Your next great read

in book stores are magic, nowhere bookshop, Random Crap

One of the greatest things about owning a bookshop is that I not only get to read amazing new books, but I’m SUPPOSED to read them. I bring home boxes of books each week and stay up late reading and then mail boxes of books to my family and stuff Little Free Libraries with them and contemplate how many bookshelves are “too many”. I say that number doesn’t exist. Victor says, “Probably a dozen less than we currently have and also, you can’t make piles of books into tables for more books” but you totally can with a good tablecloth and a little imagination.

I know a lot of you may be quarantining or don’t have access to good bookstore locally to see what’s on the shelves so I thought I’d share with you the 145 books I’ve read in 2021 that I’ve loved so far. If you were here now I’d go through each of them and help you pick out the best one for you but since we are not together, this is the next best thing. (PS. If I’m at the store you can always ask me for a recommendation.)

And in return? Tell me a book you read this year that you loved, because I am always looking for more.

No Cure for Being Human, Sex Cult Nun, Vivian Maier Developed, Noor, Chouette, The Collective, These Silent Woods, Blue-Skinned Gods, Call Me Athena, Reprieve, Death at Greenway, The Last Graduate, Slewfoot, Cackle, Under the Whispering Door, God of Mercy, The Death of Jane Lawrence, Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village, Nothing but Blackened Teeth, Once More upon a Time, The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina, Mordew, My heart is a Chainsaw, Circe, Ballad for Sophie, Kaiju Preservation Society, Lemon, The Cape Doctor, The Four Winds, When Two Feathers Fell from the Sky.

Lore Olympus, The Sunset Route, Brown Girls, The Anthropocene Reviewed, Mrs. March, Lovesickness, The Icepick Surgeon, Living Ghosts & Mischievous Monsters, Revelator, RUN, Clark and Division, Trubble Town, The Archer, Summer Sons, The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream, Shelf Life, Poison for Breakfast, How to Wrestle a Girl, The Modern Witch Tarot, A Touch of Jen, And Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed, What Big Teeth, The Box in the Woods, Reflection, Hamnet, Tiny Dancer, Hummingbird Salamander, One Hundred Demons, How High? That High, The Final Girl Support Group

Whisper Down the Lane, Strange Children, Harrow, The Comfort Book, Hawking, Island Queen, How Long Til Black Future Month?, Rabbits, A Sitting in St. James, The Chosen and the Beautiful, Field Study, Such a Quiet Place, The Council of Animals, A Spindle Splintered, The Ones We’re Meant to Find, The Other Passenger, Savage Tongues, Girl One, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, On Juneteenth, The Anatomy of Desire, The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot, The Wolf and the Woodsman, The Maidens, With Teeth, Nutshell Studies, Go Ask Alice, Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch, Velvet was the Night, The Unfit Heiress

Unsettled Ground, She Who Became the Sun, Girl in the Walls, Sorrowland, Sidecountry, Goodbye, again, Revival Season, Come Fly the World, Brood, Feral Creatures, Ariadne, Whereabouts, Nightbitch, The Living Sea of Waking Dreams, Hour of the Witch, Mother May I, Madam, Seek You, The Book of Accidents, Couple Found Slain, Murder Most Puzzling, IN, Hollow Kingdom, Kindred, Olympus Texas, Things I Learned from Falling, Red Island House, Ladies of the Secret Circus, The Witch’s Heart, Wake

The Echo Wife, The Lamplighters, Heatwave, The Bone Houses, The Kindest Lie, Plain Bad Heroines, This Close to Okay, The Removed, In the Heart of the Sea, In the Garden of Spite, The Girl from Channel Islands, My Year Abroad, The Haunting of Alma Fielding, Burning Girls, Remina, I am a Girl from Africa, We Begin at the End, Infinite Country, The Children’s Train, The Memory Theater, The Electric Kingdom, Better Luck Next Time, Terminal Boredom, You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

Happy reading!

168 thoughts on “Your next great read”

Read comments below or add one.

