Best Books I read in 2017:

I read 67 books this year.  These are the best from the list (in the order I read the books).

1.      A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (2014) Atria Books

A curmudgeon is retired from his job at the railroad.  His wife was disabled and has died.  He has no reason to go on, though he’s not very good at ending his own life.  Every attempt gets interrupted by his new incompetent neighbors and the man he’s had a long-standing feud with is no longer able to talk, much less do anything.

This is a story about how people need other people.  How life is enriched by family,, including the people around you who don’t have your experience or tenacity.

2.      The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains by Neil Gaiman (2015) William Morrow

A dazzlingly tour-de-force – quite possibly the story masterpiece of one of the world's best writers.  A man wants to know what happened to his little girl and travels on foot to find a guide to take him to the Black Mountains.  What he finds out and how he deals with the knowledge will change the reader.

3.      The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (2008) HarperCollins

A toddler wanders away from his house through a door opened by a murderer and into a graveyard where the murderer cannot find him.  He is raised by the ghosts and protected by a vampire and a werewolf who are members of the Honor Guard of God.  David Copperfield in a weird universe.  Winner of the 2009 Newbery Award.

4.      Indeh: A Story of the Apache Wars by Ethan Hawke, Illustrated by Greg Ruth (2016) Grand Central Publishing

Being the true story of Goyahkla (Geronimo), whose chief, Cochise only wanted peace with the white eyes.  Indeh are the dead – from a war that decimated the Apache and their enemies.

5.      Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly (2016) Ballentine Books

Three women go through WWII with different experiences from both side - two women are in Poland, one a doctor's sister who, along with her mother and sister, becomes a POW because her mother was a Jew, one a doctor who is drafted into service at Ravensbruk, the concentration camp for women, where her sense of right and wrong is shattered, making her a war criminal, and a woman in New York who has spent a decade helping French orphans.

6.      Side Jobs by Jim Butcher (2011) Roc

A collection of short stories about Harry Dresden, proving Butcher is as skilled with a short story as he is with novels.

·         “Restoration of Faith” – from Jim-Butcher.com

·         “Publicity and Advertising” – from Jim-Butcher.com

·         “Something Borrowed” – from My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding

·         “It’s My Birthday Too” – from Many Bloody Returns

·         “Heorot” – from My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding

·         “Day Off” – From Blood Lite

·         “Backup” – new

·         “The Warrior” – from Mean Streets

·         “Las Call” – from Strange Brews

·         “Love Hurts” – from Songs of Love and Death

·         “Aftermath” – new

 

7.      The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercranz (2015) Knopf

A continuation of Steig Larson's series about the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  I don’t usually read a book where the writer has based it on someone else’s character, but this is so well done, it’s like reading Larson himself.

Lizbeth Salander and Michael Blonkvist join forces once more, to help him create a scoop that will save his Millennium magazine and expose a web of spies and cybercriminals.

8.      The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson (2012) Random House

A North Korean orphan's life under the oppressive regime wherein the son is treated no better than the orphans in spite of his efforts to get a loving response from his father.  He gets to visit the United States and is offered a chance to defect.  Instead, he returns to his homeland to find it is no different than before.  – winner of the Pulitzer Prize.

9.      Raylan by Elmore Leonard (2012) Mariner Books

A trigger-happy U.S. Marshall finds bad guys and dates a bad girl in Harlan County, Kentucky.

The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket (1999) HarperCollins 

The orphans are placed with their Uncle Monty, who is a herpetologist, but when his replacement assistant turns out to be Count Olaf, things get more unfortunate

A Wanted Man by Lee Child (2012) Delacorte Press 

Reacher finds himself wanted simply because he's on some video footage of a man who disappeared - but when he looks into it, there are other people who disappear

Serpent's Kiss by Alex Archer (2008) Gold Eagle 

Annja Creed, an archaeologist with Joan of Arc's sword fights vampires who believe they are gods.

River Marked by Patricia Briggs (2011) Ace Books 

Mercy Thompson, the coyote walker and car mechanic, fights an ancient fae living in a river and devouring tourists.

