End of the Year Wrap Up Post

Wow, another year has passed by us!! I can't believe 2016 is now officially over with... Where does the time go? I know I say this every year, but it's true the time has flown by for me this year. 

The end of 2016 also marks a milestone in book blogging for me. I've completed my fifth year of book blogging this year. I never expected I'd be book blogging for this long... In fact, I didn't really know what I expected the outcome to be when it came to blogging. All I knew is that I wanted to blog about a specific topic I loved (which was everything book related, obviously) and write meaningful posts frequently to my blog in hopes of attracting a large readership with other readers and bloggers. 

Here are some of the books I enjoyed reading in 2016:

Fiction Favorites ~

Flight by Sherman Alexie
Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim
The Dispatcher by John Scalzi
The Good Traitor by Ryan Quinn
Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee

Nonfiction Favorites ~

The Assasination of the Archduke by Greg King & Sue Woolsman
My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinman
This Common Secret: My Journey as an Abortion Doctor by Susan Wicklund
Stoned: Jewelry, Obsession, and How Desire Shapes the World by Aja Raden
I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
A Life In Parts by Bryan Cranston

I read a lot of wonderful books this year, so I found it difficult to narrow down my list of favorites this year!

Here are some fun literary events I attended in 2016:

I enjoyed attending the 2016 Bay Area Book Festival in June.

I meet Sherman Alexie at the 2016 Bay Area Book Festival and he's an author I've wanted to meet in person and hear speak at an author event for a few years now. What a phenomenal author and speaker. Plus, having him sign copies of his books that I own was another hightlight for me.

I also attended an author event for Spanish author, Arturo Reverte-Perez, @ a local bookstore earlier this year, which was fun!

I also really enjoyed meeting world class marathoner and 4-time Olympian, Shalane Flanagan (she placed 6th in women's marathon event in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio earlier this year), and chef, Elyse Kopecky at an author event and signing at a local bookstore.... I am not a runner, but am into healthy eating, so was interested in Flanagan/Kopecky's new cookbook.

~ Favorite Independent Bookstore for 2016 ~

I love Rakestraw Books in Danville, California. It's my go to local independent bookstore. I love the layout and selection of books for sale, the friendly staff, and my favorite feature is all of the author events they have throughout the year. Rakestraw Books also hosts several book groups too!

~ My Reading Stats ~

I listened to 42 audiobooks this year. Bahni Turpin, Zachary Quinto, Traci Odom, Reese Witherspoon, Angela Dawe, Angel Clark, Brittany Pressley, and Archie Panjab were all wonderful narrators that made my listening experience all that much better.

I read 20 ebooks on my Kindle.

I read 32 physical books.

In other words, I read a total of 94 books this year!!

~ Little Free Libraries ~

I enjoy visiting Little Free Libraries and enjoyed visiting roughly 9 new to me Little Free Libraries this year.

.... And a word of thanks ....

I would like to take the time to thank all of my blog readers and blog followers. I wish you a joyous, peaceful, healthy 2017 filled with many fun adventures and of course, another year filled with reading many good books.

All the best to you and see you in the new year, Lisa