Books read in 2017

I read 23 books in 2017, which is a personal best for me since I started keeping track in my post-college life. (My son saw me typing that and said, "It kinda sounds like you're bragging." That's not my intention. As a stay at home parent, I have very little tangible evidence of how I spend my time and energy. Keeping a record of books I've read [via goodreads] has turned into a small way I stay sane and remind myself that I still have an intellectual life, an adult life separate from my children.)

It really bugs me that I couldn't fit one more book in to make that square grid complete. Note to self: in 2018, the final count must be a multiple of six.

Favorite book of the year: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (I recently discovered that it was on Barack Obama's Best of 2017 list as well, so that made me feel pretty cool. Also a bit sad. Remember when we had a president who could read, who even enjoyed it? Sigh.)
Awesome book by my awesome friend: This Is Where You Belong by Melody Warnick (Already planning my 2018 neighborhood block party!)
Depressing but really good: A Mother's Reckoning by Sue Klebold, When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi, Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout, and Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance
Funny and insightful: Shrill by Lindy West and Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Short books that inflated my total: A Boy Named Queen, Calvin, and Baba Yaga's Assistant
Most beautiful cover: The Keeper of Lost Things