Books I read in 2021 #MyYearInBooks

The books just keep coming, people, and we'll never catch up. There are always more books to read than hours in the day and I know every time I pick up a book (kindle) that I'm NOT choosing several others in that moment! But...I really liked almost everything I read this year! 

As usual, a lot of mishmash here - I've decided that I'm definitely a fan of romance novels (yep, that's an announcement) and I still love YA and middle grade books so much. I can't gush enough about how wonderfully diverse these books have become, especially in the way of LGBTQ representation. Lots of Jewish books here, no surprise. I've also found some fun things over on TikTok's "booktok" - I love seeing how people put their favorite passions (reading! books!) into every form of social media. (You can find me on TikTok at imabima613)

Two final notes: I missed a book! I realized that I had never recorded that I read The Guncle, so I never wrote a review, and it never made it onto my list, until about a week ago. So...oops. Also, I decided to stop at 99 rather than get myself to the 100 mark and then feel like I could never reach it again. So....here's to reasonable and attainable goals! Also, everyone was posting their lists already and I felt a little bit of FOMO so....

Okay, so here's the list:

1. When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn
2. To Sir Phillip, With Love by Julia Quinn
3. Sea Wife by Amity Gage
4. It's in His Kiss by Julia Quinn
5. Admission by Julie Buxbaum
6. On the Way to the Wedding by Julia Quinn
7. You Asked for Perfect by Laura Silverman
8. Caste: The Origins of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
9. Dear Martin by Nic Stone
10. The Inquisitor's Apprentice by Chris Moriarty
11. Hope and Other Punchlines by Julie Buxbaum
12. A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet
13. A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum
14. Every Stolen Breath by Kimberly Gabriel
15. The Way Back by Gavriel Savit
16. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
17. The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly
18. The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan
19. It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
20. The Charmed Wife by Olga Grushin
21. You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
22. Send for Me by Lauren Fox
23. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
24. The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman
25. Beheld by TaraShea Nesbit
26. Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu
27. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
28. Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
29. The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
30. The Consequences of Fear by Jacqueline Winspear
31. Adulting by Liz Talley
32. The Children's Blizzard by Melanie Benjamin
33. Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May
34. The Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
35. The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
36. Sweetshop of Dreams by Jenny Colgan
37. Our Year of Maybe by Rachel Lynn Solomon
38. Rebel Daughter by Lori Banov Kaufmann
39. Majesty by Katharine McGee
40. The Lines Between Us by Rebecca D'Harligue
41. Evening by Nessa Rapoport
42. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
43. While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams
44. Becoming Duchess Goldblatt by Duchess Goldblatt
45. One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
46. And the Bride Closed the Door by Ronit Matalon
47. Raising A+ Human Beings by Dr. Bruce Powell
48. Last Summer at the Golden Hotel by Elyssa Friedland
49. The Woman with the Blue Star by Pam Jenoff
50. To Be A Man by Nicole Krauss
51. Fat Chance, Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado
52. The Marrying of Chani Kaufman by Eve Harris
53. How to Disappear Completely by Ali Standish
54. The Chicken Sisters by K.J. Dell'Antonia
55. Float Plan by Trish Doller
56. The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer
57. The Cellist by Daniel Silva
58. The Assignment by Liza Wiemer
59. That Summer by Jennifer Weiner
60. While We Were Dating by Jasmine Guillory
61. Field Notes on Love by Jennifer E. Smith
62. The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
63. Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
64. Verity by Colleen Hoover
65. I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sanchez
66. The Queer Principes of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian
67. When the English Fall by David Williams
68. Golden Girl by Elin Hilderbrand
69. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
70. Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian
71. The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang
72. The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
73. The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee
74. The Book of Jeremiah: A Novel in Stories by Julie Zuckerman
75. The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
76. The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
77. I, Sarah Steinway by Mary E. Carter
78. The Song of Achilles by Madeline miller
79. The Best Place on Earth by Ayelet Tsabari
80. Motherland by Vineeta Vijayaraghavan
81. Beach Read by Emily Henry
82. Joyful by Ingrid Fetell Lee
83. The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
84. People Love Dead Jews by Dara Horn
85. How to Find What You're Not Looking For by Veera Hiranandani
86. Music of Bees by Eileen Garvin
87. Israel by Noa Tishby
88. Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
89. Linked by Gordan Korman
90. The Guncle by Steven Rowley
91. The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante
92. We are Not Like Them by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza
93. Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
94. Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff
95. Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
96. The Lost Things Club by J.S. Puller
97. Flight of the Puffin by Ann Braden
98. The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan
99. Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling

It's always really hard to choose favorites, but here are some of mine from the list above (I picked 1 per month) and I made a tiktok of them (I was going to write "cuz I'm cool that way" but I think if I'm writing that, I'm probably definitely not cool.) They might not be your favorites, but I liked them!

You Asked for Perfect
The Four Winds
The Rose Code
Firekeeper's Daughter
Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Fat Chance, Charlie Vega
The Matzah Ball
House in the Cerulean Sea
Hour of the Witch
Dictionary of Lost Words
The Reading List
Before the Coffee Gets Cold

Special mention: I have to put People Love Dead Jews on this list of "best" books I've read this year even though I might not say "favorite" to describe it. As you can see, I mostly read fiction but this one stood out and I can't stop thinking about it.  

Here are my monthly review posts:

January Books
February Books
March Books
April Books
May Books
June Books
July Books
August Books
September Books
October Books  

November Books  

December Books

I'm looking forward to starting new lists for 2022...I keep track of my books on Goodreads - follow me there. What do you think I should read in 2022? What are you going to read? What was the best book you read in 2021?

