Best Books of 2019

January 7, 20201 Comment

Here they are! My favorite books of 2019. In 2018, there was one piece of nonfiction on my list. In 2017, there were none. This year, there are six. My reading tastes have changed as the world around me has changed. I’m grateful for the books that have helped me continue to figure out my voice. Here’s to celebrating even more of those in 2020.

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January 2019

February 1, 2019February 1, 20192 Comments

My January 2019 in books! Recommendations by mood & a bit about how I felt about each read (& why).

For those of us who have always dreamt of being Eloise: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
For the one to fill your heart: Becoming by Michelle Obama
For the short stories that blend the supernatural with the smashing of the patriarchy: You Know You Want This by Kristen Roupenian
For the essays and stories that come back to mind over and over: The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan
For the one to give you the heebie jeebies: The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker
For the one where you’re going to need to talk about the ending with someone else: Adèle by Leila Slimani
For the protagonists you’ll love and hate all at once: Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

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November 2018

December 3, 20182 Comments

All of the books I read in November, organized by mood. I’ve linked my more in depth reviews wherever possible.

For the short but sweet story that will hit you in the heart: Fox 8 by George Saunders
For when you feel like falling in love (and out of love, and maybe back in): Places I Stopped on the Way Home by Meg Fee
For when you want to decide for yourself whether the movie lives up to the book: Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote
For a beautiful novel that reads like a collection of short stories, sweeping across centuries and continents: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
For a rom-com, plain and simple: Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid
For the memoir that will make you cry, both of laughter and of pain: This Will Only Hurt a Little by Busy Philipps
For when you’d like to take a ten day health retreat but can’t get out of the office, escape through: Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty
For those days you wished you lived in NYC, surrounded by your imperfect childhood friends: The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

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October 2018

October 31, 20182 Comments

All of the books I read in October, organized by mood. I’ve linked my more in depth reviews wherever possible.

For the super-duper fun adventure: An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green
For when you need to fill the void in your heart that A Star is Born left behind: Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (out March 2019)
For a gothic, spooky, literary adventure down the streets of Barcelona: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (reread)
For when you need a reminder that humanity can actually be beautiful sometimes (and so awful at others): Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (audio & reread)
For when you just want to smile: Slothilda by Dante Fabiero
For to make the flu season heebie jeebies even worse: Severance by Ling Ma
For a reminder that being a teenage girl is being a teenage girl, no matter what country: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

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September 2018

October 2, 2018Leave a comment

All of the books I read in September, organized by mood. I’ve linked my more in depth reviews wherever possible.

For when you’re craving a story of politely estranged families: Strike Your Heart by Amélie Nothomb
For when you’d rather be creeped out than sleep at night: You by Caroline Kepnes
For a novel that reads like short stories: There There by Tommy Orange
For the rom-com with the right combo of romance and realism: The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
For a graphic memoir that will make you chuckle and cry: Passing For Human by Liana Finck
For that story of female friendship across years and continents: The Air You Breathe by Frances de Pontes Peebles
For when you just want to escape on that good old childhood adventure: Explorer Academy: The Nebula Secret by Trudi Trueit
For that reminder that girls have been doing badass things for a really long time: The Radical Element by Jessica Spotswood
For the chance to compete in a magical but dangerous game: Legendary by Stephanie Garber
For the one that will make you cry: The Caregiver by Samuel Park
For a swashbuckling & diverse teenage adventure tale: A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
For a melancholy afternoon submerged in words and water: The Seas by Samantha Hunt

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July & August 2018

August 31, 2018August 30, 20181 Comment

My favorite reads from July and August, organized by mood. I’ve linked my more in-depth reviews wherever possible!

For that author who just gets life as a 20-something: The Bucket List by Georgia Clark
For the reader who just can’t get enough of cults: The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon
For the spooky short stories that will keep you up at night: Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez
For the historical fiction lover who wants to learn about an event they’ve maybe never heard of: Visible Empire by Hannah Pittard
For the high school love stories that will tug at your heart again and again: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (1, 2, & 3) by Jenny Han
For the story you’ll remember forever: The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
For when you need a reminder that females are strong as hell: Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras
For a beautiful intertwinement of friendship and music: The Ensemble by Aja Gabel
For the letter writer: Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson
For the new love gone so, so wrong: Ghosted by Rosie Walsh

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TBR: Fourth of July Edition

July 3, 20181 Comment

Four days of vacation, five books… Seems about right? I know it’s far more than I’ll get through during this vacation, but each is a different genre and I just couldn’t cut it down any further.

Click on a title to read its synopsis:

The twisted fairytale: Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi
The fun romance: The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory
The whirlwind fantasy: Legendary by Stephanie Garber
The coming-of-age fiction: The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
The psychological thriller: All These Beautiful Strangers by Elizabeth Klehfoth

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June 2018

July 1, 2018Leave a comment

Each of the books I read in June, organized by mood. I’ve linked my more in-depth reviews wherever possible!

For the memoir that will make you cry: I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O’Farrell
For the one to keep you up at night: I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara
For the whirlwind summer romance: When Katie Met Cassidy by Camille Perri
For the hauntingly beautiful short stories: Florida by Lauren Groff
For the worldwide adventure: Less by Andrew Sean Greer
For the chance to snoop through someone else’s inbox: Hey Ladies! by Caroline Moss & Michelle Markowitz
For when you want to indulge your inner romantic: The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
For the rollercoaster read: The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir
For a reminder of what it was like to fall in love for the first time: Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren
For the frustration of “why can’t they just work it out:” This Love Story Will Self-Destruct by Leslie Cohen

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April 2018

May 8, 20182 Comments

Each of the books I read in April, organized by mood. I’ve linked my more in-depth reviews wherever possible!

For that day when you need a reminder to just chill out: In Conclusion, Don’t Worry About It by Lauren Graham
For a story that will make you grateful for all the things not going wrong in your life: The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy
For a nonfiction read to make you nostalgic for your high school theater glory days: Drama High by Michael Sokolove
For a short story collection that feels like binge-watching TV: You Think It, I’ll Say It by Curist Sittenfeld
For a memoir that will have you picking your jaw up off the floor again and again: Educated by Tara Westover
For a novel-reading experience that feels like a form of 2018-specific therapy: The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer
For a creepy NYC thriller that will make you want to delete all forms of social media and throw your phone out the window: Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton
For a meandering read that takes its time through an Upper West Side neighborhood: Alternate Side by Anna Quindlen