  1. You’ve read 145 books so far??! Man, I was chuffed because I got two read this year. My brain and I have been fighting.

  2. Wow, lots of great stuff on your list. Adding several to mine.

    I was pleasantly surprised by The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams earlier this year. Didn’t see it on your list but may have missed it.

  4. I just finished Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead (audiobook style). Then I had to get another by her so I listened to her other book Astonish Me. Both are delicious fiction. The kind with descriptions so intuitive they make you hold your breath.

  6. holey cowgirls! very very impressive. i learned from you about the author Armentrout and cannot get enough of her. thank you!

  12. Oooh, that is quite a lot! I just finished Crescent City by Sarah J. Maas, and it stalled me out reading-wise. I loved her other books, but this one really struck a chord for some reason and I can’t stop thinking about it.

  13. Books stuffed into empty copier paper boxes become perfectly cromulent endtables with a cloth thrown over them. When I was newly married, broke, and moving far too often, those were our endtables for years.

  15. I loved The Cherry Robbers by Sarai Walker. I had an advance reader copy – it comes out 2/1/22.
    The six Chapel sisters, heirs to a firearms fortune, are kept isolated at home by their parents. It’s 1950 and it seems their only option for escape is to marry. But once the sisters start to marry, they mysteriously die. wtf?! SO good.

  16. We’ve read some of the same things! I’m getting to that new T.J. Klune asap.

    If I’m picking just one book, The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue was brilliant and gave me feelings. Fair warning that it centers on a flu pandemic, so…

  18. A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers – it was like a tiny hug for my soul.

  19. The Randy Scuffle Papers by Phil Reebius. I laughed until I snort-cried. I am lucky enough to have seen Phil read from his book at an event and the entire audience was doubled over, howling with laughter; I have never seen that before. Plus I just noticed it’s on sale right now on Amazon.
    (Full disclosure: I know Phil.)

  20. I’m really looking forward to Mrs. March based on your description. Thank you for sharing so many great titles. My faves in my reading this year (without actually looking at my goodreads log of what I have read): When Women Ruled the World: Six Queens of Egypt, The Midnight Library, and The Palace of Illusions.

  23. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah … I’ve loved pretty much anything she’s written, but this book was especially great!

  24. I pretty much want to stab something after seeing The Last Graduate on your “already read” list, as I’m still 5 days from getting it in my ears.

  25. I follow you on GoodReads and love to see what you’ve been reading! A few books I’ve recently read and loved were How Lucky by Will Leitch, Deacon King Kong by James McBride, and My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry by Frederik Backman.

  27. It’s not new, but it was new to me — An Easy Death, Book 1 in the Gunnie Rose series by Charlaine Harris. The blurb described it as The Dark Tower meets True Blood and that turned out to be pretty accurate!

  28. I think I’ve finished 2 books this year? Between depression, reading ADD and constantly feeling terrible because of medication, I haven’t felt like reading. I honestly would love to find the magic book that will hold my attention, be amazing, and kick start my joy of reading again.

  29. Prairie Fires by Caroline Frasier, Deacon King Kong by James McBridge, Mrs. March (thanks for your recommendation), What is Life Worth by Ken Feinberg, The Midnight Library. Way more than one, so I will stop now.

  30. I am biased but I highly suggest the audiobook for Under The Whispering Door. One of my best friends did the narration. And its an incredible book. A deep dive into all the forms of grief in the human experience and the many ways we deal with it in funny, queer, delightful writing!

  31. and here I was impressed with myself for reading 46 books … though I still am cuz I only read 12 the year before. Thanks for all the great suggestions. I really loved “Survive the Night” … very suspenseful and good writing.

  32. Noting here that I really liked The Echo Wife (on your list above).

    A book that I bought purely on a whim because random Twitterati were squeeing about it and I had an impulse, but which turned out to be amazing, even as a straight woman who doesn’t read a lot of romance:
    Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers
    MC is a young woman who finished doing grad school and now is wondering if that was what she wanted or if it was what she’d been expected to. Gave me cathartic tears of sympathy.
    (wlw; very diverse cast of characters; both family of birth and strong found family; positive experience with therapy )

  35. Fuzz, by Mary Roach (who is always wonderful) is about “human-animal conflict” (also birds and poisonous plants). Her footnotes alone are worth the price of admission.

