Welcome to my first Giveaway Hop of 2017.  It’s the Best of 2016, featuring the books that eventually emerged as my top five.  Thank you, Mary at BookHounds, for running this hop, and many other top events throughout the year (and over many years).  You truly are a star.

You may have seen me raving about my top books at the end of last year.  I slid another one in just before Christmas; it came out last week and I reviewed it on Saturday.  So the list has changed a little since I ran the Stuck in a Good Book Giveaway where I led with The Martian, and even, on reflection, from my Book of the Year list a couple of weeks back.

My final top five books I read in 2016 are:

  • The Rosetta Man, by Claire McCague
    • Brilliantly written, with fabulous descriptions of the communication methodology, and overall, seriously good. With aliens. Set partly on Samoa. With a man who talks to animals, rather than people. What’s not to like?
  • Dear Amy, by Helen Callaghan
    • A first-class psychological thriller that I really couldn’t put down. One of those books that leaves you wanting more, even though child abduction is at its heart. Not for people with personality disorders.
  • The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers
    • A wonderfully built universe where humans are anything but in the ascendent. Richly told adventure of a team of tunnellers awarded a contract that is nowhere near as simple as it sounds. Vividly imagined, and well worth a read.
  • The Screaming Staircase, by Jonathan Stroud
    • How can a team of teenagers overcome the supernatural beings that haunt the green and pleasant land?  Because they’re ghost hunters, and they’re good – and so is the person that wants them taken down….
  • The One Memory of Flora Banks, by Emily Barr
    • Seventeen year old Flora thinks she’s ten, because that was when her memories stop.  Every day she has to read her notes just to find out who she is.  So how can she remember kissing a boy called Drake on the beach?  And why has she got a note to herself that her parents are keeping a secret from her?  A rollercoaster story that will keep you guessing, and then make your mind jump through hoops.

I hope there’s something in there that takes your fancy, since the winner of my giveaway will have a choice of one of them, in paperback or ebook as preferred (if available).

Entries are welcome from all parts of the world (if Book Depository doesn’t do free delivery to you, it’ll have to be an ebook if you win), and entries close at midnight (New York time) on 31st January.  Just enter via the Rafflecopter, then go hopping round other people who have signed up to tell you the best of their 2016.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now go hopping!

 

 

Best of 2016 Giveaway Hop

98 thoughts on “Best of 2016 Giveaway Hop

  • 18 January, 2017 at 7:23 am
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    Holy carps, I’m meant to be on this hop – am I late or are you early??! And since I’m like 9 hours ahead of you, this doesn’t bode well. Eeeeeep!

    • 18 January, 2017 at 6:37 pm
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      You’ve got until about now, or maybe a little longer! It officially starts on the 19th. 🙂

      • 24 January, 2017 at 12:07 am
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        For some reason I had written it on my calendar for the 9th of February. I blame Donald Trump.

  • 18 January, 2017 at 7:43 am
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    Well, I always said I didn’t keep too good a track of what I’d read before 2017, so….

    • 18 January, 2017 at 6:37 pm
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      I never used to bother, but now I wish I had!

  • 18 January, 2017 at 9:28 am
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    One of my most recent favorites of 2016 that comes to mind that I read towards the end of the year was The Haunting by Sandra Marton.

    • 18 January, 2017 at 6:39 pm
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      That sounds a little spooky for me! Thanks for visiting, Kim

  • 18 January, 2017 at 9:31 am
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    Jemima! Hello from Okayama! I’m fascinated by every single ONE of these books and plan on reading them when I return home. As always, your lucid descriptions leave me wanting to know more and I’m excited to read about this hop! Each book features a different world and “The Rosetta Man” in particular, stirs the Boolean part of me that is so analytical! Thanks for sharing. I know I’m too late, but wanted to comment. Congratulations and the best to you, as always love! Mary

    • 18 January, 2017 at 6:39 pm
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      You’re never too late – and it’s lovely to hear from you! Hope you have a good year, Mary <3

    • 18 January, 2017 at 6:40 pm
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      Ah – I have heard good things of that, thanks for the reminder

    • 18 January, 2017 at 6:41 pm
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      I’ve just picked up book 4 from NetGalley. When am I going to fit in books 2 & 3? Well, I also ordered book 2 from the library…

  • 18 January, 2017 at 4:56 pm
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    Oh, boy. That’s a great-sounding collection, except the psychological thriller, which is a genre I just can’t touch.

    • 18 January, 2017 at 5:03 pm
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      And oops. Forgot I was supposed to say what my favorite book of the year was…not a question I am ever able to answer. Among kids’ books, I will put the “Mr Max” series by Cynthia Voight. Non-fiction goes to a book that I pick more for it’s heart than great writing, The Animal Keepers by Donn Behake. With a nod to Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King (thanks to Jemima for the tip-off to that one).

  • 18 January, 2017 at 8:44 pm
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    one of my favorite reads in 2016 was Where’d you go Bernedette by Maria Semple. Thank you

    • 19 January, 2017 at 10:41 pm
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      I suspect Im going to get far too many excellent recommendations here…

  • 18 January, 2017 at 11:07 pm
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    BURIAL RITES by Hannah Kent – I think it was a 2016 read. It stands out.

    • 19 January, 2017 at 10:42 pm
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      Oh, boy… it had better join the others on my TBR, then 🙂

  • 18 January, 2017 at 11:51 pm
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    It was probably A Court of Mist and Fury. I was so utterly absorbed in it when I was reading it.

    • 19 January, 2017 at 10:42 pm
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      Absorbing – not like the one I’ve just finished, then!

  • 19 January, 2017 at 11:02 am
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    My top read of 2016 was Inferno by Dan Brown – which I am non-so-coincidentally giving away on my own blog 🙂 TY for the giveaway!

