IT’S WORLD BOOK DAY!

in Random Crap, YOU ARE HERE

Two things, first off the paperback version of Furiously Happy is on the NY Times list and I was like, “Look Victor! I’m number 1 and 2!”

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NUMBER 12! #furiouslyhappy

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And he was like, “That’s a 12.  You’re number 12,” and I was all, “Whatever.  I’m using alternative math” and then he decided to stop reasoning with me which was a probably a good choice because it’s hard to argue with someone who’s #1 and #2.

Anyway, that would not have happened without you so I’m celebrating by giving out a whole bunch of copies of my next book (YOU ARE HERE) because it makes me happy to pay it forward.  Except I’m lazy so instead I’m just giving you an amazon gift certificate so you can order it (or something else if you don’t want it) yourself.

It’s also World Book Day and I need something new to read and you guys always have the best recommendations so tell me your favorite book that I should read.  (Right now I’m rereading The Wasp Factory.  It’s super dark, but it’s good.)  So leave me a comment recommending a book and I’ll pick a dozen of you at random to get a gift certificate for whatever you want.  (If you’re not in America tell me where so I can send you the right kind of gift certificate.)  You’ll get an email from me at the end of the week if you win.

Whoop!

Ferris Mewler reviewing my book. He thinks it's nice to sit on. Apparently.
Ferris Mewler reviewing my book. He thinks it’s very nice. To sit on.

1,171 thoughts on “IT’S WORLD BOOK DAY!”

Read comments below or add one.

  1. A Man Called Ove was super great if you haven’t read that. Also, when I feel like I can’t breathe, I listen to the audiobook version of the Ramona Quimby series. Oh! Also The Rosie Project.
    <3

  2. Nothing like being Number 1 and 2! I like Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon. It’s highly interesting and I’ve learned a lot.

  3. I highly recommend Soy Sauce for Beginners. I couldn’t put it down.

  4. I recently got into The Chronicles of St. Mary’s series by Jodi Taylor. It’s basically a combination of Warehouse 13 & Doctor Who. I wasn’t super thrilled with her writing style in the first book, but I liked the premise enough to keep with it and I liked the second one enough that I’ve been foot-tapping impatient about getting the next ones from the library and they STILL HAVEN’T COME IN! Gr. There are…seven regular ones already out with two more scheduled to come out this year and a bunch of half number ones that I think only exist in e-books. Strong recommend.

  5. I’m currently reading a book called the Orphan’s Tale. It’s dark and touching and wonderful all at the same time. Oh and reading (but afraid to colour in) my wonderfully early copy of You Are Here. I just finished Orphan Train.. so maybe Orphans are a theme.. I don’t really want to explore that.

  6. Silicon Valley Girl: My Adolescent Life and Times, and an Ode to Generation X.
    I wrote this book and it will be launching in the next few months. I will gladly send a complimentary review copy to your PO Box, and you can read excerpts on my blog.

  7. You HAVE to read “Lily and the Octopus”. It’s about a man and his love for his dog. Sounds simple, but it’s beautiful and moving, happy and…..sad. I forced myself to read little bits each day, because I didn’t want it to end. Plus, I didn’t want my hard to completely break. (I would LOVE a copy of your new book. HUGE Canadian fan here.)

  8. I have “Empire’s End” by Chuck Wendig queued up, and I want to read “Thunderbird” by Wendig, too. If you haven’t read his Miriam Black series (Blackbird->Mockingbird->Cormorant), you should. Dark, violent, profane language, yet redemptive and almost sweet — it’s got everything.

  9. Currently reading Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman — a friend of yours, I believe. I also got the audiobook, and it’s ever so good. <3

  10. Oh I just read Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher!!! AWESOME….but I know she’s one of your favs so you’ve likely already read it:)

  14. A Snicker of Magic, by Natalie Lloyd. We all need a snicker of magic in our life.

  16. Well, the last book I read and really enjoyed was Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, but I suspect you’ve already been through that a few times; did you ever read Ava Moves the Furniture? Good living and ghost story. You’ll get it if you read the preview.

  19. For a fun action/fantasy read, The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes is a great read!

  21. Hmm…I’ve a different favorite book depending on my mood. So, if you’re in the mood for just plain funny, I’d recommend “I Am Better Than Your Kids” by Maddox, or anything by David Sedaris. In the mood for something a bit mind-bending? “The Illuminatus Trilogy” by Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson or “The Game of God” by Arthur Hancock and Kathleen Brugger. Inspiring? Anything written by an ex-Scientologist or ex-Fundamentalist Mormon.

  22. Storm Front by James Butcher – helped me immensely – granted there is like 15 books in the series (Dresden Files) so its a commitment but SO worth it. I swear these books saved my life.

  23. First I got a secret that I’m sure nobody here knows… Ur good people Jenny.

    The Sellout by Paul Beatty is hilarious and still tells a truth that explodes my little brain. (Sounds like 2 other books I’ve read more times than Kindle was meant for) Definitely worth a read if you haven’t already.

    And if for some reason I get selected for a gift card, could you pass it along to someone else? Cheers!

  24. I highly recommend Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson. I’ve read it a few times when I was down and I always feel less alone/down. The author has a great blog as well….

  25. How the Heather Looks by Joan Bodger. It’s lovely, I’ve read it at least a dozen times.

  26. I also enjoyed A Man Called Ove. A darker, deeper read was A Little Life. Amy Poehler’s book was fun. I also recently reread Angela’s Ashes, which is classic. And the book I’m currently reading, Furiously Happy, is also very good. 🙂

  27. My favorite book of all time is Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins. I have a tattoo of a whooping crane inspired by this book.

  29. My favorite book is Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. Time travel, romance, history and more…

  30. Mutant Message Down Under by Marlo Morgan. It’s about a woman who goes on walkabout with some Aborigines and finds herself and the important things in life. One of my faves! 😀 (you can probably tell by the “u”s that I’m Canadian XD)

  34. Seven Types of Ambiguity by Elliot Perlman! I didn’t understand what was happening for a while…and when I did, it was so brilliant I threw the book, yelling at it all the way down. Beautiful writing!

  35. Just read and loved The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak–fun story and great nostalgia trip for ’80s kids.

  36. My favorite book is To Kill A Mocking Bird. I typically don’t reread books but I’ve read it so many times, I had to buy a new copy.

  37. Neil Gaiman: The Ocean at the End of the Lane. One of my all time favs!!!!! Love him!!!!

  38. Good Omens by Neil Gamin and Terry Parchett. I love that book. Need to read it again

  39. Tam Lin by Pamela Dean. I read this book in college and it has become a yearly reread.

  40. My favorite book is The night circus by Erin Morgenstern. You read it once, want to immediately read it again. 🙂

  43. My favorite book is As Meat Loves Salt by Maria McCann. Talk about dark! It’s historical fiction set in England about a man who flees home after his wedding, joins Cromwell’s Army, and falls in love with a fellow soldier, which was a hanging offense at the time. (That last part is not a spoiler, just a bit of historical context.) I love it so much.

  44. A Seditious Affair by KJ Charles. It’s the middle book in a trilogy but can be read on its own. Or, you know, start with A Fashionable Indulgence, because the way the books fit together is wonderful. Congrats on being #1 & #2 at the same time!!

  45. Maia is one of my favorite books. Fantasy, old-time political, with prostitutes. It’s amazing! I didn’t expect to like it because of the political part, but it was so intriguing! Highly recommend it!

  46. Recommending a book is really hard – it’s like asking me to pick my favourite organ. I need them ALL to live. I’d suggest First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones. It’s the start of a brilliant series about a PI who also happens to be the Grim Reaper. And there’s sarcasm and sexiness so everyone should read it. (Oh, And i’m in the UK should i be lucky enough to win)

  47. In honor of Mary Tyler Moore, I’m currently reading Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong. Might not be my FAVORITE book of all time, but it’s the one nearest to me at the moment. I’m enjoying it very much.

  48. YAAAAAYYYY!! I absolutely fell in love with ‘ The Book of Joy’ by the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu! Not religious. PROFOUND!!
    Love You Dollface!!

  49. I don’t even know if I have a favorite book anymore. I end up reading a lot of YA stuff though and I like 90% of Scott Westerfeld’s stuff. One of his newer books, Afterworlds, is really cool and so is the whole Uglies, Pretties, Specials series. Although, I warn with the latter, you will end of speaking different for a while and that’s weird-making.

    One of my older favorites is Possession by A.S. Byatt. Amazing.

  51. Drat! I forgot to say I’m in Canada. I also forgot to say that omg people You Are Here is amazing and if you know me in real life you’re probably getting it for a birthday or whatever because EVERYONE needs to read it. It’s also apparently your fault that I now want a pigeon as a pet but the pigeons here seem to have migrated for the winter. The swans are back, but I fully agree with your assessment of swans in Furiously Happy – they’re mean A.F. (Also.. FYI if one is sitting in the middle of the road and you honk at it.. it will honk back and then purposely not move for like 10 minutes because they’re assholes that way). So no pet swan here. A magical marking-changing pigeon that follows you everywhere around town sounds amazing though.

  52. The Lady Trent Memoirs by Marie Brennan are on my mind right now because the fifth and (sniff) final book is coming out next month. I also loved loved loved the EarthEnd Saga series by Gillian Anderson.

  53. I like your alternative maths, Jenny, but then I thrived in nonEuclidean Geometry in University so what do I know? If you have not read either Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson or American Gods by Neil Gaiman, please allow me to recommend both of them HIGHLY. Snow Crash is a dystopian slightly futuristic look at us in a lovingly cynical way and a brilliant novel. Love, hate, death and religion. American Gods is .. amazing. Immigrants come to America and bring their belief systems — but what happens when those beliefs begin to fade? And what replaces them? Only Gaiman could’ve woven this tale with this much force, compassion and power. Amazing book. Oh, and um. I’m a Texan too. From north of Dallas, small town. Not no more, though. I miss y’all. You’ve saved my life (literally) on more than one occasion. Depression lies. Besides, if I was dead, I’d miss your blog! <3

  54. Other than your books… To Kill A Mockingbird. Also anything by Cathy Lamb.

  56. The last book I read that just wowed me was The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino. It’s the third book in the series, but the first one that has been translated from Japanese to English. Even though it’s the 3rd in the series, the book itself stands alone. I won’t say anything more for fear of potential spoilers. (I’m in Vancouver Canada)

  57. I have enjoyed all of SG Redling’s books, but I’ll have to say that Ourselves was the best I’d read. It is kind of a vampire story, but it delves into what ‘they’ really are.

  59. Kokoro by Souseki Natsumei. It’s a novel. Warning: contains horrible sadness. But it’s soooooooooooooo gooooooooooooood! It is my favorite novel.

  60. Family History by Dani Shapiro. She mainly writes memoirs but this was an awesome work of fiction. Enjoy!

  61. Sherman Alexi’s Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian completes me, plus I had parents want to ban it from the MS library I work at, so that means it’s good.

  62. As a nerdy fangirl of the 80s reading “Ready Player One” was almost a religious experience. That is the first book I recommend to anyone, whether they were asking or not. Also, congrats on the new book!

  63. I’m obsessed with the Shades of Magic series. It’s about a world where there’s multiple London’s and magic exists. It’s such a vivid read. I shove this book at everyone I can. I’ve actually put it in the have of people at stores and been like, “Shh, don’t talk, just read this.”

  64. The Martian. I’ve read it. Listened to the audio book. And seen the movie (multiple times). I also just purchased the kid-friendly version for my 11yo son.

  65. Ok. Where to begin.
    Fantasy: anything in the disceorld series by Terry Pratchett
    Urban fantasy: The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
    Sci Fi: The Expanse series starting with Leviathan Wakes. (Bonus these are a tv show on sci-fi you can watch on Amazon prime)
    Things I read and loved last year: All the Birds in the Sky, Station 11, The Girl with All the Gifts, Fellside

  67. Seriously my favorite most recent read was Lets Pretend This Never Happened. Thanks for the laughs and tears!

  70. My favorite book is The Time Traveler’s Wife. BUT I just finished reading Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris and if you’re looking for something dark after you finish your current something dark – highly recommend it!

  71. I loved Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore. It’s a novel about nerds doing cool stuff with books and enjoying each other’s nerdy company and being really great at nerding.

  72. I will add a book by a canadian author to your list Adult Onset by Ann-Marie MacDonald

  73. I finally read “This Is Where I Leave You” by Jonathan Tropper and thoroughly enjoyed. If you’ve never read Anne Rice’s “Feast of All Saints”, you should, even though there are no vampires in it.

  74. Have you read James Ponti’s “Dead City” series? They’re children’s (YA?) books so maybe not. They’re good, though, and you should.

  75. Mistress of the Art of Death and the rest of the books in the series by Arianna Franklin, everything in the Kushiel’s universe by Jacqueline Carey, I am Forbidden by Anouk Markovits, anything by or recommended by Samantha Irby, The Bitchy Waiter by Darron Cardosa. I don’t have enough time to list them all!

  78. I’m currently reading Luvvie Ajayi’s book “I’m Judging You,” which is in turn hilarious and thought-provoking, but since you gave her a blurb, I’m guessing you’ve read it. I’m also reading Charles Blow’s “Fire Shut Up In My Bones,” which is a memoir and is very, very good.

  79. I am loving the Flavia de Luce series. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is the first. It’s a great mystery series, I read them to my cousins and they love them!

  80. I just finished Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand and was so inspired by it! And, Pride and Prejudice has always been one of my favorites! Oh, and Splintered Reflections by Laura Kelly!

  81. Rereading “Drums of Autumn” by Diana Gabaldon (Book #4 in the Outlander series). I see she’s already been mentioned, for good reasons. Listening to “Let’s Pretend This Never Happened” on Audible. My husband caught part of the latter and informed me “I love her. She’s great.” Duh dude.

  83. It’s hard for me to choose a favorite book, but my newest favorite series is the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger. It’s a steampunk alternative history paranormal adventure romance, so yes she apparently got my letter 😉 The first book is called Soulless and it’s great fun 🙂

  84. This is like making me choose my favorite niece or nephew: impossible. I LOVE so many for so many different reasons. Right now, though, I’m loving the Phryne Fisher mysteries & the Brother Cadfael mysteries. But the book I am going to recommend is “The Ghost Bride” by Yangsze Choo.

  85. Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl. He survived the hocaust. This book tells about his experience and why he survived. It’s inspirational and has helped me get through some really hard stuff that was very unjust. It’s just a great book.

  86. I will add a book by a canadian author to your list Adult Onset by Ann-Marie MacDonald

  87. I love The Time Travelers Wife. And the Outlander books. And the Wheel Of Time books. and the In Death books. I can read these books over and over. . .

  88. Check out “Snakes and Earrings” by Hitomi Kanehara. It’s a swirl of dark, scary, sexy, awful and beautiful.

  89. I just picked up a copy of Ready Player One. I loved the audiobook so much I wanted to read it again. (Or read it for the first time? Whatever.) (I’m in Canada.) (I like parentheses)

  90. My second favorite book I read last year was The Girls by Emma Cline…the first was Furiously Happy of course!

  93. The Body Farm by Dr. Bill Bass. There’s a sequel, too, called Beyond the Body Farm. Which is cool because they’re non-fiction.

  94. I ABSOLUTELY loved ‘The Book of Joy’ by the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu!
    NOT religious. PROFOUND!!
    Love you Doll face!!

  95. The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant. A wonderful story and a favourite of mine.

    Melissa in Canada

  96. I love sci-fi and crime novels. If you want something quite chilling and superb, I highly recommend Val McDermid’s A Place of Execution. Not for the faint-hearted, as the saying goes, but it will grip you and the ending will definitely shock you.

    (PS I’m in the UK and Val is Scottish. She has a stand at her favourite football team’s ground named after her, because she sponsors them, which has me wondering what you would have named after you, if you were a sponsor g)

  97. One of my faves from when I was younger is Watership Down by Richard Adams. But my usual summer re-read is The Green Mile by Stephen King. And I could read The Hunger Games series over and over and never get sick of it.

  99. You’ve probably already read them, but the Fairyland series by Catherynne M. Valente are heartwarming and heartbreaking. Even the titles are amazing “The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making.”

  100. I reread Beach Music by Pat Conroy any time I can. It’s a beautiful story of a dysfunctional family. I cry sad and happy tears every time! Conroy might be my spirit animal (because I believe my spirit animal is an old, southern man).

  101. Congratulations on being number 1 and 2! We had to read The Road by Cormac McCarthy for class and it was amazing. Normally books you are forced to read suck, if only because someone is making you do it. But the book was truly incredible. It’s about a man and his son in a post apocalyptic world. It was beautifully written. I’ve since reread it at least twice and given it as a birthday gift so as to force people to read it, it was that good.

  102. A Man Called Ove is wonderful! But “My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell you She’s Sorry” is even better.

  103. A Counjuring of Light just came out like a week or two ago. It’s the latest book in VE Schwab’s Shades of Magic trilogy which starts with two fantastic books about mirror worlds and a girl who wants to be a pirate so she goes and becomes a pirate using nothing but determination and a couple stabby murders of guys who had it coming. Also there’s magic.

  104. We Are Water by Wally Lamb – this book made me laugh, it made me cry but mostly it made me love my life.

  105. Among my favourites are The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint – Brady Udall, as it’s a sweet, quirky read about a boy who survives being run over and The House of the Spirits- Isobel Allend-e, because she just sweeps you up in her stories and nothing human is alien 👽 to her.
    Excuse grammar (I think?).

  106. One of my favorite books of all time is Lightning by Dean Koontz. And I’m buying Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology today! Happy World Book Day!

  108. The Eagle and the Raven by Pauline Gedge; it’s about the Roman conquest of Britain long but well worth it.

  109. Like many other, I am reading many books at the same time. Currently they include Redwall by Brian Jacques (which is excellent). But my go-to recommendation is the Tortall-set series by Tamore Pierce. They are fantasy novels with bad-ass heroines. Honestly, Hailey would love them too. I started reading them when I was her age. They start with Alanna: The First Adevnture, but my favorite one’s are the Protector of the Small quartet featuring Kel. They are just so awesome and they encouraged my to be strong in my own way and kind and that excelling at something, even when you are gifted, takes work and dedication. Really I could talk about them all day, or you could just go read them. The first books were published in the late 80’s so you could probably find a good deal on them at a used book store.

  110. One book that helped form who I am is the “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair. I always keep a copy of that book, so I can give it away. I never want America to be like it was in that time.

  111. I love these “new book recommendation” days. I always add some to my amazon wish list to either find at the library or buy someday. Jenny, I remember your blog from before you had a book. It thrills me that your books.now say “bestseller” on them! You are a gift to the world.

  113. When you said you were #1 and #2, I thought you meant you were both a hidden figure(s) and a hillbilly (elegy). It took me a minute. 🙂 Anyway, I’m gonna recommend Church of the Old Mermaids by Kim Antieau. Magic and mermaids, and the Sanctuary Movement, all wrapped in love.

  115. I’m a big fan of the Abhorsen series by Garth Nix! I think you’d like them too. I am in Canada.

  117. Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose. Fabulous. Crazy Murders. Secret rooms. Books!!! Medieval Italy. What doesn’t this book have going for it? I still don’t know how the movie version with Sean Connery and Christian Slater managed to slaughter it, how can anything with Sean Connery go so wrong?

  119. I love Christopher Moore. My favorites are; A Dirty Job, Lamb, and The Stupidist Angel 😀

  120. “Bunny Bunny” by Alan Zweibel he wrote it as a tribute to his friend Gilda Radner. Every time I read it I get something else out of it. You’ll laugh and cry and not be sorry.
    PS I love you

  121. The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss. Absolutely mind blowing novel about mental illness (obsessive compulsive disorder?) or maybe not, plus a wonderful stand-alone novel in the Kingkiller Chronicles verse with just enough sly and subtle humor to offset the darkness and a main character of radiant, furious happiness and light.

  124. I just read The Bear and the Nightingale, which I loved! Magical historical fiction set in medieval Russia. So so good.

  125. Congrats to you! Your book does rate as a number 1 and number 2 favorite of mine! =) My book(s) recommendation, The Darynda Jones Charley Davidson series!! Fantastic fun series…mystery, paranormal, romance all in one.

  126. Because I know we all love a good YA read I have to recommend The Edge of Nowhere by Elizabeth George. Isn’t it funny how murder is always more intense when it’s on an Island? The superpowers the heroine is growing into don’t hurt either 🙂

  127. I just finished “The Order of Seven” by Beth Taliho. Good, it needs to become a movie!! I would love your new book. Thanks for paying it forward 🙂

  128. Recently finished June by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore. Great depiction of different eras! Bit of a throwback – A Mango Shaped Space (Snyesthesia is fascinating). Finally: The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays and Stories by Marina Keegan

  129. The Eagle and the Raven by Pauline Gedge; it’s about the Roman conquest of Britain long but well worth it.

  130. Couldn’t name a true favorite.
    Right now I’m mildly obsessed with Kevin Hearn’s Iron Druid Series, they’re a lot of fun to read and have some fun humor.

  131. Congratulations on 1 & 2! And this is such a great way to build a reading list, I have a bunch of ideas from reading these comments 🙂 Here are a few more: “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern. “The Book of Speculation” by Erika Swyler. “Eleanor & Park” by Rainbow Rowell. And “The Soul of an Octopus” by Sy Montgomery (it’s a non-fiction book, but it’s absolutely fascinating and really well written so it feels more like you’re reading a novel.)

  132. Otherland by Tad Williams – very cool mix of genres that I can read over and over and not get bored with. 🙂

    Also, The Wind up Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

    And dystopian fiction: Maddaddam Trilogy by Margaret Atwood, Wool series by Hugh Howey and The Last Policeman by Ben Winters were all excellent!

  134. Anything by David Sedaris. He’s one of the few authors whose books I keep when I’m done because I know I’ll read them over and over.

  135. I just started ‘The Year We Turned Forty’ by Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke and it’s great so far.

  136. I’m currently reading Fahrenheit 451, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, The Shepherdess of Siena, and Palm Trees in the Snow. It’s a weird eclectic mix, but it suits my different moods. I just finished The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. It was amazing, but I’m geeky.

  137. Hi Jenny, I’ve never before posted here, but as so many others have said, you & the gift of your words have been a life raft to me more than once. Thank you for that. So for a long time now, my favorite book has been “The Brothers K”, by David James Duncan. I’m always amazed that more people haven’t heard of read nor heard of it

  140. The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver. And then Pigs In Heaven. And then, everything she’s ever written.

  142. I was permanently affected by Barbara Kingsilver’s Poisonwood Bible. If you haven’t read it, you really really should. Lately the book that sticks in my mind as having just been a lovely, lovely read, is Frederick Backman’s “Britt-Marie Was Here.” I loved his “A Man Called Ove” and “My Grandmother Told Me to Tell You She’s Sorry,” but Britt-Marie is such a wonderfully flawed and fully fleshed character that this was my very favorite of Mr. Backman’s lovely books.

  143. I have 2 favorites. The first one is “The Walking Drum” by Louis Lamore. I don’t care for the author usually (I don’t care for cowboys) but this one is set in the 12th century. He paints such a vivid picture that I’m planning an imaginary trip to all the places the main character goes. My other favorite is the entire Fever series by Karen Marie Moning. The story is so unique in a world taken over by copycat fantasy/romance writers.

  144. The Enchanted Forest series by Patricia C. Wrede, it’s been my favorite book series since I was a kid

  145. Looking forward to your new book 🙂 Congratulations on being #1 AND #2 on the NYT bestsellers list. Quite an accomplishment!

    As for the book recommendation, check out “American Housewife” by Helen Ellis. Southern gothic but funny.

    Cheers from Estonia!

  146. Congrats! I’m so glad this happening for you. I’m rereading Seanan McGuires Price series which I love. You can’t go wrong with any of her stuff though.

  147. so many amazing ones lately! the mothers, sweetbitter, kitchens of the great midwest. and, whenever i need something happy, anything david sedaris will do 🙂

  148. Hyperion, Slaghterhouse 5, and I recently read Cinder which is a cyborg cinderella story and excellent.

  149. Big Machine by Victor LaValle is one of my favorites and highly underrated IMO. Lovely book about faith and redemption.

  150. Midnight in the Garden of Good an Evil is one of my favourites 🙂

    I’m from Kitchener, Ontario, Canada 🙂

  152. I don’t have anything new to recommend because I’ve been going back and reading old fairy tale and mythology anthologies lately. Someone was smokin’ some really weird shit and then writing for children!

    A few of my favorite books from when I was a kid: Champion Dog, Prince Tom by Jean Fritz and Tom Clute; Light a Single Candle by Beverly Butler; and Queenie Peavy by Robert Birch. (Of course, I’ve just given away my age by this list!) 😉

  153. It’s so hard to pick a favorite!! I have bookcases all over my house, so I MAY have a bit of a problem… 😉 I recently finished reading the final book of the Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater (YA series), and Ready Player One is always an enjoyable, nerdy read!

  155. We love Victor, but he can be such a jerk. You are totally #1 AND #2 (in our hearts).
    I’m going nuts because so many people are already getting You Are Here and Amazon won’t bring me mine until March 7. Amazon can be such a jerk.

  156. My favorite book has to be War For The Oaks by Emma Bull. It has bands, fae war, and humor. Close 2nd has to be Gossamer Axe by Gael Baudino. It also has rock music and fae. I think I’m seeing a trend.

  158. I’m a huge historical fiction fan so I’ve got to recommend “Code Name Verity” and “Rose Under Fire” by Elizabeth Wein. They’re about British female pilots during WWII. I LOVED them.

  159. They are light and silly and wonderful, and I go back to re-read them ridiculously often. On the off chance you haven’t read them, I recommend Tanya Huff’s Summoning Series. Snarky talking cat….plus great writing. I adore them. They are comfort books to me. 🙂

  160. Takes a bit to get into, but I loved The Drowning Girl by Kaitlin R. Kiernan. It’s dark and deals with mental illness and is a sorta ghost story. I also am loving Birds Art Life by Kyo Maclear, A memoir about.. well. birds, art and life. Greetings from a Canadian fan!

  161. You’ll always be #12 to me. Controversial subject but the best book I read in 2016. All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood.

  162. I love love love The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. It tells the story through the eyes of a dog, Enzo. This is a heartwarming and funny tale that will make you love your pets even more 🙂

  163. Hmmmm does a series count as one book? If so, then The Otherworld series by Tad Williams. I read the series (four books, but I would have happily read another four as the characters became real people who I genuinely cared about, and that did not take long to happen). I read the series at least once a year, and each time I get drawn into it all and worry about what is going to happen even though I should know this and therefore not worry.
    If one book, then it would be either “Dune” (which I’ve read at least once a year since I was 10, and I am now 44, so that is a lot of times) with its Litany Against Fear which has come in most useful many times, or “Weaveworld” by Clive Barker which has woven itself into the fabric of my being since I first read that when I was 13 or 14, and which was one of the first books in the horror (well only kind of horror, there is just as much fantasy in there too, well kind of fantasy, ish) genre that seemed anchored in the real world that I lived in, and which was clever and intelligent and not a blood-and-guts kind of horror really…. I actually don’t think I can summarise the kind of book it is apart from marvellous and clever, it has poetry in it (the first time I came across Robert Frost), and pigeons.
    I’m in the UK btw, which might be why Weaveworld struck such a chord with me, what with it being set over here (apart from the desert bit, and other bits).