Previous years' book lists are here:

Books Read in 2020

Books Read in 2019

Books Read in 2018
Books Read in 2017
Books Read in 2016
Books Read in 2015
Books Read in 2014
Books Read in 2013
Books Read in 2012
Books Read in 2011
Books Read in 2010
Books Read in 2009
Books Read in 2008

Books in August #MyLifeInBooks

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune - I really loved this story, which felt both real and allegorical all at the same time. What a beautiful way to talk about loving people for who they are. 

Malibu Rising by Taylor Reid Jenkins - Great family drama story, breathlessly waiting to find out how it all came together. 

Verity by Colleen Hoover - people LOVE this book but I did not. I do like romance novels, but this was a "romance thriller" and let me tell you, those two things did not marry well for me. I had a pretty good idea of how the twist might play out, and I was just reading to find out if my hunch was correct.

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez - An interesting look at an immigrant family struggling to find their place in Chicago. A tough story that felt full of truth.

The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian - This one somewhat underwhelmed me. I think I kept wondering "is that historically right?" and some of the story lines felt a little too modern for the 18th century setting. The love story was interesting but the rest of the plot was a little plodding.

When the English Fall by David Williams - File this under "TikTok made me do it" since I saw a review of this one on that platform (yep, just outed myself there). I have always read dystopian-world-ending literature but tried to put it on hold during the whole ACTUAL pandemic scenario, but I picked this one up because the premise was so interesting. What would happen to the Amish community if the world ground to a halt? Interesting, sad, and a good read. 

Golden Girl by Elin Hilderbrand - I have not read ALL of her books, but I have read several. This one was a little....odd. I'm not sure this book needed the paranormal element. Without it, it might have still been an interesting family drama. The paranormal just felt...unnecessary. Okay, I said it. 

January Books
February Books
March Books
April Books
May Books
June Books
July Books

July 2020 Books #mylifeinbooks

The Girl from Berlin by Ronald Balson - okay, I've done it! I've read all the books so-far in this series. A tiny bit formualaic but I am not complaining. I loved it. Twisty and turny historical mystery.

The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare - what a gorgeous book. A young Nigerian girl finds her "voice" and the writing just pulled me along....I definitely highly recommend this one!

Cleo Macdougal Regrets Nothing by Alison Winn Scotch - This one was enjoyable and quick. It was almost like the fully-fictionalized version of Rodham!

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett - this book deserves all the buzz it's getting. It was really good, and I continue to think about it.

The Yellow Bird Sings by Jennifer Rosner - I read a lot of Holocaust literature, and I often take a big deep breath before I start...this one had a little too much sweetness in it, but it was really beautiful and well-done.

The Order by Daniel Silva - What can I say? My favorite reading day of the year is when the newest Gabriel Allon book comes out and I was definitely not disappointed this year. I love the whole thing. More history of the Catholic Church than usual but well-researched and interesting! A perfect summer ritual.

The Royal We by Heather Cox - Hmm. I did not like this book. In fact, I gave it up once and then went back to it mostly because I really did want to find out what happened. I just thought the characters were pretty flat and the romance was not believable. Meh. I will not be reading the sequel....

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid - So good! Deserving of all the buzz it's getting too. Plus, so many issues that are really relevant in my own neighborhood. I couldn't put this one down.

Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland - Really enjoyed this story of a period of American history that was so interesting. A few elements almsot wanted whole books of their own - the land bust in Florida, the incubator babies display in Atlantic City, the swimming of the English Channel, and yet there was enough to keep me reading and enjoying the snippets of each story. A really good read.

June's List
May's List
April's List

March's List

February's List

January's list

June 2020 Book #mylifeinbooks

So...here's June's books. I'm halfway through the year and WOW have there been a lot of great things to read so far this year. What are you reading? 

The Trust by Ronald Balson - perhaps you've noticed that I'm working my way through his books. I liked this one since it was a little different from the other books that feature Liam and Catherine. Set in Northern Ireland, it dives quite a bit into the conflicts there and the long lasting effects of those battles. I only have one of his books left to read before I've caught up to all of them!

Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes - wow, this one was hard and sad and beautiful all at once. Reading in the wake of the current protests, thinking about George Flody and so many others killed by police, and bringing the Emmet Till story into the mix...it was really well-done. This is intended to be a middle-grade novel, but I'm not sure I would hand it to a kid without really having some hard conversations alongside it.

Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi - I've read Ibram Kendi's book "How to be an Anti Racist" and several others, but I liked this "not-history" book, as the author puts it, because it was less of a prescription and far more of a how-did-we-get-here kind of book. It's the YA version of "Stamped from the Beginning" (which I haven't read) and I highly recommend it. So much history here that I just didn't know - so much about how the concept of race was constructed to keep, hold, and maintain power structures. So much to think about and to re-learn.

The Book of V by Anna Solomon - Anyone looking for a straightforward historical fiction re-telling of the Vashti/Esther narrarive will not find it here, but it was a really interesting back-and-forth look at how women have dealt with their powerlessness in different ways through history. It felt a little unfinished, a little unsatisfying, but still readable - the writing was great but I kept waiting for a real plot to develop...

I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown - After listening to Austin speak on Brene Brown's podcast (highly recommend), I wanted to read her book and I was not disappointed. It was a highly personal memoir that really laid bare the exhaustion that Black people feel in America today. I think I want to re-read this one, and I've been recommending it all over (and above some of the other books on the anti-racism reading lists that are going around) because I found it so compelling and readable. So much to think about and to re-learn...I continue the work every day.

In Five Years by Rebecca Searle - hmm. I liked this book, ultimately, but I wasn't sure I liked it while I was reading it. I couldn't tell where it was going to go, but I think I appreciated where it ended up. This is a good summer read (even though it's a bit of tear-jerker too).

