No prologue can explain a year like 2017. It was tough. I had a baby. I participated in the resistance. I worked. I wrote a book that I can't talk about yet, and which -- because I was writing every morning and (most evenings) on my commute to my real job -- means I read a lot less this year.

So my year in books is a bit...lackluster? I'm about 20 books behind my usual rate, which feels like a really sad showing, but of course, sometimes, there are things more important than reading (!). And I'm able to look back at the year with genuine satisfaction in my bones.

Several books that I started and didn't finish due to lack of interest are not listed here, because that's mean. And per usual, this list doesn't include the THOUSANDS of stories I read my kids, and the drafts I read of my husband's work. Also, I bought a ton of books this year, and they are all queued up on my Kindle. Like, dozens. I can't wait to get started on them.

Here's what I read, mostly in order from January through December:

Superficial by Andy Cohen
The X Files Origins: Devil's Advocate by Jonathan Mayberry
Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty by Ramona Ausubel
How to Party with an Infant by Kaui Hart Hemmings
The Graces by Laura Eve
The Good Sleeper by Janet Kennedy
The Trespasser by Tana French
Eleven Hours by Pamela Erens
The X Files Origins: Agent of Chaos by Kami Garcia
Whole 30 by Melissa Hartwig and Dallas Hartwig
Saints for All Occasions by J. Courtney Sullivan
Oh Crap! Potty Training by Jamie Glowacki
Wild Swans by Jessica Spotswood
Faithful Place by Tana French
Broken Harbor by Tana French
The Widow's House by Carol Goodman
Startup by Doree Shafrir
The Regulars by Georgia Clark
The Futures by Anna Pitoniak
Perennials by Mandy Berman
Written on His Skin by Simone Stark
When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
Gather the Daughters by Jennie Melamed
Hello, Sunshine by Laura Dave
Bonfire by Krysten Ritter

Some quick stats: 25 books, 5 YA (which is a serious record for me...I usually have MUCH more), 4 nonfiction, 1 romance. Some favorites: Tana French. I'd been told for years I should read her, and this year I finally did, and I am now obsessed. Gather the Daughters was insanely well written, but so, so hard to read. Both X Files books were enjoyable (and this week, the show returns!).And I loved, loved, loved Andy Cohen's book, which is exactly what 10-months-pregnant-me needed.

Anyway, thanks again to the writers who offered distractions, inspiration, and a reason to turn off Housewives and go to bed. (To read.)

Happy New Year.