Raylan by Elmore Leonard (2012) Mariner Books 

A U.S. Marshall finds the bad guys and dates a bad girl in Harlan County, Kentucky.

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson (2012) Random House 

A North Korean orphan's life under the oppressive regime – winner of the Pulitzer Prize.

Obsidian Butterfly by Laurell K Hamilton (2000) Ace 

Anita Blake, a vampire executioner is called to pay a favor to her darkest friend.

Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher (2004) Ace 

A world where most people can train 'furies' to do their bidding - it's also a world threatened by other types of beings who were the natives of the world.

Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris (2014) Ace 

A town in the southwest where a variety of supernatural beings are trying to live peacefully in a world where evil lurks in the hearts of ordinary people.

The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye by David Lagercranz (2017) Knopf 

In this episode, our heroine, Libeth Salander takes on the NSA as she reaches for her own past.  She makes a lot of enemies by doing what is right, and looking into things other people will kill to keep quiet.  And she finds her twin sister, the evil one.

The Concrete Blond by Michael Connelly (1994) Little Brown 

Bosch is on trial for having killed a serial murderer, and then a note, like the serial killer used, comes to the police station and points out where a victim was buried, unlike all the other victims, a blond under the concrete in a burned-out storage unit.

The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercranz (2015) Knopf 

A continuation of Steig Larson's series about the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  I don’t usually read a book where the writer has based it on someone else’s character, but this is so well done, it’s like reading Larson himself.

Lizbeth Salander and Michael Blonkvist join forces once more, to help him create a scoop that will save his Millennium magazine and expose a web of spies and cybercriminals.

Win by Vera Nazarian (2017) Norilana Books 

A heroine finds herself surprised that the Crown Prince chooses her as his consort bride.  But she is more surprised that the Imperiator wishes to grant her desire to compete in the deadly games.  

Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs (2010) Ace Books 

A borrowed book leads to fey trying to kill Mercy Thompson and her mate, the alpha werewolf is hurt, then challenged through the manipulation of a coward.

Shakespeare's Landlord by Charlaine Harris (1996) St. Martin’s Press 

A free-lance housekeeper, who studies marshal arts, with a horrible secret in her past, finds a body in the town of Shakespeare, Arkansas.

Warrior Spirit by Alex Archer (2007) Gold Eagle 

Annja Creed, with Joan of Arc's sword, helps a Japanese ninja find a family relic

Compete by Vera Nazarian (2015) Norilana Books 

Refugees from Earth have qualified to be saved by the Atlanteans, but taking the year-long journey requires training - in driving a space shuttle - the best scores will help determine the jobs these refugees can have once they land.  

Qualify by Vera Nazarian (2014) Norilana Books 

Earth will be destroyed by an asteroid that is too big to move off path - this is what the residents of Atlantis have returned from their far-off planet tell us - only teenagers can withstand the journey through space and there is only room for so many - so they must qualify for a position on the space fleet.  Can a nerd and her siblings qualify?

Pop Goes the Weasel by James Patterson (1999) Little Brown & Co. 

Alex Cross and his fiancé are engaged in a twisted mystery with a British diplomat who uses the courtroom as well as his murder weapon.

True Life Adventure by Julie Smith (1985) Mysterious Press 

Paul McDonald is a ghost writer – for a private detective.  When the man is murdered, Paul becomes the prime suspect and the next target.

Night of the Purple Moon by Scott Cramer (2012) Train Renoir Publishing 

Earth passes through a comet tail that makes the moon look purple and causes a pandemic that kills older teens and adults.  Abby Leigh and her little brother and her baby sister hide on a small island off the coast of Maine.  But Abby is facing adolescence and that could mean her death.

3rd Degree by James Patterson (2004) Little Brown & Co.

A member of the Women’s Murder Club is hiding a secret – one that could get all of them killed.