Invisible as Air by Zoe Fishman - A quick read but I think this one will stick with me. Each character's perspective on a massive family grief experience cut through me. I kept thinking - that could have easily been our family.... Addiction of multiple kinds, death of a child, and a Bar Mitzvah - this one was a tough read but I recommend it.

Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah - this reminded me of Room, and it was sweet and sad but also totally predictable in a comfortable-sweater type of way. I read this in one Shabbat mostly in my hammock, and that should tell you everything you need to know about this book!

Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld - At first, I was a little put-off by the author choosing to write this book in the first person, since it was obviously not penned by the real person. But as the book progressed, I'm not sure I could have had it any other way. I was riveted by the what-might-have-been, but also by the way that women have to act in order to get to the top of their game. I thought it was a powerful statement about how hard it will actually be to get our country to elect the first woman president, and it faced, head on, some of those issues.

The Betrothed by Kiera Cass - preditctable, silly, and felt like a weird opposite-land to Rodham. I probably won't read any more of the books in this series (I can always find people to whom that is anathema) but I passed a lovely Shabbat afternoon in this book. So who's complaining?

A Room Away from the Wolves by Nova Ren Suma - totally did not understand this book. I kept reading, hoping to understand and figure out the plot. But I just didn't get it. If you've read it, please help me. Also, I feel better now that I've read several other readers' reviews that say they didn't get it either. It had a really cool feel to the writing and the storytelling, I just didn't really follow it all!

Feast Your Eyes by Myla Goldberg - I usually read on a Kindle, and this may have been easier on a real book - I had a bit of a hard time keeping track of the different voices, but once I figured out their different styles/tones, I really enjoyed this one. A tough story about a mother and daughter told in an incredibly interesting style of a catalogue of a photography exhibit. Really great! (I almost burned dinner because I was distracted by reading...)

May's List
April's List
March's List
February's List
January's list

May 2020 Books #MyLifeInBooks

The Plot Against America by Philip Roth - how is it that I have never read this one before? Perhaps I'm not the biggest Philip Roth fan. But anyway. I read this one while watching the HBO miniseries, and they really did a nice job of complementing each other. I'm not sure I would have fully understood all the nuances of the TV show without the book, and I enjoyed having the visuals to go along with it as I read. I think the book did a better job of tying up the ending (maybe a little too neatly) but the TV show updated the message a little - reminding us that democracy is messy and unpredictable. Definitely worth the read!

Saving Sophie by Ron Balson - the second book in the Liam-and-Catherine series, and I liked it a lot. Perhaps things got a little too easily sewn up but it was still a great read, and I enjoy the characters and the writing. (Looking forward to reading the next one. I do like a series that already has a bunch of books waiting for me!)

The Imperfects by Amy Meyerson - this book reminded me a little of the Immortalists in the family dynamic sense of it, with a twist of historical mystery thrown in. Very readable and enjoyable. I found myself drawn to the historical mystery a little more than the family drama, but I liked both storylines and it kept my attention for the whole read! (Plus, I liked the ending.)

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo - I can't believe I've never read this before. Our school's whole third grade is reading it and Solly has declared it his "favorite book EVER that isn't Harry Potter" so I knew I had to read it. Delightful, of course, and thankfully, I can now discuss it in VERY detailed detail with him. Whew. (P.S. The movie is available on Disney+ right now and it's also good. And if you'd like Solly to give you a blow-by-blow account of the ways that the book differs from the movie, feel free to give him a call.)

Karolina's Twins by Ron Balson - okay, so remember how I said I like a series that has a bunch of books waiting for me? Still true. Also true: I am a sucker for a good procedural, and these are just non-formulaic enough to keep me reading and guessing. The third book in the Liam-and-Catherine show did not disappoint, and in fact, kept me up very late one night to find out what happened at the end!

How We Fight for Our Lives by Saeed Jones - what an incredible memoir. The writing was superb and the personal story was painful to read but also beautiful to know that the writer got to this point, to crafting this work. It is his personal story of growing up in Texas while gay and black. A double whammy, as he makes clear through his telling. This one feels like a gift to the world. (But it is not G or even PG-rated....)

Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner - a fun read that didn't really have a lot of depth to it. Sometimes that is soooo good. I liked the social media aspect and the body-consciousness that came with it.

Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins - this is a pre-quel to the Hunger Games series, and I liked the way that it laid out how the Hunger Games as we know them came to be...It suffered, as prequels do, from any real uncertainty about the future of our main character, since we know who they turn out to be. But still, I liked returning to Panem (even though I hate Panem) and it was definitely a fun read!

Turtle Boy by M. Evan Wolkenstein - I received a review copy of this one and I really enjoyed reading it. The main character is a 7th grader who lives in Wisconsin. The story was sweet and touching, with a lot of self-awareness about how we find compassion for our friends, for others, and for ourselves. As a Wisconsin Jew myself, I was a tiny bit surprised by how many Jews lived in this small town, but I can suspend my disbelief for that! Overall a good read - I'm looking forward to convincing Yael to read it so I can hear the opinion of a 7th grader!

All Adults Here by Emma Straub - this was another slightly-dysfunctional-family-story but an engaging one. Much of this story was about the difference between privacy and secrecy - the author even spells that lesson out at one point - and I thought that was meaningful and powerful. It's a huge and important distinction that is hard to learn. This was a good one to add to your summer reading lists.

An Unorthodox Match by Naomi Ragen - I used to love her books and then I got turned off by her politics and some of her stridency. This one felt a little preachy but pretty compelling, even though you pretty much knew how it was going to end. I appreciated the "lifting of the veil" on mental illness in the Jewish community, since that is a fairly important issue. Very readable, even if the characters felt a little bit caricatured (especially the mom).

Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley - jumping on the bandwagon of books-about-bookshops and teen-romances-in-anonymous-letters, this one was a sweet and sad love story. I enjoyed it as an easy summer hammock read...

April's List
March's List
February's List
January's list

April 2020 Books #mylifeinbooks

(I can't decide if these lists should be in order or in reverse order...and does it matter? Sometimes I find myself in an interesting sequence of books...so sometimes sequence matters. Usually it's irrelevant, though, so I'm just writing this header to make a note of it!)

The Opposite of Love - this was not my favorite of this author's works. I have found her writing about teens and grief and love to be really moving and lovely. This one was a little disappointing, although I wanted to know what would happen. I'm pretty sure this was her first book, and it took her a little bit to find her voice in her later books!

An Everlasting Meal - I wish I could remember who recommended this (was it you?) but this was delightful. Especially in a time when I'm constantly thinking about what to cook my family for dinner and how to make something from what is in my pantry...but even in a time of plenty. I enjoyed her style and her approach to food and cooking. I am definitely sharing this one with David, who will be heading out into his own kitchen someday soon....

Untamed - Writer Glennon Doyle has made quite a shift since her first book (which I read too). In her first book, she felt real but there was something that rubbed me a little wrong...and it seems as though it may have bothered her a little bit too (ha, that's meant to be an understatement). I liked the slightly disjointed style, as though I were just having a conversation with her, and I liked seeing how she pieced the elements of her story together. "We can do hard things" is not an original idea to her but it certainly found its mark with me as I read it during this time of worldwide trauma. Highly recommend this one!

4-3-2-1 - let me start by saying that this book is loooong. By long, I mean that my kindle told me it would take me over 12 hours to read and it is over 800 pages. It was totally worth it. But wow. It's such an interesting premise - one character followed through four different life-paths. A little like the movie Sliding Doors. I had a little bit of a hard time following each of the paths fully, since they were broken up (chapter 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, and then 2.1, 2.2...etc, so it wasn't four separate novelas but instead each life path carried on and then you went back to the next one). The chapters were long, too, so I didn't always remember which life-path I was reading, but I just kept going with the flow, and I didn't care too much which storyline I was reading! To be honest, I think it was a little too heavy on the history, name-dropping, book-list/movie-list-making, etc - and could have been pared down a little to tell the story. But....all that, it was a great read.

Chosen Ones - new book from the author of Divergent, and it was a nice break to read something a little flighty and escapist. Magic, bad guys, good guys-who-might-be-bad, all of that. A reluctant heroine....overall, I enjoyed this quick read!

P.S. This seems like such a short list! Hopefully I will read more books in May....

March's List
February's List
January's list

March 2020 Books

Have you noticed that the world feels topsy-turvy? (that was a joke) It's been hard to focus and I feel like I'm working around the clock, so there have been fewer books in March than in previous months...but I'm still over here reading. 

The Cactus - this was a little bit of a meh read for me. It felt a little like Eleanor Oliphant but not as compelling. Maybe I wouldn't read this unless you were stuck at home and didn't have much else to do....

Wunderland - I read a lot of books about the Holocaust, and this one was a little bit unique in its perspective of two young women in Berlin as the Nazis come to power...and in the aftermath of all of that. One of the women discovers a family secret (it's a spoiler for me to tell you, I think, but I'm betting you can guess) and it changes her whole life. This one was definitely worth reading!

House of the Broken Angels - last month, I read American Dirt, and I committed myself to reading another book by a Latinx author to balance the controversy. I chose this one because I heard this author specifically speak against the American Dirt book. House of the Broken Angels was a little bit of a tough read for me, but it also might have been due to the chaos that seems to have erupted in the world while I was reading it. The story was powerful and strong, a saga of a Mexican-American family and their immigrant experience. It was also interesting to compare to my own family's immigrant story.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January  - a fantasy tale about the power of words and stories. In this world, there are "doors" that open into other worlds, and people who want to close them all down. Sound familiar? My favorite quote: "I believe I already know what happens to a world without doors." I really liked this one.

My Dark Vanessa - has this ever happened to you: you start reading a book and think to yourself, "what on earth convinced me to put this book on my to-read list?" That was how I felt as I started this dark and really difficult book. Did you recommend this book to me? It was sad and hard to read this story of a young woman who was a victim of a sexual predator, a teacher at her school. The book is getting a lot of press, and I recommend you read some articles and interviews before you decide if you want to read this one...

Once We Were Brothers - how have I never read this book or any books in this series? So weird. (Thanks, Julie, for putting it on my list!) Anyway, I enjoyed this one. I was pretty sure I knew how it would end (I mean, come on...) but I still liked reading the story and seeing it play out. I've just grabbed the second book in this series from the library app so I'll probably tell you about that one next month. I also liked the Chicago setting... anyway, this was a good, readable, solid Holocaust telling.

February's List
January's list

What are you reading?

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February 2020 Books #mylifeinbooks

This month's reading...I'm trying to keep up with short reviews this year. So far, 2 months in a row seems like it might be a trend....

Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life-in Judaism (after Finally Choosing to Look There) by Sarah Hurwitz - I really like her voice. Of course, she's a speechwriter! But I really liked the way she put things, and my favorite parts were when she was sharing her own stories. It's also a very accessible basic-Judaism-text, which is always nice to have. Looking forward to meeting her next month.

Kaddish.com by Nathan Englander - Leading a book discussion on this one soon. I didn't expect to enjoy it at all - but it was a quick read and good food for thought. There were parts of this book that seemed a little far-fetched and I'm not sure I "bought" the main character. Looking forward to a group discussion on this one.

Song for a Whale by Lynne Kelly - a sweet middle-grade novel about a Deaf girl and her yearning for connection. I just handed this one to Solly so I am looking forward to hearing what he thinks! Loved the main character....

