Top 16 Books of 2016

I read lots of great books this year. I kept track of them all over on Goodreads and although I didn't meet my target of 80 (I read 55), I did read different genres, audiobooks, ebooks and reintroduced myself to the library; one of my favourite places. I also utilised two online book clubs, Richard & Judy's and Rick O' Shea's as well as my own in real life club which met once monthly so I had plenty to choose from. I'll probably set a slightly easier target for the new year ahead but more of that in an another post. For now, these are my favourites from the last year of reading:

 Although I read all of these in the last year, not all were published in 2016. Some of these have yet to be reviewed but for the ones that have, I'll link them in pink. The others will be reviewed soon! 

I started the year with The Versions Of Us and it was a great way to kick off a new year of reading. I plan to do the same this year- start with a whole new pile of books and any that I haven't finished from last year all just have to wait. It seems cleaner somehow! Anyway, this had me completely hooked for the first few chapters and by the end I was loath to put it down- I wanted to keep following their lives!

The Miniaturist was a quirky little read and almost felt like a soap told through a historical fiction lens. 

11/22/63 took me about two months to get through (on audio) and I loved every minute of it. It's not your typical King horror, but it does have some spine-tingling moments. I envy anyone getting to read it for the first time. 

All The Light We Cannot See is a beautifully written tale of two kids on very different sides of WW2. Quite bleak at times but also so lovely.

A Man Called Ove had me in floods and was slow in parts but is overall the perfect feel-good book.

I loved Lindy's look back on her life as a Shrill woman and her tales of feminism.

The Light Between Oceans was probably one of the most loved reads in my book club this year- it's romantic, dramatic and gets you thinking.

The Glorious Heresies is a a darkly comic look at gangsters in Cork. It's brilliant. Read it before the sequel comes out in April!

Mr Mercedes is the first in a trilogy from Stephen King and I loved it. It's about a retired detective turned private-investigator, hunting down a serial killer. Gripping!

The Invention Of Wings is about two girls- one the privileged daughter of a wealthy family of slave owners in the deep South. The other, her slave. 

Skagboys and Trainspotting kept me entertained for about a month. Yes, it's about drug abuse in a socially deprived area of Edinburgh but it's brilliantly written and very humorous!

I Feel Bad About My Neck And Other Thoughts On Being A Woman was the first Nora Ephron book I've read but I'll be picking up more for sure. It's a collection of sharply observed essays from the writer of film screenplays like When Harry Met Sally. It's brilliant.

A Head Full Of Ghosts was read over Halloween and although it's a weird mix of reality TV and exorcisms, it's not so much scary as it is shocking and quite sad at times. I also loved all of the horror movie/books/pop culture references. 

Although I read Lying In Wait first, I actually preferred Unravelling Oliver which was more of a Why'd He Do It rather than a Who Done it. 

Holding is Norton's first non-fiction book and he's actually a brilliant writer. This is a mystery set in small town Cork, where all the locals are hiding something. 

What were your favourite reads of the year? 

Did any of these make the cut? 

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