    • 19 January, 2017 at 10:43 pm
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      I’ll be over to see what you thought of it!

  • 19 January, 2017 at 11:28 am
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    Commonwealth BY ANN PATCHETT
    Evicted Poverty and Profit in the American City BY MATTHEW DESMOND
    The Gene An Intimate History BY SIDDHARTHA MUKHERJEE
    News of the World BY PAULETTE JILES

    • 19 January, 2017 at 10:44 pm
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      Crikey – too many to choose, from, eh, Mai?

  • 19 January, 2017 at 7:18 pm
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    I really enjoyed A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. I really enjoy her books, looking forward to reading the next one!!

    Judy Cox

  • 19 January, 2017 at 7:34 pm
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    I loved “The unexpected everything” by morgan matson.

  • 19 January, 2017 at 8:50 pm
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    The sun is also a star
    Rafflecopter username: Joana Bento

    • 19 January, 2017 at 10:46 pm
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      That looks like it’s getting a good press…

  • 19 January, 2017 at 10:05 pm
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    Last Girl Before Freeway by Leslie Bennett

  • 19 January, 2017 at 10:37 pm
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    “Monkey Business” by Landon Crutcher was a very good book.

  • 20 January, 2017 at 2:59 am
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    My top book of 2016 was Truly, Madly, Guilty by Liane Moriarty.

  • 20 January, 2017 at 4:46 am
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    I liked Going Postal
    “Words are important. And when there is a critical mass of them, they change the nature of the universe.”

  • 20 January, 2017 at 3:32 pm
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    I really enjoyed The Girl with All the Gifts.

  • 20 January, 2017 at 7:33 pm
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    I loved Behind Closed. Doors by B. A. Paris!

    • 20 January, 2017 at 11:04 pm
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      That could be dangerous – or upsetting!

  • 21 January, 2017 at 10:49 am
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    I loved Crooked Kingdom b Leigh Bardugo but my absolute favorite was The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson 🙂

  • 21 January, 2017 at 1:58 pm
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    Sworn to Rise series by Terah Edun

    • 23 January, 2017 at 3:17 pm
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      I really ought to try this one out this year 🙂

  • 21 January, 2017 at 3:55 pm
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    All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood.

    • 23 January, 2017 at 3:18 pm
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      I think that’s on my list – thanks for the recommendation!

  • 21 January, 2017 at 9:17 pm
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    I loved NOWHERE WITH YOU, Josh O’Kane’s biography of the very cool Canadian musician Joel Plaskett!

  • 22 January, 2017 at 3:19 am
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    My favorite book of 2016 is A court of thorns and roses…

    • 23 January, 2017 at 3:19 pm
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      I think I’ve had that mentioned already 🙂

  • 22 January, 2017 at 4:42 am
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    no fav, didn’t read many

    • 23 January, 2017 at 3:19 pm
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      Really? I hope everything is okay with you – just busy, I hope.

  • 23 January, 2017 at 1:21 am
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    My top book of 2016 was Truthwitch by Susan Dennard.

  • 23 January, 2017 at 2:24 am
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    My Maker’s Keeper by Tiffany Current was my favorite book from 2016.

  • 23 January, 2017 at 6:22 pm
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    Top book of 2016 was THE GIRL WITH THE LOWER BACK TATTOO By Amy Schumer. Super fun read 😉

  • 24 January, 2017 at 5:42 am
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    The Magician’s Nephew was good.

    • 27 January, 2017 at 4:26 pm
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      Ah, yes… but is that the same one I’m thinking of?

  • 24 January, 2017 at 1:53 pm
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    It Ends With Us! I loved it! ♥

  • 25 January, 2017 at 2:11 am
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    The Beast by J.R. Ward was my favorite book of 2016.

  • 26 January, 2017 at 4:41 am
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    My top reads from 2016 were Lies we tell ourselves by Robin Talley, Firefight by Brandon Sanderson and Living dead girl by Elizabeth Scott.

  • 26 January, 2017 at 3:31 pm
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    Mine was Punk 57 by Penelope Douglas.

    • 27 January, 2017 at 4:28 pm
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      I think I saw that listed somewhere this week… unless you recommended it on another blog!

  • 27 January, 2017 at 3:06 am
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    I really liked Nameless and Clanless.

  • 27 January, 2017 at 3:19 am
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    One of my favorites was It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

    • 27 January, 2017 at 4:29 pm
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      I’ve never read any Colleen Hoover, but I know she’s popular 🙂

  • 28 January, 2017 at 11:38 am
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    I loved Once Broken Faith by Seanan McGuire.

  • 29 January, 2017 at 2:47 am
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    maybe Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

  • 29 January, 2017 at 8:42 am
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    I read a lot of amazing books in 2016. There were 3 that just blew me away and I can’t pick just one. The best reads of 2016 were A Court of Mist and Fury and Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas, as well as Hunt The Dawn by Abbie Roads.

  • 31 January, 2017 at 1:45 am
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    I love Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare.

  • 31 January, 2017 at 3:16 am
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    The One Memory of Flora Banks by Emily Barr sounds really interesting!
    “The Wise Man’s Fear” was my favorite book that I read last year. I ship Patrick Rothfuss now.

  • 31 January, 2017 at 6:01 pm
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    Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

  • 1 February, 2017 at 1:07 am
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    End of Watch is my favorite

  • 1 February, 2017 at 2:17 am
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    Small Great Things was my favorite.

  • 1 February, 2017 at 4:20 am
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    While I haven’t finished it yet (it was released late in the year, and I have a library copy), I think that Zadie Smith’s “Swing Time” will be my #1 for 2016.

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