My Top 10 Fiction Books of 2017

this is not an opinion I expect to share with many people but I actually preferred this book to the secret history the pacing the heavy use of Shakespeare quotations and the strong character development added so much to an already solid story I was in somewhat of a stupor for several days after finishing this book

it was really fun to see a different side to the characters of Pride and Prejudice especially since it is a favorite of mine but the story of the servants is so strong and so lovely to read that it easily could stand on its own

I connected to this book on a very deep personal level and not just because danielle does writing is exquisite because it is but also because I found a lot of myself in this book

Sarah waters never fails to blow me away she always manages to craft a really tight story but where she truly excels is creating these flesh and blood characters and settings that feel so real and tangible that you want to wrap them around you like a cozy sweater

though this book certainly has a moderately pretentious air I loved how vividly the restaurant and its atmosphere left off the page it is a book that has really stuck with me

I was immediately drawn in by George Eliot's writing and the wit with which he tells this story while I wasn't the biggest fan of the ending this story in general has really stuck with me

this book is raw rough and in-your-face back when I first read it I described it as being evocative of taking a deep breath in a cigarette smoking room as sounding like a guttural growl at the back of your throat and feeling like crying into your beer

I thought this book was very simple in its elegance and it reminded me a lot of the interesting spy Meg Wolitzer which is a favorite book of mine

never before have I ever had such a physical reaction to reading a book the descriptions of the art critics synesthesia and how he experiences the world were so vivid and alive in my mind that I would be getting tingling sensations in my head and need to take regular breaks

not only as Gaskell's writing spectacular but the characters felt so intensely real to me that I began to grow to love them and grow frustrated with them as though they were my own family