  165. I just read The Unseeing, which was really good. Sort of dark, but based on actual historic events. I’m in England! Thanks for the chance… currently reading Furiously Happy and it definitely deserves to be #1 and #2!

  168. It’s not possible to name one favorite book, so will offer up “Follow Your Heart” by Susanna Tamaro, which is just beautiful. If you’re looking for something amusing, “Sean and David’s Long Drive” by Sean Condon will have you in tears from laughing so hard. Something morbid & amusing? “Stiff: The Curious Lives of Cadavers” by Mary Roach is a great option.

  170. Congratulations! Furiously Happy helps me so much when I’m in a bad place, reading just a chapter is actually part of my wellness plan. So naturally that falls towards the top of my favorite books but probably not what you’re looking for.

    I always liked picking up “The Princess Bride”, not only one of my favorite movies but it’s more rich as a book. I’m currently reading “The Throne of Glass” and “Red Queen” series(..es?) and would recommend them. “Age of Miracles” and “Wild” were both powerful books and about as close to non fiction as I usually read.

  174. The Power of One by Bryce Courtney. If you have not read it , I highly recommend.

  175. My favourite book remains Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. And I’m super excited for his ‘sequel’ for it even though it may be awhile.

  176. I love your books and am very much looking forward to You Are Here.

  177. Carry On Warrior by Glennon Melton Doyle and I also recommend Kindred if you haven’t already read it

  179. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach. It is one of my favorites which reminds me it’s been a while since I read it and it might be time to revisit it.

  180. I got nothing for you, Jenny. 😩 I am ass deep in Hogwarts right now, and am praying Harry doesn’t get snuffed. I know. I know. I am probably the only person on the planet who hasn’t read the series but better late than never! The last books I read were your, Hyperbole and a Half and The Girl With the Lower Back Tatoo! I am sure you have been there
    done that because they were both fantastic!

  181. I just picked up Lexicon by Max Berry. I strongly second the Chronicles of St Mary’s books if you haven’t read them. Easy and fun. I’m rereading Pratchett’s Discworld books because Terry Pratchett.

  182. The girl with all the gifts by m.r. carey is one of the best books I’ve ever read. Highly reccomoned it!
    I’m in Canada.

  185. Hi, I thought I posted here but maybe it didn’t go through. I’ll post one more time. Sorry if it’s doubled. Sorry for me if this doesn’t through either. Just read Order of Seven by Bath Taliho. I loved it, it should be made into a movie.

  186. If you haven’t already, read Anne Rivers Siddons’ “The House Next Door”. Anyone associating with this evil house faces scandal, madness, or tragedy. Since you’re in the market for a Ghost Town, why not an Evil House?

  188. I just read “Smoke gets in your eyes- Tales from the Crematory” by Caitlin Doughty and I HIGHLY recommend it. I’m about to start rereading “American Gods” in preparation for the show.

  190. YEA!!!! Congrats for being on the NYT list, no matter what number you are.
    I am reading Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk. I am about 1/2 way through and I am really enjoying it. It is sort of like a weird love story to old and new New York City.

  191. For funny, you can’t beat Christopher Moore’s “Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal”

    For just someone who has more fun with the English language than should be legal, try Nick Harkaway’s “The Gone-Away World.”

    Also, Jasper Fforde’s head is a fascinating place. Try “The Eyre Affair.”

  192. My favorite all time book is Outer Banks by Anne River Siddons. It made me want to go there and I love the Outer Banks now..

  193. A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle. Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon. Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman, by Richard Feynman. So many good books out there!

  194. My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix. High school in the 80’s, all the drama with big horror and even bigger hair.

  195. I read ‘The Lake House’ by Kate Morton recently and really, really enjoyed it. A good mystery with a lot of suspects, not stressful or gory kind of scary. Excellent read.

  196. I loved “Night Film” by Marisha Pessl. Dark, intriguing, very different to anything I’ve ever read.

  197. I am reading the memoir “The Clancys of Queens” and it is a hoot and a half. The author, Tara Clancy depicts her odd upbringing in a very detailed and funny way.

  198. Happy World Book Day!
    My favorite author (next to you) is Christopher Moore. The man is a damn genius. I love everything he’s written.

  199. I dint think my comment posted earlier, so I’m trying again because I love this book so much. Please read Peace Like a River by Leif Enger.

  200. I recommend The Liars’ Club by Mary Karr, followed by Cherry. Congrats on being No. 1 and 2!

  201. Some older recommendations you and Hailey might enjoy, featuring kickass female leads:
    – “The Blue Sword” & “The Hero and the Crown” by Robin McKinley
    – “Goose Girl”, “Enna Burning”, and “River Secrets” by Shannon Hale (she’s also just written a middle-grades novelization of Marvel’s Squirrel Girl, who is an utterly fantastic character)
    – “The Girl Who Drank the Moon” by Kelly Barnhill, which I’ve not read but am super excited about (it just won the 2017 Newberry Award)

  202. As a criminal defense attorney, my perennial favorite is To Kill A Mockingbird. I have read it at different ages and different things resonate each time I read it. I also think it is relevant in the current political climate.

  203. The best book I’ve read this year is Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. You get smarter, just by reading (or listening like I do) to it

  204. Hmmm I seem to be stuck in a cycle of re-reading American Gods, Harry Potter, and random cozy novels so nothing of note to recommend but I’m loving reading others recommendations!

  205. Haha, love it! I can’t pick just one favorite so here are a few!
    Historical Fiction: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
    Psychological Thriller: The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson
    Juvenile: Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
    Sci-fi: Red Rising by Pierce Brown
    Fantasy: Harry Potter

  206. My go-to re-reads are Lamb, Christopher Moore; The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee; Harry Potter (all) and The Dark Tower series, Stephen King. (I have a LOT more, but these are always at the top of my bookpile.)

  207. Gotta be The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood.

  208. I know that you’ve already read this — Amanda Palmer’s “The Art of Asking” — because you wrote a glowing recommendation for the back cover. But I just read it for the second time and handed it off to my shy 14-year-old daughter with hopes that she’ll find her inner boldness some day, and then I thought, well, maybe bold just isn’t her thing, and that’s fine too, but I want her to know it’s an option.

  209. John Dies at the End by David Wong. It’s also a movie you can see on Netflix if you want the Cliffs Notes.

  210. My favorite book is Anne Lamott’s “Bird By Bird.” I find it incredibly inspiring, for life in general as well as for writing. I also think it’s pretty cool that you’re #1 and #2!

  211. “Lunatics” by Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel. Hilarious ‘don’t have to think’ humor that made me literally burst into laughter over and over (husband thought I was choking).

    Thank you for your generosity, Jenny, and to all your readers for the wonderful reading list!

  212. The Stardance trilogy by Spider Robinson and his wife Jean! Really anything by him though, his work is very hopeful… uplifting endings and he builds wonderfully believable characters that just live and breathe and become best friends that you can carry around with you!

  213. I loved Shonda Rhimes “Year of Yes”. It’s funny, witty, and inspiring!

  215. Everything by Terry Pratchett, but also The Historian by Elisabeth Kostova. That one I re-read just about every year.

  217. My favorite book is “A Prayer for Owen Meany,” which I’ve read so many times my copy has fallen apart – I recommend it to everyone. The book I read most recently that I really liked was “Behind her Eyes” – kind of a mystery, kind of a thriller, very twisty and can’t-put-down-able. I read it all in one day because I had to know how it ended.

  218. The Princess Bride by William Goldman. Truly excellent bit of writing and is wonderful whether you’ve seen the movie or not. (William Goldman also wrote the screenplay.) But there are gems in the book that just aren’t in the film, so it’s always worth a read. Plus there’s an address where you can actually send off for an excerpted scene AND IT’S REAL.

  219. War is a Force That Gives us Meaning by Chris Hedges. Seriously changed the way that I see the world.

  220. If you haven’t read the Shadow of the Wind, do so now. It’s one of my all time favorites.

  222. Fantasy: Touchstone Series by Andrea Host
    And Throne of Glass Sarah Maas
    Lord of the Rings
    Fiction: 13 Reasons Why
    Sharp Objects

  223. My fave book is Watership Down, by Richard Adams, but everyone’s read that. My second favourite is a YA novel that very few people have heard of: ‘The Ghosts’ by Antonia Barber. It’s a book about time travel… sort of.

  224. I’m reading too many things. Just finished The Light Between Oceans on my commute this morning (meh). Reading Eragon with the kids (also meh, although the kids are loving it). Have Wise Man’s Fear on my iPad (book #2 of the Kingkiller Chronicles) along with The Twelve (Book#2 of The Passage) (both series are good, although not I-can’t-stop-and-will-die-when-it-ends good). And finally, I have a dog eared edition of Rebel Queen (Michelle Moran) on my bedside stand. Loving that one so far. I’m also considering Women Who Run with the Wolves for Emma Watson’s bookclub.

  225. Congrats on 1-2! I have many favorites, but I adored How’s Moving Castle.

  226. I am re-reading the Dina trilogy by Norwegian author Hjerbjørg Wassmo. Awesome read about a strong woman in 19th century Northern Norway. Bit grim at times, but such was life there and then.
    I’m in the Netherlands, have yet to read your books and can totally order them from Bol.com or Amazon.de 🙂

  227. “Lily and the Octopus” is a fabulous book about a man and his wiener (dog).
    Also, if you haven’t read “The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry”, do it! and if you HAVE read that, then go read “The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy” which is the sequel.

  228. The Master and Margarita by Mikhael Bulgakov remains my favorite book of all time! It’s followed closely by LOTR and The Hobbit, Dune, and Guns, Germs, and Steel. Yay for books!

  229. Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede. It’s YA fantasy, so it’s an easy read and the protagonist is a seventeen-year-old girl. I first read this when I was in middle school, but I still go back to it when I need to make myself smile.

  230. Gosh! I can’t stop thinking of my favorites now…
    The Outsiders by SE Hinton
    Watchers by Dean Koontz
    The Moonlight Bay series by Dean Koontz
    ok, I’ll stop now

  231. Do yourself a favor and read Carrie Fishers autobiographies! They are super witty and relatable. Helped me a lot to find the funny side of depression (in my case borderline personality disorder)…!
    My favorite is probably shockaholic 🙂

    Also, a thriller – Never Knowing by Cat Stevens.
    Got it a few years from a friend ago and I still know the whole story bc it was so mesmerizing! Really good book 🙂

  232. I really love “The Long Walk” from Stephen King. There’s also “the princess saves herself in this one” by Amanda Lovelace. it’s a beautiful book of poetry. I cry through the whole thing – it’s really emotional and empowering. I could also recommend “Destination Truth: Memoirs of a Monstee Hunter” by Joshua Gates. It’s all true stories from the author about his travels as a host of a tv show investigating strange occurrences around the world – like looking for yetis, mermaids, werewolves, and the like. It’s really funny and informative, and also provides great prospective of the world and people in it…plus a lot of weirdness.

  233. I really enjoyed Love Warrior for my recent non-fiction reading, and for fiction I have always loved the Gunslinger series by Stephen King. They are a very dark Western/Scifi mashup that makes me happy on the inside!!!

  235. I am re-reading the Dina trilogy by Norwegian author Hjerbjørg Wassmo. Awesome read about a strong woman in 19th century Northern Norway. Bit grim at times, but such was life there and then.
    I’m in the Netherlands, have yet to read your books and can totally order them from Bol.com or Amazon.de 🙂

  236. i’m reading the passage by justin cronin. i can also recommend wool. i think by comment 166 you will not have any books left, but i thought i’d try.

  237. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Or just cheat and watch the movies.

  238. In light of recent events in the U.S., I recommend When the Moon Was Ours, by Anna-Marie McLemore, which is a beautifully written book that explores transgender identity. Also, my husband and I are in the process of trying to adopt a child from foster care, and a friend recommended The Martian Child, by David Gerrold, which we enjoyed. And I second what others have said: I loved The Night Circus, The Rosie Project, and Lily and the Octopus.

  239. Someone Could Get Hurt by Drew Magary. My son suffered from a similar defect mentioned in the book so it really hit home. Six pages in, I was ugly crying with both heart break and joy. I’m not sure why but I enjoyed being reminded of how we overcome what seems so small now. And of course, everything you’ve written! Just pre-oordered the latest hit!

  240. Favorite book in general is Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs. But favorite recent book has been ‘All the missing girls’!

  241. Too many books to have favorites. But one of my faves and some I’ve recently read & enjoyed:
    – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (when you just need to escape the world)
    – A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (everyone has a story)
    – The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce (sometimes going forward means looking back)
    – Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly (all the kick-@ss women at NASA that history class didn’t teach us about)
    – Garden Spells by Sara Addison Allen (a little magical realism)

    And thanks to everyone else for the great recommendations!

  242. I highly recommend The Alchemists of Loom by Elise Kova if you enjoy fantasy or A Harvest of Thorns by Corban Addison if you want something more realistic and chock full of feelings. Both are on my favorites of 2017 list!

  243. The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu. Science Fiction with history and SCIENCE!

  244. Penryn and the End of Days trilogy by Susan Ee. The Queen of the Tearling trilogy by Erika Johanson. I am currently reading way too many cheesy romances by Tessa Dare.

  245. I’m reading fanfiction from the Orphan Black universe mostly (Cophine 4 eva) but I just finished Hannah Hart’s Buffering for the fourth or fifth time and am rereading The Secret Garden for the bazillionth time because I needed some nostalgia.

  246. Moon Dance “Six years ago federal agent Samantha Moon was the perfect wife and mother, your typical soccer mom with the minivan and suburban home. Then the unthinkable happens, an attack that changes her life forever. And forever is a very long time for a vampire.” She decides to become a private detective. She’s kinda awesome. She is just trying to be the best mom while having one more problem to deal with. She’s one of us. Girl in the Box it’s about a 17 year old girl who’s been kept hostage in her own home. She finds out she has some seriously mysterious powers. She finally gets out and the world better watch out. Both of these books are series. I sit I. Pins and needles waiting for the authors’ next books. I hope you give them a try!

  248. I can’t pick a favorite, I have too many! I don’t give 5 stars to books very often, so here are a few that made the cut: Faithful by Alice Hoffman, Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt, Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks, Bellweather Rhapsody by Kate Racculia, and I’ll stop now…

  249. I really enjoyed All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood. And I’m currently reading Perfect Little World by Kevin Wilson, which I can’t wait to finish.

  250. My favorite book continues to be A Wrinkle in Time. I keep going back to it and the others in the series, even as an adult.

  251. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein! It’s a children’s book, but it is always good for me if I need a good cry. Congratulations on being numba 1 and numba 2!

  252. Watchers by Dean Koontz (Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Watchers-Dean-Koontz/dp/0425188809)
    Watchers is my all time favorite book. I read it for the first time when I was about 12 and at 23 it remains my most reread book. That’s saying something since my bedroom is 70% books and 30% other shit (seriously, books are every-fucking-where and I love it)

  253. I love your courage (when you’re not hiding from the world!) Your books make me so happy to know I’m not the only super crazy one (besides in my head)…

  254. Congrats on the #1 and #2! And happy world book day! Seeing this makes me so happy ’cause I’ve been just feeling so low and having insane anxiety. Two really good books I’m reading now are Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher which I’ve been enjoying a lot and Dream House by Marzia Bisognin who’s a fav youtuber of mine!

  255. I just finished the Harry Potter series (I know, I’m several years late to the show, story of my life) and I’m going to hunt down #8 next. I already pre-ordered your book so if I win I’ll probably get one of the other books you’ve recommended like that Victorian etiquette one. That looks hilarious!

  257. I thought you meant #1 and 2 as in you were a Hidden Figure and a Hillbilly Elegy haha. I recommend Spell of The Sensuous by David Abram. 🙂

  258. I loved American Housewife by Helen Ellis. It’s a collection of short stories that are funny and dark.

  259. Terry Tempest Williams – An Hour of Land. Great book on the National Park system. love it!

  260. The first 15 lives of Harry August by Claire North. It is fantastic! It’s dark, and funny, and intriguing, and heart-wrenching and beautiful.

  261. The Death House by Sarah Pinborough
    It’s very dark and very sweet.

  262. I’m going to go with things that you probably haven’t read or that are odd enough that others might not recommend them. Holy Fools by Joanne Harris (yes, the one who brought you Chocolat). . Deerskin by Robin McKinley (a very dark fairy tale with an unforgettable message about the beauty of our flaws and scars). For beautiful, positive sci fi, try Sharon Shinn: Archangel (Samaria series), Troubled Waters (Elementals series), or Mystic and Rider (12 Houses series). Finally, a plug for Sharyn McCrumb, especially her Appalachian Ballad series, some of which are based on historical events (Ghost Riders is about Union spies, including the true story of a woman who posed as a man, and The Ballad of Frankie Silver is about the first woman hung for murder in North Carolina). Harder to find, but quite rewarding and hilarious, I highly recommend Bimbos of the Death Sun and Zombies of the Gene Pool for anyone who has ever attended a sci-fi convention! 🙂 Finally, my go-back-to is always Terry Pratchett and Discworld.

  263. I’ve loved “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern, “The Lost Sisterhood” by Anne Fortier and “The Gollum and the Jinni” by Helene Wecker.

    Happy world book day and No.1 and No. 2 for the win!

  264. Alternative math…perfect!
    Have you read the Outlander series? Diana Galbadon, eight books, she’s writing the ninth. It will suck you in. Im on my eleventh(?) reread.
    I just finished Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill. Very dark and very good.

  265. Ok, now I’m nervous because I never win anything. Anyways, hello there! My name is Paloma.

    Since I’m from Brazil I thought I should recomend you a brazilian book, but I couldn’t find my favorite in English. The name is We Were Six, and it was writing by Maria Jose Dupre. Maybe you have better luck than I did finding it. However, I found a book that I absolutely adore, writing by Gabriel García Márquez (he’s not brazilian, but he’s latin… so I guess that’s fine). The name is MEMORIES OF MY MELANCHOLY WHORES. It’s a sad and beautiful book about getting old. Here’s the Amazon link: https://goo.gl/WBT6O1

  267. One of my all time favorite books is Watership Down, though i bet most here have read it (epic travels, social struggles, battles, and bunnies… seems on par for this group). “Silflay hraka u embleer rah”

    My favorite series of books is Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. One must not be scared of lots of giant books, but they are wonderful high fantasy.

  270. Lots of great recommendations already. I’ll put in a vote for All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders. Two childhood friends, one a witch and the other a tech genius, are bound together by forces which may cause war or peace. It’s lovely.

  271. The Humans by Matt Haigh is brilliant. It’s funny, crazy, life affirming and it starts with a man running naked through a city. It’s also the only book my non book reading husband has ever read…GASP…. I know I know…..how does he survive?!!!! 😱
    Thank you Jenny for the laughter and solace xx
    P.S I am in the UK

  272. The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family. The Mitford’s are a really interesting upper class British Family. One sister was a close friend of Hitler, one married Oswald Mosley and one married a socialist who fought in the Spanish civil war.

  273. Oldie but goodie: “The Kin of Ata are Waiting for You” by Dorothy Bryant.

  274. One of my favorite books is the Name of the Wind. I suspect you’ve already read it, given you know and know of Rothfuss, but every time I read this book and wise man’s fear, it’s a different story to me. That’s being said, I also recently read the book of the unnamed midwife and greatly enjoyed it.

  275. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. It took me a while to get into it but it is such a wonderful book. And Jenny? Thank you for existing. There are days when your posts are one of the few things that make me smile. So thank you. You matter to me.

  276. I confess. My very favorite of all time is Charlotte’s Web. I”m 68 and still do not own a pig. Sigh

  277. People Who Say Goodbye by P Y Betts. Published 1989 by an old lady about her childhood in England – wickedly funny, sharp and honest. I think I’d be scared to meet her, she’s so feisty – but I’ve re-read her book about 4 times. Worth the hunt to find it. Make it a quest!

  278. Happy World Book Day!! I’m re-reading Good Omens at the moment (because it’s been a solid five minutes since I read it last), but finished The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz last week and it’s so good! Additional recommendation: A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon (who also wrote Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime).

  280. I love books. I don’t even know where to start. Mainly, because I am scrolling through my kindle app and trying to pick something that doesn’t make me feel slightly ashamed for enjoying. I am a huge fan of urban fantasy and young adult fantasy novels. Have you read Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning? It is a great start to a fantastic series.

  281. So how does one comment? I don’t have Facebook or instagram or… Anyway I am sitting at Newark airport waiting an extra 76 minutes for a trip to San Diego to paraglide and just heard no wind so no paragliding! This was my 65th birthday wish and a way to possibly check out my brand new Medicare plan. I was wandering through the overpriced kiosks where I discovered an actual bookstore ( harder to find where I live) and your new paperback version of “Furiously Happy” was highlighted with a “must read”! Bravo! I have already given copies of the hardcover to everyone I know with a sense of humor ( reminds me to unfriend some) so I didn’t buy more copies ( if I make new friends I will). By the way I also have your pillows, cards, statue ( lover’s quarrel for my husband on our 25th anniversary)… I need you more than ever if 4 years of Trump awaits. I hope I can receive your newsletter in Montreal where we are looking for a condo. Please be happy! You help make so many as happy as this world allows. Anne ( Teall)

    and so it goes…

    >

  282. OMG THAT’S AWESOME!!!!!

    On to books….Um have you read Furiously Hap…. never mind you’d probably hate it… LOL

    Looks I LOVE (besides Harry Potter, duh):
    – The Blessings of the Animals by Katrina Kittle
    – Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
    – for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf by Ntozake Shange
    – Hannibal Lecter series (Red Dragon is the first) by Thomas Harris

  283. A Borrowed Man by Gene Wolfe. Future society has libraries full of clones of authors that you can check out. A mystery writer clone decides to solve one irl. Hijinks ensue.

    I just like to imagine the clones I would check out. I could have a literary cocktail party with all my favorites : Austen, Eliot, Dickens, Hemingway (and Bellows to keep him company), Chopin, Fitzgerald, Wharton, Rushdie, Ishiguro, Lawson…

  284. I liked Cold Killing by Luke Delaney and A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

  285. The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker is so so so amazing. I finished it a few weeks ago, and it’s one of those books I haven’t been able to shake. Southern white trash girls go to college to escape, find best friends in one another, major in art and shake off the pretentious “cartoons aren’t ART” bullshit that went with that, start making prize-winning R. Crumb-style animations…and that’s just the first chapter or so. I could not put it down, and I cannot stop fangirling over it, even 2 weeks after I finished it.

  286. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, and the second in the trilogy, Wise Man’s Fear. The third has yet to be published and the wait is killing me! It’s a fantasy series and it is amazing. There’s also a beautiful little side story in a separate volume about one of the minor characters in the book, who is broken (like me!) – The Slow Regard of Silent Things.

    And I have to also mention the Gentleman Bastard series of books by Scott Lynch. Advemture/fantasy about a group of con artists with huge personalities and smarts.

    I’m in the UK.

    THANK YOU for making a difference in my life on so many levels. 💜

  287. My all time favourite will remain Jane Eyre. Closely followed by The Commitments by Roddy Doyle and Holy Fools by Joanne Harris.

  288. Oh man this is gonna make my huge amazon “to read” list even longer! I recently finished Feed, the first in the Newsflesh Trilogy by Mira Grant. It’s what society would be like if a third of the world was killed by zombies and everyone else was afraid to leave their houses and social media ruled the world (we’re not too far, away, huh?)

  290. I love the following books right now:
    Greg Iles by Penn Cage series
    The Sound of Glass by Karen White
    Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes
    Does This Beach Make Me Look Fat by Lisa Scottoline & Francesca Serritella
    The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens
    Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls (and Everything in Between) by Lauren Graham (My Happy Booksgiving book)

  291. My absolutely favorite work of non-fiction is called Random Family by Adrianne Nicole LeBlanc. Basically the author embedded herself with what would be considered your typical impoverished family in New York starting in the late 80s/early 1990s for 11 years. The book sheds light on the struggle to survive poverty and it’s obstacles (drug dealing, going to prison, trying to raise children) and how we sort of “manufacture” the connections and bonds we need to survive. This is of course showing that people don’t have to be blood related to be your family, hence the title. It’s honestly one of the best works of non fiction I’ve ever read and I keep hoping she’ll do a follow up!

  292. My absolute favorite book ever is “Red Adam’s Lady” by Grace Ingram. Wonderful book set in fifteenth century England. Romance, history, intrigue–it’s got it all. It’s so awesome I’ve read it every year or two for almost 40 years now. It’s such a can’t-put-it-down that my good friend, The Most Conscientious Person In The World, MISSED WORK so she could keep on reading. The bad news: It’s out of print. The good news: I will gladly loan you one of my copies (I POUNCED when I found a second one) if you’re interested.

  293. Right now I’m reading “Pride and prejudice and Zombies”. It’s hilarious!
    My favorite book is “The Hobbit”. I think I’d make a good hobbit- lots of eating, and not going far from home.

  294. If you prefer non-fiction, I would definitely recommend “The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat and other clinical tales” by Oliver Sacks. If you are in the mood for fiction, Chevy Stevens has some really great books. One of my favorites is “Never Knowing”.

  295. I know you’ve already read it, but in case others want a recommendation, I recently read Neverwhere (Neil Gaiman) and loved it! Also, have you ever read A Walk In the Wood (Bill Bryson)? Laugh out loud funny 🙂

  296. “Outlander” by Diana Gabaldon. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve read it.

  297. Ahhhh! My tbr pile is ENORMOUS after reading all these recommendations. One of the books that stuck with me recently is Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt. Such a great read.

  299. I love alternative math! It’s so much easier to understand:) I adored The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon♡ Gorgeous, thought provoking and time well spent. Your daughter will also enjoy it, so two birds-one stone, as they say!

  300. How could I ever choose just one book! I loved The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin and How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford. I am also currently enjoying Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams (although it is nothing like the TV show).
    Hugs from Canada

  301. It’s like asking for a favorite ice cream flavor – there are so many good ones! A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. My 20-something self recommends Shampoo Planet by Douglas Coupland. My 30-something self recommends The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood is also very good, but like all of her books, you have to stick it out til the end to get the payout.

  302. Rejected Princesses, by Jason Porath. It’s a book of women throughout myth and history that will never be Disney princesses because they’re too bloody or bad ass. It’s super funny, and there are Disney-esque illustrations!

  303. My next one? Er…yeah. Sorry. It’s not done yet. How about Crag Ferguson’s Between the Bridge and the River? It’s not new by any stretch, but it seems like a Jenny-book to me.

  304. Homegoing was a really good and not too disturbing. It’s definitely worth the hype.

  308. I can’t wait for You Are Here to arrive…but in the meantime, holy cow I love those pens.

  309. I recently read an older book, “On a Pale Horse” by Piers Anthony. It’s the first in the series and it’s not just a neat fantasy book about a guy who is the personification of death on earth, there are also some ethical dilemmas discussed which I found refreshing in the genre. Definitely a must read for anyone who is a fan of Piers Anthony and his billion other novels.

