Hello from snowy Åland! Even though spring is on its way, it’s time to return to 2017 for a summary of the books I read in 2017. I have listed them all here on the blog, except the one I finished in December: The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster, My goal last year was to read at least one book per week, It was not difficult to reach that goal. Of course, my situation was special as I was home for most of the year. I will probably not read as many books this year. In 2018, my focus will be quality over quantity as far as reading is concerned.
So, what was the result? 67 fun, thought-provoking, interesting, and sometimes wise books. I’m so happy about the moments I shared with those books I read in 2017.
List: The Books I Read in 2017
January
January was a great month, a good mix of languages and genres. Here I wrote a summary for January.
- 🇫🇮 Elena Ferrante: Loistava ystäväni (My Brilliant Friend / L’amica geniale)
- 🇬🇧 Hanya Yanagihara: A Little Life
- 🇬🇧 Lonely Planet’s Guide to Travel Writing
- 🇸🇪 Mhairi McFarlane: Det är inte jag, det är du (It’s Not Me It’s You)
- 🇸🇪 Haruki Murakami: Män utan kvinnor (Men Without Women / 女のいない男たち)
- 🇬🇧 Ilona Boniwell: Positive Psychology in a Nutshell
- 🇬🇧 Han Kang: The Vegetarian
February
In February, I wrote about books and gratefulness, I only read three books, though.
- 🇸🇪 Olof Lagercrantz: Om konsten att läsa och skriva
- 🇬🇧 Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Flow, the psychology of optimal experience
- 🇫🇮 Satu Rämö: Islantilainen voittaa aina, elämää hurmaavien harhojen maassa
March
Compared to February, March was a productive month, I read nine books in total.
- 🇸🇪 Albert Camus: Främlingen (L’étranger)
- 🇫🇮 Mario Vargas Llosa: Traversuras de la niña mala
- 🇸🇪 Zinat Pirzadeh: Fjäril i koppel
- 🇸🇪 Katerina Janouch: Första året
- 🇫🇮 Jojo Moyes: Parillisia ja parittomia (The One Plus One)
- 🇬🇧 Paula Daly: The Mistake I Made
- 🇬🇧 Paula Daly: The Trophy Child
- 🇸🇪 Torbjörn Tännsjö: Grundbok i normativ etik
- 🇸🇪 Andrea Camilleri: Terrakottahunden (Il cane di terracotta)
Read more about the books here!
April
After Easter, I started my maternity leave and waited for the baby to pop out. As Little A decided that there was no hurry, I had plenty of time to read. In April I probably made a record, reading a total of 15 books. There were novels, non-fiction, poetry even.
- 🇬🇧 Paul Theroux: The Tao of Travel
- 🇫🇮 Elly Griffiths: Risteyskohdat (The Crossing Places)
- 🇬🇧 Nicolás Obregón: Blue Light Yokohama
- 🇸🇪 Kate Morton: I det förflutna (The Distant Hours)
- 🇸🇪 Robert Harris: En officer och en spion (An Officer and a Spy)
- 🇬🇧 Umberto Eco: Numero Zero (Numero Zero)
- 🇸🇪 Vladimir Nabokov: Genomskinliga ting (Transparent Things)
- 🇸🇪 Märta Tikkanen: Århundradets kärlekssaga
- 🇫🇮 Jörn Donner: Ruotsi. Matkoja vieraassa maassa (Sverige. Resor i ett främmande land)
- 🇫🇮 Kirsi Heikkinen & Tiina Huttu: Pää edellä
- 🇫🇮 Vilmos Kondor: Budapestin synnit (Bűnös Budapest)
- 🇸🇪 Ingmar Karlsson: Roten till det onda
- 🇸🇪 Edith Wharton: Oskuldens tid (The Age of Innocence)
- 🇬🇧 Kate Saunders: The Secrets of Wishtide
- 🇸🇪 Olja Savičević: Adjö Cowboy (Adio kauboju)
May
Little A came to our lives in May, and you’d think that I would have been busy. Maybe I was, can’t really say because everything was a blur, However, the lost of books I read in 2017 continued to grow with eight titles.