  37. I just finished Between Two Kingdoms -A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad

    A most amazing and inspiring read!!

  38. So interesting seeing all those book covers arrayed like that, to see the trends in cover design.

    I just finished listening to the audiobook of Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Loved it, but really loved the way it was read. Delightful.

  39. Some of my favorites this year:

    For nonfiction: Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism
    Young adult: With the Fire on High
    Contemporary: Dial A for Aunties (my favorite book in 2021)
    Dystopian: Klara and the Sun
    Fiction: The Midnight Library (but I highly recommend that anyone who reads this book be in a ready mindset to read it, a trigger warning for suicide/death)

  40. The Radleys by Matt Haig. Loved it! He’s a brilliant author. I’m definitely saving your list. Soooo many books to read.

  41. I read it last year but I will NOT stop recommending it: *Raising a Rare Girl* by Heather Lanier. Great look at how our society views and deals with disability. So many great lines.

  43. I’ve read 68% of my goal this year. Given that I have 4 weeks of vacation before the year ends, I’m not too worried. Anyway, a couple of books I have loved this year are: Deacon King Kong by James McBride and Crossing by Alex Landragin.

  44. My two favorite reads so far this year-I’m at 99 with what I thought was a respectable goal of 150 until seeing your list lol-were The Phantom Prince: My Life With Ted Bundy-I’m a true crime junkie and this book was SO fascinating- and The Thursday Murder Club. The second one is a mystery, which is what I typically read, but was very different then my normal type and I really enjoyed it. Eagerly awaiting the second installment. I also read The Midnight Library this year but honestly can’t decide if I loved it or hated it or maybe a little of both. Ok well now I’m off to reevaluate my reading goals for the year….

  45. I really liked Project Hail Mary. I’m not usually a sci-fi reader, but Andy Weir’s books always hook me. I recommend it!

  46. The Sweetness of Water. How Not To Hate Your Husband After Kids. The Great Gatsby (somehow, I had never read it 🤷‍♀️)

  50. I listened to “If You Tell” by Gregg Olsen driving from Sacramento to Seattle. The last two chapters played as I was driving through the exact areas when many of the events of the book happened. Scared the poop out of me and I’ll never forget that it is based on true events. Shudder.

  54. I’m not able to read as much as I’d like due to health issues, but I so appreciate your book suggestions and those of your commenters. I still keep collecting books that I think I would like because if my whole house was missing furniture, but was filled with books, I would be quite happily turning books into furniture with a few well placed tablecloths or bedspreads.
    Books on decorating with books:
    Decorating with Books (House Beautiful) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1588164934/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_7ZRRMJ28TER9MNRWSN4F
    Bibliostyle: How We Live at Home with Books https://www.amazon.com/dp/0525575448/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_P2G7HAZJET3MCRA11J4A
    At Home with Books: How Booklovers Live with and Care for Their Libraries https://www.amazon.com/dp/0517595001/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_D62W2J2V20NPP52P15V2
    Living With Books https://www.amazon.com/dp/1579590241/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_6A7ZJE29HBYC44Z8DQNF
    For the Love of Books: Designing and Curating a Home Library https://www.amazon.com/dp/1423652150/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_D7DCE1DXTSXDMCWY4AC4
    Books Make A Home: Elegant Ideas for Storing and Displaying Books https://www.amazon.com/dp/1788794222/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_S4WC51E1R64YFZ2ABH44

  55. 😭 dang you’re good at your job! I havent even finished my last haul from Nowhere and staring at this list I’m like “more. I need more”
    That said! I’m super excited to see Deadly Education and Orchidea Divina on the list! Those are legit my next TBR after I finish a book for a different book club!

  58. It’s so hard to pick just one book if you are an avid reader! I love to read and always have a big list on my kindle. I am going to put some of the books on my list right now!