The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali - I really enjoyed this one. It was an interesting look at Iran in the 1950s and I'm always fascinated by the changing roles of women in general. It's a little hard to believe in the ending, but at the same time, it felt satisfying and good.

Ban This Book by Alan Gratz - This is a middle-grade novel that's gotten a bit of press. It's about banned books (I bet you guessed that from the title) and a group of kids who love to read! It made me want to re-read some of my favorites from my childhood too. Well done!

White Fragility by Robin Diangelo - I am still thinking about this book long after I've put it down. What an interesting, fascinating, troubling (in a good way) read. I read How to Be an AntiRacist at the end of last year and this was such a remarkable complement. I'm looking forward to hearing the author speak next month and I am still processing. I think everyone should read this one, and I look forward to hearing what people have to say to me about it. Here's the quote that I think stuck with me the most (although there were several): "When I start from the premise that of course I have been thoroughly socialized into the racist culture in which I was born, I no longer need to expend energy denying that fact." And her use of some really interesting terms like "interrupting racism" - this has my mind spinning in so many directions.

The Unbreakables by Lisa Barr - I needed a little bit of lighter fare after White Fragility and this was a good one. Not too fluffy but a good story about a woman finding herself after her marriage implodes.

What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum - I picked this YA novel up because last month, I read a book by this author at Yael's suggestion. This author writes beautifully about grief. The main character in this book is on the autism spectrum and it seems like a really interesting portrayal (I am reluctant to say accurate) of insight into that person's character. Is it all wrapped up a little too neatly? Maybe. But I liked it anyway.

I Can Make This Promise by Christine Day - a middle grade novel that I can't quite tell you how it got on my shelf but I'm pretty sure it was from an article highlighting diverse voices in literature. A story about a girl trying to find her "home" and learning more about her own family's history. Heartbreaking look at the way that the Native population was torn apart by US policy...a good introduction for younger readers.

The Liar by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen - like her first book, Waking Lions, this book explores the meaning of truth and how lies multiply and escalate. I loved the slightly dreamy quality of the storytelling and the way that lies create circles that ensnare everyone in them.....highly recommend this one!

American Dirt by Jeannine Cummins - okay, so this one has sat for me for a little while due to all of the controversy. So many people have derided this book for a myriad of reasons but I have also heard that it was readable, compelling, and powerful. So what's a reader to do? I decided to go for it, and I did find the story painful and interesting, well-told, and I very much appreciated the author's insight at the end of the book as to her own misgivings about writing a story that some might feel she doesn't "have the right to tell." All that being said, I think any book shedding light on important topics is useful and I'd be curious to examine it with a group of people who could really tell me about its accuracy. Also, I've added a few Latinx authors to my to-read list to maybe balance out the controversial nature of this choice. What do you think???

The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives by Dashka Slater - Again, a recommendation from Yael, who is reading this book for her English class. Just this week, someone "misgendered" her (thanks to her newly shaved head) and it opened the door for us to have a really interesting conversation about gender and identity, all wrapped up in this story as well. This is non-fiction, but uses some really nice storytelling conventions like poetry, blog posts, news reports, etc, and multiple perspectives, to tell two really important stories of injustice that intersect in this one incident. I'm really really really looking forward to discussing with Yael and also to hearing/seeing how this is integrated into her 7th grade English class!

Here's January's list

What are you reading?

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January 2020 Books #mylifeinbooks

I thought I'd give it a try to write short reviews as I go this year....let's see how well I can keep up!

The First Mrs. Rothschild - I enjoyed this look at a very interesting part of history, even if I thought the book itself was a little dry. I am always a fan of a book that takes the perspective of a woman that history may have overlooked.

Shouting at the Rain - a sweet middle-grade novel about friendship and loss. I preferred One for the Murphys but I thought this was a nice read from this author.

Finding Dorothy - I really liked this one - I am a big Oz fan, and while I'm pretty sure it's all entirely made up, it really just made me want to re-read Oz and re-watch the movie.

One of Us is Lying - A recommendation of a young friend, I really enjoyed this twisty Breakfast Club-inspired story. I'm less certain I need to read the sequel, but we'll see.

Mrs. Everything - Do we change for the world or does the world change us? I don't have a sister, and I find that I often gravitate toward sister stories - maybe I'm wondering what it's really like. I really enjoyed the exploration of female relationships and roles....

Allegedly - A recommendation of a former Confirmation student, WOW. This one kept me up late and I am still not sure how I feel about that ending...a dark, emotional, and pretty disturbing novel that really kept me on the edge of my seat!

Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know - I really like this sort of popular writing about science-y ideas, I think Malcolm Gladwell writes interesting and thought-provoking stuff. I'm still wondering how to apply some of these ideas.

American Royals - After those previous books, I wanted something light and fluffy and I loved this one. It was so fun to imagine a different USA and to imagine royal life. (PS if you like this one, make sure you also read Red, White, and Royal Blue) I can't wait for the sequel!

The Forgotten Room - As I was reading this one, I kept saying, "I know how it will end" and then claiming that I wanted to see if I was right. I was only partially right, so I think I enjoyed the whole thing!

The Beekeeper of Aleppo - A hard look at the trek of one Syrian family as they leave war-torn Aleppo to seek asylum in the UK. Powerful and hard to read, it felt like a realistic portrayal of the horrible stories that cause people to set off into the unknown, hoping it is better than whatever they are leaving behind.

Tell Me Three Things - Yael is reading this one so I thought I'd jump on her bandwagon. It was a sweet story about a girl working through grief, which is always interesting to me. I'm fascinated by the number of YA novels that have anonymous texts/emails in them....what's that about?