  311. I’m a big fan of all Sarah Addison Allen’s books if you haven’t read them. Congrats on your alt-math! 💟

  312. My favorite book is Neal Stephenson’s Diamond Age, so you should read that if you haven’t. If you have, then I’m going to heartily recommend the Squirrel Girl graphic novels by Ryan North and Erica Hendersen. If you’ve read those… well then you are set in life. Or maybe read the Wheel of Time series and feel good about your life because more happens in your life than in many of those books. Or you can read The Curious Incident of the dog in the night time, which is just funny (plus I had to google “Sausage dog book upside down” to find it to get the title, which is awesome, but apparently it as a poodle on the cover, so I’m all confused).

  313. Rejected Princesses, by Jason Porath. It’s a book of women throughout history that were to bloody or bad ass to be Disney princesses. It’s super funny, and has Disney-sequels illustrations!

  314. I recently got into a series by Deanna Raybourn. The first book is called A Curious Beginning. Great light reading with really cool characters.

  316. How to Talk to Your Cat About Gun Safety: And Abstinence, Drugs, Satanism, and Other Dangers That Threaten Their Nine Lives. Critical in these trying times.

  317. My most recent favorite book is A Man Called Ove. Fredrik Backman is such a wonderful storyteller….he makes me feel all of the feels! I can’t wait for another of his books (originally published in Sweden) to be released in the US.

  318. I just finished gobbling up “Wool” by Hugh Howey and I can’t recommend it enough. I got it from a Little Free Library knowing nothing about it but what was on the cover and now I’m desperate to read the other two books in the series.

  319. Outlander series – all of em and the Lord John books too. Also the Harry Potter series. Anything by Kathy Reichs.

  320. Congratulations! I use alternative math when I step on the scale.
    Read The Book of Joy-a great compliment to Furiously Happy…different, though, as it is an account of conversations between The Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu. I read them back to back…while wildly different, on this journey to happiness I found them both wildly valuable.

  321. the Weather Warden series by Rachel Caine. The first book is Ill Wind. If you’ve already read it, it’s a great second or third read as well. 😀

  322. Shout out from the UK!
    I’d also recommend ‘My grandmother sends her regards and apologises’ (mascara warning). Or anything by Scarlett Thomas (quirky and mindbending ‘The end of Mr Y) or anything by Karen Maitland (historical but in a good way).

  323. Oh yes! Congratulations on #1 & #2! That’s amazing! You beat out Hidden Fences! LOL

    This is such a good list! I need to copy these recommendations for my future reads. Honestly, I’d have to really think hard to pin down a favorite. I fall in love with every book I’m reading at the time. I’m a book slut. When I mentioned Anne Rivers Siddons “The House Next Door”, it’s not necessarily my favorite, but I love anything evil or haunted! It’s from 1978, so I figured it may not be on your radar. I’m always at least 5-10 years behind on current literature!

  324. I read too much to have a favorite book, but a current book I’m loving is Hidden Figures, the book the movie is based on. I particularly enjoyed the opportunity to see a part of history through the lens of the African American perspective.

  326. My favorite books are Oh the places you’ll go by Dr. Seuss, Matilda, and let’s pretend this never happened.

  328. Tried to look at my shelf to see if I had any unique eniugh books that people hadn’t read them over and over, but the only one I could think of was “Zombies vs Unicorns” which is like an anthology of short stories about zombies and unicorns (obv) but like arguing which one is better. It’s kind of a YA book, but some of it is hilarious as hell.

  329. actually you’re 1, 2, and 3…if you add them..more math I know sorry. I’d recommend a walk in the woods. a fun book that is just 2 guys walking.

  330. I loved Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng. Beautiful and heartbreaking.

  331. roots around in kitchen junk drawer Drat. Not there.
    Checks dining room junk drawer nope.
    Bedroom junk drawer dang it!
    Mental junk drawer Ah-hah! Hauls out trusty cliche

    You’re number one in MY book Jenny! 😉

    My all time favorite book? I love the Island In The Sea of Time by S.M. Stirling. And the related series. Something about those books keeps me coming back again and again.

    Also, has anyone else read The Brief History of The Dead by Kevin Brockmeier? That is SOME story! Also also how is it we haven’t started a virtual book club yet? I’m going to have to look into this. I think I know an excellent forum location for it. Lord knows I have enough time on my hands right now anyway. Can use something to make me feel useful.

  332. If you’re up for some non-fiction, I highly recommend “Galileo’s Middle Finger” by Alice Dreger.

    For some light fiction, “The Cats of Tanglewood Forest” by Charles de Lint (illustrated by Charles Vess) is a delight.

  333. The Stand, by Stephen King. A sweeping tale of Good and Evil. I have read it several times… The first time I was in my late teens and the most recent time in my early 40s. Every time I read it, I experience it differently because of what I have lived and (hopefully) learned in years past. I am getting ready to read it again 🙂 Reading you in Canada.

  334. I couldn’t pick a favorite book if my life depended on it, there are just too many. However there is a series I read recently that I’ve been recommending to EVERYONE. The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. The first book is Storm Front.

    Congrats on #1 & 2!

  335. Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Matarin series. Excellent and humane historical fiction

  336. I just finished The Passion of Dolssa (a YA historical fiction) and it was beautiful. About a girl in 13th century Provensa (Southern France, now, I believe) who is hunted for being a heretic because she’s in love with Jesus (or the idea of him, she’s essentially a mystic who performs miracles). She is rescued along the way by a girl named Botille who is the matchmaker of a small village and Botille and her sisters care for Dolssa until the friars eventually hunt her down. It sounds depressing, but it was a beautiful story of courage (and not overly religious) and sisterhood.

  337. Ender’s Game!!! It made me feel less alone as a brainy kid.

    Mental illness under-employment happening right now so I won’t be able to buy this unless I win it, just know that I totally would if I could because you are the best!!

  338. Jenny how do I go about getting the amazon gift certificate so I could get your new book?
    And I recommend The Host by Stephenie Myers

  339. I’m currently on the sixth book of the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch and they’re fantastic. A modern day police constable finds himself in the “demi monde” and world of magic when his star witness to a crime turns out to be a ghost. “Harry Potter meets CSI” so says the cover. I highly recommend.

  340. Jandy Nelson wrote two amazing YA novels, The Sky is Everywhere, and I’ll Give You the Sun. They are beautiful stories about coping with loss and finding sexuality and creativity. Since I read them I think about them every single day and I’m ready to buy them so that I can read them again and again whenever I need to.

  342. I am currently reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and I’m loving it! It goes really fast. Also, because I can’t be content with just one read and my mind goes in different directions depending on the day, I also started, today, This Is Really Happening by Erin Chack. The review says it’s “perfect for fans of Jenny Lawson”! So far so good!!

  343. I really loved Ender’s Game. I’ve reread it a number of times, and I’ve also enjoyed the series around it (although hard to beat the original). Count of Monte Cristo is another great one.

  346. Congrats! The last three books I read that I couldn’t put down were Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter, I Don’t Want To Be Crazy by Samantha Schutz, and The Sculptor by Scott McCloud.

  347. I’m re-reading “His Dark Materials” at the moment – it’s still wonderful, if for no other reason than it annoys the hell out of religious people 🙂

  349. Fredrick Backman is one of my favorite authors right now, besides you of course. I just watched the movie version of “A Man Called Ove” the other night (got it from Netflix..it’s in Swedish with English subtitles)and it’s just as funny as the book. I’m reading one of his other books “My Grandmother Said To Tell You She’s Sorry” which is really really awesome. 🙂

    “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed is another of my favorites.

  350. I have a lot of favorite books! A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg (But you can’t go wrong with any of her books), I loved Heart-Shaped box by Joe Hill, Behind the Gates of Gomorrah by Stephen Seager. All very different genres but all fantastic

  351. My favorite book is The Gates of Sleep by Mercedes Lackey. It’s part of her Elemental Masters series, which re-tell fairy tales but with her own particular sort of magic system. It’s kind of fluff, but I’ve found it to be a good escape when I need one. 🙂

  352. I LOVE the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews. The 10th and possibly final book is due out later this year and I’m both super excited about it and super dreading it. The first nine books, taken collectively, are simply wonderful!

    Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman is also really fantastic, as is the NIghtside series by Simon R. Green (both are set in hidden parts of “dark” London).

    And I love that you are both #1 and #2! (That’s a great way to look at being #12!)

  353. It’s absolutely impossible to only name one, so I’ll go with anything by Laurie Notaro. She’s mostly non-fiction but her most recent book is a novel- Crossing the Horizon- and it’s about female aviators vying to be the first to cross the Atlantic during the early days of flight. I met her at a signing in Austin and she’s just so lovely and fun. The book is fantastic!

    I also loved Radio Girls by Sarah-Jane Stratford about the early days of the BBC.

    And finally, Martin Turnbull’s Hollywood’s Garden of Allah series- Classic Hollywood at it’s most glamorous. There’s 6 books in the series and they’re each like $2.99 or so for the Kindle versions.

    And as a side note – can I just say how stinkin excited I am to see you at Book People next week!!! (Even if it means I have to deal with I-35 from San Antonio- but you’re so worth the struggle of Austin traffic.) And in case you’re wondering, I’ll be impossible to miss. I’m the socially awkward one over there in the corner.

  354. Sunshine by Robin McKinley and Uprooted by Naomi Rom are some of my favorite books. Always good for a reread when I feel sad.

  355. Sabriel by Garth Nix…that’s the 1st book in his Abhorsen trilogy and all three books are great!

  356. I am reading the outlander series right now, it’s very good especially if you like time travel !

  357. I’ve been reading the forensic anthropology books by Jefferson Bass… It all starts with a real life body farm in Tennessee! Really good series 🙂 tell Ferris Mewler he’s awesome but his butt book reviews are reverse osmosis, I think…..

  358. Additionally, since you like Wasp Factory you absolutely must read The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan. Mind-blowing. Bonus. It’s 2.99 for kindle version today. Also, The Collector by John Fowles is a classic. (Creepy.)

  359. Eleanor & Park – I read this book from cover to cover in one sitting, and then turned around and read it again; that’s how good it is. I also shared it immediately with my mom and one of my best friends (who both read it as voraciously as I did).

  360. Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein. I love reading books about average people in WWII doing their “bit” for the war. Mostly because I don’t think I could be that brave. Elizabeth Wein also wrote Code Name Verity but I can only halfway recommend it because I’m only halfway through the book right now. But I suspect if you like Rose Under Fire, you’ll like Code Name Verity.

    And if you like books about people doing stuff during WWII, Connie WIllis has a series of books where people from the future (2060, I think?) who are history majors at Oxford travel back in time to observe the bombing of London. My two favorites are Blackout and its sequel, All Clear.

    And speaking of WWII time-travelers, if you haven’t read the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, you should. Wow, can she write a sex scene! But it’s not all about sex. The author is fond of saying that the books are about life and life sometimes includes sex (for which I am extremely grateful, myself).

  361. One of my very favourite is She’s come Undone by Wally Lamb.
    All books by Audrey Niffenegger are great too.And Kate Atkinson. And and and…so many more!

  363. I love Sunshine by Robin McKinley. No problem reading it over and over again when I need a pick me up.

  364. The whole Jane Perry series of novels by Laurel Dewey are great, but Redemption is my favorite. Murder mystery with strong female lead.

  369. Seriously my new favorite book is Furiously Happy. But since you may be already familiar with that book one of my other favorites is Wish You Well by David Baldacci.

  371. My favorite book I’ve read this year (I’m a librarian, so I can’t pick just one favorite book), is Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes. It doesn’t necessarily encourage others to say yes to everything, but it does show what she learned throughout her experience of saying yes. And any book that starts out with the author telling you that she’s a liar is page turner for sure.

  375. Esther the Wonder Pig: Changing the World One Heart at a Time by Steve Jenkins is a sweet – and hilarious! – true story of how adopting (what they thought was) a “micro-pig” led to the opening of the Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary.

  376. The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson. It’s the first in his Longmire mystery series. He’s an amazing writer.

  377. I just finished the Throne of Glass Series. It’s a YA series, but it is awesome. My all time favorite book to read is The Lorax 🙂 I got a copy for my 18th birthday from my godmother who has since passed away. I read it at least once a week to my kids.

  378. I have what I call “comfort reads”, books that I can pick up when I’m feeling stressed. Almost all the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett, “Neverwhere” by Neil Gaiman, “Good Omens” by both Pratchett and Gaiman.

    I’m currently reading (in between text books, so very slowly) “Every Heart A Doorway” by Seanan McGuire, and so far it’s really good!

  380. Have you read the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde? It’s wonderful in so many ways.

  381. I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb. It’s an old one, but I re-read it often. It”s one of my favorites and dark and sad and thoughtful. Probably time to read it again.

  383. Favorite book? Well, that depends on my mood, the time of day and whether I am reading at lunch on a workday, or on a lazy Saturday afternoon, or at bedtime. But books that I have read over and over? Most epic fiction such as Tolkien and Terry Brooks. The Dresden books by Jim Butcher. Anything by Jane Austen (Persuasian is my favorite today). Anything by Ken Follett, especially The Pillars of the Earth. The Kate Shugak series by Dana Stabenow (fantastic strong, kick-ass female lead character). Robert Ludlam’s The Road to Gandalfo – normally he writes spy thrillers, which I enjoy too. The Road to Gandalfo is a hysterically funny twist to the thriller genre.

  384. I’m rereading the Outlander series of books (I’m on #3, Voyager, but if you’ve never read them then start with the first book: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon). But I’m also in yoga teacher training and have been reading Yoga Body Buddha Mind by Cyndi Lee for class and it’s also really good.

  385. Anything by Charles de Lint! I recommend starting with Someplace To Be Flying. He’s magical.

  386. My next book will be, “A Man Called Ove,” as I had the book on hold. I own all of your books and love them. I read about three books a week as it is something to do while I am dealing with physical and mental health concerns…reading and photography are two things I am very good at. This is wonderful and so are you….

  387. I loved the Riryia books by Michael Sullivan, all the Faith Hunter books and the Drood series by Simon R Green. I loved Uprooted and we just read Mr Pip for my bookclub. It was a quick and original read.

  388. Congrats Tenfold,or I should say Twelvefold.

    Leonard Cohen’s “Beautiful Losers” is still my favourite book. It’s a literary masterpiece of Canadian literature. It’s Cohen at his novelistic finest. If you have read that one, I can recommend one that is not as well-known outside Canada. “Down The Coaltown Road” by Sheldon Currie. It’s set in Cape Breton Nova Scotia (a few hours away from me). There are just no words for me to describe what a great story this is. The author (Dr. Sheldon Currie) is the man who wrote the original novel that would inspire the film “Margaret’s Museum”.

    Thank you for sharing your news.

    @WriterDann

  389. Tried to pick my favorite. Scrolled through comments. Oh, The Fireman! Yes! And A Man Called Ove! Definitely! The Flavia de Luce books! Night Circus! The Road! Oh, The Road. For sure. That one has stayed with me for a long, long time. Highly recommend.

  390. One book? You want ONE book recommendation? Damn that’s hard. So I’m taking a page out of your book and leaving one AND two. Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult was AMAZING. Also, The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman. I could list many, many more, but those are recent ones I’ve read so they’re ruminating in my brain still.

  391. Congratulations! It’s not a “fun” read but The China Study is one of those books that I constantly, quietly recommend to everyone.

  394. I picked up a bunch of “vintage” books and have been reading Sue Grafton murder mysteries – totally not my usual genre. I just finished G is for gumshoe, yes, of course I am reading them in order! I grew up in California, so it’s fun to remember the way things were. Great if you’re looking for a quick, lightweight read.

  395. Read Fredrik Backman’s other books (My Grandmother. . . and then Britt-Marie) if you haven’t yet. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo and her follow-up Crooked Kingdom. Anything in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series (old, but still fun). My all-time favorite book: Beginner’s Luck by Laura Pedersen. I probably listed the same books last time you called out for recommendations.

  396. I don’t get as much time to read adult books since my son was born. But I have some great recommendations for kids books that are still enjoyable. (You MUST do the voices!) “I Want My Hat Back” by Jon Klassen is a little dark for a kids book, but AMAZING nonetheless. “Toot” by Leslie Patricelli is great for new parents who can’t handle the endless cutesy crap for babies. And the classic “Monster at the End of the Book” is also available on audio if you can’t do a decent Grover impression. Pass the love of books through the generations!

  397. I loooove Lamb by Christopher Moore. It’s hilarious but a bit twisted. I’ve made a ton of family and friends read it and they all loved it. Yay for family and friends who share your sense of humour 🙂

  398. I loved The Girl With All The Gifts, but I know you read that because your recommendation of it is what caused me to read it. The Ocean at the End of the Lane is awesome, but I suspect you’ve read that too. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel is so good that I’ve re-read it about 100 times. Okay – maybe only 10, but stil…highly recommend.

  399. I’m currently reading “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” by Alan Moore, but I’m guessing you’ve already read that. (Isn’t it great?)

    A great book you may not have seen yet, though, is The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle by Janet Fox. It’s a children’s novel, but has as much for adults as kids to enjoy, and I bet you and Hailey would have fun reading it together. It’s just a bit spooky and a whole lot exciting.

  401. The All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness. I couldn’t wait to see how it ended and I was so sad when I finished it. Not because the ending was bad, but just because it ended!

  402. Lamb:The Gospel According to Biff: Christ’s Childhood Pal is one of my all time favorites. Irreverent and hilarious. Perfect for reading in public places.

  403. I like Wally Lamb’s “She’s Come Undone”. It’s about mental health, and watching the deterioration and rebuilding of the character always makes me feel good. for the younger crowd “Pushcart Wars” was what my mom always suggested. New York food vendors go to war against the big trucks- it’s great

  404. BEST BOOK EVER!!! Leveraging the Universe (7 Steps to Engaging Life’s Magic) By Mike Dooley. I mean who doesn’t want more magic in their life?!?

  407. Parable of the Sower, and the follow-up book, Parable of the Talents, by Octavia Butler, I just read and are SOOOO good. Esp. if you like sci-fi written by women, which I do. These books are especially timely, and I notice the publisher just decided to re-publish them again (they were first published in 1993 and 1998), because there are some scary freakin parallels to our American culture right now. That said, it is also a very hopeful book, I think: I love what the main character persists in doing in the midst of that culture–so I think it is inspirational. Also there is a focus on the main character’s “hyperempathy”, which felt to me like a discussion on what empathy is like, and which I imagine you and many of your readers might relate to.
    OK, thanks for letting me talk about a book I like! Now I’m off to read what other people wrote! 🙂

  408. “The Girl With All The Gifts”
    And the there is a trilogy called “The Chronos Files” by Rysa Walker that I have really been enjoying – The books are “Timebound,” “Time’s Edge,” and “Time’s Divide.”

  409. Jane Eyre has been my favorite since High school – always a new nuance when I reread it at different life stages.

  410. Prince of Tides…love love love Pat Conroy. (and I’m in Canada)

  411. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

    It’s a YA novel about a girl who commits suicide and then leaves cassette tapes to the people/reasons she did it. It’s really good, if a bit dark

  412. “The Sparrow” by Mary Doria Russell is my favorite book. Whether I win a copy of your new noe or not, I’ll be reading it soon! Thank you, Jenny!

  414. I read a lot of Thrillers/Suspense/Mystery. I highly recommend anything by Jeffery Deaver, JT Ellison, or Val McDermid! You will not be disappointed. I’d also recommend, Moral Defense by Marcia Clark, yes, THE Marcia Clark. This one will have you guessing until the end! Couldn’t put it down. The Shark by Mary Burton, incredible writing! Could not put it down. And if you’re not into Thrillers, a fantastic new book is, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert. SO inspiring and funny too! Okay, there’s a few! I hope you try one and like it. Would love to hear your recommendations on a regular basis. I always buy anything you recommend!
    Love you, Jenny! 😍

  415. If you like a bit of supernatural, I highly recommend The Rook, by Daniel O’Malley. Read the first page and get sucked in! I just re-read it so that I can read the sequel, I hope it’s as good.

  416. Congratulations on yet another amazing success!

    My favorite book of all time: A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving
    Best book I’ve read lately: The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah
    Up next: Furiously Happy, by YOU! (thanks for the heads up when the ebook was on sale)
    I love all the recommendations here. Can’t wait to check some of them out.

  417. Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy. Kids book, maybe more age appropriate for Hailey but one I really enjoyed. (I like kids chapter books because I’m guaranteed a happy ending and sometimes that’s what I really need in a book.)

  418. I’m reading “The nowhere man” right now. Second in the Orphan X series. Sooo good

  419. Oooh! And I just saw “Lamb, the Gospel According to Biff” up above…. LOVE that book!!! Christopher Moore is awesome. Also by him – “You Suck: A Love Story,” “Bite Me: A Love Story,” and “The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror.”

    James Morrow is great too…. “Towing Jehova” and “Only Begotten Daughter” are really good

  420. The Graveyard Book by Neil Himself
    To Kill a Mockingbird
    The Phantom Tollbooth

    I’ve read Mockingbird about once a year since I was 10.

  421. NIceville, by Carsten Stroud.

    It is weird and awesome and the beginning of a trilogy.

  422. I really loved reading “One Plus One” (Jojo Moyes)! Another one that I’d recommend… “The Next Queen of Heaven” (Gregory Maguire) b/c it’s funny, yet serious, yet kinda out-there. 🙂

  423. If you’re not entirely opposed to reading YA books, may I suggest “Prim Improper” by Deirdre Sullivan? As my Dublin friend who sent it to me said “It’s very Irish”, but…it’s been helping me through a really tough time right now, so I feel I now need to encourage anyone who’ll listen to read it. It’s the first of a trilogy, and I’m on the second book.And I alternate between laughing and crying through them. Really well written and –

    So. Many. Feels.

  424. My favorite books are probably a tie between The Handmaid’s Tale and Pride and Prejudice with Persuasion possibly beating Pride some days. I also have to second the love for some already mentioned here, the Kate Daniels series, the Dresden Files books, and The Storied Life of A.J. Fikrey. I really love way too many to have just one favorite. Other recommendations off the top of my head, the Invisible Library series by Genevieve Cogman, the Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries by C. S. Harris, and all of Simone St. James’s books (gothic historical ghost stories/mysteries. I could probably go on forever!

  425. Cinderella Ate my Daughter is really good. The title is a bit misleading and not actually about the beloved Disney character eating small children, but it was still a great read. It talks about girls’ development and how marketing companies use brain development patterns to market directly to children and enforce/take advantage of gender stereotypes. The author is Peggy Orenstein and she talks about her experiences raising her daughter. It reads like a narrative and is really funny and engaging. You don’t need a background in science to understand or enjoy. Defined would recommend!

  426. The Historian is a favorite of mine…fighting vampires with primary sources! World rare book collections tour! All written beautifully enough to make you swoon. (Also, thank you forever for adding a Louisiana stop to your current tour – I am so excited for next Friday!)

  427. I really liked the Paper Magician trilogy. But The Book Thief is probably my favorite book.

  428. I just finished reading “Uprooted” by Naomi Novik, and I highly recommend it. It’s a fantasy story that, every time you think you know where it’s going, it twists and does something else. It was a great read and I wish I hadn’t read it yet so I could still have the joy of reading it and discovering the story all over again. If that makes sense. Or even if it doesn’t.

  429. Lonesome Dove. Absolutely wonderful – and everyone from my dad to my son agrees.

  430. Woot!! Congratulations!! This is not a story book, but I find the concepts so very intriguing, and I am always urging people to read it so we can discuss it, and how it works in real life. I feel as though this is the missing piece of “The Secret”. “Loving What Is” by Byron Katie. If you read it, let me know what you thought. xxoo

  431. Dunno if you’re a fan of Terry Pratchett, but: “Guards! Guards!”
    I have maaany faves, but for whatever reason that one leapt to mind before all the others. It’s the first book of his plotline about the police force in his fantasy world (Discworld), and I highly recommend continuing onto the rest if you end up enjoying this one. Pratchett never fails to cheer me up; he makes me laugh until I cry.

  432. I just re-read The Painted Girls. It was such a great story and I couldn’t put it down! I hadn’t read it in a few years and I just felt the need to read it again.

  434. If you like the Wasp Factory then read The Crow Road, also by Iain Banks. And if you like that, read Morvern Callar by Alan Warner. And if all that’s no good, I highly recommend James Thurber’s The Pet Department. Which isn’t really a book as such, but it’s very very funny.

  435. Riddle Master Trilogy by Patricia A. McKillip. I tend to reread it every couple of years 🙂 It’s a nice kind of fantasy when the magic is powerful but so subtle and organic there are moments when it’s hard to tell when it starts…

  436. My favourite book is the ‘Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society’ By Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer. It was a book club choice that I thought I would hate (the cover didn’t appeal to me, the write up sounded awful) but I am so glad it was chosen for book club because I read it at least once a year now I love it so much
    My daughter has read both of your books and is in awe, so if I am chosen I would love to be able to gift her your next book. She drew a picture of the cover of Furiously Happy, posted it to Instagram, and tagged you in it. You should have seen her face when she saw you liked it! Couldn’t have been happier.
    (I live in Canada)

  437. My 3 most gavoritest books in the while wde world: Bel Canto-Ann Parchett
    My Father’s Dragon-Ruth Stiles Gannett
    The Soul of Baseball-Joe Posnaski

  438. My favorite series that’s not very well know is the Dusk Gate chronicles by Breanna Puttroff. It’s a YA fantasy series sort of reminiscent of Narnia (girl finds hidden world). It’s VERY good!!

  439. Well, honestly your first book, Lets Pretend This Never Happened is my absolute favoritest book of all time (favoritest I made up) but aside from that I would say it has to be between The Nightingale set in WWIII and The Kitchen House set on a plantation in slave days! Both great books, just not funny like urs!

  440. Nine Kinds of Naked by Tony Vigorito
    ~It’s a strange, hilarious completely random lyrical story that I very much enjoyed. 🙂

  441. My favorite book is Let’s Pretend This Never Happened but I know that doesn’t help you. However it’s not my fault it’s my favorite I blame you :0). I also love The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It’s a little confusing at first but one of the best books I’ve ever read.

  442. 439Christina Doyle | March 2, 2017 at 3:21 pm
    Well, honestly your first book, Lets Pretend This Never Happened is my absolute favoritest book of all time (favoritest I made up) but aside from that I would say it has to be between The Nightingale set in WWIII and The Kitchen House set on a plantation in slave days! Both great books, just not funny like urs!

  443. I’m reading Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. It is super weird so far!

  444. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi is so awesome and will leave you breathless! You will love it😇

  446. If I’m being honest, your book “Let’s Pretend this Never Happened” was the first book in a while that made me laugh so hard I snorted, so it definitely holds a very special place in my heart. That being said, one of my favorite books that I read recently was “Good Omens” by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.

  448. Currently reading The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier, and I love it!

    Favorite books: American Gods, and anything else by Neil
    Anything by Francesca Lia Block
    the His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman
    Harry Potter (duh!)

  450. Oh, my favorite book of all time is, Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, just breathtaking! Truly my favorite book of all time. Also, I forgot a series I started reading this year that I LOVE! The Tesla Legacy by Rebecca Cantrell. There are three books in the series so far with more to come. These are amazing! I could keep posting! You’ve opened up Pandora’s Box. I devour books! I’m sorry I didn’t give more description of the books. I have a migraine right now. But you can check them out on Amazon. 😍
    Tracy

  451. Bryce Courtenay’s Power of One is a favorite of mine. Spoiler/trigger warning: there is a graphic prison rape scene.

