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Extra! Extra! I did it! Completed my first reading challenge of the year by reading all the books on this meta list of the #20Best2016. So many good books and some I definitely would've missed so glad I did this. Can't ever pick just one favorite so will post my shortlist in the comments.

This is a brilliant, often heartbreaking but deeply insightful look at poverty in America and the impact of housing. So powerful. I wish everyone would read this one. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #20Best2016 Challenge

This was kinda meh for me. She's a fine writer and at times her prose really impressed, but the plot underwhelmed me. It felt a bit movie-of-the-week. I did like the ending though, where both women appear to be moving away from defining themselves by The Guy. #20Best2016 Challenge

I really liked it at the start. I loved the behind the scenes resto stuff, the young in New York stuff, and the food writing. Then it all started to get both ridiculous and tedious. And I know I'm getting old, but Jake and Simone felt way too much like a fine dining Sam and Diane.😂 #20Best2016 Challenge

I really didn't like this. His self-described amateur sociology leads to unhelpful oversimplifications about poverty. But he's not alone in his views so it does provide insight. I also bet he's laying groundwork for a political career, so we may be seeing more of him. This Salon piece sums it up for me. http://www.salon.com/2017/03/11/hillbilly-sellout-the-politics-of-j-d-vances-hil...

Started the last book on the list for my #20Best2016 Challenge.

This was very good. Didn't quite sustain my "love at first listen" for the overall plot all the way through, but the writing is exquisite, the audio narration gorgeous and I absolutely loved all the jazz and old film references, especially learning about the above pictured Jeni Le Gon. (Photo which I think is described in the book is from NYT obit In 2012...she lived to be 96!) #20Best2016

I've barely started but this is love at first listen!!! So hope I feel this way all the way through! #20Best2016

This is an incredible book. I finished listening to the #audiobook a while ago but still think about it often and I'm sure it will stay with me. I had to take many breaks from listening to it because the cumulative weight of it all was sometimes more than I could bear, but I'm so glad I didn't bail. It is brilliant, sad, brutal, moving, heartbreaking, sometimes funny and often surprisingly beautiful. #20Best2016

I really wanted to like this one and stuck with it long past having lost interest because I so loved Rules of Civility, because so many people seemed to like this one, and because I'm a classic sufferer of the sunk cost fallacy - but fact is despite being well written this mostly bored and irritated me. Not a popular position but I found it just too gentle and too precious and the posh narrator didn't help. #audiobook #20Best2016