What are you reading?
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Books Read in 2019 #MyYearInBooks

So....about this time last year, I received a challenge from an unexpected source. A now-fifth grader, who really likes to read, announced that she was going to out-read me in 2019. (Her family are our dear friends, so this seemed like a pretty normal thing. Oh, and her parents are also rabbis...we do hang out in packs.)

Challenge accepted. After all, I can read 80 books in a year. I can beat a fifth grader, right?

It has actually turned out to be harder than you think! My young friend was very determined (and she might have a little more time on her hands than I do). A few weeks ago, we were neck-and-neck at 80ish books. I've been texting with her mom, and I'm excited to see her list for this year. It's been a lot of fun knowing that I was in competition with someone else, considering that I mostly just read for the fun of it! Also, I've been trying to decide how badly I want to win....Last night, we had a FaceTime call in which I conceded....and she continues to read on, hoping to hit her goal of 100 books (when we spoke, she was at 96). Since I have only hit 100 one year, I am totally impressed.

Winter Break was a great time to ignore everyone read all the books...but I didn't beat my young friend. I'm sure you're wondering what was on her list, and since she handwrote it, it will take us a little longer to share it. But hopefully it's coming!

Okay, so onto MY book list. I've had a great time with the reading thing this year, and perhaps inspired by my fifth grade friend, I read a lot of wonderful young adult and middle-grade fiction. There's some great stuff out there. I'm particularly intrigued by the diversity of relationships portrayed in these novels, and the gravity of the issues in these "kid" books.

1. Dear Evan Hansen by Emmich, Val  
2. The Boy, the Bird & the Coffin Maker by Woods, Matilda  
3. Small Spaces (Small Spaces, #1) by Arden, Katherine  
4. I Have Lost My Way by Forman, Gayle  
5. The Alice Network by Quinn, Kate  
6. Girl Made of Stars by Blake, Ashley Herring  
7. The Button War by Avi
8. Refugee by Gratz, Alan
9. There There by Orange, Tommy  
10. Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster by Auxier, Jonathan  
11. All Three Stooges by Perl, Erica
12. We Were the Lucky Ones by Hunter, Georgia  
13. The Lost Girls of Paris by Jenoff, Pam  
14. The Library Book by Orlean, Susan  
15. Red, White, Blue by Carpenter, Lea
16. The Girl They Left Behind by Veletzos, Roxanne  
17. The Heart's Invisible Furies by Boyne, John
18. Before We Were Yours by Wingate, Lisa  
19. The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt: A Tyranny of Truth by Krimstein, Ken  
20. Two By Two by Sparks, Nicholas  
21. Night of Miracles (Mason, #2) by Berg, Elizabeth
22. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by Grann, David
23. The American Agent (Maisie Dobbs, #15) by Winspear, Jacqueline  
24. Marilla of Green Gables by McCoy, Sarah  
25. All American Boys by Reynolds, Jason
26. The Huntress by Quinn, Kate  
27. The Hazel Wood (The Hazel Wood, #1) by Albert, Melissa  
28. What the Wind Knows by Harmon, Amy  
29. The War I Finally Won by Bradley, Kimberly Brubaker  
30. The Bookshop by Fitzgerald, Penelope
31. The Latte Factor: Why You Don't Have to Be Rich to Live Rich by Bach, David
32. Lost For Words by Butland, Stephanie  
33. The Scent Keeper by Bauermeister, Erica  
34. Wishtree by Applegate, Katherine
35. Not Our Kind by Zeldis, Kitty
36. Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Shapiro, Dani  
37. The Farm by Ramos, Joanne  
38. Red, White & Royal Blue by McQuiston, Casey  
39. The Peacock Emporium by Moyes, Jojo  
40. Holy Lands by Sthers, Amanda
41. Antisemitism: Here and Now by Lipstadt, Deborah E.
42. Love & Gelato by Welch, Jenna Evans
43. The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted by Hillman, Robert
44. The Waiting Room by Kaminsky, Leah  
45. Jerusalem Maiden by Carner, Talia  
46. The New Girl (Gabriel Allon #19) by Silva, Daniel
47. The Tobacconist by Seethaler, Robert
48. The Guest Book by Blake, Sarah  
49. Five Feet Apart by Lippincott, Rachael  
50. Evvie Drake Starts Over by Holmes, Linda  
51. Ask Again, Yes by Keane, Mary Beth  
52. The Girl He Used to Know by Garvis-Graves, Tracey  
53. The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Morris, Heather  
54. The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna by Grames, Juliet  
55. The Testaments by Atwood, Margaret  
56. The Third Daughter by Carner, Talia
57. Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again by Evans, Rachel Held
58. Scythe by Shusterman, Neal  
59. Graveyard Shakes by Terry, Laura  
60. Everything is Figureoutable by Forleo, Marie  
61. Resistance Women by Chiaverini, Jennifer  
62. Viva, Rose! by Krawitz, Susan  
63. Kindred by Butler, Octavia E.
64. The Truth About Leaving by Blitt, Natalie  
65. Red at the Bone by Woodson, Jacqueline  
66. The Kiss Quotient (The Kiss Quotient, #1) by Hoang, Helen  
67. The Bride Test (The Kiss Quotient, #2) by Hoang, Helen  
68. One Day in December by Silver, Josie  
69. The Deserter by DeMille, Nelson  
70. The Color of Love: A Story of a Mixed-Race Jewish Girl by Gad, Marra B.
71. I'm Not Dying with You Tonight by Jones, Kimberly
72. White Bird by Palacio, R.J.
73. How to Be an Antiracist by Kendi, Ibram X.  
74. The Gifted School by Holsinger, Bruce  
75. Pet by Emezi, Akwaeke  
76. The Downstairs Girl by Lee, Stacey  
77. The Dutch House by Patchett, Ann
78. The World That We Knew by Hoffman, Alice  
79. Finding Chika: A Little Girl, an Earthquake, and the Making of a Family by Albom, Mitch  
80. The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding by Robson, Jennifer  
81. The Starless Sea by Morgenstern, Erin  
82. Someday We Will Fly by DeWoskin, Rachel
83. Thunderhead (Arc of a Scythe, #2) by Shusterman, Neal  
84. The Toll (Arc of a Scythe, #3) by Shusterman, Neal  
85. Foolish Hearts by Mills, Emma
86. This Adventure Ends by Mills, Emma
87. Dry by Shusterman, Neal
88. On the Come Up by Thomas, Angie  
89. Things You Save in a Fire by Center, Katherine
90. The Giver of Stars by Moyes, JoJo
91. White Rose by Wilson, Kip