  59. In the Quick by Kate Hope Day — Young female prodigy becomes an astronaut. She is fascinated with the question of a crew that stopped communicating and is also fascinated with the work her uncle and his students did on fuel cells (her uncle is now dead). Shows engineering as iterative and at least sometimes collaborative. Shows things going wrong and people forgiving others.

    Bone Maker by Sarah Beth Durst — 5 heroes come out of retirement to save the world again, but this time the world doesn’t believe it needs saving.

  60. Anxious People (Fredrik Backman)
    Little Weirds (Jenny Slate)
    Having and Being Had (Eula Bliss)

  61. I’m in awe of this list! My anxiety has messed with my ability to focus on reading as much as I like. But the best book I’ve read in a VERY long time is Apeirogon by author Colum McCann. It’s so gorgeous it made me want to go back to page 1 the minute I was finished.

  62. 145?!?! That’s amazing – I’m super proud that I’ve just started #23! I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read so far, but top three are definitely The Apology Project by Jeanette Escudero, The Stranger Behind You by Carol Goodman, and The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon.

  64. You’ll Never Find Us: A Memoir (Jeanne Baker Guy) – a debut memoir, the story of how her children were stolen from her and how she stole them back. Sorry. I’m biased. I’m a fan of yours and the author of You’ll Never Find Us.

  65. wow! I’m a big reader..I use the public libraries mostly or the independent bookshops when i venture out. many of those I haven’t heard of…goodness, it’s amazing they slipped thru my radar…several I
    have on my TBR. (i’ve read @ 300 so far)

    For me, my best of 2021 so far are these:
    The Car Share-Zoe Brisby
    Every Last Fear-Alex Finlay
    Finley Donovan is Killing It-Elle Cosimano
    Before I Saw You-Emily Houghton
    Bad News Travels-James Swain
    Float Plan-Trish Doller
    Heart Principle-Helen Hoang
    Hidden Valley Road-Robert Kolker
    8 Perfect Murders-Peter Swanson
    Murder in Chianti-Camilla Trinchieri
    A Deadly Fortune-Stacie Murphy
    It’s Not PMS, It’s You-Rich Amooi
    European Voyage series by Blake Pierce

    that’s all i can come up with off the top of my head w/out skimming my Goodreads list.

    I’ll have to look up some of the titles you listed as I’m sure there are plenty I’d like to read too.

  66. I read A Tree Grows in Brooklynn for the first time this year and it has become my new favorite. Any chance you could amend your list to the top 10 or 20? The sheer amount is overwhelming to someone who only reads 40 or so a year.

  68. Let’s see…I would have to recommend is The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, by V.E. Schwab. The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett. Lovecraft Country, by Matt Ruff. Slade House, by David Mitchell. Look Me In The Eye, by John Elder Robison. Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs, by Caitlin Doughty. Those are just a few that I’ve read this year, and really enjoyed!

  70. So many new additions to my TBR list! I have no idea how many books I’ve read this year, but my favorites (I can’t pick only one—that’s impossible) were:

    Empire of Pain, by Patrick Radden Keene (nonfiction; the story of the family who essentially created the opioid epidemic)
    People Who Eat Darkness, by Richard Lloyd Parry (nonfiction; the story behind the murder of a young British woman in Japan)
    The Searcher, by Tana French (because she is one of a very short list of authors whose work I will buy without question and it’s always a good choice)
    Broken, by you. No, I’m not kissing ass. I loved it.

  71. I will definitely jump on the Midnight Library bandwagon – so good!! A Dictionary of Lost Words – also very good. The Personal Librarian – so interesting! And my mostest favorite – The Forest of Vanishing Stars.

  73. I loved “The Rose Code” by Kate Quinn and Helene Tursten’s “An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good”.

  74. The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus — a delightful little book I found at my local library, that I think you would enjoy.

  76. I’m so glad the next Naomi Novik novel is on your list! I just finished the first Scholomance book and can’t wait for the next one to come out.