  452. Moby Dick. What other novel provides specific instructions on cleaning a whale?

    [Disclaimer – I am against whaling and all other forms of cetacean-cide. Nonetheless, I found the book fascinating.]

  454. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving is my favorite of all time (featuring a stuffed armidillo – BONUS!). The Passage Trilogy by Justin Cronin (especially Book 1) is also great.

  455. The Autobiography of Henry VIII (which is obviously not an autobiography, but it is really good!).

  456. Anything by David Thorne. Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh. Or if you want something less essay-y, The Perpetual Astonishment of Jonathon Fairfax by Christopher Shevlin.

  457. Absolutely anything by Seanan McGuire. But be warned that she published 5 books last year, and that’s not exceptional for her!

  458. Let’s Pretend this never happened…I seriously own four copies: Nook book, Kindle version, paperback, and audio book.

  459. Ready Player One, if you haven’t read it already. Lots of nerdy fun and pop culture references, with a great story.
    The audio book is narrated by paper collater extraordinaire, Mr. Wil Wheaton. You know Wil Wheaton always makes good stuff.

  460. Stone’s Fall by Iain Pears was dark and weaving and I didn’t see the end coming! It is a bit older but I think about it often. A hilarious and strange read is The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson (a great name by the way)
    Congrats on being #1#2!!!!

  461. Night broken by Patricia Briggs….at least until her next book comes out in a week, then all bets are off! Seriously though, her mercy Thompson series is really great and I love the strong heroine and snarky attitudes!

  464. I have not actually read a book in a long time. I read so much at work that reading for leisure is not easy. I think I’ll challenge myself and pick on of the ones listed above and get into it. The ones that you say are dark, I could get into that.

  466. I love Tana French’s books. They are dark, murdery and beautifully written.

  467. Homegoing by Yaa Guasi has been on my mind ever since I read it last year. Such a powerful read ❤️

  468. Oooh, so many great books to read! So (from Canada) I just finished re-reading Metal Cowboy by Joe Kurmaskie, a collection of bicycling adventure essays that I really loved. On the fiction front, I couldn’t put down Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits by David Wong, or Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (the first book in a few years that I sat down to read in the evening and next thing I knew it was 2:00 am and I was done. (Fun fact: Picked Ready Player One up in Toronto while waiting for your book signing, so a double wonderful day that day!)

  469. Could I have a gift certificate for furiously happy. I want to gift
    It to my IOP program, before I graduate on Monday.

  470. Justin Cronin’s “The Passage” (and the rest of the trilogy ) is a wonderful read.

  471. Catcher in the Rye….oldie but goodie. It has been my all time favorite. I need to re-read it so I can have a perspective on it.
    (PS – You make my soul happy. When I listen to your cd’s while I clean….I laugh uncontrollably. 💚L

  472. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. It was recommended to me by a friend; I loved it so much I had to buy it. It’s set in 1986, and Eleanor, well, you’ll love her! Her family is poor and she dresses and acts different from everyone else and has a hard time fitting in, but she doesn’t change for anyone. Also: Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish by David Rakoff is a unique book.

  474. Not sure on your fiction reading preferences but the Iron King and the series that follows by Julie Kagawa had me hooked and frantically searching for the next in the series to see how it ends. faery weirdness and love stories mingled into a great series.

  475. You should check out Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi! It’s been my go-to recommendation since I finished it in January.

  476. Caitlin Doughty’s Smoke Gets in Your Eyes is one of my recent favorites! It’s about a woman’s true-life experiences working in a crematory. She’s dark and thoughtful and hilarious. And it starts out with a gruesome description of a cadaver. I mean, it doesn’t get any better than THAT.

  477. Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews. Really anything by them. Super awesome urban fantasy. I second Ready Player One.

  478. Definitely not a new book but I’ve just started reading Moby Dick because it’s such a classic and one I’ve wanted to read for a while after the end scene from Matilda. Also I’m extremely immature and seeing Dick on the cover of a book makes me giggle so there’s that haha! It’s a big read but I’m enjoying it so far!

    Julia from Australia 🙂

  479. Ishmael by Daniel Quinn!!
    It’s a book that really makes you think and see things differently!
    “With man gone, will there be hope for the gorilla?”
    “With gorilla gone, will here be hope for man?”

  480. Crazy Rich Asians! I’ve just started it, but it’s hilarious and super interesting. Congrats! ^_^

  481. If you haven’t read any of Kelly Link’s work yet, her latest one “Get in Trouble” is super good. Short stories, sort of eerie adult fairy tales. I loved it and I think it’ll be your bag.

  484. Probably sounds weird, but Stephen King’s IT. I was a sickly kid (now a sickly adult), with no friends. Except for the Losers Club. To me, they were real, and I loved them all deeply. I’m still grateful to Mr. King for making me less lonely in those years.

  485. Ready Player One is one of my all time favorites. It always makes me happy. Also The Wood Wife by Teri Windling. Otherworldly magic in the Arizonan mountains.

  486. My all-time fave book is Mandy by Julie Andrews. It’s a young girls’ book, but I think it’s still fucking fantastic!

  487. Any travel book by Bill Bryson. Right now, I’m reading The Road to Little Dribbling. Which, surprisingly, is not about aging.

  488. Crazy rich Asians! I’ve just started it but it’s hilarious and super interesting! Congrats ^_^

  490. You Suck, Bloodsucking Fiends and Bite Me by Christopher Moore. All are very entertaining and will make you laugh out loud. That first one, You Suck, is a book title, by the way. I’m not saying you suck……unless you’re drinking out of a straw, then I guess you DO suck. Anyway…these are three of my favorites.

  491. Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah. It’s beautiful and full of heart, and it will make you ugly cry and feel all the feels.

  492. I just finished Caraval (which was generously given to me on booksgiving, thank you loving stranger!) and I am starting A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab which is the third in her excellent trilogy of magic and others worlds. Its soo good!

    Also I just wanted to say thanks again for making booksgiving. It started me reading again and I am so grateful for that.

  493. So many good books out there but lately I’ve enjoyed #girlboss, You are a Badass and Daily Love.

  494. I’ve just acquired, “The Rest of Us Just Live Here,” by Patrick Ness. I’m curious to see his take on what it’s like for normal folk in a superhero universe. If it’s as funny as I hope, it may prove to be a good palate cleanser after your current book.

  495. It’s technically a kids book but that never stops me. The Phantom Tollbooth is still one of my favorite books. It’s kind of surreal and definitely helps you escape when you and Milo (the main character) leave the real world and jump into a different one that’s strange and amusing.

    You also can never go wrong with Terry Pratchett.

  496. Mostly Void, Partially Stars or The Great Glowing Coils of the Universe or Welcome To Nightvale, all by Joseph Fink. I love listening to the Nightvale podcasts and love that the first 2 season are in book form. And the book is just as weird as the podcasts.
    And I just bought (and read in one day!) Furiously Happy…FINALLY!!

  497. A Fine and Private Place by Peter Beagle

    It’s dark and somber but the most lovely and shattering writing ever. He has such a beautiful turn of phrase and it was his FIRST BOOK AND HE WAS IN HIS EARLY 20’S.

  499. I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak
    It’s by the same author of The Book Thief. It’s a great read.

  500. Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway!

    Mechanical bees, clockwork ninja occultists, a lesbian lady spy, and an old pug. It’s everything you’ve ever wanted from a novel!

  502. My favorite new book is Man called Ove. My fav older one is Outlander. We are all so proud of our #1and #2 author!

  503. Signs I am amongst my people: openly and honestly discuss mental health problems and creating a TBR list that will take all night to scan 🙂

    Here’s my addition:

    Mental Health:. All My Puny Sorrows (Miriam Toews); 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl (Mona Awad); Open Heart, Open Mind (Clara Hughes); 10% Happier (Dan Harris)

    Fiction:. Indian Horse (Richard Wagamese); Did You Ever Have a Family (Bill Clegg); One Good Dog (Susan Wilson); Every Man Dies Alone (Hans Fallada) The Secret Daughter (Shilpi Somya Gowda)

    Science-fictiony: The Heart Goes Last (Margaret Atwood); Dark Matter (Blake Crouch); Nostalgia (M.G. Vassanji); When She Woke (Hillary Jordan)

    Series: John Cardinal (Giles Blunt); Leo Demidov (Tom Rob Smith); Department Q (Jussi Alder-Olsen); Inspector Erlendur (Arnaldur Indiason)

  504. Oh! Or Soul Enchilada! Definitely read Soul Enchilada. This is not a drill!

  505. Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of… Series. They are a dark yet lighthearted fantasy read.

  506. My favorite book is Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel, by Susanna Clarke. Currently, I’m reading my way through Stephen King’s works; reading Nght Shift right now, very good!

  507. Overseas by Beatriz Williams.

    There’s romance and time travel and a female protagonist who doesn’t need to be rescued, and a male hunk with a British accent who really rather likes that she does not need to be rescued, although it takes some time for him to come around.

    That said, I’d trip you to get to that guy first, and I don’t even care that he’s fictional.

  508. I am reading “Stories I Only Tell My Friends” by Rob Lowe, and loving it!

  509. My favorite book is probably The Hogfather by Terry Pritchett. I can’t really pinpoint why that one’s my particular favorite, but it is.

  510. J. Maarten Troost has some very entertaining and enlightening travel books. “The Sex Lives of Cannibals” (2004), “Getting Stoned with Savages” (2006), “Headhunters on my Doorstep” (2013), and “Lost on Planet China: One Man’s Attempt to Understand the World’s Most Mystifying Nation” (2008). He has a great sense sense of humor!

  511. Just read one called Wishful Thinking, the name of a time-travel app being beta-tested by a hurried, harried single mom. Chaos, of course, ensues. By Kamy Wicoff.

    Another INCREDIBLE read? Roxane Gay’s An Untamed State.

  512. My favorite book is Summer Knight by Jim Butcher, book 4 of The Dresden Files. We get introduced to the fairies, Summer and Winter, Titania and Mab. AT WAR. Plus this amazing bit:

    “Sometimes the most remarkable things seem commonplace. I mean, when you think about it, jet travel is pretty freaking remarkable. You get in a plane, it defies the gravity of an entire planet by exploiting a loophole with air pressure, and it flies across distances that would take months or years to cross by any means of travel that has been significant for more than a century or three. You hurtle above the earth at enough speed to kill you instantly should you bump into something, and you can only breathe because someone built you a really good tin can that has seams tight enough to hold in a decent amount of air. Hundreds of millions of man-hours of work and struggle and research, blood, sweat, tears, and lives have gone into the history of air travel, and it has totally revolutionized the face of our planet and societies.

    But get on any flight in the country, and I absolutely promise you that you will find someone who, in the face of all that incredible achievement, will be willing to complain about the drinks.

    The drinks, people.”

    So. Effin’. GOOD.

  513. The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge – a great YA read! From a Canadian neighbour 🙂

  515. What will happen if Furiously Happy moves up to 11? I’m not sure, but I think that might be how wormholes are created.

    My favorite books tend to shift depending on which one of them I’ve read most recently, but The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater has stuck with me pretty hard since I first read it years ago. The writing is lovely and the characters are so real, it hurts. There are also vicious, man-eating water horses.

  516. Loved all the books by Backman, Man Called Ove, My Grandmother Asked me to tell You She’s Sorry.
    Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton.
    All Scarpetta novels by Patricia Cornwell.
    The Yellow Eyes of Crocodiles and Slow Waltz of Turtles both by Katherine Pancol.
    And Furiously Happy made me cry laughing 😂

  517. The Argonauts, by Maggie Nelson, was nearly perfect and showed me the nature of the human heart- and my own heart- in a new way.

  518. The Awakening by Kate Chopin. I don’t know if it’s my absolute favorite book ever, but it’s one I come back to over and over and find very meaningful. It’s also one of the first feminist books so yay.

  519. I have so many favorites, but one book that has become my favorite this year and truly changed my life is Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls by Jes Baker.

  520. I can never pick a favorite book, but I like the one I’m reading now – “The Weight of Blood” by Laura McHugh. It’s a little dark and twisty, about some mysterious disappearances in a little (fictional) town in the Ozarks in Missouri, and I like that it realls gets the feel of the place right.

  521. I have so many! But, the I’ll recommend The Pillars of the World by Anne Bishop, it’s the first in the Tir Alainn Triology, and it’s so good. I highly recommend the others in the trilogy as well. A bit of warning, the villain in the trilogy will make you want to reach through the book and stab him.

  522. I have read and reread the All Souls Trillogy by Deborah Harkness( Discovery of Witches, Schoolnof Night and Book of Life)
    Pretty much anything by JR Ward. and of course Pride Prejudice and Zombies

  523. My favorite books are the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. I just got started reading The Handmaid’s Tale for a book club, because it’s, you know, timely.

  524. She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb is my favorite book. I read it at least once a year.

  526. Absolutely anything by Jon Ronson, but I have to say the Psycopath Test was my favorite. And I’m posting this anonymously because I already have all your books (well You are Here has been ordered, waiting to receive it!) and want to let someone else have a shot of getting one.

  527. Congratulations! I really enjoyed The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Pötsch. The author really worked hard to make the details historically accurate.

  528. YOU by Carolina Kepnes is dark and great. Both books in the Kingkiller Chronicles are my go-to’s, besides Let’s Pretend This Never Happened and Furiously Happy, in audio. They help me laugh and think my way through tough and happy times. You inspire me so much Jenny. Thank you!

  530. Tigana by Guy Gabriel Kay–one of the best adult fantasy novels!

  531. My all time favorite book is The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Nothing like systematically taking revenge on all those that wronged you.

  532. Mind Wide Open by Steven Johnson. It’s a great look into why we react the way we do and a great exploration of what I would do if I had access to people that would map my brain doing things.

  533. Tipping the Velvet or Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. Crank series by Ellen Hopkins.

    I need to color.

  534. I’m in the middle of re-reading the Anne of Green Gables book series. It’s so much fun to return to books that you loved as a child.

  535. I absolutely need a copy of You Are Here because I’m just finding my way back to myself after a pretty hard six months. And in my eyes you really are number #1 and number #2 because you made me realise mental health is just a different kind of lens to the world. I’m in Australia so Amazon vouchers make it expensive so maybe a Dymocks voucher instead? Thanks for the opportunity.

  536. Orphan Train was a great book. Available in paperback and while it is a novel, it is really interesting from a historical perspective. About a time in history, I did not know existed.

  537. Jenny, I’m sure you’ve read it before, but A Wrinkle in Time is so wonderful– the message of standing strong, using your faults as strengths, and fighting for what is right and good is utterly inspirational.

    Also, Stranger in a Strange Land changed my entire worldview. Sci-fi, yes, but such social commentary!!

  538. Woohoo! I hope you read this far down. There are 525 comments ahead of me…

    My favorite book of the last year or two is A MAN CALLED OVE. It is BRILLIANT and I’m not even from Europe… I laughed through the first few pages and then cried after a few more. How could a thirty-something-year-old man write so brilliantly? My entire book club loved it and that is no small thing.
    I’m keeping by fingers crossed……

  539. Ever After, from the Hollows series by Kim Harrison. The whole series is good, but this book is magic.

  540. Illusions the Adventures of a reluctant messiah. By Richard Bach. I’ve read it so many times that i wore out the spine and had to buy a new one.

  541. I loved the book: Crazy Aunt Purl’s Drunk, Divorced and Covered in Cat Hair by Laurie Perry. It was one of those books that lets you know you are not the only one who does the crazier things in life….much like your wonderful books. I continually “staff pick” it at the library where I work…(I “staff pick” your books too ;0) ~Books that help you get through those trying times when you are down and need a laugh are some of the best…Thanks for keeping up your writing and word usuages…through those weird and trying times. You are the bestest. lol.

  542. Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake. My only complaint was there seemed to be too many characters to keep track of (ok- not as many as George RR Martin’s books but I’m getting old)…but the story lines/plot was excellent- and the ending had me running to place my name on book #2 One Dark Throne!

    Love you Jenny! You’re the BEST!

  543. Since it’s book day, I’ll recommend a book about books: Texts From Jane Eyre! It’s by Mallory Ortberg, current Dear Prudence and former editor of The Toast, and one of the only other people in the world who can reliably make me laugh other than our beloved Bloggess.

  544. Oh– also, it’s my husband’s birthday and I should plug some books he really loves. The God Delusion and the book Anthony Magnabosco wrote… I can’t remember the title!! If I win a book I’ll probably let him pick something new (or maybe I’d finally get that swear word coloring book I’ve had my eye on)!

  545. By the time I posted there were 538 COMMENTS!!! You know how to throw a book party, Bloggess. Off to tweet in case someone out there still wants to enter…

  547. Oh! A new book from a new writer, The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden. Recommended for fans of our friend Neil Gaiman 😉

  548. I just finished The Girl on the Train and I loved it. I haven’t seen the movie, but usually prefer books anyway.

  549. My favorite book is Wild Swans by Jung Chang. It took me forrrreeeevvvverrr to read it but its worth it.

    My other favorite is Lets Pretend This Never Happened… but something tells me youve read yhat one before.

  550. I’m a big fan of the new Rick Riordan series, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard. The Sword of Summer

  551. I love the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss and when I need a more innocent but still great read I go for the Flavia De Luce series by Alan Bradley.

  552. I’m reading The Soul of an Octopus. I’m usually too shy to post but you are my favorite all time author so I felt compelled.

  553. You should read pretty much anything by Guy Gavriel Kay, but my favourite of his is “The Lions of Al-Rassan” and the two book series “The Sarantine Mosaic”. His newest book “Children of Earth and Sky” is like a third that follows those two 25 years later. Brilliant writer who combines fantasy with history in a way that doesn’t annoy history lovers.

  554. Way to go! Currently re-reading Watership Down by Richard Adams, but also read Life of Pi annually (by Yann Martel). Or anything by Karen Armstrong–her Otherworld books are great!

  558. Bride of Birds – Barry Hughart — I still pull out my worn copy every few years or so and reread.

  559. A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn! A Victorian lady who travels the world studying/capturing butterflies and having torrid affairs with random men comes home to England only to get caught up in a murder mystery. Veronica Speedwell is a badass lady who gives zero fucks what other people think of her and her curiosity gets her into all kinds of scrapes. I devoured this book; it was so amazing. The sequel is good too, although not as amazing.

  560. Currently reading – The Art of Asking | Amanda Palmer but you’ve already probably read that.
    Rodney Lacroix’s books are always a good bet. I think his ‘Perhaps I’ve Said Too Much’ is a good literary side-dish for ‘Let’s Pretend This Never Happened’. (I was not compensated in any way for mentioning Rodney’s books, if anyone was wondering….)
    It’s my birthday next week AND your new book is being released so, serendipity there. Hoping to have your new book in time for my birthday.

  561. Alternative math. That’s better than alternate facts.
    Books: Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchet
    The Good Girl
    And Working Still which was amazing
    Oh! And Crime Scene Cleaners
    Oh! Also Smoking Cigarettes and Glass

  562. “The Dream Thieves” from The Raven Cycle and “La Prophétie des Magicyans” for my favourite french one!

  563. A Curious Beginning and A Perilous Undertaking, both by Deanna Raybourn. Books 1 and 2 (see what I did there?) of her new series. Just purely delightful from beginning to end. Victorian murder mysteries unlike most anything Victorian you’re likely to encounter. Unconventional heroine coming at the tale end of Victoria’s reign. Cannot recommend them enough!

  565. I just read A Necessary End and it was so good. Also a bit dark. But good. But dark.

  566. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire. I love the glimpse into the story from her point of view. I’ve re-read it so many times. Congratulations Jenny!

  568. Next on my to-read list is The Nest by Kenneth Oppel. It’s a thriller aimed at middle grade readers, with a very anxious older brother as the lead character. I love a scary book for kids, it reminds me of telling ghost stories and watching scary movies at slumber parties in middle school, AND it doesn’t give me nightmares or have me looking over my shoulder in the dark. I know now that monsters can be defeated.

  569. Holy cow, I just added 20 books to my library hold list. Kudos to the person who suggested “The Pushcart War!” New favorites are “The Thing About Jellyfish” and “The Wild Girls.” YA and just about perfect.

  571. The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing is an amazing book – you should read it if you haven’t already.

    Oh and I’m in Canada! (And sad I won’t see you on this tour this time!)

  572. “The Princess Bride” is not only my favorite movie, but it’s also one of my favorite books. Another favorite book of mine since 7th grade (over two decades ago!) is “The Giver” by Lois Lowry.

    I also just read a great book called “Before I Go To Sleep” by S.J. Watson about a 40something woman who had an accident in her mid-20s. She can’t remember anything that has happened in the last 20 years and she forgets everything when she goes to sleep each night. She spends each day trying to figure out who she is and who to trust. Kept me up late reading it. Turns out it was made into a movie a couple years ago with Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth. I just discovered this and now I need to go watch it.

  573. Your blog posts always make my day. The moment I see it pop up on my Facebook feed I dash over to read.

    That sounds like Im stalking you. I am totally not/am technically stalking your blog.

  574. Have you ever read The Time Traveler’s Wife? One of my all-time faves.

    And I pre-ordered You Are Here so someone else can get a copy with your generosity, k? Love you!!

  575. The Griffin & Sabine Trilogy. They are short but so wonderful. The story is told through “found letters” that you can take out and read. The art is exquisite and the story is quirky and beautiful. Seems like something you and Hailey would both enjoy. I have had my set since high school and love them as mush as when I first discovered them.

  576. A feast for the eyes and the imagination: Get the graphic novel Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert – Start with the first one…What happens if those Marvel superheros were alive in the Elizabethan era? Congrats on your 1+2 victory! See you in Austin.

  577. This might sound like brown-nosing, but I assure you it’s not: Furiously Happy IS my favorite book.

  578. I recently read an ARC for The Upside of Unrequited and it was completely adorable. Simon Vs. the Homosapien Agenda by the same author was also fantastic.

  579. I’m teaching a children’s literature class right now, so I’m all about YA lit. Holly Black’s Coldest Girl in Coldtown is brilliant! I love all her books but this one is a on a higher plane and it features a kickass teen heroine that I adore and try to emulate as an adult! Jodi Lynn Anderson’s Tiger Lily is also an amazing rewriting of Peter Pan and has a beautiful lyrical style that reminds me of Neil Gaiman’s. Not really YA, but Octavia Butler’s Fledgling is another fascinating take on the vampire novel (sparkly vamps need not apply).

  580. When Light Becomes Air or And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer. Two short and very poignant reads reflecting on life, love and what really matters.

  581. I love the dEaDINBURGH series by Mark Wilson. What’s not to love about Scottish Zombies?

  582. Biting the Sun, by Tanith Lee. I’m a huge fantasy fan, and this is a story of a predominantly female being set in the future, which sounds really lame and weird, but is basically amazing and thought-provoking and cool. I re-read my copy every 6 months or so. It’s… falling apart. But it’s still beautiful!

  583. Have you read Sloane Crosley ‘ s I Was Told There’d Be Cake: Essays? Very offbeat and fun. Thanks for all that you do.

  584. A Fine and Private Place by Peter S. Beagle. It was his first book (I believe), before he wrote The Last Unicorn. And it is amazing to thing he wrote this book at 19 years old. It seems like the work of someone much older.

  586. I would recommend Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. It has a sorta dark theme too it and it’s beautiful! HBO also did a mini-series for it which is great! Love you Jenny!

  587. I always used to say my favorite book was either Alice Walker’s The Temple of my Familiar, or Mutant Message Down Under by Marlo Morgan. I last read them both maybe 20 years ago. And have read so many amazing things since, but these are stuck in my brain at the moment. Probably time to re-read, I guess..

  588. Desperately thinking of titles/authors no-one has said yet! Here goes: Greywalker series by Kat Richardson. Woman in the Wall by Patrice Kindl. Bernie Rhodenbarr series, by Lawrence Block(first in series: Burglar in the Closet) Stainless Steel Rat series, by Harry Harrison. Chasing Redbird, by Sharon Creech(or almost anything else by Sharon Creech!) M.Y.T.H books by Robert Lynn Asprin. [And I totally agree with Liz # 407, Michelle # 445 & 461, also Paleandhungry #495 and BeckiBrothers #521!!!]

  589. The Charley Davidson Series by Darynda Jones is one of my Faves. As well as The Mercy Thompson Series by Patricia Briggs. Lots of man meat and snarkyness. (screw you spell check, snarkyness is a word)

  591. Soooo I’ve started to leave comment here three times, saw a book recommended that looked interesting, gone to the library website to check it out and started reading it on my phone before remembering what I was attempting to do. People here have excellent taste and I thank them.

    And I love Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch, the start of my favorite urban fantasy series. Or get the audio book which has the BEST reader possible, the series has a lot of different accents since it takes place in London and the guy reading it is perfect. Until book three, when an American character shows up and the poor reader just can’t, but he tried nobly and I applaud and enjoy his effort.

  592. My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell. It’s my fav book. It has animals and a crazy family while being hilarious and set on a Greek Island. Also Talking As Fast As I Can by Lauren Graham. She has some quite inspirational chapters about waiting for the good stuff. And since you love cats any of Doreen Tovey books about her and her life living with Siamese cats.
    They are laugh out loud funny.

  593. Favorite urban fantasy series Fated by Benedict Jacka (Fated (Alex Verus #1). The whole series is amazing.

  594. I’m hearing The Great Gatsby calling for me again. The lure of that green light pulls me in about once a year. Time to stock up on some bathtub gin.

  596. Good Poems by Garrison Keillor is a book that I go back to frequently and recommend.

  597. Wow, so many book recommendations! I’m glad someone else listed Tolkien. All his works are my favorites, but there are so many more. The authors I wish there were more books from are Linda Gillard, Posie Graeme-Evans, Susanna Kearsley, and Anya Seton. They write books that somehow speak to my soul and even when they are somewhat unsettling, they still feel real and true. Linda Gillard’s books usually include a main character that has some form of mental illness, but still manages to live a life worth living and find love. It gives me hope that maybe I can live a life worth living and maybe find the acceptance and love that I deserve.

  598. Angry Candy, by Harlan Ellison is a collection of his short stories and one of my all-time favorites.

  599. Have you read To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis? Fun, British time-travely romantic romp. Probably my favorite book that I read in 2016.

  600. The Stranger in the Words is the true story of a man who became a hermit for 27 years. It’s kinda what I feel like doing sometimes…except for the stealing part. Probably wouldn’t like the stealing part. Or the living in a tent part in the winter. Wait, maybe this is a bad idea…

  601. We read a cheery little post apocalyptic book in my book club called Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel we really enjoyed it

  603. I like your math skills. Besides “alternative math” is far better than “alternative facts”!
    Awesome book (if you like dark things and I suspect you do):
    Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory
    by Caitlin Doughty

  604. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, if you haven’t yet. It’s been a while for me, but Selena Gomez has turned it into a Netflix series, and so now’s a great time to pick it up.

    Little Women by Louisa May Alcott is also always worth a read or reread.

  605. My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry. I loved this book. Also From The Corner of His Eye or the Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz.w

  606. My current comfort reading is ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’. A recent surprise like was ‘Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day’, just sort of funny and charming. If you haven’t already discovered them, the Lord Peter Whimsy series by Dorothy Sayers are simply awesome though I do recommend reading them in order. And space them out because they are done too quick.

