I read a lot this year, and am still reading and plan to keep doing so until the end of the month. I had hoped to read 150 books this year. I ended up reading 233 so far. How? I have a tiktok about it.
Reading goals are a moral neutral and achieving them isn’t worth literally anything, but the books I read are. I’m putting out my year in review now in case you have extra time over the holidays or are looking for a book for a hard-to-shop for person in your life. All links go to Bookshop.org, but you could also purchase from your local indie if you want to be fabulous. I’ve put asterisks (*) by books which I read on audio and think are probably better that way. You can get them from LibroFM and help your local indie.
So here’s a book recommendation post based on ~vibes~ from memes. The memes were made by me. You’re welcome/I’m sorry.
The Other Ones by Dave Housley - An office lottery ticket wins big, but what happens to the ones who didn’t buy into it? I really enjoyed this one, and bonus, small press!
Flying Solo by Linda Holmes - Ducks. Ducks! This is part soul-searching and part mystery and I liked it even more than Holmes’ debut.
Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson* - Everyone told me I’d love this and everyone was right. Kids catching on fire. Antics. Coming of age but you’re way too old to be coming of age. So good.
Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau - A sheltered teen girl babysits for a celebrity couple over the course of a summer and figures out a lot about family and how weird the lives of adults really are.
Well Traveled by Jen DeLuca - What if you just blew up your life and joined a rennfest? And then also decided to have an on-the-road romance? Such a good follow-up to the earlier Willow Creek books.
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune - You were a jerk in life, but what if you got to redeem yourself after death? Klune’s books are so lovely and emotional and also so hilarious. I don’t know how he does it.
Lucie Yi is Not a Romantic by Lauren Ho - A career-focused woman decides to match with a man on an app for the sole purposes of having a baby with him, but knows she won’t catch feelings. Right? She won’t? (She will).
The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean - A princess-who-saves-herself (and her brain-eating son) novel. Horror meets fantasy meets queer motherhood narrative and I devoured it.
Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher - A truly original quest book including witches, knights, and a demon-possessed chicken.
The Cherry Robbers by Sarai Walker - Take an artist biography but mix it with the family history if every one of your many sisters died on the morning after their wedding.
Phaedra by Laura Shepperson (out January 2023) - A feminist greek retelling for people who loved Circe or Elecktra.
The Body Scout by Lincoln Michel - Baseball meets intense body modification meets noir in this mystery. I wouldn’t say I care much about baseball, but this had me riveted.
The Verifiers by Jane Pek* - An agency responsible for checking into the backgrounds of matches on dating apps hits a snag when one of their clients dies unexpectedly.
I’m More Dateable than a Plate of Refried Beans: And Other Romantic Observations by Ginny Hogan - Did I mention dating apps seem terrible? Like, honestly terrible? A humor collection about modern dating’s woes.
The Arc by Tory Henwood Hoen - Another dating app novel, but this time, questioning whether that perfect match is possible. Cultish and weird. This is a hard to classify novel.
The World of Pondside by Mary Helen Stefaniak - A man who designed a virtual reality game is found dead in his retirement home. The staff and patients who depend on the game set out to solve his murder.
I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Sehee - A translated book of reflections and transcriptions from therapy sessions of a young publishing professional struggling with self-image and depression.
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy * - You’ve heard of this one, unless you’ve been under a rock (in which case, move over. Looks cosy under there). It’s great on audio.
Hysterical by Elissa Bassist - Women’s pain isn’t listened to. Part medical memoir, part primal scream, I loved Bassist’s collection. She’s a humorist, too, so there’s always that ‘ha’ with the ‘ah’.
Sad Janet by Lucie Britsch - What if there were a depression drug you just took to make Christmas bearable? What if everyone in your life was pressuring you to get medicated? A dog shelter becomes a home for misfit women, including Janet, who is figuring out if she’ll take the pills or not.
Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng* - This book made me sob and also think about motherhood and society. Slightly dystopian book about the search for a mother on the run, poetry, and resistance.
Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead - Always read Whitehead. A morality play of a book that made me laugh and gasp, set in Harlem. Heists and shakedowns. So great.
Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen * - Two friends from college run a conterfeit purse ring, and that’s all I’ll say. The POV work here is *chef’s kiss* and it’s very good on audio.
Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li - Who does art belong to and when is it moral to take it back? A bunch of college kids plan thefts of famous artwork around the world.
Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz* Body snatching! Mysterious deaths! I enjoyed this moody YA book a lot, and can’t wait for the second one.
