My reading year is December-November for the sake of this list.

Obviously this year has been bananas, but my reading life is becoming increasingly delightful, pandemic notwithstanding. Once again, the incredible podcast Currently Reading bears much of the responsiblity for that. I am getting better at knowing which recommendations to listen to and quitting when a book is just not right for me, at least not for now.

1. Wundersmith by Jessica Townsend*
2. The Letter by Kathryn Hughes
3. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas*
4. Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus edited by Nancy Guthrie* (this is not really what I expected, but it was good)
5. Anti-Diet: Reclaim Your Time, Money, Well-Being, and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating by Christy Harrison*
6. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik*
7. Queen of Nothing by Holly Black*
8. American Royals by Katharine McGee*
9. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson*
10. The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht*
11. The Witch Elm by Tana French (I was sadly disappointed by this one)
12. The Holdout by Graham Moore*
13. Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson
14. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens*
15. The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson
16. A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Bridgid Kemmerer*
17. The Guest List by Lucy Foley
18. A Is for Alibi by Sue Grafton
19. Turbo Twenty-Three by Janet Evanovich*
20. Poison by Sara Poole*
21. The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James
22. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo*
23. A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer*
24. Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth*
25. In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
26. All This I Will Give to You by Delores Redondo
27. The Jane Austen Playbook by Lucy Parker
28. I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown*
29. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng*
30. An American Princess: The Many Lives of Allene Tew by Annejet van der Zijl*
31. A Good Marriage by Kimberley McCreight*
32. Hope Heals: A True Story of Overwhelming Loss and an Overcoming Love by Jay and Katherine Wolf*
33. Strange Fruit, Vol 1 by Joel Christian Gill*
34. I Look Up to… Serena Williams by Anna Membrino*
35. I Got Rhythm by Connie Schofield-Morrison*
36. Brown Sugar Babe by Charlotte Watson*
37. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid*
38. The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware*
39. In the Hall with the Knife by Diana Peterfreund*
40. Sonic the Hedgehog, Vol 1: Fallout! by Ian Flynn
41. Cari Mora by Thomas Harris
42. Dog Man by Dav Pilkey* (NB: words forbidden in some houses, like “stupid,” appear)
43. In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware*
44. Hey Black Child by Useni Eugene Perkins*
45. D’Aulaires’ Book of Animals by Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire
46. Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace*
47. The Lying Game by Ruth Ware*
48. The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher*
49. Timeline by Michael Crichton*
50. Wherever You Go, I Want You to Know… by Melissa Kruger*
51. The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
52. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman*
53. Thorn by Intisar Khanani*
54. March: Book One by John Lewis et al*
55. One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London*
56. One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus*
57. The Unidentified:Mythical Monsters, Alien Encounters, and Our Obsession with the Unexplained by Colin Dickey*
58. Guys Read: Terrifying Tales edited by Jon Scieszka
59. The Secret History by Donna Tartt* (trigger warnings – let me know if you need more details)
60. Seige and Storm by Leigh Bardugo*
61. The Night Swim by Megan Goldin*
62. The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton*
63. American Royals: Majesty by Katharine McGee*
64. D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths by Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire* (y’all this is middle grade but it’s also an excellent primer for Greek mythology if you don’t mind the way it’s been sanitized. Level up with Edith Hamilton’s Mythology)
65. Guys Write for Guys Read edited by Jon Scieska
66. House of Salt and Sorrow by Erin A. Craig*
67. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas*
68. The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom
69. The City We Became by NK Jemisin (I liked the idea of this book, but the execution just missed me)
70. Spider-Gwen: Most Wanted? by Latour Rodriguez*
71. The Sisters Grimm: The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley*
72. Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar*
73. Mycroft Holmes by Kareem Abdul-Jabar and Anna Waterhouse*
74. The Art of Turning: From Sin to Christ for a Joyfully Clear Conscience by Kevin DeYoung (note the lack of a star here)
75. Home Before Dark by Riley Sager*
76. The Tea Girl of Hummingbiard Lane by Lisa See* (trigger warnings galore – let me know if you need to know more)
77. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson*
78. Batman: White Knight by Sean Murphy with Matt Hollingsworth*
79. One by One by Ruth Ware*
80. Gay Girl, Good God by Jackie Hill Perry*
81. Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman by Lindy West (so many trigger warnings I can’t issue a blanket recommendation in good conscience, but there were many reasons that this book was really really good)
82. I’d Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life by Anne Bogel*
83. The Shadows by Alex North* (couple trigger warnings)