I read (I think) 68 books this year. All were audio, except ten on Kindle, and a whopping one on paper. My top 10% in no particular order:
- Life is So Good by Richard Dawson
- Romney: A Reckoning by McKay Coppins
- My Real Name is Hanna by Tara Lynn Masih
- Outlive by Peter Attia
- The Small and the Mighty by Sharon McMahon
- The Unknown Beloved by Amy Harmon
- Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney
See my note after March.
January:
1. Romney: A Reckoning* by McKay Coppins - Very honest. I've never voted for Mitt Romney, but I have a lot of respect for him.
2. Dear Emmie Blue* by Lia Louis - Sweet.
3. The Terrible Two Get Worse* by Mac Barnett - Enjoyable, but not as good as the first one.
4. Zero Days* by Ruth Ware - I called this one pretty early on. It was good, but not my favorite.
5. My Real Name is Hanna* by Tara Lynn Masih - Such a truly beautiful and hopeful book. Everyone in book group loved this one.
6. The Terrible Two Go Wild* by Mac Barnett - This one was better than the second. The family really enjoyed it.
7. Gone Tonight* by Sarah Pekkanen - Fine but a little forgettable.
February:
8. Thank You for Listening* by Julia Whelan - A very fun listen. Way more depth than I expected (but still pretty light.)
9. Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know* by Malcolm Gladwell - Not his best. The audio production is top-notch, but this book left me wondering how it all connected and what we can do about these problems.
10. The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World by Desmond Tutu - Meaningful, but a bit of a slog. This was supposed to be for book group a few months back, and nobody read it. I felt the need to finish it (as I do).
11. Station Eleven* by Emily St. John Mandel - I remembered loving this one before the Covid-19 pandemic and wondered if it would hold up for me. It did.
12. Laughing Without an Accent: Adventures of an American Iranian at Home and Abroad by Firoozeh Dumas - Not as delightful as the first, but still worth a read. Includes touching and funny moments.
Look, somewhere along the way I stopped tracking my books dutifully. I wasn't keeping up on Goodreads and I neglected my personal spreadsheet. Historically, I could use Goodreads to figure out what months I read my books, but without Goodreads, I'm a little lost. I went through the history of my Libby app and looked through my Kindle, as well as Eric's Libby app for any books we listened to as a family. I think my list is complete.
Also, I didn't keep this post-dated blog post updated (I usually add to it throughout the year), so some of my thoughts about these books are completely lost. I'd beg for your forgiveness, but I'm confident nobody reads this.
13. Cultish: The Language of Fanatacism* by Amanda Montell - I remember not a lot about this one. Interesting while I listened.
14. The Women by Kristin Hannah - I know people adored this one, but I didn't think it was her best. I did like it, but not as much as everyone else seems to.
15. To Say Nothing of the Dog* by Connie Willis - I wanted to love this one, but it lasted too long.
16. Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents by Lindsay C. Gibson - I think most people should read this book.
17. Chasing Lincoln's Killer* by James L. Swanson - Worth reading.
18. The Terrible Two's Last Laugh* by Mac Barnett & Jory John - This audio series is delightful.
19. We Begin at the End* by Chris Whitaker - I felt like this one was a slow.
20. City Spies* by James Ponti - The family enjoyed this one.
21. The Bomber Mafia* by Malcolm Gladwell - I thought I'd like this better than I did. I just found it slow.
22. Framed! by James Ponti - This is a fun series for the family.
23. Vanished! by James Ponti - A bit more of the same, but overall, the family really likes this author.
24. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone* by J. K. Rowling - I love to relisten to this series. I don't do it every year, but sometimes for long runs, it's nice to listen to something I've heard/read several times before.
25. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets* by J. K. Rowling - Ditto.
26. I Was Here* by Gayle Foreman - This one was hard to listen to, but I appreciated it. Having lost a friend to suicide a year ago, I felt like it grappled with some of those emotions really well.
27. The Thief Lord* by Cornelia Funke - Eric picked this one, and the family liked it decently well.
28. Empire of Pain* by Patrick Radden Keefe - Look, I'm more skeptical than ever about the healthcare industry and pharmaceutical companies. This family was terrible and deserves to be raked through he mud.
29. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban* by J. K. Rowling - Comfort book.
30. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire* by J. K. Rowling - That cemetery scene will always get me.
31. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix* by J. K. Rowling -
32. The Hotel Nantucket* by Elin Hilderbrand - This was my second one of hers, and I found it delightful.
33. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince* by J. K. Rowling - Let's stop pretending Snape was some kind of hero.
34. The Younger Wife* by Sally Hepworth - I don't remember this at all. Like, at all. I'm pretty sure it was a modern Jane Eyre.
35. All Good People Here* by Ashley Flowers - Not the best.
36. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows* by J. K. Rowling - I will always think this one was a little longer than it needed to be.
37. Intertwine* by Nichole Van - A really delightful time-travel book.
38. I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy - Woof. What dumpster fire her childhood was. I'm glad she's been able to start to recover from that. I think most adults who were in the child entertainment industry are probably liable for some level of abuse. It was bad on so many fronts.
