Top Eight Favorite Books of 2016

Spoiler Alert: 2016 is coming to an end before we know it. It’s already the 15th of December and Christmas is coming along in my house. We have several gifts under the tree (and by that I mean at least 50), Christmas Concerts, Spirit Week, and we get to have exams when we go back in January 😦

But anyway, December to me is one of those months were you go and you think about everything you did wrong in the year. Why not take the time and think about everything that you did enjoy? So, here are my top eight favorite book reads of 2016! And the order they appear in is not the order I enjoyed them in.

1. A Court of Mist and Fury by: Sarah J. Maas

If you have been following me for a while, you should know by now that I love Sarah J. Maas. Her writing is amazing and the plots she comes up with are spectacular. I bought A Court of Mist and Fury back in June during a day trip with my family when I saw the book was signed (it was a must). I had it sitting on my shelf until October. I had a really hard time remembering everything that happened in the first book so I told myself that I was going to binge read the series. I did just that and I was so happy that I did that. A Court of Mist and Fury was SO MUCH BETTER than A Court of Thorns and Roses because of one character – Rhysand. He’s mine okay? Everything that happens with Feyre, Tamlin, Lucien, Rhysand, Feyre’s sisters, war, etc was amazing and had such a draw to it. The book had me in tears at one moments and the next page made me want to throw it against the wall. That is how you know if you have a good book.

2. Everything Everything by: Nicola Yoon

This book left me speechless and most books don’t do that to me. I might love the book but I go and pick up another book. Not this one. Everything Everything changed my mind on everything. Everything that I have ever wondered about, dreamt about, and have been taught. I originally picked up the book based on the cover. Yep, I was a stereotypical book reader. The cover is beautiful and I kept hearing amazing things about this book so I finally gave the book a try and I am so happy that I did. I went into this book not knowing anything about SCID and now I have all the respect in the world to the people that do have this disease. Also, my review on this book is my top viewed post of 2016. I don’t know how that happened!

3. Lady Midnight by: Cassandra Clare

Of course Cassandra Clare has to make an appearance on the list. Lady Midnight is her most recent release of her Shadowhunter Novels (not counting Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy). I ordered this book through Barnes and Noble a few weeks before the book was supposed to come out because I heard that there was supposed to be something special in those books. It took at least a week for me to get my box. But I read the book and I want to know more! I want to know more about Emma and Julian. Magnus, Alec, Simon, Izzy, Jace, Clary, etc were all involved and it was amazing. The only thing that I really didn’t care for in this book is all the back history of Jonathan Shadowhunter but I understand why she added it to the plot of the book. I am so excited to get my hands on Lord of Shadows which doesn’t come out until like May or something, which I can not do. I need the book now!

4. The Unexpected Everything by: Morgan Matson

I have been a big fan of Morgan Matson’s books for about 2 years now and I am so happy that I found her books. Her books bring me joy and peace that some books just don’t do. Hands down, this is a close favorite of Morgan Matson’s with Second Chance Summer. Andie’s life in a way is relatable to mine, but I don’t have the political dad and my mom is still alive. Clark is just amazing and I want him with me. Forget Andie. The first two letters in my name are in ANdie’s. So in a way he is mine? But I love everything that goes on with the book. The book was organized perfectly and everything made sense on where all it went. It kept me laughing halfway through the night and begging me to have more.

5. Room by: Emma Donoghue

I actually picked this book up because of something my friend told me and not the movie trailer. I actually still haven’t seen the movie yet even though I want to really bad. I’m pretty sure I read this book in one sitting and I wanted to get more. Like Everything Everything, I learned so much more. How many people can say they were kidnapped and have been living in a box in a backyard for over 4 years? Not me. Jack was so young and naive that he never realized that there was nothing else but ‘room’. And Jack and his talk about his “little friend” was hilarious. Sitting there and trying not to laugh was so hard because that was all I wanted to do at the moment! This book showed me how lucky I am and that I shouldn’t brag about all the things I have because someone else doesn’t have half the stuff I have. A must read for everyone!

6. This Is Where I Leave You by: Jonathan Tropper

You want to know a funny story? Right after I finished the book, I went to sit down and write a review about it. For some reason, I typed it into Word firstly because I wasn’t connected to the internet or something. The next day, my laptop dies. Yep. I had to go and get a new one. I gave up on that review. Anyway, this book was hilarious. The one scene at the beginning of the book with the fire, cake, bed, etc was my favorite part. I totally forgot there was a movie to this book until now. The book had it’s serious moments, like the dad being dead and dealing with your crazy family but then it had it’s funny moments. The book is told through Judd’s perspective whose life is terrible and he wants nothing to do with Jen but she keeps coming back with more news. I think this has to be one of the only books that I like that is told in a fictional novel, told in a guy’s perspective.

7. Night by: Elie Wiesel

I had to read this book for my Summer Reading and I thought that I wouldn’t like it. I loved this book. Everything I thought that happened, never happened. It changed how I saw history, and that is a really hard thing to do. I had a little trouble getting into this book but when Hitler’s men start to come around and take the Jews and all, I wanted to continue reading and never put the book down. I had so many questions after I finished the book. Life was hard for them all and I can’t help but feel bad for them. They had to live through the harsh tempers, food, temperature and watch each other die. When Elie watches a certain character die, I burst out with tears because of how much I loved him. I grew such a strong connection with most of the characters, which you should never do in a book like this because you already know how it ends (unless you never took History or never paid attention in History Class). This book will change your life forever.

8. Empire of Storms by: Sarah J. Maas

I know this is the second time that Sarah J. Maas had been on this list but I really don’t care. Her books are way to amazing not be up her twice. Like A Court of Mist and Fury, I decided that I would go and read the other books in the series before this one and it was amazing. I forgot how much I loved these books! Since this is the 5th book in a series, I’m not going to include spoilers but that ending tho. Let’s talk about that. A book can not, and  mean, CAN NOT, end that way. There has to be some sort of law that protects us from that! We have Dorian and Rowan (but no Chaol) along with Aelin and her court. The Queen and her courts. War. Love. Sex. Family. Marriage. Have I gone to far? Have I made you want to read this book yet? The one thing that still really bothers me when I see this book is the fact that the pages are so thin that it looks smaller than Queen of Shadows and we all know that Empire of Storms is thicker, right?

What were your favorite book reads of 2016? Trust me, there are so many more books on this list but you might get bored of all them books! We don’t have the time for it anyway! Have you read any of these books? What did you think about them? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Happy Reading,