Bombshell by Sarah MacLean - MacLean’s Hell’s Belles series is my new favorite, but start with this one. Women in dresses knocking men out to teach them lessons, plus kissing and kissing and kissing.
Mrs. March by Virginia Feito - Your husband wrote your life into his book and it’s now a bestseller. Now what?
True Crime Story by Joseph Knox* - I don’t know if this book even works in paper format. Don’t do it. I’ve linked to the audiobook. Feels like a documentary on a particular crime with lots of voices involved.
More than You’ll Ever Know by Katie Gutierrez - A reporter wants to investigate the death and discovers a woman who lived a double life. Told in two perspectives, alternating between past and present, Texas and Mexico. A brilliant debut.
Girl, 11 by Amy Suiter Clarke - A woman was the only person to escape a serial killer twenty years ago, and when the pattern reemerges that he used to follow, she doesn’t disclose to her big podcast audience her connection to the case. Gripping.
I Have some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai (out February 2023) - A boarding school death in the 90s still haunts a podcaster back to visit her campus to teach a short course. Ambiguous motives for all parties, a mystery, and an interrogation of #metoo culture.
Go Home, Ricky! By Gene Kwak - if you liked GLOW and you liked LESS, try this book about an amateur wrestler figuring out his identity and his father.
Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake by Mazey Eddings - Accidental pregnancy romance novels don’t usually do it for me, but Lizzie’s story is so lovely and healing and also I cried. Very cathartic.
Sirens and Muses by Antonia Angress - Artists at a college during Occupy Wall-street navigating the commodification of art and sex and truth. Excellent debut!
Mistakes were Made by Meryl Wilsner - All I’m going to say is that this is probably the first book ever to make the NYTimes print “MILF book” in a review.
Vladimir by Julia May Jonas - This book is perfect weirdness, a close insight into a woman who kidnaps a man while emotionally navigating her husband’s possible sexual misconduct at the college they all work at.
The Guest by Emma Cline (out May 2023) - A completely unreliable narrator couch-surfing her way through a beach town trying to figure out how to land herself on solid ground. Gripping in only the way that Cline can be.
Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk * - Queer fantasy noir, with a mystery set in the epic battle between hell and heaven, with a soulless detective as its central character
The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill * - Don’t want to say much more than just read it. It’s— Yeah, just read it.
The Maid by Nita Prose * - Very popular, felt like a balance of women’s fic and mystery.
The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf * - My first Gudenkauf, but it won’t be my last. I was actually angry when I had to get out of the car with only 45 minutes remaining on the audiobook. Terrifying. The perfect winter thriller.
Homicide and Halo-Halo by Mia P Manansala : a cozy! I love this series, this edition including a beauty competition gone wrong.
Blackwater Falls by Ausma Zehanat Khan * : the first in a new detective series with a lead character whose role is to go into corrupt police stations and turn them around.
A Lot Like Adios by Alexis Daria : (hot face emoji) Alexis Daria is an auto-buy author for me.
A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall * : a gorgeous historical novel about lost friends and found lovers, with excellent family side plots.
Built to Last by Erin Hahn : two former child stars reunite and sparks fly as they work on a home reno show. Adorable.
Scorpica by GR Macallister - The first book in a new fantasy series about a land ruled by powerful queens. War and scheming and magic— totally delicious.
The Change by Kirsten Miller - My most-often recommended book of the year with the phrase, “What if menopause gave you superpowers and then you fought bad guys with it?”
The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings - Some women become witches. Some disappear. The main character’s mother definitely did one of those things, but maybe both? Mystery and joy and resistance.
When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill - Fantasy historical set during women’s lib about turning into a dragon (but really about motherhood and life and choices— or the lack of them).
The Honeys by Ryan La Sala * - YA summer camp horror about a clique of girls and the extraordinary power they hold, and how one camper searches for its origins when their sister dies.
Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez - A sibling book set in NYC about politics, weddings, and the twisted ways we weave in and out of each other’s lives. Beautiful prose.
I Keep my Exoskeletons to Myself by Marisa Crane (out in January 2023) - Dystopian queer parenthood! In a world where extra shadows are assigned as punishments, what does it mean to raise a child who was given one on the day of their birth? Read this one.
Chorus by Rebecca Kauffman * - Another complicated sibling book, this one in a series of progressive chapters, each from a different POV. Cults and religion and loss and love and addiction— this one is riveting and heart breaking.
