Pick of the Year - 2017

I hope you've enjoyed the last few weeks, whether you've been celebrating or not. I found 2017 a hard year for lots of reasons. It has been a struggle for me to read this year, which in turn makes everything harder. One area of my reading that has flourished is audio reading. I've really enjoyed listening to audio books while commuting, taking a lunchtime walk or while carrying out housework. This is something I mean to continue in 2018.

Being a stupidly optimistic person I always like to make New Year resolutions :) 2018 is a year when I want to focus on three areas - my physical health, mental health and financial health, so aside from eating more healthily, losing weight and sleeping more I also need to prioritise some reading time for myself. That's the aim and I really need to achieve it. Being a list-maker, I have lists and lists of books I need to read, such as review copies that kind people have provided me with, books I have bought or received as gifts and some freebies that I'd really like to read, so I have plenty to choose from for my upcoming reads. I hope to mix up my reading between those lists and at least make a dent in them.

The flipside of having had such a poor reading year in terms of numbers of books read means that I haven't had to narrow down my picks of the year much! Luckily, although I haven't read much, the books I've read have been corkers! Let's jump right in, shall we!

We'll start off with one of my absolute favourite Austenesque writers, Abigail Reynolds. This year, Abigail brought us a Pride & Prejudice what if that has the change to canon take place well before the story begins; what if Napoleon successfully invaded Britain and Fitzwilliam Darcy, a man who finds disguise of every sort to be his abhorrence, has to keep some secrets. In Conceit & Concealment, we explored this avenue. I loved this book. It was a five star read for me and you can see why if you read my review.

Now let's have a change of Austen book and era with Karen M Cox's 1970s-set Emma-inspired novel, I Could Write a Book. I thought the limitations of Emma's life were recreated in a more modern setting really well. You can see what I thought of the book here, in my five star review.

Let's go back to P&P and Regency times with Caitlin Williams' When We Are Married. Swoony Darcy alert - he is just adorable and lovely! The twist here is that Darcy is still at Hunsford Parsonage when Elizabeth gets back after reading his letter, which means that she has a chance to apologise to him, and he becomes acquainted with her London relatives, raising the hopes of another woman. This was another five star read for me; I definitely need to read Caitlin's other books this year, and I have them both, so the only thing needed is for me to make the time.

We'll take a look at a non-Austenesque read now; I listened to an old favourite of mine. I'd read Georgette Heyer's The Reluctant Widow many times, but never heard the audio. It's a Regency mystery / adventure with some romance, and a heroine who is more a reluctant bride than anything, but within a few hours of marrying, Elinor is a widow, and pitched into the midst of a mystery. The audio narration of this is really excellent - although I loved the story when reading it, the audio was read so well that it enhances the reading enjoyment. Another five star read.

My last pick of the year is an anthology - The Darcy Monologues, with short stories contributed by: Susan Adriani; Sara Angelini; J. Marie Croft; Karen M Cox; Jan Hahn; Jenetta James; Lory Lilian; KaraLynne Mackrory; Beau North; Ruth Phillips Oakland; Natalie Richards; Sophia Rose; Joana Starnes; Melanie Stanford; and Caitlin Williams. The anthology is edited by Christina Boyd. These stories are in varying settings and eras, but all of them are from Mr Darcy's point of view. The stories are all of good quality and some are absolutely outstanding - see my review for further details on each short story. This was a 4½ star read for me.

So those were my favourite reads in the last year. What were yours? Are there books you'd recommend for the rest of us to bump up our To Be Read lists?

Thanks to all of you who've joined me in 2017. I appreciate each page view and comment, and I hope you will be able to join me for my posts in 2018. I'm hoping for a good year for all of us, filled with good health, good luck, good times and good reading. Happy New Year!