Side Jobs by Jim Butcher (2011) Roc 

A collection of short stories about Harry Dresden:

-          Restoration of Faith

-          Publicity and Advertising

-          Something Borrowed

-          It’s My Birthday Too

-          Heorot

-          Backup

-          The Warrior

-          Las Call

-          Love Hurts

-          Aftermath

Cold Days by Jim Butcher (2013) Roc 

Harry finds himself bound as the winter knight to Mab, the queen of air and darkness.  He has to follow her orders to kill an immortal and prevent an apocalypse while keeping his sanity.

The Killing Dance by Laurell K Hamilton (2006) Berkley

Anita Blake is being hunted by professional hit men.  A bounty of $500,000 is on her head.  She turns to an alpha werewolf and a master vampire to help.  But is that any better?

Ghost Story by Jim Butcher (2012) Roc 

Harry Dresden is shot and left to die in Lake Michigan.  Then things get worse.  Now he has to find his murderer and save his friends without body or powers while avoiding the ghosts who want to make him suffer.

Secret of the Slaves by Alex Archer Gold Eagle 

Annja Creed is looking for a lost city in the Brazilian jungle.  Slaves were rumored to have found eternal youth.  But the place is not for outsiders and the entire jungle seems to be against intruders.

Changes by Jim Butcher (2010) Roc 

An old lover of Harry Dresden is back after she was attacked and turned by vampires of the bloody red court.  She has spent her time trying to kill all of the red court, but her niece is in their hands and she needs Harry’s help.

Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs (2009) Ace

A vampire is slain by Mercy Thompson, so the vampire queen is out for revenge.  But Mercy is protected by the local werewolf pack, so the queen focuses on them.

The Bounty Hunters by Elmore Leonard (1954) Houghton Mifflin 

A novel that set standards for other western books.  David Flynn, a former scout sees the Apache as something more than a savage.  There are the rurales, former bandits who are considered the local police, but are out to rob whomever they can.  And there are  the bounty hunters who are paid for scalps of Apaches or Mexicans being passed-off as Indians.  Some of the bounty hunters are just plain murderers who want to kill all native Americans, no matter what tribe. 

The Grand Banks Cafe by Georges Simenon (1938) Gallimard 

Maigret and his wife take a holiday at Fécamp, Normandy.  While there, he looks into a murder of a ship’s captain.  Like all Maigret mysteries, his approach is to take in the scene and the people involved.  Once he knows all that, he follows his instinct and uncovers the motives of people involved, then life goes on.

 

I could only find the original French through the Internet Archive.  You can also get it in English from Penguin.

Ceremony in Death by J.D. Robb (1997) Berkley 

Eve Dallas investigates the death of a fellow police officer.  When a dead body is left outside her home, it becomes personal.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman (2001) William Morrow 

When the old gods are no longer worshipped, where did they go?  In this book, they came to America.

An ex-con going by the name of Shadow, is released, but just before that, his best friend and his wife died in a car accident.  Then, on the way home, he is hired by a stranger, a Mr. Wednesday, as a bodyguard, a driver and occasional errand boy.  What he doesn’t know is that the man is really who we named the middle of our work week for.  And Odin/Wednesday is trying to organize things with the gods over here.  A wild ride through the alliances and enemies of the Norse gods.

A Wanted Man by Lee Child (2012) Bantam Press 

Reacher hitches a ride, unknown to him, a man has been murdered in a place where the car came from.  This ties him into a conspiracy that the police and FBI are reaching to find all the conspirators.

Turn Coat by Jim Butcher (2009) Roc 

Harry Dresden is called upon by his least favorite wizard, the warden of the white council of wizards.  He’s known for executing wizards who break the rules and he’s had his eye on Harry for years.  Now, he’s been accused of treason against the council.  Harry has to find the real traitor and avoid becoming a victim himself.

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly (2016) Ballentine Books 

Three women go through WWII with different experiences from both side - two women are in Poland, one a doctor's sister who, along with her mother and sister, becomes a POW because her mother was a Jew, one a doctor who is drafted into service at Ravensbruk, the concentration camp for women, where her sense of right and wrong is shattered, making her a war criminal, and a woman in New York who has spent a decade helping French orphans.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (2017) William Morrow 

Gaiman never ceases to amaze.  This is a story about an upright, naïve man helping a young woman who is hurt and finds himself in a world behind our world on an adventure.