    Two new(ish) books that I really enjoyed recently are Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots and We Could Be Heroes by Mike Chen. Check them out!

  77. Dang you’ve read a lot of books this year!! I’m impressed.
    I feel like I’ve kind of fallen out of love with reading, at least reading full-length fiction novels. I hate that, I have hundreds of books on my ‘to read’ bookcase that have been sitting there for years. Some of these do look pretty interesting though, I must admit.
    (Also, omg wait so I’m not the only one who makes actual ‘tables’ with book stacks in order to stack more books easier?? I’ve found that using a bulletin board type thing on top of multiple stacks pushed together makes everything a lot more stable and really does seem to act like a ‘table’ on top! …. The only downside is when you actually want a book that’s in a bottom stack…)

  78. Oh my! I must speed up my reading skills! I saw an intriguing book on your list….many actually, but An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed screamed out “ReadMe.Read me now!”. So guess that is next on my tbr list. I noticed it is third in a series. Have you read the others, and should I read them first before diving in? Thanks if you have time to read and answer me….love you, Andrea

  79. I love seeing lists of books that authors have read. Thank you for taking the time to share this with us!

  80. I am super-excited to peruse this list. I am re-reading The Stand by Stephen King, but this one is the author’s expanded edition. Didn’t even know it existed until it showed up in my Libby queue. It’s a whopper – 48 hours long!

    I have read some incredible books this year. Faves include “The Silent Patient,” “Any Way the Wind Blows,” “Song of Achilles,” “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” “The Kiss Quotient,” “Beartown,”
    “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.”

    This is really a reading year for me, and I appreciate your recs!

  81. The Council of Animals, Murder at Wedgefield Manor, The Swallowed Man, Le Freak (old, but MAN, Nile is a cat with 9 lives), A Libertarian Walks into a Bear, The Missing and the Dead (any Logan McRae mystery by Stuart MacBride, to be honest) , My Sister the Serial Killer, Accidental Presidents, Blackout and All Clear (Connie Willis – time travel and WW2!)…i’ll stop now!

  82. Hi Jenny! I got an email from Planned Parenthood and it came from Jenny Lawson. I didn’t think you had ANOTHER new job but at least your name twin is doing good work.

  88. I was completely blown away by Gideon the Ninth and the sequel Harrow the Ninth by Tamsin Muir. Also I really loved The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig was great. Day Zero by C Robert Cargill is a terrific followup to Sea of Rust.
    I’ve been switching between two books on the e-reader and a third book on audible for a while now. It helps my brain stop itching.

  89. Love this post ❤ one day I’ll come to Texas just to visit your bookshop. Maybe my husband will think I’m crazy but since he’s just as book obsessed as me, he’ll probably be okay….

    These are books i loved this year: A declaration of the rights of magicians by H.G. Parry (the age of enlightenment, French revolution and revolt in saint Dominique with magicians and vampires – yes please!!!)

    Beast of extraordinary circumstance (like a fairy tale – wonderfully weird)

  90. Oh and some more good ones:

    The Passage by Justin Cronin (the whole trilogy is rather brilliant)

    The seven deaths Evelyn hardcastle

  92. Thanks for a great list for me to find new books! I loved “Punch Me Up to the Gods – A Memoir” by Brian Broome and ” Deacon King Kong” by James McBride.

  93. I was enamored by one already on your list. I loved The Final Girl support Group. It was so fun. I recommend it to everyone.

  95. #lifegoals How do you manage? I’m still trying to finish thge chosen and the beautiful…not loving it but MUST FINISH. I flew through the YA book called Dry – drought, water zombies- it was awesome!

  99. I recently finished reading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab and its one of my favorite things I’ve read in the last several years.I’ve been recommending it to everyone.

  100. You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey is one of my top books this year. I think the only other ones we have in common are The Box in the Woods, Hamnet, and Revival Season. (I also read The Four Winds, but did not love it. Seems I’m very much in the minority.) Some of my other favorites have been Here for It by R. Eric Thomas, One Two Three by Laurie Frankel, and Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny. Oh, and Crying in H Mart and Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing.

