Books from 2016

I read lots of great books last year. I always do, because if I don't like something, I stop reading. Life is too short for books that don't intrigue me!

I logged 121 books and 47,093 pages on Goodreads in 2016, which is typical for me. I got my first smartphone for Christmas 2015, and I was afraid I'd quit reading once I had time-wasters at my fingertips.

A few wonderful discoveries from 2016:

• Did everyone else know there's a thing of Regency novels with magic? I love Georgette Heyer with such a deep and abiding passion that I seldom read other Regency romances. But add a little magic, and I'm hooked. My favorite series last year was Mary Robinette Kowal's Glamourist Histories--I especially loved that it follows a married couple through the ups and downs of their relationship.
• Jack Reacher? Yeah, somehow I missed both those movies and all the books. I discovered these when I was laid low with a multitude of germs over the holidays, and thank goodness! I enjoy thrillers, I like people on the run, and I found these plots interesting and creative. And I really love finding an author with a bazillion books for me to read.
• Middle grade is not typically my favorite, but I love sharing great reads with my boys. Summerlost by Allie Condie and Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley blew us all away (also, we love Hamilton).
• HISTORICAL FANTASY IS, AS EVER, EVERYTHING. This genre gets more exiting every year! Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo, Like a River Glorious by Rae Carson, My Lady Jane by the funniest coauthors I can imagine, Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton, The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig, Strands of Blonde and Gold by Jane Nickerson, The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye, Burning Glass by Katie Purdie. FIVE STARS TO ALL OF IT, ALL THE TIME.