God of Thunder by Alex Archer (2007) Gold Eagle

Someone is going to great lengths to find the Hammer of Thor. Annja Creed finds this out when she collects a package from a colleague.  He has been murdered, and the killers think Annja has what they wanted from him.

The Unbroken Line of the Moon - Johanne Hildebrandt (2014) Amazon Crossing 

A well-researched historical novel about real people in the early days of the Danes, Geats and Swedes.

Indeh: A Story of the Apache Wars by Ethan Hawke, Illustrated by Greg Ruth (2016) Grand Central Publishing 

Being the true story of Goyahkla (Geronimo), whose chief, Cochise only wanted peace with the white eyes.  Indeh are the dead – from a war that decimated the Apache and their enemies.

2nd Chance by James Patterson (2002) Little Brown & Co.

The women’s murder club has to solve unspeakable murders while being targeted themselves.

Bloody Bones by Laurell K Hamilton (2008) Berkley 

Something with more power than Anita Blake has felt before lurks under a graveyard and someone wants it awakened

Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs (2012) Ace 

Mercy Thompson, mechanic and coyote walker, is asked to look into a series of murders on the fae reservation.  Meanwhile, two of the werewolves want her to decide which she will take for a mate.

Retribution by Megg Jensen (2017) 80 pages (5/6)

Book 3 of Dragonlands – Tressa must prepare for battle with the dragonlords, but first she has to get well.  In that process a dark magic awakens.  She discovers that some of her greatest enemies are those she trusted.

Hunted by Megg Jensen (2014) 80 Pages 

Book 2 of Dragonlands – Tressa has returned to Hutton’s Bridge only to find that the villagers have disappeared.  Now she teams up with Bastian and must navigate the politics and dragonloards to keep save their people.

Hidden by Megg Jensen (2013) 80 Pages 

Book 1 of Dragonlands – A dragon falls dead out of the fog that hovers at the border of  Hutton’s Bridge.  Tressa, a girl raised by her grandmother, ventures where no one as returned before and endangers everyone.

Open Season by C. J. Box (2001) Putnam Adult 

1st in a series about a Game Warden who starts out naive and at the climax becomes the man he should be.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (2008) HarperCollins

A toddler wanders away from his house through a door opened by a murderer and into a graveyard where the murderer cannot find him.  He is raised by the ghosts and protected by a vampire and a werewolf who are members of the Honor Guard of God.  David Copperfield in a weird universe.  Winner of the 2009 Newbery Award.

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (2012) Pamela Dorman Books

Advertised as a Romance - but it is far more than that.  It's mainstream.  It's about living in a situation where none of us want to find ourselves.  It's tough, it's heartbreaking, it's redemptive like so few books are today.  This will stick around and sell year after year unless booksellers are heartless and illiterate.

Small Favor by Jim Butcher (2008) Roc 

Dresden finds himself fulfilling one of Mab's favors - a small favor that may only cost him his life and the lives of those he loves and knows.

The Lost Scrolls by Alex Archer (2007) Gold Eagle 

A wonderful find - scrolls from the library of Alexandria become the immediate target of a megalomaniac who will stop at nothing, including murdering everyone between him and what he wants.  He just didn't factor-in a woman with Joan of Arc's supernatural sword, nor her immortal resources.

Rapture in Death by J.D. Robb (2009) Thorndike Press

Someone has developed a new drug that makes a person feel rapturous, the only problem is that it kills them.

Immortal in Death by J.D. Robb (2009) Thorndike Press 

A new, illegal and deadly drug makes people feel immortal.  Until it kills them.  And Eve Dallas finds a close friend has been made a patsy to take the focus off the real scoundrels.  But Eve is nothing if not loyal and by the book.

Cousin Joseph by Jules Feiffer (2016) Liveright \

Feiffer’s prequel to Kill My Mother, the detective father, who is patriotic and believes in the American way.  This is in contrast to his bare-knuckles approach to getting information and secret trips to Hollywood, paying off producers to make sure they only make films that are upbeat about an idealistic America where no injustice goes uncorrected.

