Top Thing of the Year lists are the hot thing in December, and I am a weak willed person, so I’m making a list of my own. Welcome to the first ever Writerly Kind Top 5 Reads of the Year, where I look back at all the books I finished and highlight my absolute favorites and summarize what I liked the most about them. Links to my full reviews are included with each!
Like an unstoppable lich, I rise from the dead, and bring with me…. blog posts! Oh my goodness this year got away from me toward the last half there. A lot happened that I might write up in a separate post, but more importantly, it’s time for a yearly recap of all the great stuff I read. The best way to get back into the grove of things is to scream about all the stuff I loved, right? Right.
Let’s start with some stats, shall we?
It’s probably one of the most over-quoted phrases in history: “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” It’s a fair statement, of course, but you and I both know that sometimes, the cover is what seals the deal, and there’s something to be said for a gorgeous use of color or surreal piece of artwork on the front of a book. While it’s unlikely to be the only thing on which you base your book purchasing decisions, for this month’s Top 5, we’re going to take a look at some of my favorite book covers.
A few weeks ago, PBS started putting together what they are calling the Great American Read. The premise, per PBS.org, is the following:
THE GREAT AMERICAN READ is an eight-part series that explores and celebrates the power of reading, told through the prism of America’s 100 best-loved novels (as chosen in a national survey). It investigates how and why writers create their fictional worlds, how we as readers are affected by these stories, and what these 100 different books have to say about our diverse nation and our shared human experience.
The television series features entertaining and informative documentary segments, with compelling testimonials from celebrities, authors, notable Americans and book lovers across the country. It is comprised of a two-hour launch episode in which the list of 100 books is revealed, five one-hour theme episodes that examine concepts common to groups of books on the list, and a finale, in which the results are announced of a nationwide vote to choose America’s best-loved book.
The Writerly Kind 