This Year's Books

Well folks, it’s that time again to share my list of books I’ve read this year! I did actually break my record from last year (32) and read 36 books this year. All in all, I read a lot of good books, but I also read several disappointing ones and there were PLENTY that I started and didn’t finish. Some I even got most of the way through and then abandoned. A few really blew my mind: All Fours by Miranda July, All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert, and Milk Fed by Melissa Broder.

How do I choose what books I will read? Often by recommendation but usually it’s pretty random. I think next year I will try to be more selective about what I read and get more recommendations. I would love it if you would comment your favorite book of the year, or your top three. Also I want to read more poetry so please send me your poetry recs.

1. Lifeform by Jenny Slate (4 stars)

2. The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff (5 stars)

3. Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere by Maria Bamford (4 stars)

4. Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff (4 stars)

5. My Favorite Thing is Monsters Vol. 1 by Emil Ferris (5 stars)

6. My Favorite Thing is Monsters Vol. 2 by Emil Ferris (5 stars)

7. Home Before Dark by Riley Sager (2 stars)

8. Dear Life by Alice Munro (4 stars)

9. Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam (2 stars)

10. Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk by Kathleen Hanna (4 stars)

11. Two-Step Devil by Jamie Quatro (4 stars)

12. Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins (5 stars)

13. The Horse by Willy Vlautin (4 stars)

14. It Chooses You by Miranda July (5 stars)

15. The Book of Boy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock (4 stars)

16. Death Valley by Melissa Broder (4 stars)

17. All Fours by Miranda July (5 stars)

18. I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy (4 stars)

19. My Place at the Table: A Recipe for a Delicious Life in Paris by Alexander Lobrano (4 stars)

20. Instructions for Traveling West: Poems by Joy Sullivan (5 stars)

21. Milk Fed by Melissa Broder (5 stars)

22. Friend of My Youth by Alice Munro (4 stars)

23. A Girl Named Zippy: Growing Up Small in Mooreland, Indiana by Haven Kimmel

    (reread) (5 stars)

24. Our Town by Thornton Wilder (5 stars)

25. Lucky Turtle by Bill Roorbach (3 stars)

26. No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July (3 stars)

27. Audition by Katie Kitamura (3 stars)

28. The Harder I Fight the More I Love You by Neko Case (3 stars)

29. I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This (But I’m Going To Anyway) by Chelsea Devantez (3 stars)

30. All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert (5 stars)

31. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix (4 stars)

32. Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll (4 stars)

33. The Tell: A Memoir by Amy Griffin (2 stars)

34. Trespasses by Louise Kennedy (4 stars)

35. Sinkhole, and Other Inexplicable Voids: Stories by Leyna Krow (3 stars)

36. Dracula by Bram Stoker (reread) (5 stars)

I read Dracula to Mina at bedtime and it took about 2 and a half months. It felt momentous, not only because it’s the longest book I’ve ever read to them but because they are named after a character in the book. I always knew I would read it to them but I’d been waiting for the right time. 11 seemed like the right age. I had the feeling that it might be our last bedtime book together, as they are getting older and bedtime routines are changing. But then I thought it would be fun to read David Sedaris’ The SantaLand Diaries so that’s what we’re reading now.