  607. “The Wrestler’s Cruel Study” by Stephen Dobyns. A professional wrestler’s wife is kidnapped by two men in gorilla suits and the police don’t seem to want to help. It’s got excellent characters, gnostic cults and mysticism, and professional wrestlers who delved too far into their stage personas in a surreal version of New York. I can’t count the number of times I’ve read it, and I learn something new every time.

  608. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. I was quite taken by the book and look forward to the Netflix adaptation later this month.

  609. I would definitely have to recommend “What If? Seriously Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions” by Randall Munroe. Almost as entertaining as your books, but he uses these hilarious stick-figure drawings to answer the most ridiculous science questions that we are all too embarrassed to ask. And let’s face it, we’ve all looked up at the moon and wondered… can we blow it up with enough laser pointers?

    As a side note, thanks for mentioning the Lore podcast that you are enjoying back in February. I checked it out and I am loving it! 20 episodes in 2 days…. I don’t have a problem, I can stop whenever I want.

    Thank you!

  611. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (what a great name, huh?) is a great books. Dystopian future type novel and incredible writing. Happy reading.

  612. You may have already read these, but 3 favorites of mine are Last Night in Montreal by Emily St John Mandel (sad), The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris (sad), and Then We Came to the End, also by Joshua Ferris (funny yet depressing).

  613. I recommend The Language of Flowers. The protagonist works in a flower shop to get out of being homeless and learns what different arrangements work for different occasions.

  614. Boy’s Life, by Robert R. McCammon. At its core, it’s the story of a boy coming of age in small-town Alabama in the 60s, but it’s also so much more! It’s about friendship and loss and racism and moral authority. It’s about capital “G” Good and big “E” Evil, but it’s also about more subtle varieties of both. It’s about monsters and murder and the pure, sweet magic of childhood. You’ll see some Stephen King here and there, and you’ll definitely recognize some Ray Bradbury, but McCammon’s voice is his own, and it’s a pure pleasure how he spins a story. I read a lot, and I have a lot of favorites, but Boy’s Life is always on the list.

  615. The Red Rising trilogy by Pierce Brown. The Giver series by Lois Lowry is an oldie but a goodie, and The Graceling series by Kristin Cashore. Lockwood and Co is a lot of fun (Jonathan Stroud). On an entirely different note, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and The Love Song of Queen Hennessy (in that order) by Rachel Joyce. And the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows gets me teary every time. I love these posts! So much newness on my reading list! Thanks!

  616. From freezing cold Canada (we love you up here too Jenny!), I am just re-reading the Long Island Mediums, “You Can’t Make This S*&T Up” in preparation for her new upcoming release “Good Grief” (about what your loved ones want you to know about grief from the other side). If we all think THIS side is crazy, I can’t imagine what they have to say from over there….. Anyway, wishing Love, Light and Laughter to all out there today!

  617. It’s a graphic novel (aka literary comic book), but my favorite right this minute is Skim by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki. It’s about a teenage girl in a religious all-girls private school dealing with cliques, bullies, suicide, inappropriate romantic entanglements, tendencies toward wicca, and more. Her sweet goth heart makes me emotional. Just beautiful .

  620. OMG Affinity by Sarah Waters! I don’t even care if I get a book, just read it and tell me that you love it!

  621. Lamb the Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore always makes me laugh and occasionally make me squirt milk out my nose. Worth a read or two.

  622. My absolute favorite book in the entire universe is Sabriel by Garth Nix. It is fantasy with a snarky cat sidekick, undead rising to reek havoc set in an alternate United Kingdom where Scotland is really the Old Kingdom where magic and zombies and talking cats and enchanted bells prevail over modern technology. Plus Tim Curry reads the audiobook and it is sublime.

  623. Everyone should definitely check out “Thru-hiking Will Break your Heart” by Carrot Quinn. She is an amazing writer and an amazing person who does amazing things. You will be glued to her journey. You should also check out her instagram for her gorgeous photos and for more of her story.

  624. I know you are already a Neil Gaiman fan, but if you haven’t read it, you must get a copy of the Sleeper and the Spindle. It is so beautiful. And read it to your daughter. Self-rescuing princess!!

  625. I’ve loved both of the Blackthorn Key books by Kevin Sands! Love YOUR books, Jenny! Especially when I listen to them in your own fun, quirky voice!

  626. Picking a favorite book is hard so here’s several:

    I’d have to say that one of my all-time favorite books would have to be A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. (And I can’t wait for the upcoming movie adaptation.)

    The Discworld books by Terry Pratchett are my go-to reads. I’ve recently re-read Monstrous Regiment (I highly recommend this one), and am now making my way through the Tiffany Aching sub-series again (also highly recommend these ones).

    Another favorite is the Young Wizards series by Diane Duane. The first book is titled “So You Want to Be A Wizard”. (I recommend reading the New Millennium Editions that were released as eBooks a couple of years ago.)

  627. It’s a bit of a cliché, but one of my favorite books is The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty. Another would be the whole Gunslinger series by Stephen King. I LOVE books!!!

  628. I recently read Trevor Noah’s ‘Born a Crime,” it was one of the best books I’ve ever read. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes eye opening, and sometimes relatable. It’s an amazing life story and gave me a whole new appreciation for Trevor. I can’t recommend it enough.

    But my favorite book of all time is still The Golden Compass…

  629. I love Good Omens. It’s both Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Pure Gold. But since you’ve probably read that, there’s also Dave Barry Does Japan. Hilarious, and you can read bits to Victor.

  630. P.S. Your Cat Is Dead by James Kirkwood…I adore this book and have read it a million times. It still makes me laugh!
    I’m in Canada, in case I win… 🙂

  631. “Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier. She’s so inside her head.

  632. Just finished Lilac Girls. Excellent. Anxiously awaiting the arrival of my copy of You are Here. Love reading the comments on this post, added some titles to my books to read list!

  633. Can I recommend TV instead? Because I’ve been super stressed and obsessively re-reading the Song of Ice and Fire series by George Rebecca Rasputin Martin, and I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of them.

    And the next read on my list, once I get my fill of reassuringly familiar bloodshed, is a little tome called “Let’s Pretend This Never Happened,” by this blogger who has captured the hearts of sketchy-brained people like me all over the world. I strongly suspect it’s going to become my new compulsive re-read.

    But knowing my luck, you’ve also heard of that one. So, for TV, you should see Taboo. Unless you’ve already heard of that, too. But then you know what I mean. It’s dark and delicious and Tom Hardy in the SEXIEST TOPHAT YOU’VE EVER SEEN.

    PS – I’m in Canada, so if you let me join the giveaway anyway, I’d be thankful for an amazon card in our weird, almost-worthless duck money. And if I don’t qualify for the giveaway, that’s cool. I just wanted you to know about Tom Brady’s hat.

  635. If you haven’t read them already (or even if you have), I highly recommend Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels Trology. I rarely re-read books because I’ve found they don’t hold up well to subsequent readings. Yet, every time I read these books I find something new.

  636. trendy, but Girl on a Train was very entertaining. I’m in Canada, and I’d love for your book tour to come to British Columbia!!

  637. I absolutely fell in love with the entire out land series by Diana Gabaldon. And amazing and epic adventure. If you haven’t read it I definitely would put it on my list. Thank you for the opportunity and can I tell you just how much I love reading your books and your blocks. Have a wonderful day.

  638. “Just One Damned Thing After Another” by Jodi Taylor and its sequels are FANTASTIC. Time travel, villains, romance, and poop jokes.

  640. Apparently I did not look and see how AutoCorrect worked on my previous post. I actually am very grammatically correct most of the time.

  641. Any by Andy Andrews, Half Broke Horses and The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, Wild by Cheryl Strayed, These Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner (historical fiction)

  642. Louise Penny’s Armand Gamache mystery series, Emory’s Gift, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. Joan of Arc by mark twain, Pope Joan

  643. “The Lady and the Panda”. It is the true story of Ruth Harkness who went to Tibet in the 1930’s and was the first person to bring a live panda back from the wild. She was a total badass.

  644. Something you and your daughter might enjoy is The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen. Actually a three part set.

  646. I recently read Post-Human Omnibus Edition (1-4) (Post-Human Series) by David Simpson. It’s SF about AI and nano-tech etc. but what I enjoyed most was toward the end of the series it cleverly gives some insight into the theory that we may all be living in a computer simulation. You can almost grasp the concept of being part of the simulation. Scary!

  647. Double congratulations!! I recommend Not my Father’s Son by Alan Cumming.

  649. “Stardust” by Neil Gaiman is my favorite book to date. It’s a quick read, and the movie is fantastic, too!

  650. My favourite book is Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. The English translation is very different from the Czech one (I’m in the Czech Republic), though, so I guess we’ll never know what it’s really like unless we learn Japanese. I’m actually contemplating that, because the book is so important to me.

  651. I just finished The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker and really enjoyed it. It’s about dysfunctional families and families of choice, friendship and loss, and what it’s like to make your livelihood creating art out of your life.
    https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30090925-the-animators

    P.S.-I loved your reading of Let’s Pretend This Never happened. Thanks for making that!

  652. I’d recommend “Confess” by Colleen Hoover. Pretty much all of her books are amazing but Confess is my favorite. It’s a beautiful and moving story that sucks you in. I can’t think of a way to explain it well enough so I’m including a link to Goodreads 🙂 I hope you enjoy it. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22609310-confess
    Her books always include a twist that you just can’t see coming, even when you’re looking for one. You also have to read it in the actual book, not an audiobook because her books always include some kind of artwork that ties in. Confess has these beautiful paintings and one of them has songs that go with it.

  653. The Edge of Everything by Jeff Giles. YA fiction and a good read.

  654. Peaceful Parent Happy Kids Dr Laura Marham. She is saving my overwhelmed and frustrated brain from parenting a really tough kid 😃

  655. I forgot to put on comment 48 that the book I recommended is my “stays with me, dog eared, highlighted, write in the margins book!” AND it says anonymous!

    No! I. AM. MIMS!!!
    Still love Ya, Doll face!

  656. Congrats! And Word Book Day sounds like the best day. I think you should read The Langage of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh – it’s one of my faves.

  657. If you’re looking for something to make you smile I’d recommend The Book of Awesome by Neil Pasricha or Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh. Neither are novels though.
    Allie’s book is a bunch of comic stories that are just like her blog of the same title and she has an amazing sense of humor. Allie’s blog is actually what led me to yours 🙂
    The book of awesome is a collection of awesome little things in life that we forget are awesome. It’s written in the same style as his blog and it’s just really wonderful for when you’re down. I’ve read it probably a million times and I still love it!

  659. Congratulations on being #1 & #2, I knew you’d do it one day. My favorite book is #4 from the Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlene Harris, Dead to the World.

  660. The 100 year old man who climbed out the window and disappeared- was funny and silly and really enjoyable.

  661. My favorite is Until I Find You by John Irving. I only stalk two writers, you and him, he’s my other favorite writer.

  662. “Bones of the Moon” by Jonathan Carroll. Contemporary fantasy. You have never read anything like it.

  663. I’m currently reading Katherine Arden’s The Bear and the Nightingale and it is SO GOOD. Magical realism, set in medieval Russia, full of folklore and fairy tales.

  664. So many good recommendations!
    And like those before me – how do I pick just one to give? The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett is hilarious and brilliant. Non-fiction I loved Devil in the White City. Longitude is about the discovery (if that’s what I can be called) of longitude, which showed me that non-fiction can be really interesting and opened the door to a lot of great reading. And Bossypants is brilliant. And I want to go on and on it I will stop there.
    (And yay for being #1 and #2! I gifted my BFF the book after listening to your audiobook, which was phenomenal)

  665. Small Gods.

    I return to it over and over. I have Purchased it over and over again since I keep giving my copy away.

  666. One for the Money by Janet Evanovich. The whole series is really good.

  667. Am I allowed to book pimp? My sister-in-law’s cousin wrote “Amberlough,” which is getting good reviews. My brother sent me a copy, but I haven’t read it yet. I know that I read a lot of things in the past month and a half, but at the moment I can’t tell you what any of them were other than “We Have Always Lived in the Castle.” And lots of Elwyn Tate to my toddler nephew.

  669. As a child/adolescent — A Wrinkle in Time

    As an adult– Lonesome Dove

  670. The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey, just finished it. I couldn’t put it down!

  671. I just finished “George Washington is cash money;a no bull-s#it guide to the United myths of America”. The writing made me think that I now know what it would be like to take a history class from you. I think you’ll like it.

  672. I just ready the traffic novel March by John Lewis. It’s great, but don’t read if you’re feeling down. Or maybe do.

  673. My grandmother asked me to tell you she’s sorry by Fredrick Backman, it was made me feel many emotions at once. If you’re looking for funny, I recommend Wallbanger by Alice Clayton. It’s book one in her cocktail series. Good romance and humor in one. It’s one of my favorites.

  675. I have too many favorite books to choose one, but Georgette Heyer (A Civil Contract and Cotillion in particular), Robin McKinley (Chalice, Sunshine, Rose Daughter, Spindle’s End), and Seanan McGuire’s Indexing and Toby Daye series are all good. Right now I’m rereading Ann Leckie’s Ancillary trilogy.

    I read. A lot.

  676. Coming Through Slaughter, Michael Ondaatje. It is about jazz and insanity… my very favorite book of all time… everything else he has ever written is splendid as well. Ooooo and for you AND you daughter: The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper- wonderful fantasy series all about magic and quests and old mythology.

  677. Have you read A Tyranny of Petticoats: 15 Stories of Belles, Bank Robbers and Other Badass Girls? https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22020592-a-tyranny-of-petticoats

    I recently read and very much enjoyed it. I don’t remember if you’re into anthologies of short stories, or not. I’ve become the world’s laziest internet stalker these past couple of years. Sorry about that.
    If only there were some way for book people to keep track of your reading preferences in order to make insightful, personalized book recommendations.

  679. Aside from your book (which I literally started sending copies of from Amazon before I was done), The Liberal Redneck Manifesto is literally the most important book I’ve read in years. First? It’s snort your coffee through your damned nose hysterical. But more importantly, it explains why the South ain’t nearly as simply as you think. Here’s my review of it (where I even mention Furiously Happy).
    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1858433543

    You should read it.

  680. Congratulations on your book!! I love reading memoirs of women that I look up to (and since I’ve already read yours a million times) so, I have been enjoying Amy Schumer’s Book “Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo” and Anna Kendrick’s “Scrappy Little Nobody.” I think you would like both, but maybe you won’t and that is okay too!

  681. Flip this zombie by Jesse Peterson. Last chance to see by Douglas Adams. Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz. I love all 3 and they are VERY different genres so think how fun it would be to start all 3 and flip between them as the mood strikes you!!

  682. Bitten by Kelly Armstrong. Super engrossing, with a fantastic strong and sexy female protagonist!

  683. Not my favorite book ever, but I HIGHLY recommend Girls On Fire by Robin Wasserman. Death under questionable circumstances! Bisexuals! Kurt Cobain! Very reminiscent of Heathers, but more wlw.

  684. Right now I’m reading Amy schumers “girl with the lower back tattoo” and think you would like it, and I just finished Anna Kendrick’s “scrappy little nobody” but I really love all kinds of memoirs and novels 🙃

  685. I have a great YA series for you and your daughter to read together–The Ranger’s Apprentice by John Flannigan. My son made me read them–and they’re fabulous! Seriously, during all the nastiness with 45, I needed an escape, where heroes are of all many ethnicities and both sexes are strong. Good always wins (spoiler), but I needed that right now. Great, smart writing with characters who feel like family.

  686. Oh but there are SO MANY good books…
    I love anything Kurt Vonnegut (although I think you’re already turned on to him) but I’m going to recommend White Noise by Don Delillo. I read it in college – nearly fifteen years ago now – and it has stuck with me ever since. It’s more relevant today than ever. You’ll love it. It might make you paranoid though. Which is part of why it’s so ridiculously good.

  687. I’ve you never read the children’s book “The Gashlycrumb Tinies” by Edward Gorey, I suggest you do. It has you written all over it. It’s where my kids learned important words like ‘ennui’ and ‘gin.’

  688. My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Blackman is funny and magical.

  689. When Breath Becomes Air. I will need to read this one again so I get the whole of it. It’s a true story written by a doctor who got cancer in his 30s. He writes about how he learned to accept it and his coming death. It isn’t sappy or cheery.I would have stopped reading it if that had been the case! There are some great insights about living that helped me validate who I am. The Captain’s Wife is excellent, too. It is also a true story and deserves a mini series! A young wife goes with her husband who is the captain of a clipper ship sailing from New England to the west coast. He becomes ill and incapacitated, so she must take over the ship and crew. They listen to her because she knows how to navigate the ship. Her husband recognized how bright she was, so he had taught her during the first few days on board so she wouldn’t become bored. She enjoyed learning that, but never realized how crucial it would be once her husband could no longer chart their course. This book has good people in it who, even in the worst circumstances put aside their prejudices, egos, and fears to work together to attain a common goal that didn’t result in glory or money or fame.

  691. I can’t not say my favourite is American Gods by Neil Gaiman, but I’m certain you’ve read that so it’s hardly a helpful suggestion.
    Close secondo would

  692. I don’t know what genres you like (I’m such a bad fan!) but I totally recommend The City of Hope and Ruin, by Kit Campbell and Suri Paulson. And not just because I know the authors. It’s an lgbt+ fantasy about two worlds connecting, both having their own types of monsters to deal with.
    Also, The Catalyst by Helena Coggan. It’s a fantasy about the “Gifted” (magical) and the “Ashkind” (non-magical), but it’s more about the daughter of a government official who has to keep a dark secret hidden, and ends up helping an escaped convict in order to keep that secret.
    Also, I really don’t care for fantasy in general, but these two books are exceptions.

  693. My all-time fav is Stella Gibbons’s Cold Comfort Farm. It is hysterically funny, particularly if you like the gothic novel.

    My top three I’ve read this year so far (not in order) are I’m Judging You by Luvvie Ajayi, Shrill by Lindy West, and of course Furiously Happy.

  694. Binge by Tyler Oakley is a definite recommendation! It’s hilarious, relatable and an easy read.

  695. My phone is a turd.
    If there is an edit button it does not show for me.
    Anyways, close seconds would be Slow Regard of Silent Things by Pat Rothfuss and the Abhorsen trilogy (starting with Sabriel) by Garth Nixon. Definitely a young adult novel but I’ve yet to tire of it.

  696. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime. Or any book by Jodi Piccault. And of course the Outlander books by Diana Gabaldon. Another Canadian who loves you!

  697. Hi Jenny

    It is so hard to pick one favorite book. But at this very moment I am going to say Red Dust by Ma Jian. I love the way he writes and takes you places with words.

  698. Harry Potter is my favorite. I also really enjoyed the Girl With a Dragon Tattoo series – the way the stories were crafted was superb!

  699. The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Klay by Michael Chabon, my all time favorite book!!

  700. I just finished Handmaid’s Tale. It really is worth it. And 1984 and 451 is you haven’t read those either. Congrats on the book!! <3

  701. Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilolgy. It has talking bears.

  703. My most recent favorite: The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. Super cool!

  704. BossyPants by Tina Fey is amazing, although I feel like that would be one you read already!

  705. I am reading Carrie Fisher’s memiors. “Happy Drinking”and “The Princess Diarist” I recently was diagnosed with Bipolar (the fun one where I halucinate sometimes) it only took 15 years and 3 trips to the hospital. (The last time on my 40th bday:) so needless to say your books and others with mental illness, (we should come up with a different name for that) have been tremendously helpful. Laughter has been our family’s healer, and for that I will be eternally grateful to you and your story.

  706. Just one? If you haven’t read Harrison Scott Key’s “World Largest Man,” I think you’ll like that (I thought it was hilarious). Currently I’m reading Steven Brust, who is at least my favorite AUTHOR — and I highly recommend all his books! (I’m reading the Khaavren romances, pastiches on Dumas.) Ron Chernow’s “Alexander Hamilton” was a great read, and spawned a great musical. I could go on and on…

  707. Raven Boys. I’m a sucker for YA and there are some well drawn female characters. Way above the pack of YA novels

  709. OK, here’s my shortlist of books I adore (aside from yours) & often recommend to people.
    *The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
    *Curious incident of the dog in the nighttime by Mark Haddon- this is told from the POV of a boy with autism working on solving a murder mystery. I adore this book!
    *White Oleander by Janet Fitch
    *A Dog’s Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron- told from POV of a dog reincarnated multiple times,retaining memories of his former lives & trying to find the meaning of life.
    *The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein- Another story told from the dog’s POV
    * The Pilot’s Wife By Anita Shreve (this one is kinda of cool b/c she has written a series of books that all take place in the same house through hundreds of years and many occupants)
    *What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

  710. The Mercedes Thompson books by Patricia Briggs will pull you in to her alternative universe. Mercy is a shape-shifter but a coyote not a werewolf. The first one is Moon Called. Also the Gregor books by Suzanne Collins. The first one is Gregor and the prophecy of Bane. Congrats on being #1 & 2!

  711. I highly recommend All the Light We Cannot See is a stunning WWII story that will make you rethink your definition of accountability in times of war. I also highly recommend Alan Cumming’s memoir Not My Father’s Son. Personally I ding great comfort rereading the Harry Potter series. As a matter of fact I’m finishing up The Deathly Hallows for the umpteenth time…break out the Kleenex! I hope this helps.

  713. I have to second Katie (#681) – I totally forgot about Odd Thomas. I absolutely love those books! Fantasy, horror and Elvis Presley’s ghost!

  714. I just finished reading the English translation Human Acts by Han Kang and while brutal, it was moving and gave me something to chew on for a week after.

  716. Fiction: bird box by josh malerman. Dark, creepy and worrying. Non-fiction: the Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic–and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World ?….. by steven johnson. Loved the mix of cultural and medical history. Basically the story of the beginning of plumbing.

  717. Sadie Walker is Stranded….witty, entertaining zombie apocalypse…

  718. My favorite book is The Phantom Tollbooth, which I just finished reading to my five-year-old. For the second time. Which I call a parenting win!

    If you want something newer to read, my recent favorite was The Spellman Files, by Lisa Lutz. It’s a combination of mystery and screwball comedy and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

  719. This may not be my all time favorite book ( that honor probably goes to Dr. Zhivago) but if you want to read a creepy, keep you up all night book, try Bird Box by Josh Malerman.

  721. I’m currently reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and it’s amazing! I’m actually listening to it on Audible. So good.

  722. I’m loving Erik Larson’s Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America. A must-read before the movie comes out (Scorsese directing, DiCaprio starring).

  723. The last thing I read that just floored me was The Girl with All the Gifts. I loved it!

  724. The Book of Awesome and The Book of (even more) Awesome by Neil Pasricha are great pick me ups. My 14yo daughter loves them too. They make us giggle, especially if we’re out of sorts. I’m just to the North too but, I’ve already ordered your book of awesomeness so if you happen to choose me, please go ahead and pass it along to someone else who hasn’t been able to buy it <3

  725. I love “Prodigal Summer” by Barbara Kingsolver. It’s the kind of book you want to step into, and has characters you want to know. Plus, she is so smart and a wonderful writer – one of those “really good at science AND English” kind of people!

  726. I’m always going to love Harry Potter but my second favorites would be the Kushiel Series by Jacqueline Carey! 🙂

  728. I loved the Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. I can’t explain why, but it just made me really, really happy. Plus, he’s a total introvert, so I connected with him. 🙂

  730. I love “The Shadow of the Wind” by, Carlos Zafón. Set in Barcelona just after ww2. Very dark and keeps you on the edge of your seat!

  731. In honor of a new book coming out this summer, I’mma recommend ENCLAVE, the first book in the Razorland trilogy by Ann Aguirre. Dystopian fiction, and very good.

  732. Memoirs of a Geisha! Definitely the most beautiful book I’ve ever read.

  736. The 13th Tale by Diane Setterfield – one of my favorites! I’ve ready it multiple times and it never gets old!

  737. 733 replies so far. It’s discouraging to feel like a number and know your comment will never be read, when you’re replying to someone by whom you’ve felt so incredibly understood.

  738. Honest to goodness normally I recommend Pretend… BUT in the case of you being the author then I’d recommend the world according to Bob. It makes me so hopefully and happy and sad in all the right ways

  739. This afternoon I finished State of Wonder by Anne Patchett, and I’m in that weird post book fog, still immersed in that created world…

  741. Trevor Noah wrote a great book called “Born a Crime” about his life. Of course my favorite books are your books, but I assume you’ve already read them 😸. I’m hoping to get your new book with my next paycheck! I really found such inspiration through you to deal with my mental illness and embrace it a bit more (still working on accepting it fully…). Thank you!

  742. The Hum & The Shiver by Alex Bledsoe is dark and beautiful and seems like it would be your thing. The Rook by Daniel O’Malley is funny and weird and also seems like it would be your thing.

    On another note, I finished listening to Furiously Happy today. Thank you for being you. Thank you for being out with your mental illness. It makes being crazier easier to bear when you know you’re not alone in fighting the stigma.

  743. I agree completely with anonymous a few comments previous to this…

  744. My favorite book is a children’s book called “Miss Rumphius.” It won’t take you long to read, but I 100% believe you are doing the third thing that Miss Rumphius sets out to do in the story. It has been my favorite book since 3rd grade, and when I was a teacher I hope to impart the same love of this book to my students as my 3rd grade teacher did to me.

  745. Just one book???? That’s so hard!
    But I think you’re going to like this one because of the title: “The Elegance of the Hedgehog” by Muriel Barbery. And obviously I loved the book.
    Oh! You said to warn you if I don’t live in the USA, right? I’m from Brazil 🙂

  746. Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. The freakier the family, the more mine looks normal! I’d read anything that is reviewed as “Horribly Funny”

  748. I see someone else already recommended Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley…I’m going to have to second that! I’m typically not a fan of books about pets…because you know that pets eventually die, and that’s usually what happens in books about pets…and pet death sucks so so bad. However, this book was so unbelievably delightful and REAL and the imagery was funny and tragic in a really great way.

  750. I’m Anonymous!

    Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. The freakier the family, the more mine looks normal! I’d read anything that is reviewed as “Horribly Funny”

  751. Pride and prejudice and zombies….because ELIZABETH Bennett slashing zombies is awesome!

  752. Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K Hamilton if I want something in the sci fi but if it has been a rough day the I will grab any of the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich…..every one of her books gets me laughing to the point I am crying and my sides hurt.

  753. I have two: Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams and A Cast of Killers by King Vidor. Both are non-fiction. The first is a sad/funny book about loss of species. And the second is a real life murder mystery in Hollywood. But from the early days of film. With actors like Mary Pickford.

    Check them out, even if you don’t pick me. I hope you enjoy them.

    The Head Duckie

  754. A little Life is glorious- heart-breaking, thoughtful, and well-written. And it’s l-o-n-g so you get to live with it for a while.
    Oh, and I’d give your book to a friend who is going through a tough time and coloring helps her – AND, I just found out that she doesn’t know your books – SAD!

  755. New book I just read- Qualify. It’s a YA book that’s super interesting, and was a great read! First in a series of 3 🙂 Enjoy!

  756. Not sure if this posted, because my stupid wordpress account was trying to make me log in… buuuut, Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. It has talking cats, but it’s still serious and has two diverging stories.. actually, if you haven’t read any of Haruki Murakami, Dance Dance Dance is a good one too – it has a guy who is living in a sheep suit. Super random, but all of his books are super intriguing and well written.

