In Highlights of 2016: Part 1, I focused on books from Atlantic Canada. In Highlights of 2016: Part 2, I focused on the rest of my Canadian content. In this post I will focus on…
Everything else
… and then I’m done!
Standouts: (in no particular order)
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout – read for Reading New England
Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O’Farrell – read for Reading Ireland Month
Measuring the World by Daniel Kehlmann – read this with TJ for her Twelve German’s in 2016
Lab Girl by Hope Jahren – read this because I’m a biology geek
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford – read this for my Real Life book club
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi – tied with City of Thieves for best book on this list
City of Theives by David Benioff – tied with Homegoing for best book on this list
The Diving Pool by Yoko Ogawa – read this for Novellas in November
The Ballroom by Anna Hope – read because I loved Wake
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Favourite non-review posts:
My Children’s Bookshelves – check out my kids’ book shelves!
Book Blogger Appreciation Week: Introduce Yourself in 5 Books – see which books helped to shape me as a reader
Poetry Month: Book Spine Poetry – this is just fun
Book Spine Poetry #2 – more fun
A Literary Scavenger Hunt – a book tag created by Naz at Read Diverse Books
My Bookish (and not so Bookish) Summer – see what I did this summer (it doesn’t seem like that long ago)
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Posts with the most views/visitors:
At this time of year I like to have a look at which posts on my blog have had the most traffic.
Fifteen Dogs by Andre Alexis – still going strong with a nomination for the International Dublin Lit Award
boobs: Women Explore What It Means To Have Breasts, edited by Ruth Daniell – hmm… I have a feeling the traffic for this one isn’t solely based on its merits as a good book
Shadow Giller: Yiddish for Pirates by Gary Barwin
Shadow Giller: The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall
Shadow Giller: The Party Wall by Catherine Leroux, translated by Lazer Lederhendler
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A big thank you to all my readers and fellow bloggers who have helped to make this a terrific year of reading (if not terribly great in other ways). That’s it for me this year. Happy Holidays to all of you!
Our new library during The Festival of Lights.
Consumed by Ink 
A great reading year! I’m looking forward to your review of The Ballroom – I also loved Wake.
Then you should also love The Ballroom – I can’t decide which I like better!
This is such an impressive list of reading for 2016 (all three posts). Look forward to hearing about your reads in 2017!
Thanks, Valerie! I wanted to showcase books from different regions, but having three parts to it is also a sneaky way to include more books. 🙂
So pleased to see Olive up there – an absolute delight – as is Measuring the World in an altogether different way. Also pleased to see Homegoing as I plan to read that sometime next year. Hope you and your family have a lovely holiday!
I just loved Olive. I read it early on in the year, but I knew I would still be thinking about it at the end.
You’re in for a treat with Homegoing.
Happy Holidays to you, too, Susan! 🙂
Haha – I love that your boobs post is doing well! I guess there’s a lot of teenage boys out there googling “boobs and book.”
I really need to read Olive Kitteridge…it’s been on my TBR forever. And I’ve also been waiting forever for my library hold of Lab Girl to come in…I think I’m now up to 3 and have been waiting months.
Have a great holiday!
Olive was on my tbr for a few years as well before I read it. It was one of those books that you can’t believe you waited so long. I’m pretty sure I have a few more of those around here somewhere! 😉
Happy Holidays to you, too!
I’ve read four of your books of the year, and the rest I want to read! Happy holidays.
I want to read all the books on everyone else’s lists! 🙂
Happy Holidays to you, too!
More great choices! Instructions for a Heatwave is patiently sitting on my TBR, and one day I’ll get ariund to that Kehlmann too. Haha! You’ll have us all posting about boob now, in a desperate attempt to increase our stats! I get a ridiculous number of views for a post with a chocolate cake picture… 😉
Thanks for all the great posts this year, Naomi – serious and fun! Have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year when it comes! 😀
The good thing is, I haven’t been noticing the boobs views -so it hasn’t been too bad. But I admit, it’s not something I thought about before posting it!
Thanks, FF! Same to you! 🙂
Naomi! You have been a constant source of information & great interest this year!! Thank YOU & we wish you a wondrous & bookish 2017! p.s. We loved Jamie Ford’s “On the Corner of Bitter & Sweet” … and so many of your favourites!! The ‘like-minded’ ‘broads in Ontario, Kelly & Julie Bibliobroads
Thank you again, BBs! Some day we will meet! 🙂
That’s it- after this comment I’m going to my library’s website and putting City of Thieves on hold. I’ve heard other people mention it but if you say it was one of your favorites of the year I don’t need to hear anything else.
I’m glad to be part of the community of book lovers that includes you, Naomi! Have a happy holiday and let’s hope 2017 shapes up to be better than it appears right now.
Thanks, Catherine!
I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with City of Thieves – I would read it again if I didn’t have all these other wonderful books to read. 🙂
I’m predicting that 2017 will be great!
What a wonderful reading year you’ve had. It’s been fun checking out your three Highlights posts and being reminded of a good number of books I have to read. I think most of the Can Lit I own is there because of you! 🙂 I’m looking forward to your reading journey in 2017.
It’s been a good year for reading, I think, even though not so great in other ways. Let’s hope next year is good both ways! 🙂
Homegoing might be my book of the year this year. I still haven’t begun my year-end post yet, but it’s the one I think I’m going with right now. And I loved Lab Girl.
That cracked me up about your “Boobs” review being heavily visited! 🙂
Homegoing is a good choice! Looking forward to your year-end post. For all I know right now, it might already be up – I’ve been enjoying some time away from the internet. But I will see it eventually!
Nice post Naomi. Oh yeah City of Thieves is a great read. I havent read Homegoing yet. I keep wondering when David Benioff is going to write another novel, but I suppose he’s too busy on the TV show Game of Thrones. Have a wonderful holiday with your family.
I think it’s time he took a little break from Game of Thrones to write us another book. 🙂
Happy Holidays to you, too!
Olive was a recent read for me too, and I also loved it! Thanks for a wonderful list which I’ll need to check out more carefully. Happy holidays to you and your family, Naomi!
HI Cecilia! I love that you pop in to say ‘hi’ every now and again. Happy Holidays to you, too! 🙂
You’re such a cheerful and kind voice on the internet and I miss you. I’m hoping to get back into blogging…I hope I can push myself to do it in 2017!
Cheering you on!! 🙂
You’ve had a fantastic reading year and I’m so glad I got to know you, Naomi. I will always remember you as one of my earliest and most consistent blog followers, and for that I am thankful. ❤ I am continuously impressed by your thoughtful reviews, Naomi. And seeing you participate in important reading project like the one you did for the Giller prize made me so happy for you. You deserve all the success! Hope you have a wonderful rest of the year!
You’re always so sweet, Naz! I’m happy to have discovered your blog early on, and watch it develop so quickly. Yay for us both! And Happy New Year! 🙂
Have thoroughly enjoyed reading your 2016 wrap-up posts, and now I need to begin to think about putting something together myself. Am not quite ready to seal my reading for last year just yet, I guess!
It’s not an easy task! But I do like having it done before the holidays – although at the expense of some pre-holiday reviews that are still not done! Sigh.
Looking forward to your list/wrap-up, whenever it comes!
Hmmm I’m thinking I should also review a book with the word boobs in the title so my traffic goes up 🙂
Haha! It hasn’t actually made any obvious or dramatic difference in my views. I didn’t know it was near the top until I looked up my stats. But I guess it’s worth a try. 😉