This was my book of the year - the Most Important book I read in 2017, and the number one book I would make everyone read if I could. Maxine Beneba Clarke has an amazing way of writing about terrible issues in a really beautiful way - reading this I felt angry, I felt sad, I felt ashamed, I felt like I might vomit, but I enjoyed it completely.  

This anthology of #LoveOzYA short stories was my favourite YA read for the year. I've mentioned it a couple of times here already, I think, but one of the things I loved was the breadth of kinds of stories included - there really is something for everyone in here, and I have books from everysingle one of these authors on my 2018 the list. This book also gave me one of my favourite bookish experiences of the year, when I got up at crazy o'clock to catch the bus to Sydney for the All Day YA event (you can read more about that here). 

This was my first time reading Liane Moriarty and I loved her writing - the voices sounded really authentic (it often felt like listening to my friends talk about their own or other people's children!) and I enjoyed the twist. I watched the tv series, but didn't enjoy it as much, and am sceptical about there being a second season planned.

This was fierce and funny and feministy. I loved the sense of humour it brought to super hero tropes, while still tackling issues about self and difference. I'm hoping to catch up on more of Kamala Khan's adventures this year.

I hadn't read any Helen Garner before this, and her beautiful writing and sharp wit has me keen to try more! I'm open to recommendations of where to go next!

Another first experience with a widely loved author. I read this before going to see the movie (and, again, thought the book was so much better!). Check out more of my thoughts on this one in this post.

When Dimple met Rishi :: Sandhya Menon 

This book is completely adorable and fun, and I can't wait to read Sandhya Menon's next book - From Twinkle with Love - later this year. You can read my review of Dimple and Rishi here.

This book was pure space adventure fun, and that ending gave me my biggest book hangover of 2017! It was also brilliant meeting the authors and hearing them talk about the process of writing and writing together.

Empire of Dust is book 2 in the Blood of Gods and Royals series, and was my biggest bookish surprise of 2017 - I didn't expect to love this series so much, and I'm not sure I can put my finger on why! I wrote up a review of the series so far here, and I can't wait to get into the next book!

So those were the 10 books I fave 5-star ratings to last year. I'm excited to seeing how many I have in 2018!

Xo Bron