- 🇸🇪 Andrea Camilleri: Krukmakarens åker (The Potter’s Field/Il campo del vasaio)
- 🇸🇪 Jhumpa Lahiri: Med andra ord (In Other Words/In altre parole)
- 🇫🇮 Graham Moore: Kuolema Sherlock-seurassa (The Sherlockian / The Holmes Affair)
- 🇸🇪 Lucretia Grindle: Döden i Florens (The Faces of Angels)
- 🇸🇪 Jojo Moyes: Toner i natten (Night Music)
- 🇬🇧 Eduardo Sacheri: The Secret in Their Eyes (La pregunta de sus ojos)
- 🇸🇪 Jane Austen: Övertalning (Persuasion)
- 🇸🇪 Donna Leon: Dödlig bekantskap (About Face)
Here you can read more about the books in question.
June
June was quite lighthearted as far as books were concerned. Detective stories and feelgood kept me busy,
- 🇫🇮 Agatha Christie: Kaikki päättyy kuolemaan (Death Comes as the End)
- 🇫🇮 Agatha Christie: Salaperäiset rukiinjyvät (A Pocket Full of Rye)
- 🇸🇪 Mons Kallentoft: Vindsjälar
- 🇬🇧 Maggie O’Farrell: This Must Be the Place
- 🇫🇮 Marco Malvaldi: Kolmen kortin temppu (Il gioce delle tre carte)
- 🇬🇧 Lucy Dillon: All I Ever Wanted
- 🇬🇧 Kate Riordan: The Girl in the Photograph
There were many reasons to be happy in June – in general, it’s my favorite time of the year.
July
In July I wrote about sunny days and I still had some time for books. I also tried listening to audio books, but they aren’t really my thing,
- 🇸🇪 Karen Joy Fowler: Vi är alla helt utom oss (We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves)
- 🇸🇪 Stephen King: Att skriva, en hantverkares memoarer (On Writing)
- 🇫🇮 Arthur Conan Doyle: Sherlock Holmesin seikkailut (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes)
- 🇸🇪 Joakim Zander: Orten
August to October
I found time to read in the summer, but then something happened. From August to October, I read a total of seven books, usually when I was killing time.
August
- 🇸🇪 Mons Kallentoft: Vattenänglar (Water Angels)
- 🇸🇪 Lina Wolff: De polyglotta älskarna (The Polyglot Lovers)
- 🇬🇧 Jonathan Franzen: Purity
- 🇸🇪 Deon Meyer: Den sista safarin (Onsigbaar / Blood Safari).
September
- 🇬🇧 Paige Toon: The One We Fell in Love With
October
- 🇸🇪 Agatha Christie: Döden på Nilen (Death on the Nile)
- 🇬🇧 Kazuo Ishiguro: Never Let Me Go
November & December
November came with its dark evenings – it’s the perfect time for curling up with a good book under the blanket. It was a good month for adding some titles to the list of books I read in 2017.
- 🇫🇮 Alicia Gimenez Bartlett: Petra Delicado ja kodittomat (Un barco cargado de arroz)
- 🇸🇪 Michaela von Kügelgen: Vad heter ångest på spanska?
- 🇸🇪 Ioana Pârvulescu: Livet börjar på fredag (Viata Începe Vineri)
- 🇸🇪 Katarina Gospic & Stefan Falk: Neuroledarskap
December’s only book as mentioned in the beginning.
- 🇬🇧 Paul Auster: The New York Trilogy
Summary: the Books I Read in 2017
All in all, I really enjoyed the books I read in 2017. This year I will not have the time to read as much, but nonetheless – I still find a great deal of comfort in a good book, And I still love reading in the bath! Have you read any of the same that books I read in 2017? What did you think about it?