It's always so hard for me to choose favorites but a few that I would recommend....

Fiction recommendations:

The Heart's Invisible Furies

The Farm

The Gifted School

The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding

Evvie Drake Starts Over
Red, White, and Royal Blue

YA/Middle Grade Recommendations:

The Scythe Trilogy

On the Come Up (same author as The Hate U Give)

All Three Stooges

Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster
Dry (but it might freak you out and also make you very thirsty)

Non-fiction/memoir recommendations:

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

Antisemitism: Here and Now

The Color of Love: A Story of a Mixed-Race Jewish Girl

How to Be an Antiracist

The Latte Factor: Why You Don't Have to Be Rich to Live Rich (totally biased on this one - it's by my cousin David!)

I've tried to diversify my authors/topics this year, and I'm open to suggestions! I have a natural bias toward books with a Jewish theme, obviously, but I really like opening my mind to new ideas, new stories, new cultural worlds. 

I'm looking forward to starting new lists for 2020...I keep track of my books on Goodreads - follow me there. What do you think I should read in 2020? What are you going to read? What was the best book you read in 2019?

Previous years' book lists are here (can you believe I've been doing this book-post thing for this long?)

Books Read in 2018
Books Read in 2017
Books Read in 2016
Books Read in 2015
Books Read in 2014
Books Read in 2013
Books Read in 2012
Books Read in 2011
Books Read in 2010 (this year I read 100 -- a big highlight!)
Books Read in 2009
Books Read in 2008

Books Read in 2018 #MyYearInBooks #80in2018

Welcome to my 11th Annual Books-In-Review post!

This year was a lot of fun in reading - doesn't it feel like there are so many wonderful books out in the world right now? I will never ever ever "catch up" with all of the books that are on everyone's lists and that everyone suggests. It makes it all so much fun, though, to discuss with others who love books as much as I do. And at the end of the year, I adore reading all the "best of" lists and wishing I could read them all. 

This year, I read books 2 - 14 in the Maisie Dobbs series...so you can see 13 books by one author! I think that's a new record for me. Maisie Dobbs is a "girl detective" in the period between WW1 and WW2 in London. The books are a wonderful slice of historical fiction and just so much fun to read. Also, she drinks tea a LOT and I found myself always wishing for a biscuit and a cuppa.

So...here's this year's book list:

1. The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish
2. The Leavers by Lisa Ko
3. Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich
4. Denton Little's Death Date by Lance Rubin
5. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
6. Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
7. One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
8. The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
9. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
10. Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin
11. Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear
12. Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear
13. Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear
14. The Orchard by Yochi Brandes
15. An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear
16. The Kremlin's Candidate by Jason Matthews
17. Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear
18. The Mapping of Love and Death by Jacqueline Winspear
19. A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear
20. Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear
21. Leaving Everything Most Loved by Jacqueline Winspear
22. I Still See Her Haunting Eyes by Aaron Elster
23. A Dangerous Place by Jacqueline Winspear
24. Journey to Munich by Jacqueline Winspear
25. In This Grave Hour by Jacqueline Winspear
26. To Die but Once by Jacqueline Winspear
27. Beartown by Fredrik Backman
28. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
29. Jerusalem, Drawn and Quartered by Sarah Tuttle-Singer
30. The Prime Ministers by Yehuda Avner
31. The Cloister by James Carroll
32. The Power of Moments by Chip Heath
33. Sadness is a White Bird by Moriel Rothman-Zecher
34. Calypso by David Sedaris
35. Gateway to the Moon by Mary Morris
36. Mrs. by Caitlin Macy
37. The Emerald Circus by Jane Yolen
38. The Gallery of Vanished Husbands by Natasha Solomons
39. After Anatevka by Alexandra Silber
40. The Emperor of Shoes by Spencer Wise
41. The Last Watchman of Old Cairo by Michael David Lukas
42. We are Gathered by Jamie Weisman
43. The Other Woman by Daniel Silva
44. The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn
45. The Trick by Emanuel Bergman
46. Eternal Life by Dara Horn
47. The Life Lucy Knew by Karma Brown
48. All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin
49. The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
50. The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir
51. Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
52. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
53. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
54. Just One Day by Gayle Forman
55. Educated by Tara Westover
56. The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson
57. The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker
58. The Fate of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
59. The Girl with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke
60. Traitor by Jonathan de Shalit
61. The Moscow Sleepers by Stella Rimington
62. Paper Things by Jennifer Richard Jacobson
63. Three Floors Up by Eshkol Nevo
64. Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty
65. Everything Here is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee
66. Tasting the Sky by Ibtisam Barakat
67. Witchmark by C.L. Polk
68. The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner
69. Memento Park by Mark Sarvas
70. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
71. The Summer of Broken Things by Margaret Peterson Haddix
72. Resistance by Jennifer A. Nielsen
73. Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
74. Becoming by Michelle Obama
75. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
76. China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan
77. Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan
78. The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
79. The Spy with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke
80. Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World by Ashley Herring Blake

So what did I like? Wow, it was a good year. The Great Believers, The Weight of Ink, Pachinko, The Leavers, The Immoralists...all outstanding. Loved the pairing of Sisters of the Winter Wood and Spinning Silver, and I hadn't read the Crazy Rich Asians books but after seeing the movie...I decided it was time and I loved them! Gratitude to President Obama for recommending American Marriage and Educated, both really wonderful, and of course, he had to recommend Becoming, but that was well-deserved! Overall, it was a great year in reading and I can't even choose a favorite. 