Kill My Mother by Jules Feiffer (2014) Liveright 

A noir graphic novel by a man who has won numerous awards (a Pulitzer, an Academy Award, among others).  Here there are three femme fatales, a daughter obsessed with finding her father’s killer, and a hapless heroine.  There’s a thug, a hit man, a taxi driver, a movie star, and a communist who owns a liquor store.

The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains by Neil Gaiman (2015) William Morrow 

A dazzlingly tour-de-force – quite possibly the story masterpiece of one of the world's best writers.  A man wants to know what happened to his little girl and travels on foot to find a guide to take him to the Black Mountains.  What he finds out and how he deals with the knowledge will change the reader.

Queen of the Night by J.A. Jance (2010) William Morrow 

Every summer, the Queen of the Night blooms on the Tohono O’odham nation.  A young girl witnesses a murder. At the same time, a retired homicide detective looks into a cold case from almost half a century ago. Meanwhile, the homicide detective’s wife deals with memories of another murder.

The Black Ice by Michael Connelly (2003) Little Brown & Co.  

Harry Bosch finds a narcotics officer killed with a suicide note that he doesn’t believe.  He has to follow a trail of drugs across and into Mexico.  He can’t save everybody, but he can wreak justifiable revenge.

Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs (2011) Ace

Mercy Thompson, a walker who turns into a coyote, is the only one who can battle a vampire who has been targeting the local werewolf pack.  She is immune to vampire wiles, and that let’s her get close enough to make a difference.

The Affair by Lee Child (2011) Delacorte Press

Reacher is re-activated and sent to a murder scene to find out what happened, who did the deed, and then to cover it up because it involves a top-secret project.  But the local sheriff, a woman, is also trying to get to the truth.  The attraction leads to a bed, but the problem needs to be solved.  There is conspiracy and those who want to keep Reacher from his mission.  Not a good place to be.

Cat & Mouse by James Patterson (1997) Little Brown & Co. 

Alex Cross is almost murdered in his own home by a prison escapee who blames Alex for putting him in prison.  In the meantime, another killer is pursued by a detective from Europe.  While the detectives try to trap the men they are pursuing, the killers try to trap the detectives.  Who will survive?

Forbidden City by Alex Archer (2007) Gold Eagle 

Annja Creed, archaeologist, working on a dig in California, uncovers evidence of a tragedy that leads her back to China looking for lost city.

Worth Dying For - Lee Child (2010) Delacorte Press 

Reacher walks into a town in Nebraska and a mystery about the disappearance of a child decades in the past.  Then someone tries to push him out of town to cover-up the drug shipment they’re expecting.  This is not a wise way to deal with Reacher.

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs (2010) Ace 

Mercy Thompson is a walker who can turn into a coyote.  She was raised in a werewolf pack.  Her boss at the car-repair shop is a very old elf.  Some clients are also of the supernatural types; vampires, werewolves, gremlins.  This is her normal world.  Then someone gets killed – at work, and all things fae break loose.

Turbo Twenty-Three by Janet Evanovich (2016) Bantam

Stephanie Plum, part-time bounty hunter, is after a skip who stole a truck full of ice-cream and a dead body.  She goes undercover at the ice-cream factory for a P.I., Ranger, whom she has strayed with, while trying to make a go with her boyfriend, Morellli, a cop.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (2014) Atria Books

A curmudgeon is retired from his job at the railroad.  His wife was disabled and has died.  He has no reason to go on, though he’s not very good at ending his own life.  Every attempt gets interrupted by his new incompetent neighbors and the man he’s had a long-standing feud with is no longer able to talk, much less do anything.

This is a story about how people need other people.  How life is enriched by family,, including the people around you who don’t have your experience or tenacity.

 Glory in Death by J.D. Robb (2009) Thorndike Press

Suspect everyone, even your lover.  Two very successful women are murdered and they seem to be tied to a lot of rich men, including Roarke.