  758. My favorite book that I’ve read in the past few years is Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty.

  759. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson. We’re getting dangerously close to Hiro Protagonist’s world.

  760. Two books are among my faves (by the way, saw A Man Called Ove recommended–just finished it & yeah). “Waiting For The Galactic Bus” by Parke Goodwin & “The Unlikely Ones” by Mary Brown.

  761. The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell–I’ve been pondering whether I should read it again!

  763. I love The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, if you are looking for a really interesting historical novel.

  764. My favorite book is “Wind, Sand, and Stars” by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. It’s the memoirs of a French pilot who flew the mail between the first and second world wars and it is a magical story of adventure.

  765. I recently read the “Daughter of Smoke and Bone” trilogy by Laini Taylor. A little dark, but full of fantasy and magic, set in Prague (among other ancient cities), and I was bargaining with the clock through all three books. In fact, I had to wait for Amazon to deliver the second two once I’d read the first, and that 24 hours was AGONY. To me, that is what puts a book (or three) on my “best-seller” list. 🙂 Happy reading!

  766. Counting by 7s. Okay its a middle grade book, but might be something for you and Haley, although I’m an adult and I loved it. Its about a 12 year old girl thats a genius obsessed with the number 7. She is so weird and I loved her. Anyway, it was good.

  767. The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury is one of my favorites. it has so many stories within a story that the symmetry of each flows in to the next.

  768. It’s been out for a few years, but, if you haven’t read it I hope you enjoy it as much I did. I grew up in a very small town and could easily relate. The name of the book is “A Girl Called Zippy” by Haven Kimmel. Also, if you like dark, “The Poisonwood Bible” was hard to put down.

  769. Woo hoo! Congratulations! I just finished A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay. It was incredible.

  770. Life Without Friends by Ellen Emerson White. I read it in middle school so much that the spine fell apart. She also wrote The President’s Daughter series. I wish she’d write another one!

  771. I cannot begin to choose an absolute favorite, so eeney-meeny-miney-moe it is! Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal, by Christopher Moore. To say it is hilarious is an understatement!

  772. I would love to go on your next book tour with you! We could make fun of each other’s illnesses and see who can one up the other in your hotel room before your book signing. then the next day you can sit under the table so people can see you and you can sign from Below and I would be their physical contact from above😎

    ✈✈✈😁😁😁🍸🍸🍸🍸😂😂😂😂😂⬇💺📖✈✈✈✈✈. Etcetera. Etcetera!!!!!!!!!!!

  773. The Fire Rose by Mercedes Lackey. It’s one of her earlier books and I consider it the first of her Elemental Masters books. I love reading it over and over. I’ve worn out two paperback books reading it. I loved listening to you read your books. I’m considering getting a taxidermy squirrel…

  774. Well, I adore Douglas Adams The Ultimate Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy (that’s five books in one). If you’ve already read that one, might I recommend the Charley Davidson series by Darynda Jones? I think you and Charley would get along quite nicely. (book nine never happened).
    And, for the somewhat obscure, approach with caution because book is weird, there’s Hal Duncan’s Vellum.
    (My wallet hates the comments on this blog. I am happy)
    And I’m from Chile, land of beautiful scenery and catastrophic disasters.

  775. The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted by Elizabeth Berg. Brutally honest, funny, sad, powerful and liberating!

  776. “Swan Song” by Robert McCammon (not sure of the exact spelling), it’s AMAZING! It’s what happens to humanity after a nuclear war and it follows specific people as they try to survive. Sounds awful I know, but it’s crazy good, deeply human, goose pimply scary and impossible to put down. Another by this author is “Boy’s Life”, also incredible. Happy reading.

  777. That reminds me, I gotta order a copy of You Are Here for when you’re in Austin next week… SQUEE! See also, if you haven’t read a Terry Pratchett recently, do so. If you need a specific title, Monstrous Regiment is a great one.

  778. The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted by Elizabeth Berg. Brutally honest, funny, sad, powerful and liberating!

  779. If you want to laugh, Bad Monkey by Carl Hiassen. You and Carl are the only authors who make me laugh out loud. For good page turners, anything by Liane Moriarity. I especially liked Little Big Lies. Love you, Jenny!

  781. Good Grief. ( but not if you are having a sad week)
    Gumptionade ( If you feel the urge to kick some ass and need a push)
    To Kill a Mockingbird ( Just because it’s beautifully written)
    A Wrinkle in Time ( If you need to rebelieve in magic and good wins over evil)

  782. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society always makes me happy.

  783. Reading The Sellout by Paul Beatty… very funny not funny! Loving it but not nearly as much as any book by Jenny Lawler! PleSe get me a copy of your new read!!!!

  784. A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki is one of my favorite books. I also love the Yiddish Police men’s Union by Michael Chabon. I wish I had his brain. Like instead of my own. Not in a jar or something.

  785. Reading A Man Called Ove right now and loving it. Though I know you’re already reading Backman’s stuff. Ordered You Are Here two days ago and will be delighted when I get it. I’m sure my felines will try it out, too.

  787. I love your books! Also (some of my favorites in the past year) – My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, Amy Falls Down, Dear Sugar (actually everything by Cheryl Strayed), Where’s You Go, Bernadette? and Yotam Ottolenghi’s latest cookbook… girl’s gotta eat. xo

  788. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts…. taken from the author’s real life experience, tells the story of an escaped Australian felon assimilating into Mumbai (Bombay) and the heroin culture there. F- the details…. it is so beautifully written. My margins runneth over with my scribbles.
    The Brothers K by David James Duncan… retells the Brothers Karamazov without all the inscrutable Russian names. Hint: Don’t read the second half in public. Unless you enjoy being a spectacle.

  789. I know I read The Wasp Factory when I was in high school. I don’t remember what it was about, but just reading the title gave me a shock of emotion through my chest. It may just be the angsty feeling of teenagehood, though. My favorite novel is The Princess Bride 🙂

  790. A Tragic Kind of Wonderful by Eric Lindstrom. Code Name Verity or Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein.

  791. Pride and Prejudice… like for realz, I read it so many times that I had to get it in hardcover because the paperbacks I had were falling apart…. and luckily Colin Firth was on the cover. Bonus!!!! Also, I recommend the Millennium trilogy… which I suppose is no longer technically a trilogy, but then again Steigg Larsson didn’t write the 4th book on the account of being dead…. so does it really count??? I’m babbling here… anyway, Lisbeth Salander is one amazing character.

  792. Although all I have time to read currently is optometry school books…I loved reading The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down and Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers.. Can’t wait to read your new book!! Much love ❤️

  793. I just finishes Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith and loved it. Whenever I’m feeling melancholy, which is quite often lately, a read A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter. I’ve had my copy since I was 10 and read it periodically. Love it!!! Oh, Canadian fan here.

  794. Bless Me Ultima by Rudolpho Anya. Wonderful, magical story grounded in the harsh reality of the high plains of New Mexico. Witches, owls, and a little boy who sees all the things the grown-ups miss. It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read.

    Also, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie. A stunning example of Native American storytelling with a modern twist. Another of the best books I’ve ever read.

  795. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. It’s a series and it’s great and I got my husband hooked on them too and now it’s also a show on STARZ and…I think that’s all for now.

  796. Some of my all time favourite under-the-covers-all-day-comfy-reads are: The Last Light of The Sun (Guy Gavriel Kay – my fellow Canadian!), Lamb (Christopher Moore), Of Bees & Mist (Erick Setiawan), Fall on Your Knees (Ann Marie MacDonald – another Canadian!), and Middlesex (Jeffrey Eugenides). Usually that list includes YOUR two books as well!! For a “take me away” fantasy – go for the Kay or the Setiawan. For laughs (and some tears – not gonna lie!) go for the Moore (though my guess is you’ve probably already read that, haven’t you? ;o) The MacDonald and Eugenides are just amazing stories that will dig down deep into your soul and won’t leave you for a very long time. Each of them were rare gifts to my life and I love to share them with people <3

  797. Rock Chick by Kristen Ashley and You by Caroline Kepnes. Thank you for being you!

  798. I have too many “favorite” books, but one I love is “Colony” by Anne Rivers Siddons.

    I am going to go through these comments later to gather suggestions for new books to read. I’m very excited about it. 😀 xoxo

  799. I love middle grade fiction so if you’re not into that then you may not like my rec but maybe Hailey will. 🙂
    Love the Keeper of the Lost Cities series by Shannon Messenger. There are 5 so far with 2 more to come. Also, you would probably enjoy the Flavia De Luce series by Alan Bradley. The first one is called The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. Flavia is a young sleuth/mad chemist. Such a fantastic character! Have devoured the series and still want more of her!

  800. Read Big Magic creative life beyond fear
    By Elizabeth Gilbert. I am almost finished if u would like me to send u my copy I can aim a couple weeks when in Done with it.

    Jolie Kolassa (super fan)

  801. One second after. What happens when there is an EMP attack.
    Ready player one by Ernest cline. It’s set in the future (2042?) but has tons of 80s movies, music, and games references
    Feed by Mira Grant. My kids once asked me why I read zombie books and my instant response was to be prepared for a zombie apocalypse. Needless to say they don’t ask me any questions anymore. And, no, I have not seen the Walking Dead. I’m not a fan of zombie movies or shows. Although I did watch “I am Legend” which made me cry. Side note, the original book (written in the 50s) that the movie was based was on is quite offensive and I would not recommend reading it. Rare example where the movie is way better than the book.

  802. A Man Called Ove. Laughed out loud and shamelessly wept throughout this book. Loved it!

  803. I love the Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo (beautiful new world of magic to discover), and the Peculiars Trilogy by Ransom Riggs (amazing at describing each scene and very visual IN WORDS!). Another book that kept me up until the early hours of my insomnia with anticipation was “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (I relate to the main character but the mystery of an imperfect, secretive family that’s being researched by those who want to avenge innocents). Another huge favorite that I love to get lost in is the “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” (as random as the stream of thoughts in my mind so I never feel like I have lost track of anything.

    I know I picked so many options but… I read a lot and it is impossible for me to pick just ONE!! Just read yours earlier this week and it made me laugh-cry as much as the first time that I’ve read it.

  804. I still like “good omens” by Neil gaiman and some other guy whom I can’t recall. It’s about the book of revelation basically. But, you know, funny.

  805. Hi Jenny – right now I’m reading Dead Lions – Slough House, a great spy mystery with humor and cats. Well, at least one cat. And there are mixed opinions regarding him. And he may be entirely imaginary or a literary vehicle for the author. Anyway, its good. Author is Mick Herron.

  806. I recently read The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie R. King. If you like Sherlock Holmes you should check it out.

  808. All time favorite is Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Only book I read more than once and probably responsible for a good portion of my sense of humor.

  810. I just finished “Woman on the edge of Time” by Marge Percy and I highly recommend it. It’s dark but also hopefull. Well written, full of reflexions on the world and imagination 🙂

  811. I’ve been reading 4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster, mainly because it’s been a long while since I’ve had a chance to just read for the sheer joy and I loves me some Paul Auster.

    Sadly, I don’t get to read much anymore… Life, and all that.

  812. My favorite book is Love is a Wild Assault. It’s a beautifully written story taken from the diary of Harriet Potter which is in the Texas State Archives. The title sounds like a sappy romance novel but that’s the way they titled things in the 1940s I guess. It’s won several awards and is a must read if you like Texas history or just love a good story.

  815. “The Best Awful” by Carrie Fisher. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll laugh again. I hope others who see this will find a copy and read it. It is exhausting and exhilarating in turns.

  816. WONDER BY R.J PALACIO IS SO GOOD. Also ‘Fangirl’, ‘Eleanor and Park’, ‘Thirteen Reasons Why’, ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’, ‘Every Day’, ‘Looking For Alaska’, ‘The Rest of Us Just Live Here’ and ‘Stargirl’, ‘It’s Kind of a Funny Story’ AND ‘EVERYTHING EVERYTHING’ WHICH IS BEING MADE INTO A MOVIE AND I’M FANGIRLING SO HARD. Not to mention a shit ton that I haven’t listed. On a completely different matter, my school has genre months and May is Biographies so I’m forcing the library to buy your books. 🙂

  817. Full Dark, No Stars. By Stephen King. A good scary read that also left me questioning who the hell I am. I felt like I didn’t even know myself after I finished it. Great freaking read!!

  818. Oh – and because I suck at instructions these days, my favorite book is One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Because that’s how my brain works.

  819. “Biting the Wax Tadpole: Confessions of a Language Fanatic” by Elizabeth Little

  820. Love your books and also love Christopher Moore especially LAMB. The gospel according to Biff Christ’S childhood pal

  822. Mine favorites ( because I can’t have just one!) are The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving, The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub, and Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr. I could probably name 50 of them honestly!

  823. Get your publisher to get you and advance copy of Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland’s upcoming novel about getting magic back into the world, THE RISE AND FALL OF D.O.D.O. It’s funny, it’s smart (I kinda gloss through the physics parts but honestly, they’re easy reading), and it’s completely captivating. So much fun, and right now, fun is way high on my agenda!

    Thank you for being you. You’re a touchstone.

  824. Picking a favorite book is impossible! So I’ll recommend three — just know there are so many more! Still Alice by Lisa Genova, Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, and Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner.

  826. Several people recommended The Night Circus already, so I’ll just add to their nominations. The prose is beautiful.

    I’ll recommend White Teeth by Zadie Smith.

  827. Prophecy of the flame by Lynn Hardy. It’s a fantasy and allowed me to escape my own reality for a while. I hoped to order You Are Here, but lost my job recently.

  828. I recently read A Study in Charlotte which is YA Sherlock Holmes take. But as a favorite, anything from Rainbow Rowell! @karionbluelilly

  829. Big Little Lies, by Liane Moriarty. (Really, anything by her is fantastic, but that one in particular has been made into an HBO series with Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman!!)

  830. I just finished reading “Undying Love: The True Story of a Passion That Defied Death.” The writing was rather not good, but the story is incredibly compelling. It’s about a man who steals the body of the woman he fell in love with (unrequited) and basically lives with it for seven years.

  831. The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell – my all time favourite book. Aliens and linguistics and music and tragedy and interesting interpersonal interactions and discussions about the nature of faith. The first time I read it it sort of wrecked me in the best kind of way.

  832. Don’t pick me! I’ve already ordered the book. Although I really hope your publisher accepts the note saying I’ve got it on hold at my local independent bookstore instead of a receipt ’cause I really want that tote bag.

    So my recommendation is Nation by Terry Pratchett. Even by his amazing standards this is a great book. Stephen Briggs does a brilliant job on the audio book.

  833. Currently The Night Circus. I’d also say the entire Harry Potter series. Rise and Shine by Anna Quinlan. Orphan Train. Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Those are my go to books. The ones I read when I’m sad. Or happy. Or on a plane. Basically I read them all often.

  834. Hmmm…I haven’t read all the suggestions, but I don’t see much non-fiction, which is mostly what I read these days, because truth truly is stranger than fiction. Someone whose work I really enjoy, and who really needs to put someone else out soon, damn it, is Barneys New York creative director Simon Doonan, who’s written a whole slew of hysterically funny yet heartfelt books covering his life and times. Nasty (re-released as Beautiful People; there was a TV series based on it) covers growing up gay in the middle of an extremely eccentric family in postwar England and later moving to America in the 1970s, where his career as a window dresser really took wing; Wacky Chicks is a series of interviews with various colorful women who not only broke the mold, but danced on the pieces in hobnails boots (usually while looking fabulous as well); the Amy Sedaris section alone is worth the price of the book. Eccentric Glamour digs into the state of modern personal style (and, all too often, the lack thereof) and encourages women to “just say no to ho”–the standard “boobs, bleach & Botox” makeover–in favor of cultivating their own distinctive sense of self. Gay Men Don’t Get Fat is a collection of essays linked by gay themes, but is so much more than just that; “Project Goldilocks,” about Bear culture, is one of the standouts. Finally, The Asylum deals with his life in the fashion world, and how it so often comes perilously close to crossing the line into insanity (and sometimes just moshes right over the damn line, because who gives a rat’s ass, anyway?). I had the pleasure of meeting Simon briefly on the Eccentric Glamour book tour (he even shook my hand, in spite of his germophobia, bless his heart) and exchanged a couple of e-mails with him once on the topic of plus-size fashion (he’s all for it, and the more colorful and cheerful, the better), so based on my limited experience I’d say your money would be going to a going to a decent fellow as well as a writer funny enough to make you laugh yourself into an asthma attack. Bonus: most of the articles/chapters are short enough to read before bed, but beware of getting too engrossing and finding out it’s O’God Thirty!

  835. Ann Patchett’s non-fiction (non-fiction is generally my preference) is amazing. Thought provoking, not warm fuzzy, beautifully written. Truth and Beauty was devastating and there was controversy with Lucy’s family about it, but I found it to be so honest and beautiful over all. This is a Story of a Happy Marriage was similar… Patchett is very much no holds barred and unapologetic about it. Her perspective makes me cringe at times but it’s interesting to get inside someone else’s mind.

  836. I’ve been wanting to get a copy of The Princess Bride to give to my 16yo.

  837. I’ve just started on the Maggie Hope series (first one is Mr. Churchill’s Secretary), by Susan Elia Macneal, and I really like it so far! Hopefully the next few books will be just as good. They’re spy-ish mysteries set in WWII and I found it fast paced and intriguing. Should you choose me, I’d love an amazon.ca certificate, as I’m from Canada.

  838. Just starting the Alienist by Caleb Carr. ‘Prior to the 20th century, persons suffering from mental illness were thought to be ‘alienated’ not only from the rest of society but from their own true natures. Those experts who studied mental pathologies were therefore known as alienists’
    Google search does indeed with the above copied from the book. But since this seems a bit dark I am recommending The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared.

  839. I’m currently reading Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady’s Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners by Therese Oneill and it’s pretty entertaining. And as I was typing this, I looked at the cover to see the author’s name and saw a quote from you on the front. I’m guessing you’ve already read it, then?

  840. well, it’s way down here at the bottom so you’ll likely never get to them but amongst my favorites (besides yours of course) and those that I imagine you’d enjoy are: Little, Big by John Crowley and The Physic Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

  841. The Maid’s Version by Daniel Woodrell. Based on a true event of a dance hall blowing up in a small Ozarks town back in the 30’s. He is quite a story teller! I live near this small town and people still speculate about the real truth about how it happened. He tells the version his family believes and it is quite scandalous!

  842. I highly recommend the Marnie Baranuik series by A.J Aalto, starting with ‘Touched.’ Marnie is an insecure weirdo with psychic powers who is companion to a vampire. If that doesn’t sound like a good story, I don’t know what does!

  843. Recently fell in love with “The Name of the Wind” by Patrick Rothfuss, but be forewarned that only the first two books of the trilogy have been published.

  845. “Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic” and “Are You My Mother?” both by Allison Bechtel. Graphic memoirs.

  846. Congrats, great news!! This may be totally random as its’s nothing new, but my favourite book of all time is still ‘Under the Banner of Heaven’ by Jon Krakauer. I don’t really do fiction because I want to feel like I’m learning something, and this book is informative, shocking, interesting and weirdly inspirational in the process.

  849. If you haven’t read it already, The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. Also Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. I have trouble picking a favorite.

  850. The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton was excellent. Weird and interesting.

  851. “Annie Freedman’s Fabulous Traveling Funeral” or “Searching for Paradise in Parker PA” both by Kris Radish. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry. You will want a traveling funeral. And you might want to crash your car through a room full your husband’s pile of useless junk.

  852. My all-time favorite is the “His Dark Materials” series. They’re so great to read and the audiobooks are amazing!

  853. Been a while since I read a book, but currently in the middle of the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. Other go to books are Catch 22 and Frank L Baum’s series on Oz (he wrote around 15 stories total but is most widely known for the Wizard of Oz which is rather dark in comparison to the movie).

  854. I recommend “Going Bovine” by Libba Bray. It’s a road trip novel with wormholes, a talking yard gnome/viking god, parallel universes, and “mad cow” disease; it’s awesome. Barnes and Noble probably describes it better. Also, I second Six of Crows. It’s amazing and (slight spoiler) avoids the whole “love magically cures mental illness” trope.

  855. I re-discovered a book I had loved as a kid, and I think I love it even more now: The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong. It is a very positive tale, where everyone matters and has worth and helps make the world a better place. It is a good antidote to listening to the news.

  856. Autobiography of a Fat Bride by Laurie Notaro, not a new book but a light & funny read!

  857. I love Iain Banks too! I haven’t read “The Wasp Factory” yet but “The Steep Approach to Garbadale” and “The Quarry” were both fantastic. At the moment I’m reading “Serious Sweet” by A.L. Kennedy and it’s awesome.

  858. I laughed out loud reading My Horizontal Life by Chelsea Handler. Brilliant l
    I also loved Amy Shunmers book
    Stones from the river by Ursula Hegi

  859. I feel like I have a favorite book for every era – The Hobbit, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, but I think my favorite might be “Jane Eyre.” There’s just so much. It’s like the perfect steak at a high priced steakhouse where the sides are all separate.

  861. So many great book recs to look through later!

    I have a handful of favorite books. She’s Come Undone and I Know This Much is True, both by Wally Lamb, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson, the Harry Potter series, the Sleeping Beauty trilogy by Anne Rice. All of these books have made such a huge impact on my life.

  863. There’re a couple of book series I’d recommend – Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera and Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn books. Oh! And CS Friedman’s Magister Trilogy! I love the Outlander and Dresden Files books too, but saw that others have already recommended those ones. 🙂

  865. So many choices! Near the top of my all-time favorites would be ‘House of Leaves’ by Mark Z. Danielewski if you’re into meta-fiction. The book becomes a real universe all its own in with a delicious vertigo and shift of time and space. ‘The Thirteenth Tale’ (Diane Setterfield) is a fun book about books and mysteries inside of mysteries and excellent characterization, as well. If you want something post-apocalyptic with incredible depth to its characters, I highly recommend Justin Cronin’s ‘The Passage’. If you want something about animals that makes you laugh and grips you tightly, Gary Paulsen’s autobiographical book called ‘Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod’ made me embarrass myself by laughing until I cried on an airplane (and I’m an introvert who prefers to go entirely unnoticed – not to mention someone who cannot stomach any movie, book or other form of story in which animals are hurt). Some of my favorite SF starts a series of David Gerrold’s called ‘Under the Eye of God’. If you want espionage with a delightful science bent, anything by James Rollins (I believe he has several science degrees), but especially ‘The Eye of God’ and ‘Ice Hunt’ for a start. If you like Urban Fantasy with some elements of romance, I love the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Biggs. Janet Fitch’s ‘White Oleander’ really spoke to me for some reason. I’ve already shared too many, but I haven’t even gotten to YA. Michael Scott’s series that begins with ‘The Alchemyst’ is excellent. Alright. Stopping now… mostly. 🙂

  866. Anne of Green Gables; The Lion, the Which, and the Wardrobe; anything by Julie Klassen

  867. I recommend the Cape High series by RJ Ross. My 13yo & 10yo also both really enjoy the series; we buy the new books on Kindle as soon as they come out so everyone can dive in! 🙂

  868. Congratulations on being #1 and #2! The Book Thief is beautiful, profound, joyful, and sad. It takes place during the Holocaust and is about a young girl who loves reading and learning so much that she steals books, at great personal risk. It’s impacted me in a way that no other book has.

  869. I just finished Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology. I highly recommend it.

  870. Dreams and Shadows by C Robert Cargill was amazing. The sequel, Queen of the Dark Things, was awesome as well. Congratulations on your latest success! You rock, Jenny!

  871. This is a tough one! There are so many recommendations!
    Here are some books I’ve read recently that I’ve LOVED!

    I’m Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells (this entire trilogy is AMAZING!!!)
    The Autumn Series by David Moody – different take on zombies, the series was awesome
    Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry (1st book in the Joe Ledger series. I’m obssessed!!)
    Ape House by Sara Gruen (author of Water For Elephants)
    The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
    Flashback by Dan Simmons

    I could keep going but I’ll stop here. I wish my book was finished cause I’d tell you to read that! Hopefully by this time next year!!!

  873. The Rosie Project was unexpectedly amazing! I’m currently rereading The All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness. I also love The Nadia Stafford Series by Kelley Armstrong – she’s a Canadian, just like me 🙂

  874. Lol it took me two minutes just to make it down the page 😉
    First off, congrats on being 1 and second that is awesome!!!! Haha
    And than i dont really have favorites books since my kids… i tried to read but i couldnt its been 5 years and i am just starting to read again!!!! Wouhoooo how amazing is the feeling of sitting down and reading a book….hopefully i find one soon haha
    I love fantasy stories but nothing caught me eye yet. I bought the book
    The first law not so long ago seems good… i am reading super slow haha

  877. I will always ALWAYS rec any of the Callahan books by Spider Robinson (Callahan’s Crosstime Saloone is the first one) but, if you’re feeling more urban fantasy than sci-fi humanism, Emma Bull’s War For The Oaks is drop-dead awesome. If you’re looking for something more “grounded,” As You Wish by Cary Elwes is just so perfectly heart-warming (and it’s about the making of The Princess Bride so there you go).

  878. I buy whatever books that appeals to me when i go in a bookstore… hahaha normally i buy something good… sometimes i do not… but its ok… only means i need to go back shopping 😉 hahaha

  879. I just finished Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. It’s gorgeous and unexpected – two things I love in a book. 🙂

  880. I’ve always got a stack of books on the go. Random stacks are part of my unintentional decorating style. It has become a family affair. My fave book of all time has always been The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (gotta have love for my fellow Canadians). Other books that have pulled me through some dark days include: both of your books, Agorafabulous, The Glass Castle, Breakfast With Tiffany, OK, I’m just realizing that all of my go-tos are memoirs. I guess I like feeding on other people’s crazy so my own brand of crazy feels less lonely. Thank you for being a part of my safe place. It means more than you know.

  881. Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn. It’s entirety told in correspondence (which I love). It’s about a girl (the titular character, Ella) who lives on a fictional island where the sentence “The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog” was created. There is a statue commemorating this sentence, and one day the letters start to fall off. As they do, the residents of the island are no longer allowed to use them (their government is weird like that), so the letters disappear from the book. It is a linguist’s delight.

  882. For lighthearted entertainment: The Tome of Bill by Rock Gualtieri. (Book 1: Bill the Vampire.) The story is laugh-out-loud funny in places and the writer is a genuinely sweet down to earth guy who makes a point of encouraging up-and-coming self-published authors (and fledgling contemporary poets coughMEcough – and really, that sort of behaviour should be encouraged 🙂

  884. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and The Help by Kathryn Stockett. you’ll love them. Also, I’ve started reading Furiously Happy, and I’m loving it immensely! 🙂

  885. At the moment I am reading a book called Victim Without A Face by Stefan Ahnhem, it is a crime/mystery novel that breaks itself up by coming from all different perspectives (including the killer’s!) so as a result it is really dark but so good ! I can’t wait to finish and get to the final plot twist that my partner says is coming.
    I’m only a new fan, but I can’t wait to get my hands on your books. I live in Australia and every book store in my area is sold out of you so I need to order them all online because paper books are ALWAYS better than the e-books (although I did read the ebook sample of Furiously Happy, made me laugh and cry).
    Congratulations on being #1 AND #2 !!!

