1. Rules, Patterns and Words by Dave Willis, February 8, 2017
2. The Karamazov Brothers by Fyodor Dostoevsky, February 28, 2017
3. Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell , March 16, 2017
4. Dictator by Robert Harris, March 29, 2017
5. The Kingdom of Speech by Tom Wolfe, April 1, 2017
6. American Gods by Neil Gaiman (10th Anniversary edition--Author's Preferred Text), April 16, 2017
7. Did Jesus Exist? by Bart D. Ehrman April 27, 2017
8. A Passage to India by E.M. Forster, May 9, 2017
9. Second Language Acquisition by Rod Ellis, May 11, 2017
10. Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence , June 1, 2017
11. The Life of Mahatma Gandhi by Louis Fischer , June 20, 2017
12. Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov, July 8, 2017
13. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, July 26, 2017
14. The Intellectuals and the Masses by John Carey, July 31, 2017
15. The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks, August 14, 2017
16. Implementing the Lexical Approach by Michael Lewis, August 30, 2017
17. Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz, September 7, 2017
18. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner , September 19, 2017
19. Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers by Michael McCarthy, September 27, 2017
20. Beloved by Toni Morrison, October 16, 2017
21. Uncovering Grammar by Scott Thornbury, November 8, 2017
22. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, November 16, 2017
23. Teaching English as an International Language by Sandra Lee McKay, November 18, 2017
24. The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie, November 29, 2017
25. Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition by Stephen D Krashen, December 12, 2017
26. Thank You, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse, December 14, 2017
Not listed--2 children's books that I used as Graded Readers (HERE and HERE), one comic book (HERE) and 4 books I did for the professional development bookclub that I don't count because it was actually my second time reading them (HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE). And also one book that I finished this year, but haven't gotten around to reviewing yet (HERE).
So, 26 books this year. Much better than last year.
I was a bit more disciplined about my reading this year. Plus, being in two book clubs (one for professional development at work, and one a general literature reading club) helped a lot.
Anyway, on with the awards.
Best Fiction
Because this is my own subjective list, I'm basing this on what book I personally enjoyed the most, rather than on objective literary merit (We read a lot of the great classics in bookclub this year, so I feel like I should make that disclaimer).
Runner up is The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway.
Also really loved Thank You, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse,
Worst Fiction
Again, just my own subjective tastes here. I'm sorry to all Toni Morrison's fans. I just couldn't get into this one.
Runner up is Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence, although I don't completely hate all of Lady Chatterley's Lover--there was some interesting stuff going on in that book in the beginning and the end, it was just the middle that was so awful.
Best Historical Fiction
Admittedly, there's not a lot of competition in this category. The only other historical fiction I read this year was The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks .
Both books were good, but I had my issues with The Secret Chord (which I detailed in my review), so I give it to Dictator.
Best Non-Fiction
Also really enjoyed Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell (Orwell writes really well) and Did Jesus Exist? by Bart D. Ehrman (really interesting), so choosing a best out of the 3 was a tough call. But Louis Fischer writes well, and this is a really important story, so in the end The Life of Mahatma Gandhi is the winner.
Best Book For Professional Development
Scott Thornbury writes really well, which makes him a pleasure to read.
(I also enjoyed Implementing the Lexical Approach by Michael Lewis, and Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition by Stephen D Krashen. But I already gave Krashen this award in 2015, and Michael Lewis in 2016, and in both cases, the books I read this year are largely just retreading the same ground as the books I already read in those previous years.)
Worst Book For Professional Development
The Kingdom of Speech by Tom Wolfe
Although to give credit where credit is due, Tom Wolfe can write great prose. I'd even cautiously recommend this book to anyone looking for something quick and easy to read. But because the book was factually wrong about everything, it gets my nomination for worst book in this category.
Reading List Graveyard for 2017
On the left side margin of this blog, I have listed all the books that I'm currently reading.
Many of these books I haven't picked up in months. But I still have every intention of finishing them. (I just need to clear out some time, and thin my reading list a bit--or so I keep telling myself). I may be lying to myself, but... no reading list graveyard for this year. Check back in at the end of 2018 to see if I've admitted to abandoning any of these books.
Video Reviews from 2017 HERE
Link of the Day
Noam Chomsky Vs. B. F. Skinner
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