Obviously, I did not reach my 2017 goal of 25 books. Truth be told, at 20, I didn't even match 2016!

Man, did I ever read some great books, though.

Eleven of the 20 books I read in 2017 were audio books and did I ever pick 'em -- there wasn't a dud in the bunch. I love listening to a person tell/read their own story: Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen, Exit West by Mohsin Hamid, Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, and You Don't Have to Say You Love Me by Sherman Alexie. A cast of characters was right up my alley, too: Lincoln in The Bardo read by an amazing cast of characters! Bahni Turpin became a favorite voice early in the year, reading The Underground Railroad, and I sought her out again with Yellow Crocus (with the sequel, also read by Bahni Turpin, in the queue).

Sherman Alexie is another voice that I will seek, though I'm not quite sure where I will start. I enjoyed (not the correct word) his memoir immensely.

I read two books by Wisconsin author Michael Perry last year, including a recent re-read of Population 485 in preparation for seeing the stage production on January 26th. And I read stories about Alabama, written by Kathryn Tucker Windham (Mary's first cousin twice-removed, if I've calculated correctly), after reading about her on Mary's blog and prior to visiting that state for the first time.

The last book I read in 2017, F*ck That, was the most recently acquired, a belated birthday gift from Annie. Busy in the kitchen on Wednesday night, I enjoyed peeks at Ann & Ali as they perused & giggled... and when I heard Ali say that it reminded her of Sharon, I knew that I'd crack it open that night. Sharon could have written that book!

I've already set my 2018 goal at 25 books again, and... we'll see what happens! Happy Reading!!