  886. Contact, by Carl Sagan. The only novel he ever wrote, but a stunningly well-constructed story. (And if you’ve seen the movie, good, but you have to read the novel. It’s a much deeper, more satisfying story.) Best! –JT

  887. I… Aggg, this is always such a tricky question! Can I have categories? I’m gonna use categories.
    Fiction: “Momo”, by Michael Ende. It’s old and sweet and warm.
    Non-fiction: “Rejected Princesses”, by Jason Porath. I’ve been following him on Facebook for some time now and the book is delicious.
    Comic: I feel you would enjoy “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur”.

    Happy weekend! 😀

  888. Hmmm… being asked for my favorite book is like being asked to pick a favorite child. No, actually the latter is much easier to answer. I have one child and thousands of books…

    I love pretty much anything by you, Neil Gaiman, Sarah Vowell, Spider Robinson, Douglas Adams, and so many others. Currently reading “Norse Mythology” by Neil Gaiman and “Hidden Figures” by Margot Lee Shetterly. And since my daughter is now a one year old, all the rest of my current recommendations are board books like “This Little President” and “Little Blue Truck” or picture books like “Ada Twist, Scientist” or “Hippopotamister.” 😉

  889. The best book I’ve read recently was Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel. The Hitchiker’s Guide books by Douglas Adams are my favorite of all time.

  890. My oldie but goodie is Stephen King’s Needful Things. I love how all the pieces weave together creating the climax.

  892. Hi – I am sure this will get lost in the shuffle on comments. But I have recently gotten into Japanese literature. Specifically “horror” literature – it is nothing like North American horror stories. Japanese horror stories are much more subtle – not so in your face with the monsters. Yoko Ogawa comes to mind. Her book “Revenge” sounds like it will be bloody and slasher-y (is that a word?) but it is much more subtle. Highly recommended.

  893. It’s difficult to pick a favourite book but one of my favourites is the ‘Collected Stories’ by Roald Dahl. His adult short stories are great. I highly recommend the book if you love him or just short stories in general.

    If I somehow beat the odds, I’d love an Amazon UK voucher please (cheaper shipping to my country).

  894. I absolutely love “Norse Mythology” by Neil Gaiman, along with “Stories of Your Life and Others” by Ted Chiang! I definitely recommend those two books if you haven’t read them!

  895. I love The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. But then, I recommend just about anything she writes 🙂

  896. “It” by Stephen King, is one of my all time faves 🙂 Upside – the movie is coming out soon and people love it when you tell them how much better the book was. Downside – It will definitely leave you with a clown phobia.

  897. I just pulled out my copy of Up Front by Bill Mauldin that i first looked through ~ 45 years ago at my great grandma’s house.

  898. OMG so many good books to look for! I will add the “I Bring The Fire” series by C. Gockel. Book 1 is “Wolves”. Urban fantasy. Female protagonist is awesome, and who wouldn’t wonder what would happen if Norse gods entered our world?

  900. The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater! One if my favorites! As well as the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor. Both are very well written and poetic. I’m so in lover with their writing styles!

  901. Okay, so this post is amazing because I now have the best list of things to read for the rest of my life!

    An old book, a quiet book that comes to mind whenever someone asks me what to read, is Jeff Talarigo’s book THE PEARL DIVER. It is about a young pearl diver in Japan in the 1940s and spans the next half century. She has been diagnosed with leprosy; the common response at that time is to isolate patients, so she is sent to an island. It’s the story of her life there and, in the end, her quest for freedom. As one reviewer commented: “WONDERFUL, THOUGHT PROVOKING, EDUCATIONAL, SAD.”

    A more recent book is Daniel James Brown’s THE BOYS IN THE BOAT; NINE AMERICANS AND THEIR EPIC QUEST FOR GOLD AT THE 1936 OLYMPICS. I thought it would be a snore, but it was surprisingly interesting. Who knew rowing/crewing could be so interesting. Like APOLLO 13, you know the ending, but it’s still exciting.

  902. I kinda think you’d enjoy something from a fellow blogger… I Heart My Little A-Holes by Karen Alpert (aka Baby Sideburns).

  903. i would love a copy of the book! i got one for my friend’s birthday, but i can’t afford a copy for myself right now!
    i’m going to recommend the Night Circus – it’s really enchanting!

  904. Um. Only one book recomendation?
    Ahem. Well that ain’t gonna happen, so I too shall use alternatove math. 🙂
    Arena by Holly Jennings is an amazing book. The synopsis gives some good parts about the book, but the truly best part is the character development, and how Kali, the main character, truly finds herself and her center by the end of the book. And the fighting is insanely cool.

    Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, is sadder, but in that way that stays with you. Not the sad part, but the beautifulness (is that a word? If it isn’t I CAME UP WITH IT FIRST WEBSTER!) ahem. The beautifulness of the way the characters interact and and just everything is something I cannot recommend enough.

  905. So many books, but weirdly, the first to jump to mind was Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley. I’m just sharing the book in case you’ve never crossed paths with it, as I’m in Finland. Kind of a far leap for you to arrange a gift card.

  906. Since my usual suggestions are already in the comments, Haunted Mesa by Louis L’Amour and Paprika (english translation; this one is a bit different, might be triggery) come to mind. Just picked up a hardcopy of Redshirts by John Scalzi which I’m rereading, Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman is next to that, and the new Legend of Zelda Art and Artifacts book (it’s huge compared to the last one!).

  907. If you haven’t yet, definitely read A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara! She’s absolutely brilliant and the book is heart wrenching but incredibly beautiful. I’ve read it once a year since it was released and my life is better for it.
    Or if you want a laugh, Lindy West’s Shrill is a brilliant and empowering read!
    Sending you love from Australia!

  908. Ronia the Robbers Daughter by Astrid Lidgren. I’ve just started watching the animated version up on Amazon Prime and it is everything I could have wanted.

  909. In 2010, I worked with UNICEF in Namibia for six months. While I was there, a woman in a bookstore recommended A Trip to the Stars by Nicholas Christopher to me and said that everyone she had recommended it to loved it. I was intrigued as I had never heard of the writer or the book and I LOVE a good read. A year or two later, I found the book and bought it. She was right, I loved it! I recommended it to my sister-in-law and she loved it, too. So now, I am recommending it to you and I hope you will love it, 3 (or should I say 1+2?). Since reading the book, I have always wondered why it and its author weren’t better known. It’s marvelous!

  910. My current favorite book is Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie. It’s a Scifi book about an AI who has lost her ship and is out for revenge and goes back and forth between her current quest and and the events that caused it and it is AMAZING.

  911. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith and Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar

  912. I wonder if you have read the Jodi Taylor Chronicle of St Mary’s books? I loved them so much I was sad for a month when I came to the end of the series ( 7 books), but it was worth it because History, Adventure and Tea.

  913. Wow, that’s a lot of comments. So I’ll just throw out a recommendation you maybe already don’t have which is for Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo, which yes is a kids’ book but it’s smart and hilarious and everyone should read it.

  915. So many great suggestions here. (I second recommendations 99 and 137.)

    I’m going to suggest books that combine some of my favorite qualities: dark, nutty, and slightly obscure. So: The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt and The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge.

  916. I’m sure this has already been recommended, but A Man Called Ove is one of the best books I’ve ever read, especially if you are married to a curmudgeon like I am.

  917. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. My absolute favorite novel. Beautiful story about love, the freedom of an artist to create, and satire of 1930s Soviet Russia. Basically think of the song “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” but replace Georgia with 1930s Moscow. Also features a pistol wielding vodka chugging cat as a character.

  918. Too Like the Lightening by Ada Palmer. It is far future science fiction written by a historian, and has some of the most wonderfully crazy people I’ve ever met in it.

  919. I posted yesterday but I had to come back after starting Furiously Happy last night… IN BED. Bad idea. My husband was not happy with my constant cackling. And when I would try to read a passage that I found particularly hilarious, I couldn’t get through it without laughing… Anyway, Jenny, I knew you were funny, but I’d forgotten HOW funny. I can’t believe I waited so long to get Furiously Happy; definitely going to pre-order You Are Here today… You are The Best. (And thanks for giving a name to my childhood “mania” of pulling out my hair.) xoxoxo

  920. The Butterfly Garden is really good. Very dark but very good.
    If you feel like reading a romance novel Worth The Wait (the st. James trilogy) is very good.

  922. The Wonder Woman comic book series by Brian Azarello and Cliff Chiangmai is badass. It reimagines her origins and includes updated Olympic Gods, all of which are strange and wonderful. And the art is incredible. I own Volume 1, but read the rest on Hoopla, free with library card.

  923. I’ve been reading a lot of Bill Bryson lately – it cheers me up immensely and makes me wish I could travel with him! He knows everything about everything (he does a lot of research) and has a dry sense of humor. Some parts in his book on Australia really had me laughing out loud.

  924. You can’t go wrong with The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, no matter what your age.

  925. I am going to recommend a children’s book that I recently re-read called “Island of the Blue Dolphins” by Scott O’Dell.. I enjoyed it immensely when I first read it as a girl, but it has brought on a whole new meaning as a grown woman. The main character is a young Native girl left behind by her family and entire tribe on an island (accidentally), and struggles with the solitude at times. She never gives into the struggle, and eventually thrives as a result. I never saw this as a metaphor for depression as a child, because I didn’t understand what that was. Now as an adult, the entire book seems like a metaphor in a way. I mean, she is literally alone on an island, which is what depression often feels like (even though it’s lying!). I doubt the author meant it that way, but it made me cry to re-read it, and I am so happy to have happened upon it again. So that is what I am recommending to you.

  926. Maeve Binchy was always a favorite of mine…novels with an Irish setting – a little drama, a little humor, and lots of fun Irish saying/words. I found her tone very soothing. She passed away but I guess she had a few stories saved and her husband has published them. Chestnut Street is the most recent I’ve read and it was great.

  927. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
    It’s mythical and dark and when you get to the end there is absolutely no doubt at all that it is completely over and complete.
    Loved it!!!

  929. A Man Called Ove was my fave of last year, but one I can read over and over again is The Night Circus. It is so gorgeous and unique!!! LOVE.

  930. My favorite is State of Wonder by Ann Patchett. It left me with a book hangover longer than I have ever experienced from the beauty I found in it. It was haunting. I feel as though that is the only descriptor I can give it. Simple and haunting.

  931. Yooooo I think you need to read “Hollow World” by Michael J. Sullivan. It’s a great alternative to the depressing dystopian-future movement. It’s science fiction that reads like old-school detective novel ad the characters are AWESOME.

  934. I’m a huge fan of Seanan McGuire and her October Daye series. She just started a new one called Wayward Children. The first book is Every Heart a Doorway and I’ve been recommending it to anyone I see (which is slightly embarrassing but whatever). It’s a really quick read but as soon as I finished it I wanted to read it again. It follows a young girl named Nancy who goes to a children’s home for children who have been removed/left/kicked out of their alternate worlds. It reminds me of when I was a child wondering what would have happened to Alice after she got back from Wonderland. You can’t be the same person after something like that. Overall, excellent read!

  935. I am just finishing “The Princess Diarist” by Carrie Fisher. I think you would like it.

  936. Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore is my favorite and I’ve read it 3 or 4 times!

  937. I totally agree about anything by Seanan McGuire. Her Incryptid series is funny and smart and a different way of looking at “monsters”, and also Faith Hunter, both the Jane Yellowrock series and the Soulwood series.

  938. I absolutely love Rick Bragg’s trilogy of memoirs “All Over But the Shoutin'”, “Ava’s Man”, and “The Prince of Frogtown”. He has a gift for words…

  939. I am currently reading “Brain on Fire” by Susannah Cahalan and really enjoying her story and learning a lot about our facinating brain. I also loved “A Man Called Ove” and even more “My Grandma Said to Tell You She is Sorry” both are really funny.

  940. Congrats on being #1 and #2!
    I just finished Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald and loved it. It was really interesting to hear the Fitzgerald story from Zelda’s point of view.

  941. A gentlemen in Moscow was lovely and engaging

    Of course my go to read is let’s pretend this never happened

  942. My favorite book is the Hobbit by JRR Tolkien… I think… Though, I would recommend reading Douglas Adams Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series if you haven’t read it

  943. If you love words and language, you should read Embassytown by China Mieville. It is super trippy and weird and philological and awesome.

  944. I will recommend a book that my 11 year old son recommended to me. It was the PERFECT recommendation because it isn’t typically a book my son would enjoy but he KNEW his warped mama would love it and I did. In fact I just finished reading it yesterday (3/2). It’s called “In The Land of the Lawn Weenies and other Misadventures by David Lubar. I highly recommend it!!!

    http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37238.In_the_Land_of_the_Lawn_Weenies_and_Other_Warped_and_Creepy_Tales

  945. I love recommending books. 🙂

    Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway (I dare you not to fall in love with Edie Banister)
    The Rook by Daniel O’Malley

  946. Pingback: As posted by The Bloggess – rohitashvasinghvi

  947. You are a good egg, Jenny! I’m reading Dave Eggers’ memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius . Love his honesty and quirky observations. I really want You Are Here for my wonderful SIL. <3 Thank you!

  948. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein because the creature. I really thought a series of unfortunate events was funny and dark–and a really good critique on narcissism. this is not a book because it’s not a book–but seriously, it’s not, so be aware!

  949. Right now I am reading a non-fiction book titled CURE by Jo Marchant. It’s a fascinating book about the science of mind over body. I read all I can about fear since I suffer so much from anxiety.

  950. I think technically I’m a day late, but I’m currently reading The Expanse series by James S.A. Corey. It’s a sci-fi series and pretty good!

  951. My absolute FAVOURITE book: Watership Down by Richard Adams.
    It’s a story about a group of rabbits trying to establish a new warren, but some bunnies are mean – and you wouldn’t really think that about them. [It was also adapted as a gruesome and creepy CHILDREN’s cartoon a la 1978!!]
    -Feather, in Timmins, Ontario, Canada

  952. My favorite book, even though it brings back dark memories at times, is I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb. It follows the lives of twin brothers and their struggles with mental health and it’s impact on their lives. I will always recommend this book.

    Also, American Gods by Neil Gaiman. That man is a genius with words!

  953. Not sucking up, but “Let’s Pretend This Never Happened” is my fave. That doesn’t help you, so I guess I’d say “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.” And “Portrait of the Walrus by a Young Artist” or anything by Laurie Foos.

  954. I don’t know if it’s your thing but the writers of the podcast welcome to night vale wrote a novel which I believe is also called welcome to night vale. If you haven’t heard of it it’s weird and comforting and deep and silly and I think you might love it. Congrats on being #1 and #2!

  955. Hope I’m not too late. I’m currently reading “The Gentleman” by Forrest Leo. Not terribly far into it but I’m liking it so far. It’s a quick read. I also just read “The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace.” Not sure that’s your kind of book, but it was good. Made me think.

  956. I’d been trying to re-listen to The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, but I think what I really need is a reread of The Slow Regard of Silent Things. Auri is easily one of my favorite literary characters ever.

    I’ve also been thinking a lot about a series I read last year by Jo Spurrier. It starts with Winter Be My Shield and is both dark and uplifting.

    Patricia Briggs has a new book coming out in her Mercy Thompson series that I’m looking forward to and I just started the Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne which has a similar feeling/flavor to it.

    Typical me, can’t recommend one book, have to recommend dozen.

  957. My Grandfather’s Blessings by Rachel Naomi Remen is the book I take off the shelf when I need help breathing. It’s beautiful.

  959. Try Faithful by Alice Hoffman. A dark story filled with hope and light.

  960. Late to the party, like always. I’ll second the recommendations for Jojo Moyes, Rainbow Rowell, David Wong, and Liane Moriarty. I don’t see Gillian Flynn on here though. I’ve read (audiobook) Gone Girl, Dark Places, and Sharp Objects. Highly recommend

  962. “The Language of Flowers” by Vanessa Diffenbaugh, and “The Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah.

  963. I love everything Terry Pratchett wrote, but currently my favourite is the Tiffany Aching series, starting with The Wee Free Men. Listed as children’s but good for anyone. Just super enjoyable. Happy Book Day from Canada!

  964. This is so fun! I’m always looking for new books! I’ve written down two dozen titles everyone has recommended !!

    I loved “Walk Through Walls” by Marina Abramovic. Its her autobiography and just stunning. I enjoyed “Up for Orchard Street” by Eleanor Widner. “Wildflowers” by Lyah Beth LeFlore was beautifully written. “The Court of Mist and Fury” and the second book in the series “A court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Mass was very fun book of faryies. “Lowcounty Spirit” by Ann Hite was beautiful as was her book “The Storycatcher”. For non fiction Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert and “Pastrix” and “Accidental Saints” by Nadia Boiz-Webber. That was just in the last 6 months!

  965. Lianne Moriarty is fantasmical– I discovered her the same year I discovered you!! My husband buys me books for Christmas every year, and both you and Lianne Moriarty’s books were in the pile one year. 🙂

  966. congrats on being number 1 and 2!! that is great!
    oh fuck. i wanted to tell you to read a specific book about presidential facts, but the name just escaped me. stupid brain. being put on the spot apparently freaked my brain out. will have to look at it later and comment again. sigh.

  967. “My Grandmother Told Me to Tell You She’s Sorry”…a little girl who you will feel is a part of your core! by Fredrik Backman

  968. Congratulations <3 <3 <3 #1 and #2. I, too, am a believer in the practice of alternative math. 🙂 I don’t live in the states, so I’ve asked my sister to get me a copy of “You are Here” for me once she spots it.

    As for the book recommendation, I highly recommend Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison’s “An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness.” So far, I’ve read the book four times in one year. It’s a very inspiring and eye-opening piece of literature.

  969. Tell Me Something Real by Calla Devlin – this book is crazy good, and it starts in one place then goes somewhere you never expect. Can’t recommend it enough!!!

    Also, if I win I will get your new book!! I already have the others, but not this one yet.

  971. My friend just told me about a book called The Rook that sounds great. She described it as a cross between Harry Potter and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I can’t wait to get it and read it.

    Rachel’s suggestion (two up from my post) is also an GREAT suggestion. That was my favorite read of 2016.

  972. Recommendation from Canada: The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow by Rita Leganski AMAZING! A boy who can hear EVERYTHING!

  973. My little book club just finished The First 15 Lives of Harry August by Claire North. I loved it! Kind of a historical science fiction – like Dr. Who meets Groundhog’s Day! I highly recommend.

  974. The Literary Apothecary by Nina George. A lovely trip through France with excellent book recommendations along the way.

  975. I see I’m the 13th person to recommend this, but I just finished listening to “My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry” by Fredrik Backman – Author, Joan Walker – Narrator and it’s really wonderful, so I’ll recommend it again. I highly recommend the audiobook. Joan Walker does a marvelous job – it feels like she’s reading a fairy tale to you, personally.

  976. “Holes” is so good. The movie is good but the book is even better, natch. “The Yard” is a good historical fiction mystery with some romance and some darkness to it – also fantastic. And in honor of World Book Day, “The Shadow of the Wind” is a book about the power of books and other things and is amazing.

  977. The Last One, by Alexandra Olivia. I’ve recommended it to several people and they’ve all loved it!

  979. The Humans by Matt Haig. Alien trying to fit in and be human. How could it possibly go wrong?

  980. Red Queen is the first book of a trilogy that is fantastic and the last book just came out so no waiting!

  981. “Return to Earth” by Buzz Aldrin is quite good in nonfiction, as is Madeline Bruser’s “The Art of Practicing”, which, although it is written for musicians, has a lot of good ideas for everyone.

    In fiction, I’ve been loving Lucy Carol’s Madison Cruz mysteries. The first is “Hot Scheming Mess”. A combination of mystery, romance, and lots of laughs.

  984. In the Slender Margin by Eve Joseph is a luminously written, out-of-the-way title that I can’t make myself remove from my Kindle!

  986. OMG BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS!!! I LOVE book recommendations. Also, OMG BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS!!! I’m going to be so busy FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE because OMG BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS!!!

  990. One of my favoritest books EVAH is To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis. Enjoyed Crosstalk, also, her newest release, about what happens when a person finds herself able to communicate telepathically…

  991. Too many books to choose from: Maya Angelou autobiographies:most re read is “All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes”. Love the poetry book; “Backstroking All Night in the Starpool” by Nancy Rose. Not trying to suck up, but your books have laughter back into my life. Thanks.

  992. The Illegal by Lawrence Hill, I could not put it down and had a book hangover for 3 days going to work, also love The Piano Man’s daughter by Timothy Findley. The list could go on and on.

  993. I love the Dresden Files series – anything by Jim Butcher really. And I’ve really been enjoying the Nate Temple series by Shayne Silvers. C.E. Murphy’s Walker Papers series was great too. And Carrie Vaughn’s Kitty the Werewolf series – so much fun.

  994. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. Starts off a little slow but then holy hell, hang on because you’re going to stop living your life until you finish the damn thing! Seriously one of the best books I’ve ever read

  995. Books that have changed my thinking paradigm: The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, and Barryar by Lois McMaster Bujold. Also, her Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls duo is amazing.

    I find it odd that I rarely run into someone who’s read Lois’ work. She has as many Hugo awards as Heinlien!

  996. Caraval by Stephanie Garber is next on my must-read list! Its part one of what will be a series. Just some of the reviews:
    “Spellbinding.” ―US Weekly
    “Shimmers with magic.” ―Marie Rutkoski, author of The Winner’s Curse
    “Darkly enchanting.” ―Kiersten White, author of And I Darken
    “Decadent.” ―Roshani Chokshi, author of The Star-Touched Queen

    I also bought my Fiance Carve the Mark for Valentines Day, he couldn’t put it down – he read it in 3 days; would of only been 2 days, but sleeping is necessary, LOL.

  997. a head full of ghosts by paul tremblay
    instructions by neil gaiman
    one hundred years of solitude by gabriel garcia marquez
    lamb by christopher moore

    pick one, read, laugh and cry as needed. (the one missing from my go-to list is let’s pretend this never happened but i’m guessing you’ve all read that once or twice.)

  998. I love that almost 1000 people (so far) have responded with favorite book titles. (I’m considered kind of quaint/odd in my family for my love of books. But, apparently, we are legion!) I’ve seen The Time Traveler’s Wife mentioned a couple times, so wanted to add one of the same author’s other books, Her Fearful Symmetry, to the mix.

  999. My favorite book EVER is Cantora by Sylvia Lopez-Medina. It’s the true story of her mother’s family in Mexico and it’s heart-wrenching, gut-wrenching at times, beautifully written and it travels back and forth in time so it’s sort of like Doctor Who (?). It’s hard to find and tragically the author died in a car crash not too long after writing the sequel: Siguiriya about her father’s side of the family. I would have liked to have met her.

  1001. Drop City by T.C. Boyle. Hippies! Their commune! Moving to Alaska! And also meeting the people who live in the fine northern reaches. It’s fantastic.

  1002. Try “Me Write Book. It Bigfoot Memoir” and “BIGFOOT I Not Dead” by Graham Roumieu. They’re not exactly novels, but they crack me up everytime I read (and reread!) them!

  1003. “Hey Whipple, Squeeze This” by Luke Sullivan is a great book if you work in advertising or just want to know why advertisers do the weird shit that they do. it’s non-fiction but is still very entertaining to read.

  1004. Jenny! I love this post and all of the insightful comments and recommendations in the thread. 🙂

    I’m reading Gilead by Marilynne Robinson right now. It’s a beautiful meditation on family, death, illness, religion and love in Middle America. I spent all of my adult life running away from my small town in Iowa, but recently came back from New York to spend some time with my family in the wake of my dad’s illness. Through a series of weird, bizarro events, this book fell into my lap and I can’t put it down. Highly recommend.

  1005. The Night Circus, Atlas Shrugged, A Man Called Ove, Brit Marie was Here, Don’t Let Me Go, The Girl With All The Gifts

  1006. You should totally read The Sasquatch Hunter’s Almanac by Sharma Shields. It’s rather dark magical realism.

  1007. My go to when I need a laugh is Switcheroo by Olivia Goldsmith. I love it!

  1008. Here are my top three reads from the last few months:
    All the Ugly and Wonderful Things – Bryn Greenwood: It really took me by surprise. I loved it. Then wondered if I should love it. Provocative topic. So well written.
    The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane – Lisa See: I have stuck by this author for years after reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan years ago (amazing). All books are good but none stood up to Snow Flower…until this most recent one. Excellent characters and you learn a bit about the history of tea. Kind of a bonus.
    A Little Life – Hanya Yanagihara: it is long, character driven, somewhat haunting and oh, so good.

  1009. Perfume is amazing. Dark and delicious at the same time.

  1011. Lawrence Block, hands down. I have yet to find one of his books/series that disappoints, including and especially the “Keller’ books; Keller is a hitman. =) He has several series, all of them based on one main character, and always fascinating.

  1012. I’ve been reading Heirs of Grace since yesterday and doing very little else. It reminds me of Miss Peregrine’s etc, but also it’s a romantic comedy for new adults. I can’t even with how much I enjoy the semi-sentient house in this thing.

  1014. the hundred year old man who climbed out the window and disappeared by jonas jonasson. It’s lovely & funny & sweet, and I can’t imagine anyone not liking it. Unless you are a poopy-face.

  1015. YAY! It is BOOK RECOMMENDATION time!
    I am coming in so late that possibly no one will get to mine, but oh well. I fully intend to take however many days it takes to read through all of these posts to write down all the titles that appeal to me…..so thanks SO much to Jenny and to all of you!!

    My contributions:
    For dark but wonderful : The Bone People by Keri Hulme
    For new fiction: All The Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood
    For amazing Autobiography: Anything by ALEXANDRA FULLER (This woman writes superbly and is from a family of such dysfunction and interest that even if it did not take place in Africa in war-torn countries her childood would make for great reading.) I especially recommend her first book, “Don’t Let’s Go To The Dogs Tonight”.

    For books that are about dogs: Winterdance by Gary Paulsen , Merle’s Door by Ted Kerasote

    And the most magical book I have ever read: The Singing Creek Where The Willows Grow: The Re-discovered Diaries of Opal Whitely Presented by Benjamin Hoff. Opal Whitely was a child of the late 19th century who kept a well written diary of her amazing magical relationship with nature. It is a delightful read, and interesting historically as well.

    I could go on and on. But will force myself to stop here. 🙂

    Can we do this book recommendation exchange at least once or twice a year? Please?

  1017. I recently finished your book Furiously Happy, and oh boy did i need it this week… so thank you.

    rosie project
    where’d you go Bernadette

  1018. Besides your book I suggest “If you feel too much” by Jamie Tworkowski. An amazing book that reveals an amazing heart.

  1019. I recently finished Faro’s Daughter, by Georgette Heyer. It’s like reading a Cary Grant screwball comedy set in the time of Jane Austen. I’m from the Land of the Ice and Snow, aka Canada. I love Chapters Indigo book gift cards 🙂

  1022. One of my favorite Books of all time is The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. It’s an epic story that will completely immerse you. Happy reading to you!

  1023. Well, if you’re in the mood for sexy time-travel with hot Scotsmen and fiery English dames, you can’t beat Outlander. It’s escapist fiction at it’s very, very best.

