2016 Favorites

A few of us are here today to share our favorites from 2016. There were so many great books and it was definitely hard to choose from the ones we read and loved. Hope we can help you find your next favorite book! And, of course, we'd love to hear what were your favorites from this past year.

Melissa A:
**Links are to reviews**

Novelista Girl by Meredith Schorr
Sparing the Heart by Tracy Krimmer
Everything We Keep by Kerry Lonsdale
Wedding Girl by Stacey Ballis
The City Baker's Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller

The Year We Turned 40 
by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke
A Girl's Guide to Moving On 
by Debbie Macomber
One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Valley of the Moon by Melanie Gideon
Hungry Heart by Jennifer Weiner

Jami:

It’s that time of year again! Time to whittle down all the books I’ve read into two favorites: a favorite that I’ve reviewed for CLC, and a favorite that I read on my own. The latter is getting a bit harder because I’m not in the habit of listing books on GoodReads or keeping track of them. I read so many books, I can’t remember them all.

My favorite of the books I’ve reviewed for Chick Lit Central was YA author Georgia Clark’s first adult novel, The Regulars (reviewed here). Described by more than one reviewer as a “feminist fairy tale,” The Regulars is the story of three New York City millennials who are gifted or cursed with a bottle of “Pretty,” which makes them… well, you know. Beauty may only be skin-deep, but the effects of sudden beauty go way deeper than that.


For the books I’ve read on my own, once again I’m choosing a World War II tale. Armando Lucas Correa’s The German Girl is the story of Hannah Rosen(thal), who is twelve years old in Berlin in 1939. Her parents are lucky enough to gain passage for the family on the St. Louis, which will take them and other Jewish refugees to America by way of Cuba. Seventy years later, Hannah’s granddaughter Anna receives a package from Cuba, and learns about Hannah’s life in Cuba and how the revolution affected her. With the resurgence of anti-Semitism in the U.S. and the recent death of Fidel Castro, The German Girl is an important reminder of the cyclical nature of history.

My goal for 2017 is to do a better job of keeping track of everything I read!


Sara:
**Links are to reviews**

1. The Forgotten Room by Karen White, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig. I love that the relationships between the characters spanned decades of time. A great concept!

2. We're All Damaged by Matthew Norman. Matthew's writing style is so candid, his perspective on everything was spot on. I also appreciated the fact that the story primarily took place in Omaha, NE. Having lived there for fourteen years, I felt like I was "home" again.

3. For Rent by Erin Huss. Having worked in property management myself for over a decade, I felt as though I was re-living some of my own experiences. Such a fun read!

4. Those Crazy Notions of Otherwise Intelligent People by Joel Michael Dorr. This was another novel where I thoroughly enjoyed the candid writing style. There was great comedic timing and humor everywhere, keeping me entertained and on my toes.

5. Sunset in Central Park by Sarah Morgan. Really, all of the books in the "Manhattan with Love" series could be on my list. I really enjoyed Sunset, though, because it tells the story of a young woman who has a really hard time dealing with relationships, and then she finds herself smack dab in the middle of one.

Becky:
**Links are to reviews**

Strictly Between Us by Jane Fallon - a real page turner from start to finish. You can't always have a happy ending with a novel and i just couldn't see how one would emerge in this novel, in this sense it felt different and kept me on my toes. Loved it.

Would Like to Meet by Polly James - such a great novel, a feel good heart-warming funny story with characters I adored.