10 Best Books I've Read This Year (Expressed in Meryl Streep GIFs)

Every once in a while, I like to jump in and join The Broke and the Bookish family for Top Ten Tuesday (these are the same friends that do #TBTBSanta in December!). It's an opportunity for book bloggers around the Internet to talk about the same thing once a week. It's a fun way to connect and also to talk books with you Read.Write.Repeat. readers. Please jump in with your additions to my Top Ten list!

10 Best Books I've Read This Year

(Expressed in Meryl Streep GIFs)

In case knowing my ten favorite books so far this year wasn't enough for you, I've decided to spice up this post with some Meryl Streep GIFs. I mean, she is a queen. If you're like me, you're probably feeling like this about now:

It all started with one GIF and (d)evolved from there. Some are a bit of a stretch, I know, but why not? It's all for fun anyway!

1. The Defining Decade - Meg Jay - One of the first books I read this year, this one has stuck with me. It reassured me about how I've spent my twenties and also encouraged me to make the most of my upcoming thirties. Of course, I've since made some career goal changes, so reading back over my review already makes me feel a bit like this:
2. The Passenger - Lisa Lutz - This thriller kept me on my toes. It's one of the best of its kind I have read since Gone Girl. It keeps you asking this question the whole time:
3. We Should All Be Feminists - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Everyone should read it. Everyone. This was me on basically every page of the book:
   
4. Under the Tuscan Sun - Frances Mayes - I was totally charmed by this memoir. I wish I had read it ages ago. Mayes had me dreaming of days spent like this:
5. Bread and Wine - Shauna Niequist - Niequist's memoir about faith, food, and family touched me. It was just the right balance of vulnerability and joy. Here's to Shauna. I'd love to sit at your table:
6. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro - A rare example of a book I read because I loved the movie. I'm so glad I did. Ishiguro is a master and this is no exception. It's haunting and beautiful. If the movie had been made years ago, Streep would've been a great choice to play Kathy.
   
7. Strangers in Their Own Land - Arlie Russell Hochschild - This book was intensely eye-opening for me. It sparked so many internal conversations for me. It's a real glimpse into life in the South, although this GIF also captures the South pretty well:
8. A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle - This book is a classic for a reason. It's timeless, like Meryl herself:
9. Gilead - Marilynne Robinson - Another modern-ish classic. I've heard rave reviews about this one for years and finally picked it up. The writing is beautiful and it's an intense picture of the intersection of faith, family, and small town community.
10. Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys - It's the prequel to Jane Eyre, but it's about the wife in the attic, not Jane. I read this for the 100 Best Novels challenge and I think I'll remember it as one of my favorites from the list, even if the theme was pretty much this:

So there you have it, the ten best books I have read so far this year - and a lot of Meryl Streep to go with them. A big post of awesomeness, if I do say so myself. Go forth and read, people!