  1024. Oh, boy! I have too many favorites!

    Try the “In Death” series by Nora Roberts, writing as JD Robb. Set in the future with a strong female lead, a gorgeous male lead and great fully developed side characters! We listen to them as audio books while on long drives. My husband enjoys them!

    Another great series is from Faye Kellerman, the “Decker/Lazarus” series, starting with “The Ritual Bath”. I don’t usually recommend series that have a distinct starting point, but this one is marvelous!

    I also love Jude Devereaux’s books. My favorites of hers is “A Knight in Shining Armor” and The Summerhouse”.

    Hmm, I just noticed I have named all FEMALE authors. Yay for women! LOL

    I would lovee a copy of your new book. We are hoping to go to the book signing in Philly.

  1026. Book Recommendation a Limerick

    Norse Mythology is awesome.
    Neil Gaiman is not a possum.
    He writes a great tome.
    Canada’s my home.
    Read this brilliance Jenny Lawson!

  1027. I’ve been re-reading my childhood favorites lately – I just hit Willo Davis Roberts, and read What Could Go Wrong? Next I plan to read another of hers – Megan’s Island. Both excellent!

  1028. Love your blog Jenny! I’ve read your first two books and can’t wait to get my hands on “You Are Here”. I recently read “The Rainbow Comes and Goes” by Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt. Very ineteresting read. I would reccommend it.

  1029. I cannot say enough good things about, “Smoke Get In Your Eyes and Other Lessons From the Crematory” by Caitlin Doughty….yes, it’s non-fiction but totally changes the way I view death/dying and made me a little less afraid of the dark.

  1030. Since reading it as a child, Prince Ombra by Roderick MacLeish, is a book I find myself coming back to over and over again. My favorite quote: “It is said, and it is true, that just before we are born a cavern angel puts his finger to our lips and says, ‘Hush, don’t tell what you know.’ This is why we are born with a cleft on our upper lips and remembering nothing of where we came from”.

    So many congratulations! I just pre-ordered Wish You Were Here and am excited to receive it.

  1031. I will put in another plug for Terry Pratchett, especially the Tiffany Aching books (starting with Wee Free Men). Tiffany being so kick-ass even though she doesn’t always want to be really helps me to keep going when I just want to hide under the covers.

  1033. I enjoyed Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick and I think you would too!!! She’s our kind of crazy. 🙂

  1034. I have fallen in love with Liane Moriarty. I also like Nicholas Sparks, James Patterson, and the Anonymous series!

  1035. Rivertown. It is about a Harvard grad who goes to teach English just after the opening of Red China. He’s the first white person most of his village has ever seen. Their cross cultural exchanges are enlightening, beautiful and funny.

  1038. Every so often I need to read Beach Music by Pat Conroy and Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel…

  1039. it’s so hard to pick a favorite, so i’ll revert to a favorite from when i was in elementary school: Johnny Tremain. i know it’s a kids book, but i think it holds up, although my kids weren’t so thrilled when i made them read it, but my kids have no taste, so don’t trust them.

  1041. Yay Jenny u r so awesome as always! My favorite book is a toss up between Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut and the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy by Douglas Adams! Hope that helps! Much love as always

  1042. I stumbled onto the Angela Marsons DI Stone books a few months ago aND I’m totally hooked. Just started book 4 🙂 Also, I’ve probably read The Martian at least a dozen times by now and recommend it to EVERYONE. It’s interesting and funny as hell. And he shares your affinity for cursing.

  1043. Ooooh Congrats! I read “The Jinni and the Golem” recently and it was a touching fantasy page turner.

  1044. Oh many, you’ll never see this with all the other comments but I found a great series this summer that I’m sharing with everyone. Jodie Taylor’s The Chronicles of St. Mary’s. Supper fun! The first in the series is Just One Damned Thing After Another.

  1045. Actually I was wrong, it’s “The Golem and the Jinni” which is really the same thing but the internet will tel you otherwise.

  1046. I love the Incarnations of Immortality series by Piers Anthony. The first is called “On a Pale Horse” – it’s about a man who murdered the incarnation of death and then became him.

  1047. I am currently reading some Terry Pratchett – libraries usually put his stuff in the sci-fi/fantasy section but thats only because they don’t have a section for humanist literature. Next on my list is “Colour bar : the triumph of Seretse Khama and his nation”. I’ve heard good things about it.

  1051. My favourite book is currently ‘That’s not my teddy’ because my 8 month old loves reading it, especially with her dad. However as you’re an adult and might want to read more than 10 pages may I suggest ‘The 12 Doctors of Christmas’ (short stories) or ‘ Doctor Who – The Shakespeare Notebooks’ chronicling The Doctor’s, erm, ‘helpful’ role in Shakespeare’s plays. I’m in the UK so hopefully they’re published in the US too. I found both courtesy of my lovely local library. Long live the library!

  1052. Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey. Definitely. The first 100 pages are a lot of set up for the next 9 novels but amazing and so very well worth it.

  1053. Raptor Red by Robert Bakker. It’s one of my favorite books of all time and it’s about the thoughts of a velociraptor. I’m pretty sure you’re gonna love it. ;D

  1054. Whenever I’m am getting overwhelmed – I always re-read The Belgariad & The Malloreon series by David Eddings. I just started the The Seeress of Kell last night on this reading. I can’t even count how many times I’ve read these over the years – but I do know that I’ve repurchased them at least a dozen times.

  1055. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. Interesting and suspenseful. Our whole book club liked it.

  1056. I’m reading The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant. Best book I’ve read in a long time.

  1058. Oh, I love these book lists! I’ll have to come back later with a pen and paper and find what I’m reading next. I loved Elizabeth Gilbert’s ‘The Signature of All Things’ because I love scientists and history. I fucking loved ‘Lab Girl’ by Hope Jahren because she’s a scientist with bipolar disorder and she rocks explaining trees. Did you know that trees give their water to plants around them at night and that they can convey danger? And there’s ‘When Breath Becomes Air’ by Paul Kalanithi, but it made me cry and cry because he dies in the end and I knew that from the beginning, but I’m so glad I read it anyway. I could go on and on, but these are my last three.

    jb
    http://acatontheghettobox.blogspot.com/2017/02/a-subtle-little-soul.html

  1059. The Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle. It’s magical and if you haven’t read it, you’re not a complete human being. And no, the movie does not count whatsoever.

  1060. I recommend Forever Red by Margaret Stohl a YA book about Black Widow from the comics. Made me feel young again reading about a comic book character.

  1061. the ones that make me laugh and are by no means dark ( books that is) are by janet evanovich- any of them really the Stephanie plum series is great for reading something that gets you out of a bad mood.

  1062. Hi! Oryx and crake by margaret atwood is really nice. It is part of a trilogy, so it will keep you occupied for a few days. Another book I enjoyed lately is ancillary justice by ann lackie. Love from the Netherlands:)

  1063. Love your first two books of course, but my two favorite books are Earth Abides by George Stewart and The Round House by Louise Erdrich

  1064. I just finished 50 Acres and a Poodle. True story and oh so funny except the parts that are sad. Kind of reminded me of your books!

  1065. I’d say yours, bc that’s what I’ve been sending to all my friends, but I think you’very read it. 😉
    If you like fairy tales that are just a bit dark, I recommend “Every Heart a Doorway.” By Sean an

  1066. I’d recommend your book bc that’s what I’ve been sending to all my friends who need a book, but I think you may have read it. 😉
    But for a book you DON’T have, since I know you like Ghost Stories, I suggest “Sparrow Hill Road” by Seanan McGuire. It’s an awesome story about a hitchhiking ghost, and her quest to find answers, and avenge her own demise. Haunting and very poetic writing.
    I know you’ve a bajillion comments already, but I did want to give you my suggestion anyway. 🙂

  1068. I recently rediscovered the Sammy Keyes series by Wendelin Van Draanen. I remember reading the first few when I was a kid, being empowered by a girl detective. It was so different than anything I had read before. I’m planning on rereading the series and I can’t wait!

  1069. Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers was a pretty interesting read. I couldn’t read it all in one go, but it’s all about stress and why it may affect humans more than other species. Then again, I’m really good at stressing myself out, so it’s interesting to learn about some of the processes involved. Plus, the science cited in the book is good.

    Congrats on earning number 1 and 2! I like your math.

  1070. Walter Moers “The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books”. It’s a fantastic adventure that’s, well, fantastic.
    “The Alchemaster’s Apprentice” is also wirth a read.

  1071. Read A Brief History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson! I tell everyone to read it!

  1072. so many great recommendations here (I’ve just added a few to my “to read” list)……two all time favorites of mine (I love historical fiction) are A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner and Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah. Congrats on being #1and2…..so awesome!

  1073. Yay book day \0/ Well a couple of weeks ago I read a book about a female pirate (Jacquotte Delahaye) which was a book based on some historical facts about her but with some made up stuff too. It was such a great book I’m still thinking about it randomly. Sadly it’s only available in German. (Joli Rouge from Alexandra Fischer). But my all-time favourite books are from C.L Wilson. I love her Tairen Soul series so much I could just reread it over and over again. 🙂 And last but not least of course I LOVE your books. You and your books always make me laugh.

    Best whishes from Germany 🙂

  1074. I’f finishing my daughters book, A Month of Why. You are one of our inspirations. She has emailed you and your heartfelt responses have meant the world. It helped her understand my humor and mental illness and see her own as well. Irregardless of the contest I am pulling my three girls out of school and can only hope to catch a glimpse of you in NY. You rock.

  1075. Where Did You Go, Bernadette? I just loved it. Always love books with a surprise ending…

  1076. I love Iain Banks! He’s my favorite fiction writer. Not, Iain Banks, but I really enjoyed “All the Light We Cannot See.”

  1077. I love all Dave Duncan, but I recommend the King’s Blades series, start with The Gilded Chain, then Lord of the Fire Lands, then Sky of Swords. They all make sense if you only read one, but if you read two, it doesn’t make sense at all. It makes sense again when you read all 3. Then there’s more outside the trilogy, which are also good. I read Impossible Odds every couple of years.
    I saw a previous commenter recommended The Last Unicorn. I am trying to find my copy so I can re-read it.

  1079. Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett. It in no way spoils the book to tell you that it includes chocolate saving the world.

  1080. LOVE that you’re #1 and #2!! If you haven’t read the Harry Potter series, it’s awesome for adults as well as children. Since we’re really forever children, that makes sense. At least I am anyway. 🙂 I am in Canada.

  1081. The Jaguar’s Children by John Vaillant. Brilliant read. The book starts with Mexican illegals being smuggled into the US in an empty water truck when they are abandoned in the dessert. When I read the first few pages, I thought, “Uh, no. I can’t read a story about people dying”, but then I read a bit more and was totally engrossed in Valliant’s engrossing storytelling, weaving stories of Old Mexico – the culture, the people, the history…. with the modern realities of the relationship between the US and Mexico, and he also throws in a bit of mysticism surrounding the significance/symbolism of the Jaguar to the people of the Oaxaca region of Mexico. (Love that part). I was hooked, continued reading, and then was blown away by the ending. It’s worth getting through the tough parts.

  1082. Not my favorite, but a good read, “The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake”. I found it roaming the shelves at the library and checked it out because the title got my attention. It is about a girl who can taste people’s emotions in the food they cook.

  1083. I’m reading “The Mermaid’s Daughter” and while I haven’t finished it, so far it’s very good. Sort of atmospheric and a bit moody in a good way.

  1085. I usually recommend your books, but that would be weird 😉

    As an English teacher this is difficult, but one of my favorite books I have read in the past few years was The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah.

  1086. I usually recommend your books, but that would be weird 😉

    As an English teacher this is difficult, but one of my favorite books I have read in the past few years was The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah.

  1087. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach. It’s hilarious, educational, and odd. “Many people will find this book disrespectful. There is nothing amusing about being dead, they will say. Ah, but there is.” -Mary Roach

  1088. I am enjoying a series of books by Ben Aaronovich…..called the Rivers of London. The first one is Midnight Riot. They are described as Harry Potter meets CSI. I have loved each one of them.
    Jamie

  1089. I read a lot of naughty romance books, so you probably don’t want those titles. One of my favorite non-dirty books is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

  1091. Richard Russo’s Straight Man made me laugh so hard my husband came to check that I was still breathing. I like N.K. Jemisin a lot — fantasy with really compelling characters.

  1092. The Art of Racing in the Rain- told from a dog documenting his life on the eve of his death (because he’s old) really great heartwarming read I’ve read it several times and I’m not much of a rereader. Also the time travellers wife if you haven’t. It’s so good!

    I’m in Canada.

  1093. I had a dream last night where I met you and you were super nice and you thought I was pretty cool. You wanted to give me something but you didn’t have anything on you so you just gave me your sock. It was a nice sock.

  1094. OK I GOT IT. ‘STARGIRL’ BY JERRY SPINELLI OMG AND ‘WONDER’ BY R. J. PALACIO. AND ’13 REASONS WHY’ AND ‘THE REST OF US JUST LIVE HERE’ AND ‘THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN’ AND WHAT ELSE? I KNOW! ‘MILK AND HONEY’ AND ‘DIARY OF AN OXYGEN THIEF’. sorry for the caps I’m too enthusiastic about books. But seriously Wonder and Stargirl are like the best books ever although they are children books. oh well. you better read them. oh yeah and im from australia

  1095. One of my favorite books is The Music Lesson by Katharine Weber. It’s about a stolen painting, and why the girl did it. Loved how “quiet” it was yet it was a powerful story, too.

    Also, does that sign on your desk say “Asylum for the Insane Family Entrance”?? I didn’t realize I want one, too, hahaha.

  1097. Huge fan of rereading your work! But I recently stumbled upon “you are a Badass” by Jen Sincero and like a light bulb went off in me (obviously not literally, sounds painful). It inspired me to change a few things in my life!!!! I feel great!!! Like I’m on top of the world!

  1098. My favorite book used to be The Fourth Hand. I read it over and over over and over.

  1099. My fave book is Boy’s Life by Robert Mccammon. Everyone we’ve suggested it to loves it. We stopped loaning out books because we never got them back. Now we just buy copies of the book and give them away. The author himself has said he doesn’t think he can ever top it. It is seriously good. This book contains so many different genres. It’s full of youthful magic, coming of age, and mystery with a dash of science fiction and humor. Check out the reviews on Amazon, this book is greatly loved.

  1100. Home is burning
    Dan Sullivan

    You’ll laugh out loud.
    You’ll sob out loud.
    Awesomeness.

  1102. Whisper of the River, Run With the Horsemen, When All the World Was Young, Down Town – all by Ferrol Sams.

  1103. Oh man, missed the boat on this one at comment 1,103. My favorite book of all time is Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.

  1104. 15 Dogs was an amazing book, broke my heart, loved it and will never read it again.

  1106. The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Computer by Sydney Padua.

  1107. I’m reading Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones. I’ve never read her before, but she was recommended to me by a YA librarian-to-be, who pointed me to her when I mentioned that I was rereading Harry Potter to escape from the news in the US, but that I had decided to stop after book 4 because HP was getting as dark and depressing as real life. So far, it’s fun!

  1108. Swamplandia! by Karen Russell was also a bit dark, but the story is unique and the book was really good.

  1109. I just read Nothingn to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea, and it was a fantastic read!

  1111. Uprooted by Naomi Novak! It’s out in paperback now and it is phenomenal. Fantasy based on Eastern European folklore, amazing women and female friendship, a little bit of romance.

  1113. The Break by Katherena Vermette – very moving novel by a Metis writer. Finished it not long ago and it’s already on my re-read list!

    (From the east side of Canada, way over in Prince Edward Island)

  1115. “You Can’t Win” by Jack Black… Not that Jack Black… And I recognize that for those who see some of what you post as helping provide optimism or at least suppressing pecimism, the title seems all kinds of negative… That said, it is an autobiography of a career criminal who did later reform (and later disappeared) I can’t claim to review it well, but it is absolutely worth the read… I lovr reading and most of what I tend to read is either fiction or technical manuals… This book stands out among some of the few non-fiction reads which I truly cherish… Yes I liked your books too Jenny… Anyways I’m from Canadia, am only sharing thhis because I enjoy reading and that includes your blog. I remove myself from consideration of the random draw prize… Others could probably use it more… And for those who aren’t drawn ateast my suggestion of a book now seems more fitting…

  1116. Hey, I’ve got a great book for you to read. And you already have it! I sent you a copy of my book 44 Years in Darkness when it came out last October. So look around your house. I’m sure it’s there somewhere. It’ll be in a mailer, from Sylvia Shults, unless you’ve already taken it out and put it on your TBR shelf. I’ve enjoyed reading your books — I hope you enjoy reading mine. (Oh, and I will happily let someone else have the Amazon gift card. I work at a library, so I get my book fix there. And if I know you’re reading 44 Years in Darkness, that will mean so much more to me than a gift card.)

  1117. I recently read Dark Matter and it’s my fave so far. Really held my attention and I finished it within a week which is speedy for me.
    I’m in Canada.

  1118. All the Light You Cannot See — Most beautiful book I’ve read in 5 years. Mix of science, whimsy, love, and impacts of the time we’re given.

  1119. I just finished Miranda and Caliban by Jacqueline Carey. I love books that retell a classic story from a new viewpoint.

  1120. I would sooo completely love a copy of your book (signed hardcover versions of your first 2 books are among my most prized possessions). I just finished reading The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a Fuck by Sarah Knight…it was a great read!

  1122. going to try this again, my link wasn’t the right one, just finished reading The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a Fuck by Sarah Knight…..love her (but not as much as you, just sayin’)

  1123. I love the light reading series-es (seri? Serbs? Plural of series…) that Janet Evanovitch writes. They are quick funny reads that always leave me in a good mood.

  1124. The Martian Chronicles is, by far, my most favorite. A Prayer For Owen Meany is great as well.

  1125. I have soooo many favorite books! It’s hard to choose.Maybe Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman or Alice in Wonderland or Peter Pan! Or Furiously Happy….not cuz I want to be a brown nose but cuz it made me laugh and feel whole when I needed it.

  1127. My favorite book is Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca. If you haven’t read it, please do. I’ll be honest – the beginning sucks, but, the thing that makes it my favorite book, is that the conclusion is AMAZING. Based on my little experience in writing and all the writing I have ever read, pretty much anyone can write a catchy, attention-grabbing introduction, BUT few have the power and ability to write a conclusion that simultaneously leaves the reader satisfied AND wanting more. Rebecca has that kind of conclusion. Also, Hitchcock made a film adaptation of Rebecca, but, unfortunately, he could not stick to the plot of the book because of weird rules in the world of cinema at the time. If you read it, I hope you enjoy it!

  1128. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger It came out in 2010 I believe so you may have already read it but it’s so good!

  1129. Pleeeeeeeeeeeease read “Drunk, Divorced, and Covered with Cat Hair” by Laurie Perry. It is the only book that I always recommend to everyone I know. It makes me laugh until I cry and then laugh again. 🙂

  1130. Just finishing up Helen Oyeyemi’s “What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours,” and it’s marvelous.

  1131. “Good Omens” by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

    It encompasses the duality of good and evil in their own rights.

  1133. Hi!
    First off congratulations! Second off, I just wanted to say thank you for Furiously Happy. My library app recomended it to me so I listened to the audiobook based entirely on the cover. How could I not listen to a book when it’s mascot was a raccoon that looked like it was auditioning for Chicago?!
    I haven’t laughed so much in months and I have never felt more understood. I found myself nodding and saying: “Yes, thank you!” at the way you described depression and anxiety. I’ve delt with my lying brain for years and it was so wonderful to hear someone else share their story.

    I am heading out at the next opportunity to buy my very own copy!

  1134. Rice Cooker Revenge. You can get it on the kindle, if you have one. It’s…weirdly adorable. Thanks for the chance!

  1136. John Welter’s three books, “Night of the Avenging Blowfish”, “Begin to Exit Here” and “I Want to Buy a Vowel” (set in Texas!), are all eerily relevant at the moment. And I read John Crowley’s “Little, Big” about once a year.

  1137. My #1 favorite is tried-and-true: “Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah” by Richard Bach of “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” fame. I read it when I was a teen and it felt like home.

  1138. PS Congratulations on your success! May the corner piece of brownie be yours.
    PPS I can’t leave writer, activist and philosopher Andrew Boyd off. I forgot to list him mainly because I’ve got a lot of his first book “Daily Afflictions” branded into me and I forget that he wrote it. Then he put it on his website; here’s a relevant bite http://andrewboyd.com/hopelessness-can-change-world/

  1139. I highly recommend A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman about a curmudgeon learning to accept the death of his wife while dealing with a hilarious group of neighbors. The movie was as good as the book. I’ve never cried nor laughed so hard at the same time. Also when I struggle with my bipolar How I Stayed Alive When My Brain was Triangle to Kill Me by Susan Rose Blauner.

  1140. Pingback: IT’S WORLD BOOK DAY! | Hers.today | Different news for different mood

  1141. I was going to recommend A man called Ove but somebody already did so maybe The curious incident of the dog in the nighttime, where the main character is broken in a way too.

  1142. The Suffering by Rin Chupeco. It’s a YA horror novel that’s delightfully terrifying and bizarre, with a TON of Japanese folklore influences. A ghost book that manages to be occasionally heartbreaking. Chupeco’s like the Stephen (Stefania?) King of YA, imo.

  1143. Fablehaven series ….. it’s supposedly for youth, but I enjoyed it immensely. ontario, canada

  1144. Well, I haven’t been able to shut up about “Furiously Happy” since I read it earlier this year, but that’s not very useful to you. You know how when you finish reading a great book and all you want to do is start reading it again? When that happened to me with FH, I nursed it with more wit and frankness about life and mental illness by reading Carrie Fisher’s “Wishful Drinking”. For more classic favorite books, “The Princess Bride” is every bit as wonderful as the movie. It’s definitely a book that embraces you on a bad day. Or a good day. Or any day, really. Basically, it’s a book for all days. Also, I finally caved and read the Lunar Chronicles last year and I’m so glad I did. It’s another series I wanted to reread as soon as I finished it. Sci-fi isn’t usually my thing and I was hesitant about the premise, but wow. It lags a little in “Scarlet” but “Cress” makes up for it 100%. Absolutely recommend. I mean–a cyborg Cinderella seems a bit weird at first, but it really comes through. And I’ll stop here because I could talk for hours about good books. Congrats on being #1 AND 2!!

  1145. Jim the Boy; All the Light We Cannot See; The Elegance of the Hedgehog; Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand (unrelated but also must see the movie Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day); The Professor and the Housekeeper. All are painfully honestly sad at times but beautifully memorable without being smarmy, every one has at least one scene that stays with you forever after, in a good way.

  1147. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova – it’s a brillant reimagining of the Dracula story – so cool, smartly written, with a smart enrimg.

  1149. Anything by Seanan McGuire! I just re-read Rosemary and Rue, the first book in her October Daye series–urban fantasy about modern-day fae.

  1150. I loved The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg!

  1151. Anything by Christopher Moore and everything but High School Reunion by P. J. O’Rourke. Particularly recommend Holidays in Hell by O’Rourke, and Practical Demonkeeping: A Comedy of Horrors by Moore. Ooooh, also anything by Christopher Buckley–especially Boomsday: A novel.

  1154. I’m always a big fan of the Rhys Bowen “Royal Spyness” novels. They are awesome!

  1156. Congratulations Jenny on your ‘Dirty Dozen’ ranking!! <3 –P.S. I was able to use your pic of the NY Times bestseller list to get my local B&N to return a couple extra copies of Hillbilly Elegy that I had from not distributed Christmas gifts. Salesperson: It’s past the return date. Me to Salesperson: How could that be? Jenny Lawson posted the NY Times Bestseller list and it’s still number two. Salesperson: I may need to give you store credit. Me — trying not to snap at the salesperson because it’s not her fault that their computers have a mind of their own: Fine. Give me the store credit. I’ll go buy copies of Jenny’s new book. Then her book will be number 2.

  1157. A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole, laugh out loud funny (like you, Jenny!), this is my favorite book ever ever ever. I actually try to re-read it every year or so because it just makes me laugh even louder. And I already love New Orleans, but this book makes me love it more. And the backstory is a cautionary tale to a severe depressive bipolar person like me: this young man lost his battle with his illness and committed suicide at only 31. Having been in that dark place myself, I’ve no doubt he thought his wrap did his book sucked. So sadly, the world was deprived of what was actually an immense literary genius full of wicked humor. It’s hard as hell, but we’ve all got to guard against depression’s incessant and relentless lies. What I particularly love in addition to the actual story itself is the story about the journey of how a ratty, stained and gigantic book John had written found by his Mama after he died became a published book that won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 11 years after John died: his Mama’s belief in this book and her determination that caused her to insist as incessantly and relentlessly for author Walker Percy’s support equal to depression’s efforts. It’s all a big tragicomedy that I’m sure John loves the joy his words and his Mama’s work have brought to the world. ❤️
    http://www.levity.com/corduroy/toole.htm

  1158. Ready Player One was SO MUCH FUN to read. Like, adrenaline-rush fun, with lots of 80’s and 90’s references jammed in for good fun. The audiobook is read by Wil Wheaton, which you can choose if you’re like me and you had a crush on Wesley Crusher (see what I just did there?) in your youth.

  1159. Hi from Canada!! The Mists of Avalon Marion Zimmer Bradley such a amazingly powerful book!

  1160. Tokaido Road by Lucia St. Clair Robson. It’s very soothing to me when I’m overwhelmed by everything. I get lost in the details as the main character travels the road and it takes me away from everyday problems.

  1161. I recently finished Eileen: A Novel by Otessa Moshfegh. I had to read it, because John Waters recommended it to David Sedaris, who recommended it to me (& everyone else at his readings). It’s a little dark, and more than a little weird, but that’s right up my alley. now I’m telling everyone I know about it. I’m terrible at writing reviews, so I’ll include a bit of The Washington Post’s review: “… always dark and surprising, sometimes ugly and occasionally hilarious. Its first-person narrator is one of the strangest, most messed-up, most pathetic—and yet, in her own inimitable way, endearing—misfits I’ve encountered in fiction.”

  1162. I read Heartless by Marissa Meyer over Thanksgiving and I highly recommend it. I haven’t been enjoying books I’ve been reading lately as much… :-/

  1163. Sacre Bleu by Christopher Moor and The Eye of the Dragon by none other than Sir Stephen King. READ THEM. Sorry for yelling.

  1164. Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn. So clever and subtle…one of my very favorites!

  1165. We are listening to Gaiman’s latest on disc. It’s pretty great. We do puzzles as we listen. Just finished a Legend of Zelda world map. That’s pretty sweet too.

  1166. I wish there was a way to put these book recommendations into a giant checklist (part of my crazyness is lists) and be able to check them off. So hard to read every post but this is awesome. Also, my bookstore called and my pre-ordered You Are Here is here. And it’s awesome. And a few neat books (series of 3) that are actually kids books but neat and fun for adults too are Journey, Quest and Return by Aaron Becker. Thanks for sharing your art Jenny!

  1170. I know it’s way too late but that’s how I write. A great book I read recently “Man seeks God” a man who is non religious and depressed is looking at religions as a way to connect with God – Goes through a half dozen or so with very funny results. Author was Eric Weiner – also wrote the Geography of Bliss.

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