  101. Sarah Gailey has THRILLED me this year! I have read nearly all their books, but Upright Women was heaetbreakingly beautiful.

  103. I took the author photo of Burning Girls, big smiley face. I just finished listening to Crying in H-Mart and was surprisingly touched by it.

  104. OK, so I know this isn’t exactly the right place to post this, but you are talking about great books, and I am currently listening to “Broken”, (WHICH IS AMAZING), and you just said, “The one thing I like about cooking is nothing.” And beyond the anxiety, depression, chronic health issues that already made me feel like super connected to you, (In a distant we will never meet sort of way), I now feel like OMG, we could be besties.

    As a side note: I find that whenever I listen to one of your books I also tend to start talking and writing like you. Which is weird because I don’t do that with other people. Wait no scratch that, I do that all the freakin time. Except that with you, I think I do it better than say, the bad British accent I seem to always talk in my head in because I am constantly watching British shows or listening to Neil Gaiman audiobooks.

  105. Satisfaction Guaranteed by Karelia Stetz-Waters is my favorite book of the year so far. It’s a f/f rom-com set in a sex toy shop in Portland, OR. It’s hilarious and heartwarming and sexy and perfect.

  109. Hit reply before I meant to. We had a Little Library down the street from me. It was a bit beaten up but I fixed and stocked it. When the county did work on the park, they knocked it down and did something with the books. I was putting everything from baby books to adult books to comics in there. I need to call them.

  111. Love book lists and recommendations, they make me happy drunk! Almost as much as reading them. I just went to our library’s annual used book sale – in person for first time since 2019 – so I have a lovely stack to work through. Some older things but still great:

    A Walk in the Woods (Bill Bryson, about hiking the Appalachia Trail)
    Funny Girl (Nick Hornsby)
    Dictionary of the Khazars (Milorad Pavic, a “lexicon novel”)
    Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? (Roz Chast, a cartoon memoir)
    Like Water for Chocolate (Laura Esquivel)
    Emma (Alexander McCall Smith, a retelling of Jane Austen’s classic)
    Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All (Allan Gurganus)

  114. I’ve read 135 so far. Creation by Bjorn Larssen (novella, superfast read), A Good Day for Chardonnay (after you read A Bad Day for Sunshine), People We Meet on Vacation.

  116. I discovered T. Kingfisher and really enjoyed The Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking and Summer in Orcus. I think you’d like The Hollow Places, which skews a bit more to horror. She also writes children’s books under her real name, Ursula Vernon. I got my niece the first Hamster Princess book, Dragonbreath, and Castle Hangnail.

  117. I also got into the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch– I think I’m all caught up except for a couple of the graphic novels. Excellent series with magic and crime! Also A Thousand Ships by , Natalie Haynes, Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia, and Beginnings by Laurie King.

  118. Hopefully it’s okay to respond with more than one book because it’s so hard to choose just one…

    I’m Waiting For You by Kim Bo-Young — particularly for the first and last stories, which are a duo of stories about a man and woman trying to time their wedding when relativity and their separate space ships keep having delays with time.

    The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen — the most beautiful graphic novel of a mother and her son who is dealing with being gay and first generation and how fairy tales give us the language and framework to understand.

    A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky by Lynell George — the nonfictional story of Octavia Butler told through the objects of her life: lists and pictures and letters, etc.

    Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest and Arsenic and Adobo by Mia Manansala — FANTASTIC cozy mysteries.

    The Deer Kings by Wendy N. Wagner — scary “It”-like horror set in Oregon.

