love the blog – been following for ages, and now am an avid Fountains of Carrots fan!!! Thanks for all you do! Your writing a real gem of Catholic internetting!

    Reply

  18. This list is incredible. I’m a schoolteacher at a classical school, and I’m seriously thinking of just using your proposed reading schedule for my class!!
    How did you go about creating this list? I have several books that have been sitting on my shelf unread for ages, so I would probably start there, but would have no idea how to sort them into months!

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  19. I did posts on my blog covering everything I read this year and my list for next year (linked below if anyone’s interested enough).

    It’s so hard to narrow down the best things I read this year, because I really read some great ones, but some of my favorites this year were The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper–so exciting! Little Men by Louisa May Alcott. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. His Excellency by Joseph J. Ellis–a biography on George Washington. And I really enjoyed The Book Thief by Markus Zusak–very unconventional.

    I only have 12 books to start with on my list for this year, but I’m pretty psyched about my choices. Love reading your lists and your other bookish posts! 🙂

    http://oldoriginalthoughts.blogspot.com/2016/12/lets-bust-recap-2016.html

    http://oldoriginalthoughts.blogspot.com/2017/01/2017-book-list.html

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  20. Haley, I love that you added your kids’ books too! You are a good 4 years ahead of me in motherhood on this so I figured I’d ask: how do you decide when to introduce books? For example I read the Chronicles of Narnia very young- I loved them, but didn’t get all of the symbolism and greater depth of them. Now maybe a parent checking in and/or reading with me would help with that. But isn’t there something to be said for waiting until the “optimal age”- but what is that?! Thanks for your help!

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  22. Haley, have you ever read Peace Like a River by Leif Enger? He is one of my absolute favorite authors. It’s great – you could read it with your older kids. But, it’s also a great read just for an adult. It’s beautifully written and it has a very theologically deep side. I wrote a paper on it in graduate school, and I got to meet the author and talk about it with him. He also wrote a book So Brave, Young, and Handsome which is fantastic but maybe not as kid-friendly (nothing objectionable, the story is just not as fast). If you haven’t read Peace, you should.

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  23. Probably the two best books I read this year were When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi and A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans. Kalanithi does such a wonderful job of exploring death and life and how intricately they are intertwined. I absolutely loved Evans book – she spends a year following literal biblical interpretations for what a woman of God should be and how she should act. She learns about how other people have interpreted the texts (Judaism, Amish, etc.) and also has mini Bible studies of Biblical women. I have been recommending this book to all of my friends. Next year I hope to read more classic novels – especially 19-20th century, and to get in more historical books (as long as they don’t sound like textbooks).

    Reply

  24. Have you read Lila already this year? Would love to hear thoughts after you’ve read all three. I just read Home now, after reading both Gilead and Lila in summer 2016. Just went back to find your simple show episode re Home, and I agree that Home is not quite as mind blowing amazing as Gilead (or Lila)… felt less hopeful and more depressing to me, actually. But the writing is still gorgeous and heartbreaking and the human relationships so painfully real, everyone should still read it! Strikes me how very different the perspectives and scopes of the 3 novels about the same characters/events are. Wish we could have a long book chat over the dinner table and some of Daniel’s home brew! Miss you guys.

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  26. Can i just ask how you manage reading with three kids at differing levels of literacy and age? I love to read to my kids but find that the eldest who is 6 loses interest in the books i read to my 4 year old – and the 4 year old definitely needs alot of help in reading and loses interest quickly. I also have a 1 year old who grabs books to join the gang but of course can’t sit still. Would love to know how you keep your kids loving to read!

    Reply

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