My 22 Recommended Reads of 2017

Many book-ish sites this time of year take time to reflect back on some of the standout reads from the past year. Some you can find online, and some are hardbacks which is good for everyone’s different preferences. Understandably, sometimes you can’t access content online and so some people like to use tools like this Piratebay proxy to help them do this. It really depends on one’s location, however overall there isn’t really a limit to what you can access but preferences in certain formats. So anyway, however you find these reads, make sure you give them all a go! Here is my list of recommended reads of 2017. I can recommend them all with out hesitation. (Books that won a 2017 “Very Best!” Book Award are marked with an * asterisk. Some titles are on the 2018 longlist for the award; I had finished reading them after awarding the 2017 winners.)

Fiction (in no particular order)

Non-Fiction

According to my Goodreads 2017 Challenge, I read 103 books last year. I would be hard pressed to recall them all, that’s for certain. That is why I started this blog in 2015: it was to be an online journal of my reading history, including short reviews of each book as well. For 2018, I set my sights a little lower: my goal is to read 75 books, down from 100 last year. I want to focus more on quality and not quantity.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the publishers (and their respective publicists) for the review copies as well as the ARCs. All of the books I read in 2017 came primarily from publishing houses; some came directly from the authors themselves.

Positive feedback quote of the year is from Carol Bruneau, author of the wonderful short story collection A Bird on Every Tree:

“I am overwhelmed with gratitude to the Miramichi Reader for this amazing review–the kindest, most thoughtful review I’ve ever had.”

Thanks Carol! It has always been my goal to support East Coast writers and publishing houses, although I occasional stray to other parts of Canada from time to time. However, I’ve found that you can’t please everyone. as I had a publisher observe:

“I read your review of <insert book name here> and think that you might have missed the thrust of the book. A book like that can be misunderstood.”

Perhaps I missed the point of the book because the author buried it amid an orgy of unnecessary sex scenes, I replied.

2017 also saw the roll-out of a new web design which, I trust is more pleasing to the eye as well as giving “The Reader” a more professional look. Thanks to GeneratePress for the fabulous (and free!) WordPress theme and for the awesome new graphics: Lucian Husac.

Happy reading in 2018!

Founding Editor -- Website

James M. Fisher is the Founding Editor of The Miramichi Reader. He began TMR in 2015, realizing that there was a genuine need for more book reviews of Canadian literature. It has since become Canada’s best-regarded source for the finest in new literary releases. James has been interviewed about TMR on CBC Radio and other media sites. He works as a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Technologist and lives in Miramichi, New Brunswick with his wife Diane, their tabby cat Eddie, and Buster the Red Merle Border Collie.

2 thoughts on “My 22 Recommended Reads of 2017”

  1. As you already know, I’ve read “A Bird on Every Tree” and “Promises to Keep”, and loved them both. And you’ve reminded me that I still want to read “All That is Solid” and “Once Upon a Time”.
    It’s been nice getting to know you this year! Your site is always a pleasure to visit and browse through. Looking forward to more of it in 2018! 🙂

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