As we clink glasses to welcome in the New Year and set resolutions for the future, it’s prime time to look back on what 2017 has brought us. Here, we have rounded up a list of the top 10 tomes of 2017, from poetry to fiction to cookbooks, so you don’t have to miss out on any of the year’s must-reads.
1. The Power by Naomi Alderman
Naomi Alderman’s latest novel is a thought-provoking prediction on what the world could look like if all of a sudden teenage girls everywhere had unstoppable power and physical strength. The Power is definitely one of the most talked about titles of the year; it has been dubbed our era’s The Handmaid’s Tale and it took home the 2017 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction.
Buy it here: Amazon | Indigo
2. The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur
Rupi Kaur’s highly anticipated second collection of poems explores themes such as growth, healing, femininity, ancestry, and love. The Sun and Her Flowers features the compact compositions and charming illustrations her 1.8 million Instagram followers have come to love her for. Buy it here: Amazon | Indigo
3. Hot Mess Kitchen: Recipes for Your Delicious Disastrous Life by Gabi Moskawitz and Miranda Berman
This new cookbook is for the millennial who thinks cooking means dumping cheese over a pile of nachos or tapping open their Uber Eats app. Hot Mess Kitchen is a collection of yummy, budget-friendly, easy-to-follow recipes with hilarious anecdotal blurbs. It’s written by BrokeAss Gourmet blogger Gabi Moskawitz and The Mindy Project writer Miranda Berman, and includes a foreword from Mindy Kaling herself. Buy it here: Amazon | Indigo
4. How to Murder Your Life: A Memoir by Cat Marnell
In this powerful memoir, former beauty editor Cat Marnell takes readers through her journey from prep school to Condé Nast—through all the bouts of loneliness, prescription drug addiction, bulimia, and insomnia that she suffered along the way. Buy it here: Amazon | Indigo
5. We’re Going to Need More Wine: Stories That Are Funny, Complicated, and True by Gabrielle Union
This collection of essays has been described as being Amy Poehler-meets-Lena Dunham-meets-Roxane Gay. And I must say, I’m inclined to agree. Actress Gabrielle Union tackles topics like modern womanhood, sexual assault, celebrity, and race, with wit, vulnerability, and grace. Her essays will make you laugh, cry, and think—sometimes all at the same time. Buy it here: Amazon | Indigo
6. South and West: From a Notebook by Joan Didion
If you’ve ever wanted to get inside the mind of Joan Didion — the brilliant, queen of cool who pioneered ‘60s-era “new journalism” and modelled in everyone’s favourite Céline ad — here is your chance. This new release includes unpublished excerpts from Didion’s personal notebooks, giving us a peek into her literary process. And, if you’re like me and you can never get enough Didion, do not fret: Netflix just released a brand new biodoc titled Joan Didion: The Centre Will Not Hold, so go ahead and add it to your queue. Buy it here: Amazon | Indigo
7. The Last Tudor by Philippa Gregory
Since releasing her iconic The Other Boleyn Girl in 2001, Philippa Gregory has told countless tales of women who have been either forgotten or misrepresented by traditionally male-dominated history. In her latest novel, The Last Tudor, she brings to life teenage Lady Jane Grey, who famously became Queen of England for nine days in 1553, and her two younger sisters, Katherine and Mary. Buy it here: Amazon | Indigo
8. The Lonely Hearts Hotel: A Novel by Heather O’Neill
This uber-romantic, dazzling story takes readers back to early 20th-century Montreal and New York, where two orphans grow up to fall in love and dream up the most spectacular circus the world has ever seen. Buy it here: Amazon | Indigo
9. Vogue: The Covers (Updated Edition) by Dodie Kazanjian
This new hardcover glossy was released this year to celebrate Vogue’s 125th anniversary, and is an absolute must-have for any fashion devotee. It includes classic cover art spanning the last century, including new favourites such as Michelle Obama and Kim and Kanye. Buy it here: Amazon | Indigo
10. The Future Home of the Living God: A Novel by Louise Erdrich
In this chilling dystopian tale, pregnant women are assembled for observation. Non-pregnant women are coerced into carrying frozen embryos. Evolution starts to progress backwards, and the government of the United States crumbles. Needless to say, it’s a page-turner. Buy it here: Amazon | Indigo
