Just in case you’re staying in tonight, looking to get started on your new year’s resolution to read more books…
The 10 best novels I read this year:
10. Aesthetica by Allie Rowbottom
9. I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
8. The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
7. The Guest by Emma Cline
6. Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
5. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
4. Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason
3. Animal by Lisa Taddeo
2. Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor
1. Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
… and HONORABLE (OR DISHONORABLE) MENTION:
Best memoir: Down the Drain (still gossiping about this book months later)
Best book about a book: Yellowface (the publishing industry loves to make books about the publishing industry)
Best food book: Crying in H Mart (naturally)
Best young adult book: The Lying Life of Adults (an excellent portrayal of teenage angst)
Best LGBTQ book: House in the Cerulean Sea (such a cute love story)
Best apocalypse book: A Psalm for the Wild Built (the first book in a sweet and hopeful post-apocalyptic trilogy)
Best thriller: The Club (one of the best trashy books I read this year)
Best short stories: Five Tuesdays in Winter (warm and generous storytelling)
Best Old(er than me) Book: We Have Always Lived in the Castle (somehow made it my whole life without reading this middle school classic)
Best WW2 book: The Piano Teacher (a love story and a mystery)
Best self-published book: Scammer (not embarrassed to admit that Caroline Calloway’s memoir is actually pretty good, but only if you already know who she is)
Best Book to Read on Vacation: Carrie Soto is Back (Taylor Jenkins Reid knows how to write a vacation book)
Book that took the longest to read: How to Write an Autobiographical Memoir (still not sure why I stuck it out until the end, but I’m glad I did)
Book that took the shortest to read: A Simple Passion (it’s like 60 pages long)
Book I most want to see as a movie: The Stolen Coast (so cinematic!!!!)
Scariest book: Bright Young Women (still thinking about the horrific details)
Funniest book: Big Swiss (I actually LOLed)
Stupidest book: The Accidental Tourist (I am SO angry I read this book)
Most haunting book: Natural Beauty (could have been better, but it’s still so creepy)
Most Disappointing Book: Convenience Store Woman (not that it’s BAD, it’s just not life-changing)
Most Underrated Book: Mouth to Mouth (I’m surprised I haven’t seen this book talked about more)
Most overrated critically-acclaimed book: Checkout 19 (still not sure what the fuck I read)
Most overrated bestseller: The Lying Game (the worst book I read this year)
Love love loved Great Circle. And have already add many of these to my Libby queue, thank you for the recommendations!