The year is at its close and I have been reminiscing about the books I have read this year. Some were classics, while others were new and contemporary. Every year I challenge myself to read a number of books before the years end on Goodreads. The books I read ranged from Moby-Dick by Herman Melville to The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan. This year my goal was to read twenty-five books, and I have surpassed this goal by reading thirty-seven.

My yearly book goal and my Christmas book haul, made me want to go over some of my top books from 2016.

1. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

I actually wrote an article about this one already. It was not exactly what I had expected from the long awaited sequel to the Harry Potter books, but I was enthralled from beginning to end. I waited at Barnes and Nobel for hours to get my copy and I began reading as soon as I got home. The entirety of the book took me less than twenty-four hours to complete. I was far from let down by this book and I am eagerly awaiting its Broadway debut.

2. the princess saves herself in this one

This book is actually a book of poetry written by Amanda Lovelace. I have read many critiques of her poetry and her use of line breaks, but I felt that I had to read her poems for myself. I absolutely loved them. While the line breaks may seem unnecessary at points, I felt that they added to the astheitic of a girl becoming a woman while trying to balance the negative in life with a little bit of positive. Many of the poems within this paperback cover strike home and make the reader feel as though for once they are not alone.

3. The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle

I absolutely love Rick Riordan's novels. My interest in this novel was not purely that he wrote it, but that it would bring me back into the world of the Greek gods and Camp Half Blood. The humor was on point as usual with his work, and Apollo's character was the perfect mix of annoying, pitiful, and mildly likable for my taste. I get the perfect mixture old characters to know what I am getting into and the fresh characters that keep me trying to figure out what they are going to do next.

4. Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Hammer of Thor

Speaking of Rick Riordan, his new series, Manus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, is wonderful. I have already read the first book, The Sword of Summer, and I am almost done with The Hammer of Thor. Magnus Chase is a great character with a humor that rivals Percy Jackson. His cousin, Annabeth Chase, connects this series to all of the other godly series written by Rick Riordan. The diversity brings this, and the other Riordan novels, into our current society. There are gay, trans, Muslim, special needs, and other multicultural characters. None of these characters are treate by as abnormal by their peers, so it allows readers, especially younger readers, to understand that everyone we meet is different, wonderful, and normal.

Consider reading any of these books or books by the authors/poets above. My to be read pile grows everyday and I hardly ever make a dent. If you are into diverse characters with rich plot and dialogue, consider Rick Riordan's novels. I have also begun to make a dent in my comic to be read pile. I am currently obssessed with The Wicked and the Divineand the new Ms. Marvel.