  119. I thought When They Call You Terrorist by Patrice Cullors was amazing. I hope you are filling your bookstore with lots of diverse authors. It is so important to read widely. ❤️

  120. I second “The Dictionay of Lost Words” that someone recommended, and also recommend “Why Fish Don’t Exist”, by Lulu Miller

  121. Pingback: Your next great read – Dine.ga

  122. Wow. Impressive list. I’m over 100, but I am closing in on 700 short stories read this year.

    As for books, I can’t believe I am the only one to have read The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams. Some other choices:

    WAlter Tevos, MOckingbird and The Queen’s Gambit
    Michael Connelly, The Law of Innocence
    Thomas Perry, The OLd Man
    Paula Munier, The Hiding Place
    S.A. Cosby,     Razorblade Tears
    Fabian Nicieza, Suburban Dicks
    Joe R. Lansdale, Moon Lake

    Plus three books by one Jenny Lawson.

  124. Hoot by Carl Hiassen. It’s a lovely YA book set in Florida. I got it to read to my 5 year old but ended up churning through it in a day by myself.

  125. My favorites thus far this year have been: False Witness by Karin Slaughter, Little Secrets by Jennifer Hiller, The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz, Clap When you Land by Elizabeth Acevedo, Grown by Tiffany Jackson, Every Vow You Break by Peter Swanson, The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune, The Survivors by Jane Harper, The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole, and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab.

  126. Wow, a lot of these look amazing! For anyone trying to decide whether or not to pick up The Anthropocene Reviewed… I *highly* recommend it. A book I loved this year… it has to be The Collected Audre Lorde, with an introduction by Roxanne Gay. Truly wonderful

  128. there is no “too many bookshelves”. Sometimes I think i have too many books and then I see a picture of someone’s office or house with books piled in front of bookshelves and on every surface and know that there is no such thing. thank you for this list!

  129. J-

    Does Nowhere carry ebooks? Could you? I read about 500 books a year, so I’m trying to buy most in ebook bc that is a lot of paper and a lot of space. I would love to be able to buy them from you.

  131. 🤩 Thank you for doing the work to share all the books !
    My favorites so far this year have been:
    How to Raise an Elephant by Alexander McCall Smith,
    Meet Me At Worlds End by Jordan Rivet,
    The Noise by James Patterson and J. D. Barker,
    Chasing the Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar.
    Currently I’m working on Feral Creatures by Kira Jane Buxton and House of Leaves by Mark C. Danielewski.

  132. I lost my 30 year old son this year to severe schizoaffective disorder/Capgras Syndrome/suicide after he stabbed me several times hoping I’d reveal the location to his ‘real mom and family’ so I haven’t read any new books this year. During my physical recovery thus far I have re-read everything by Terry Pratchett, especially his discworld books. The 9 volume Temeraire series by Naomi Novik, Robin Hobbs volumes of Fitz and the Fool. The 51 books in the In Death series by JD Robb (aka Nora Robert’s) I’m on #52 right now. Lastly, the 25 Jack Reacher books by Lee Child. #26 comes out next month. These are my comfort zone. Also, I joined your book club and just received my copy of The Inheritance of Orqidéa Divina Montoya. Looking forward to finally starting something new.

    (I’m sending you so much love. And Terry Pratchett is the best. ~ Jenny)

  134. As a Strangeling book club member I have read a number of these books.

    Recent find on Kindle Reads is “The Permyriads” by R Edwin Smith
    Enjoyable reading, great adventure, a dystopian future that comes about from the overuse and abuse of our planet and most of humanity.
    Recommend for adults and young adult audience.

  135. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers By Mary Roach. Nonfiction about the many ways a donated cadaver can be used. I’ve always thought I might donate my body so this was an eye opener! A bit graphic but an interesting exploration.

  136. I loved “Under the Wispering Door” and “Better Luck Next Time” the other one she wrote “Be Frank With Me” was lovely too.

  137. I read A LOT too, but one that has stayed with me was The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai. Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood was pretty funny too. (True story, her father was a Catholic priest)

  138. I quite enjoyed and recommend the books: A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Any Way the Wind Blows (3rd in a series), The Devil Comes Courting (Milan), Act Your Age Eve Brown, Dearest Milton James, Subtle Blood (sequel), We Hereby Refuse, Fugitive Telemetry (sequel), One Last Stop, Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake, Coddiwomple, and Across the Green Grass Fields.