I'm looking forward to starting new lists for 2019...I keep track of my books on Goodreads - follow me there. What do you think I should read in 2019? What are you going to read? What was the best book you read in 2018?

Previous years' book lists are here:

Books Read in 2017
Books Read in 2016
Books Read in 2015
Books Read in 2014
Books Read in 2013
Books Read in 2012
Books Read in 2011
Books Read in 2010 (this year I read 100 -- a big highlight!)
Books Read in 2009
Books Read in 2008

Books Read in 2017 #MyYearInBooks

This is my tenth annual book post! Before 2008, I never kept track of the books I read. I wish I had a whole list of every book I've ever read...wow, wouldn't that be amazing? It all got much easier when I started keeping track online. It seems to me that there are more and better books all the time -- I love the way that social media allows me to share in what others are reading all the time. I love the recommendations of friends' reading choices (there are a few friends who, when they post about a book, I immediately rush to get that one).

the view from the aforementioned hammock

I love looking over this list because often each book inspires memories of where I was while reading. Several were consumed from my hammock at camp...ahh....

So here is this year's list...

1. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
2. Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
3. It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis
4. El Deafo by Cece Bell
5. Swing Time by Zadie Smith
6. Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth
7. Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
8. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
9. My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me by Jennifer Teege
10. The Unlikely Spy by Daniel Silva
11. Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon
12. Run You Down by Julia Dahl
13. Conviction by Julia Dahl
14. The Girls by Emma Cline
15. My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
16. The Houseguest by Kim Brookis
17. Norwegian by Night by Derek Miller
18. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (can you believe I'd never read it?) by John Boyne
19. Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue
20. Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult
21. Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney
22. Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea
23. A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline
24. Option B by Sheryl Sandberg
25. Nine Folds Make a Paper Swan by Ruth Gilligan
26. The Widow of Wall Street by Randy Susan Meyers
27. All the Rivers by Dorit Rabinyan
28. The Arrangement by Sarah Dunn
29. Heirlooms: Stories by Rachel Hall
30. Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
31. The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict
32. Secondborn by Amy Bartol
33. And After the Fire by Lauren Belfer
34. House of Spies by Daniel Silva
35. Enchanted Islands by Allison Amend
36. Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal
37. The Inquisitor's Tale by Adam Gidwitz
38. The Extra by AB Yehoshua
39. Now by Morris Gleitzman
40. On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons for the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder
41. The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo
42. Becoming a Soulful Educator by Aryeh Ben David
43. The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild
44. The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan
45. Real Friends by Shannon Hale
46. Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging by Brene Brown
47. Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli
48. If All The Seas were Ink by Ilana Kurshan
49. Children of the Fleet by Orson Scott Card
50. Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
51. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
52. Tell Tale: Short Stories by Jeffrey Archer
53. The Cuban Affair by Nelson DeMille
54. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
55. Ronit and Jamil by Pamela Laskin
56. Waking Lions by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen
57. Boys are Dogs by Leslie Margolis
58. Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
59. The Power by Naomi Alderman
60. This is How it Always Is by Laurie Frankel
61. Fish in a Tree by Linda Mullaly Hunt
62. A Replacement Life by Boris Fishman
63. Pax by Sara Pennypacker
64. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

My favorites this year?
Homegoing and A Gentleman in Moscow definitely topped the list. Chilbury Ladies' Choir and Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk are also on my list of favorites. I was tickled by Tell Tale - I'm not usually a short story fan, but these were delightful. I also recommend This Is How It Always Is and Little Fires Everywhere, and Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk. The Hate U Give was really quite remarkable and powerful, and This is How it Always Is was so thought-provoking. (I'm really terrible at the "favorites" thing, as evidenced by my "favorite" Torah portion and my "favorite" child.)

I read quite a few books in tandem with Yael - we checked out two copies from the library, and I highly recommend Fish in a Tree and El Deafo (even though I usually don't love the graphic novel thing)!

My "to read" list for 2018, so far:

• Lincoln in the Bardo (this has topped a bunch of lists, but I didn't like last year's "best" book so....who knows)
• The Ministry of Utmost Happiness
• Pachinko
• The Leavers
• The Resurrection of Joan Ashby
• Very Jane Young
• The Weight of Ink

(I like these aggregate "best of" lists (one here and one here) - it's so hard to know which ones really are "the best" isn't it?)

For 2018, I'm also considering this challenge from Book Riot - it's called "Read Harder" and gives an interesting list of book categories. I'm not sure that I have the wherewithal to read "harder" but I do love the idea of stretching and reading books I might never have chosen otherwise. Are my book choices diverse? I'm not even sure! But "a book of genre fiction in translation"? Hmm....I think I might need some help with some of these categories. Are you interested in joining me in this challenge?

What else do you think I should read in 2018?

What are you going to read? What was the best book you read in 2017?
I keep track of my books on Goodreads - follow me there.

And previous years' book lists are here:

Books Read in 2016
Books Read in 2015
Books Read in 2014
Books Read in 2013
Books Read in 2012
Books Read in 2011
Books Read in 2010 (this year I read 100 -- a big highlight!)
Books Read in 2009
Books Read in 2008