Fight Night by Miriam Toews - A child POV, but not a book for children. If you love extremely interesting grandparent characters, this is it. This is the book.
On the Rooftop by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton - A mother is determined to make her trio of daughters into stars, but do they want that?
Acceptance: A Memoir by Emi Nietfeld - Complex family dynamics, including hoarding, foster families, abandonment, and emotional abuse. Ultimately, Emi makes it into college, but the world she finds there isn’t what she imagined it would be, either.
I’m a sucker for enemies to lovers. Always will be. No apologies. Just shouting out a few selling points for the books below:
Honey and Spice by Bolu Babalola * : new adult, secret nerd, campus gossip
Book Lovers by Emily Henry : all the hallmark tropes, grumpy/sunshine-ish, A+ sisterhood journey subplot
Do You Take this Man by Denise Williams : hot! banter! shenanigans in a closet!
I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston : mystery trail of clues from that snotty girl in school except oh no you love her actually
The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen * : fantasy but also a western somehow? and also romance with unsigned letters? loved this one
Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan * only linking to the audio here. romance about head-butting romance audio narrators READ and written by an audio narrator. fun and lovely.
The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas coworker rivals to lovers and fake dating!
Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade lovers to coworker rivals to lovers! plus adorable family sideplots!
The Burning Season by Alison Wisdom * : Religious cult. Houses on fire. I just don’t know what else to tell you if that doesn’t spark your interest.
Saint Sebastian’s Abyss by Mark Haber : Written as the musings of one art critic to another, both obsessed with a single painter and both oblivious about the ways their lives have fallen apart.
The Obsession by Jesse Q. Sutanto : YA thriller for people who love YOU but also love Jesse Sutanto.
Number One Fan by Meg Elison : a feminist MISERY. very graphic, very necessary in our world of parasocial online relationships
The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone by Audrey Burges (out January 2023) : a woman is obsessed with her miniatures, but what if they’re obsessed with her as well? romance and mystery and fantasy collide in this debut.
Like a Sister by Kellye Garrett * : A woman has to investigate her famous sister’s death, going deep into her life and coming out changed on the other side.
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich : a literal ghost haunting a bookstore, taking place between Oct 2019 and Nov 2020 in the Twin Cities. my favorite read of the year.
Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine * : generational history, stretching back more than a century, weaving narratives of love and loss and race in Colorado.
Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Tinghui Zhang : a girl stolen from a market in China is brought to America, followed by the ghosts of the poet she was named after. stunning story of the old west from the point of view of a Chinese immigrant.
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin : the past doesn’t have to be that distant to haunt you. This novel truly lives up to its Shakespearean name. Deeply moving story of three friends and the video games that bound and divded them.
Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang * : linguistics nerds rejoice! a magic system build around translation and word choice. also built on the backs of native speakers of languages abducted from their homelands to serve Oxford University. spectacular fantasy, perfect if you want a thick book to curl up with.
Scary Monsters by Michelle de Kretser : a two-part book, with one part in the past and one in an imagined future, but both parts about race and cruelty inherent in our systems.
Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou a graduate student is pigeonholed into researching a Chinese poet she has no interest in, but when she discovers more about him than she anticipated, things get weird. A delicious academic satire.
Assembly by Natasha Brown * : a slim novel that made me gasp. the voice here is incisive and cutting and clear. excoriating look at class divisions in England from the POV of a young woman attending a garden party.
True Biz by Sara Nović : This is an entertaining novel set at a Deaf boarding school, but also reveals the ways that culture and the medical industry proposes a single solution to something not viewed as a problem within the Deaf community as a whole.
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell : on its surface: Jesuits in space! at it’s core: oh no we’re hardwired to deeply hurt one another.
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus * : I hate this cover. I love this book. My favorite historical fic of the year.
An Olive Grove in Ends by Moses McKenzie * : Shakespearean in depth of love and betrayal, a man navigates his relationships in his rapidly gentrifying neighborhood.
The Shore by Katie Runde : the ultimate mother/daughter story of a single summer in a family’s life as they navigate the last few months of the father’s illness.
All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir : I will probably never forget Sal and Noor’s story. I doubt you will either.
That’s about it for the reading wrap. I got the chance to visit more than 30 libraries and bookstores around Iowa this year for the All-Iowa Read program, and I’m so thankful to the committee for selecting The Butterfly Effect for this honor.
Two things I wrote and loved this year:
Here’s to a new year, new books, and new memes.