From the Top 10 Archives: Jen's 10 Favorite Books of 2007

Continuing my trip down memory lane of favorite books of years past, today we'll re-visit my 10 favorite books from 2007.  As a reminder, that means books I read in 2007, not necessarily books published that year.

I joined Goodreads in 2007, so one of the things that should be interesting as I look back at these lists from 2007 on is that my ratings (and reviews where applicable) on Goodreads will have been made contemporaneously, giving me a better view of what I thought of these books at the time I read them.

Here's my list from 2007, in alphabetical order by author's last name:

The Summer Guest - Justin Cronin
Sharp Objects - Gillian Flynn
Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen
The Girls - Lori Lansen
The Preservationist - David Maine
Evidence of Love - Melissa McConnell
Promise Not to Tell - Jennifer McMahon
Special Topics in Calamity Physics - Marisha Pessl
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling
Love Walked In - Marisa de los Santos

How Does This List Hold Up Over Time?
I have to say, this is a pretty good list.  The only one of these books that I don't remember in the slightest is "Evidence of Love."  "Promise Not to Tell" is not very sharp in my memory, and although I still remember "Sharp Objects," I was somewhat surprised to see it on my top 10 list.  All the others I remember, or at least remember loving.  And as I mentioned above, I rated these books on Goodreads as I read them.  So it's interesting to see that I gave 6 of these 10 books a 5 star rating at the time (the rest of the books besides those I just mentioned, minus "The Preservationist) - perhaps why they have stuck with me over the years.  It's hard to even name a favorite - maybe "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" or "Special Topics in Calamity Physics."

Genres


This list has two mystery/thrillers ("Sharp Objects" and "Promise Not to Tell"), two historical novels ("Water for Elephants" and "The Preservationist"), one middle grade fantasy (Harry Potter, obviously), and the rest are contemporary fiction.

Popularity

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" was wildly popular, with more than 2 million ratings on Goodreads, and "Water for Elephants" has more than a million ratings on Goodreads.  "Evidence of Love," on the other hand, is one of the least read books I've ever seen on Goodreads, with only 103 ratings.

Other Random Stuff

For my 2007 list, the high and low ratings seem to match the popularity of the books.  The highest rated of these books on Goodreads was "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," with an amazing 4.62 average rating.  And the lowest rated on Goodreads was "Evidence of Love" with an average of 3.20.

There are several repeat authors on this list from previous years - this is Justin Cronin's second appearance after his first book was on my 2003 Top 10 list (and astute readers of this blog know that all 3 of his books in The Passage Trilogy will be making appearances on later years' lists).  And J.K. Rowling makes her second appearance on the list, after also gracing my very first list, for 1999 for the first Harry Potter book.  Several other authors make their first appearance on this list but will re-appear in later years - stay tuned!

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Note that I'll give all these posts the tag "Top 10," so you should be able to click on the label  "Top 10" at the bottom of the post and see all my other Top 10 posts.  And if you just want to see all my old Top 10 lists now without waiting, you can also click through to my Goodreads profile - I have a separate shelf for each of my old lists.