I’ve been living in 2017 for a while now. After I sold my book in 2015 and learned the publication date, 2017 became imprinted on my heart. This obsession has manifested in odd ways, including getting confused about expiration dates. Multiple times, I would check the date on a bag of frozen peach slices or sour candy and panic for a second, seeing an expiration of March 2017. It took my mind a second to remember: wait, you’re still living in 2016 with the rest of these suckers, March is still months away.  And now here it is! We’re roughly 36 hours into the year. So far, so good.

One of my resolutions is to work through the books I have (though I’m 100% sure I’ll buy more before I finish this list). I acquired a pretty significant amount of books during 2016, and I have a tantalizing but frankly overwhelming to-read list. These books are ones I’ve been hugely curious about: most of them I’ve found through word-of-mouth and buzz, others through friends’ recommendations. Many are by authors I’ve already read and enjoyed, so I’m coming back for seconds or thirds. And some just caught my attention for my own particular reasons.

The List (bolded as completed): 

The Long and Faraway Gone (Lou Berney)

Tiny Pretty Things (Sona Charaipotra, Dhonielle Clayton)

Uptown Thief (Aya de Leon)

A Small Indiscretion (Jan Ellison)

The Panopticon (Jenni Fagan)

Setting Free the Kites (Alex George)

These Things Hidden (Heather Gudenkauf)

Elizabeth is Missing (Emma Healey)

The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing (Mira Jacob)

The Last Summer of the Camperdowns (Elizabeth Kelly)

Mambo in Chinatown (Jean Kwok)

Pleasantville (Attica Locke)

Wolf Hall (Hilary Mantel)

Hairstyles of the Damned (Joe Meno)

The Last Anniversary (Liane Moriarty)

The Wives of Los Alamos (TaraShea Nesbit)

Lillian Boxfish  Takes a Walk (Kathleen Rooney)

A Head Full of Ghosts (Paul Tremblay)

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender (Leslye Walton)

Fingersmith (Sarah Waters)

Second Life (S.J. Watson)

The Position (Meg Wolitzer)

Everything, Everything (Nicola Yoon)