39. Nothing Like it in the World* by Stephen E. Ambrose - We listened to this as a family, and even though it's definitely for adults, my girls understood it and followed along. We stopped often to explain different concepts. I loved learning about the Chinese who worked on the railroads.
40. Outlive by Peter Attia - Have I talked to you about Healthcare 2.0? Because it's here, and we need to pay attention to it. There is so much we can do to be healthier and have better lives!
41. The Left-Handed Twin* by Thomas Perry - I enjoy this author while I'm on long runs. I like this series, but it may have run its course.
42. A Small Town* by Thomas Perry - Not his best, but it was adequately engaging.
43. The Song of the Cell* by Siddhartha Mukherjee - We started listening to this as a family, and it immediately kicks off with a discussion of a fast-growing skin cancer. I had, within a day or two prior to starting this book, told Eric to go to a dermatologist about a weird sore/scar on his arm. Eric only listened to the first hour or so of this book, but it was enough to convince him to see a dermatologist. (And thank goodness he did, because his skin issue was serious enough to be need removal, but no need for alarm.) This book was long and a little hard to keep up with, but I will talk your ear off about the two types of depression if you ever want to talk about that.
44. The Death of Mrs. Westaway* by Ruth Ware - Do I remember the ending of this? No. But I remember enjoying it. It's probably based on another book, but I don't know which one.
45. The Mysterious Affair at Styles* by Agatha Christie - Not my favorite. It was fine.
46. Landline* by Rainbow Rowell - Just as good as people say. Nurture your dang relationships, folks.
47. Nightwatching* by Tracy Sierra - This was some excellent psychological suspense. I started it, and then it expired. I'm glad I made it back.
48. The Paris Apartment* by Lucy Folley - Engaging, and I'm always interested in stories with lots of characters. But this one was pretty unbelievable (and I say that as someone who reads a lot of unbelievable things.)
49. The Heiress* by Rachel Hawkins - I already don't remember a thing about this book. Oh wait, I just looked it up. Very engaging, but clearly I forgot about it as soon as it was over.
50. Hello Stranger* by Katherine Center - I need to read more by this lady. She is very good.
51. After I Do* by Taylor Jenkins Reid - I love this author, and this was my least favorite of hers.
52. Four Thousand Weeks* by Oliver Burkeman - This book gave me a lot to think about. I don't think it's great in terms of learning about time management. It's more about how to change your thinking about time and how you spend it. Definitely more philosophical than practical.
53. Attachments* by Rainbow Rowell - I liked this one a lot. Not as much as Landline, but still very enjoyable.
54. The Unknown Beloved by Amy Harmon - Excellent. It's such a downer of a topic (a serial killer), but Amy infused it with hope and light and goodness.
55. Undaunted Courage* by Stephen E. Ambrose - I loved learning about Lewis and Clark.
56. Daisy Darker* by Alice Feeney - I didn't know this would be perfect for Halloween, but it definitely was. This was just such a good take on And Then There Were None.
57. Think Again* by Adam Grant - I probably need a paper copy of this one. It was just so full of good stuff.
58. The Vacation Rental by Katie Sise - I frequently wanted to quit this one, but I hung in there and appreciated the twists.
59. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo - Apparently, she has a duology that I should read. This one was fine.
60. The Five-Star Weekend* by Elin Hilderbrand - Again, I love the way this author pokes fun of herself. I really loved the variety of characters and the pacing of this book.
61. The Lost Apothecary* by Sarah Penner - I loved the old story and hated the modern one.
62. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek* by Kim Michele Richardson - I read another book about the packhorse librarians sometimes back. I liked this one as well. It had some interesting elements with the blue people.
63. The Small and the Mighty* by Sharon McMahon - The conversational nature of the narration is certainly different for a history book. I generally appreciated it, but I'm kind of a history book snob, and sometimes it felt patronizing. Despite that, I think Sharon did an excellent job drawing out stories of regular folks who did important things. I've been following Sharon since 2020 (and even saw her live in October 2023), and her book did not let me down.
64. Life is So Good by Richard Dawson - When we talk about books that I won't stop talking about, this is it. I loved hearing about history from somebody who lived through it, and to hear a Black man's perspective on things. I also loved the East Texas and Dallas connections. (He lived near where some of my ancestors lived, and then spent his adulthood in Dallas.) Despite all the hardships and challenges of his life, he remained hopeful and grateful.
65. Grave Talk by Nick Spalding - A little bit twee, but it was fine.
66. Finnikin of the Rock* by Melina Marchetta - I'd read it before. I bought the audible version because I had a credit, and I remembered really liking it. I still really like it.
67. Jacob Marley* by R. William Bennett - An excellent Christmas read. This is such a good take on the first ghost who visits Ebeneezer Scrooge.
68. The Law of Love by Steve Young - I love the concept. The application is the challenge. The book was a bit repetitive.
*Denotes an audiobook.