  141. My all time favorite books are:
    1. Let’s pretend this never happened (but I guess you already know that one…)
    2. In order to live (about a north Korean girl and her escape from that country)
    3. 438 days (about a fisherman who got lost on sea)
    4. Running man (classic by Steven King)
    5. Deep (awesome read about freediving and the underwater world)

  142. I get paid more than $90 to $100 per hour for working online. I heard about this job 3 months ago and after joining this I have earned easily $10k from this without having online working skills . Simply give it a shot on the accompanying site…..http://www.richnow1.com

  143. I get paid more than $90 to $100 per hour for working online. I heard about this job 3 months ago and after joining this I have earned easily $10k from this without having online working skills . Simply give it a shot on the accompanying site…..http://www.richnow1.com

  145. I get paid more than $90 to $100 per hour for working online. I heard about this job 3 months ago and after joining this I have earned easily $10k from this without having online working skills . Simply give it a shot on
    the accompanying site… Home Profit System

  146. You said these were the 145 books you’d read and loved this year. How many more did you read this year that you didn’t love?

  147. I used to review books for a website and I would take the copies and put them in Little Free Libraries as well. I love doing that especially since those things tend to stagnate a lot.

    I’ve had Circe on my list for some time now. Gotta finally check that one out.

  148. May not be your thing but I read all 9 books in the Grishaverse after watching Shadow and Bone on Netflix and the Six of Crows duology was AMAZING.

  149. I feel bad having to say I haven’t read any of these, although I’ve read a lot of books lately. Most recently read Help for the Haunted by John Searles. Wow what a different and slightly disturbing read. It definitely kept me reading right up to the end though, I’ll say that.

  150. The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter, and the next 2 also!, the Chronicle’s of St Mary’s books, The Library of Lost and Found, The Midnight Library, were all books I’ve enjoyed this year!

  151. “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” by V.E. Schwab
    “The Indigo Girl” by Natasha Boyd
    “The Starless Sea” by Erin Morgenstern
    “Once Upon a River” by Diane Setterfield

  152. Agatha of Little Neon
    Broken
    Members Only
    The Snow Child
    A Psalm for the Wild Built
    What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat
    Darius the Great Is Not OK
    Shelter
    Utopia Avenue
    Plus so much comfort re-reading – Geek Love, The Giant’s House, The Wayfarer series, Hollow Kingdom books, the Wayward Children series

  153. What a great- and long- list! I’ll add More Memory than Bird, Hamnet, and Matrix (Lauren Groff).

  154. Hands down, the best book of the year is a memoir by Elizabeth Miki Bring called Speak, Okinowa.

  156. Leaving these here before I get distracted reading everyone else’s…
    The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the NIght – Jen Campbell
    Murder Most Unladylike (whole series) -Robin Stevens
    The Minotaur Takes a CIgarette Break -Steven Sherrill

  157. Wow! You and I seem to read at about the same rate. I have read 132 books so far this year. If I ever move back to the States, I would be happy to live in your bookshop. I just need a comfortable chair in a corner and I will read all day every day. Then, I can write quirky reviews of each book and be available to help customers with book recommendations. But that’s it. I don’t don’t do anything else.

    FYI: My corner may smell of pizza and coffee.

  158. I will sing the praises of T Kingfisher anywhere. I love all her books. She has two horror books: Twisted Ones and Hollow Places.
    I think I like her fantasy kid books even better although I haven’t read many. A Wizards Guide to Defensive Baking and Minor Mage are amazing.

  159. I just finished The Women of Troy and realized it is the second in the series by Pat Barker so at some point I want to read the first (The Silence of The Girls). My favorite book I’ve read this year The Five Wounds by Kirstin Valdez Quade. And The Secret Life of Addie Larue was engaging and continues to haunt me a bit.

  160. You Should See Me in a Crown and The Girl Who Drank the Moon were both amazing

  168. Thanks for putting this list together! My book club is meeting in 2 weeks for a potluck, and we are choosing our books for next year. I was able to get a nice list of suggestions from this post.

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