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"Best Of" 2017 Lists

This is the time of year when “Best Of” lists are everywhere. These annual roundups always seem to spark lively discussions among readers as they reflect on their favorite books of the year. Although we at Bookreporter.com don’t have a “Best Of” list of our own, we’ve compiled a number of them for you here. See which of your top picks appear on these lists and which titles you feel should've been included but weren't. Perhaps you’ll even find some books to add to your reading list as we head into the new year!

Bookreporter.com Reviewers Pick Their Favorite Books of 2017

Recently we asked our reviewers to provide us with a list of some of their favorite books from 2017. Included is a mix of fiction and nonfiction titles, all published this year. Take a moment to read these varied lists of titles and see if you agree with their selections! Please note that due to personal and professional commitments, some reviewers were not able to participate in this feature.

Week of February 26, 2018

Paperback releases for the week of February 26th include EXIT WEST, Mohsin Hamid's astonishingly visionary love story that imagines the forces that drive ordinary people from their homes into the uncertain embrace of new lands; HOUSE OF SPIES by Daniel Silva, which finds legendary spy, assassin and art restorer Gabriel Allon determined to hunt down the world’s most dangerous terrorist, a shadowy ISIS mastermind known only as Saladin; THIS CLOSE TO HAPPY, Daphne Merkin’s rare, vividly personal account of what it feels like to suffer from clinical depression; and Helene Cooper's MADAME PRESIDENT, the harrowing but triumphant story of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf --- leader of the Liberian women’s movement, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, and the first democratically elected female president in African history.

Mohsin Hamid, author of Exit West

In a country teetering on the brink of civil war, two young people meet --- sensual, fiercely independent Nadia and gentle, restrained Saeed. They embark on a furtive love affair, and are soon cloistered in a premature intimacy by the unrest roiling their city. When it explodes, turning familiar streets into a patchwork of checkpoints and bomb blasts, they begin to hear whispers about doors --- doors that can whisk people far away, if perilously and for a price. As the violence escalates, Nadia and Saeed decide that they no longer have a choice.

The 2017 Kirkus Prize

At a special ceremony in the penthouse of the Four Seasons Residences in Austin, Texas, Kirkus Reviews, the nation’s leading journal of prepublication book reviews, announced the winners of the fourth annual Kirkus Prize in the categories of fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature.