september: 37, 38, and 39

the vigilante, by john steinbeck (this was a little set of three short stories, none of which i'd read before, that i bought a year or so ago.  honestly, i forgot how dire things are in steinbeck's stories, and how devastating his clear and simple writing can be.  these stories were tough to get through and i'm not sure i'd recommend steinbeck in this already depressing year, but i was glad to read this book that had been on my shelf.)

still life, by louise penny (people who love mysteries love this author, and this is the first in a series.  i thought it was fine?  it really didn't do much for me (oops, sorry, to all you mystery lovers) but i think that reflects more on my genre interests and not on the author.  mystery just isn't my jam and i was happy to have that confirmed.)

the water dancer, by ta-nehisi coates (a beautifully written book with a really interesting story line, that was another depressing read (and which i should have seen coming, given the subject matter - slavery and the underground railroad).  i'd highly recommend this book, but it was a bit of a slog for me because life in september 2020 was a bit of a slog.  that said, i love coates and this book is fantastic.)

august: 36

august was a crazy month, as we finalized everything to go back to school in person.  honestly, it feels like it was years ago.  apparently i only read one book! 

 

just mercy, by bryan stevenson (this is a re-read - i originally read it in december 2016 after seeing the author speak.  my initial write up is here.  i re-read it this summer with some coworkers after the police shootings and black lives matter protests brought the book back to the forefront of my mind.  i highly recommend it if you haven't read it!)

july: 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, & 35

this month i read:

white fragility, by robin diangelo (i listened to the audiobook of this, along with the rest of white liberal america, i'm sure.  she's doing a digital speaking event in pittsburgh in september, which i have a ticket to, and i'm eager to hear her speak.  this was helpful and reinforcing of other DEI work that i've done, and parts were "aha" moments for me, but others just reinforced what i already thought or was trying to do.  i'd definitely recommend it for people interested in the work!)

the ballad of songbirds and snakes, by suzanne collins (a prequel to the hunger games trilogy, and worth reading even if the only character they share is president snow - in this book, an 18 year old, in the hunger games, in his 80s.  if you're a fan of the series, i would recommend this!)

year of wonders, by geraldine brooks (this is a re-read - i first read it in july 2011, when i wrote this: fictional portrayal of a real life event - in 1665 in rural england, the plague came to a small town and the local pastor convinced everyone in the town to quarantine themselves by staying in the town - thus not spreading the plague, but killing more than half of the town's inhabitants.  the story is told from the viewpoint of the pastor's maid.  some of the fictional plot lines within this larger story were a little improbable, i thought, but overall i really enjoyed it! - i will say that re-reading it during the pandemic gave me a slightly different appreciation for it, which is why i picked it back up.  i'd definitely still recommend it to you all!)

the vanishing half, by brit benett (i loved this book, about passing in the black community, about truth vs. lies, about how much the past impacts the present, about families.  so nuanced and so good.  i talked about it a lot while i was reading it, which is always a good sign!)

the boy, the mole, the fox and the horse, by charlie mackery (such a sweet book that my mom got me for christmas and i finally read, in one sitting.  would be a great read-aloud book for an elementary school aged kid, but equally great for an adult!)

the happy ever after playlist, by abby jimenez (this book is cheesy and ridiculous and also i kind of loved it, which i will deny if ever asked in smart-people company.)

june: 27, 28 & 29

my mom reminded me that we're at the halfway point of the year - 26 weeks in, and i've read 29 books this year.  this puts me on track to have a great year of reading - 58 books if the pace continues.  who knows what the second half of the year will bring, honestly, so we'll see!

the happiness hypothesis, by jonathan haidt (i went to a conference where this author spoke, and i was drawn to this book of his on what makes people happy.  i definitely folded down several pages as i was reading, and the philosophy of happiness is pretty interesting stuff.  if the topic sounds interesting to you, this book is worth a read!)

'round midnight, by laura mcbride (man, sometimes the second book you read by an author isn't as good as you wanted it to be - and this book falls into that category.  i think that's a theme of my reading this year!  i loved we are called to rise, and this book was good and kept me interested, but i won't be rushing out to recommend it to everyone.  it's the story of four women and how their stories intersect (you know i love that in a book! but perhaps because i love that in a book i'm critical of books that don't do it as well as some others do).  i also discovered that they changed the title of this book when it was published in paperback - in the midnight room is the other title.  honestly, neither title is great.  the midnight room isn't crucial to the plot.  anyway: this book was fine and will keep you entertained if you pick it up.)

how to be an antiracist, by ibram x. kendi (like all good white liberals, i picked up this book in june - i listened to the audiobook over the past few weeks.  the author reads it (which i always like), and this did a lot to further me on my journey.  i have the physical book coming in the mail, but it's backordered, and i do expect to read it again when it arrives - probably more carefully, with annotations.  the audiobook got me through the important concepts, but a lot of what he says requires some more thought.  i'll also say: if someone had told me in advance that this is part memoir, i would have read it sooner.  i love a memoir, and i found kendi's story very powerful.  if you read this, the interview he does on brene brown's podcast is also worth a listen.  definitely recommend!)

may: 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 & 26

in may i read:

the glass hotel, by emily st. john mandel (i loved this author's previous book (station eleven) and had been eagerly anticipating this book.  it didn't hit me with quite the same force as the previous one BUT i did enjoy reading it and the world that was created was vivid in my imagination as i was reading.  a solid read, and i'd recommend it, but it didn't blow my mind.)

revolver, by marcus sedgwick (this is a YA book by an author i really enjoy, and this book - set in alaska during the gold rush - kept me on edge and eager to find out what was going to happen next.  it would be perfect to read on a snowy weekend in the winter, and you could read it in a weekend - it's not long.  i definitely like this author and would recommend him!)

southern lady code, by helen ellis (this book disappointed.  i'd had it on my list for a long time but didn't remember what it was about, and this non-fiction set of essays by a southern woman living in NYC and attempting to be both hilarious and sweet just didn't do it for me.  pass on this one.)

wow, no thank you, by samantha irby (i listened to the audiobook of this and was very entertained.  good if you like irreverent female comedy.)

long way down, by jason reynolds (this is a YA book by an author i'm hearing a lot about right now.  this book is written almost as a series of poems.  it's powerful and relevant (the protagonist sets out to kill the kid who just killed his brother), and a little magical realism-esque, which isn't always my jam but i liked this a lot.  would definitely recommend it to people who like YA)

disappearing earth, by julia phillips (hoo boy, this book was good.  highly recommend!  go read this book!  a set of interconnecting stories of women in kamchatka.  i learned a ton about life in kamchatka, got a snippet of native-white russian relations, got some love stories, got some SAD stories, didn't always know where a story was going (but it always got there), and LOVED the ending.  this book has gotten a ton of great press and several national awards, all of it justified.)

april: 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 & 20

on to april...though posting in june (oops):

every day, by david levithan (this is a YA book that had been recommended to me a few years ago - a teenager wakes up every day in a different body and has to navigate that life.  some days he's male, others female, gay, straight, popular, isolated, etc.  i liked this book but it didn't change my life!  high quality YA, though.)

warlight, by michael ondaatje (i read this because ondaatje did an online lecture in this pittsburgh lecture series that i really like (and am planning to subscribe to in some capacity next year).  i really like listening to authors talk about their craft, and going to these lectures is just one more way in which i've become a contented 75 year old lady.  i also loved the english patient, so this one had been on my list for a little while.  i really liked it - he's such a beautiful writer - and this mysterious story of siblings and the odd family around them really held my attention, and then it was rewarding to hear the author talk about different aspects of the book.  i'd definitely recommend this one!, though it isn't super plot driven and you'd have to be okay with a lot of character building.)

the splendid and the vile, by erik larson (i listened to the audiobook of this, which i had been eagerly anticipating.  i wasn't let down - i really like larson's narrative nonfiction writing style, and enjoyed a deeper dive into winston churchill's first year as prime minister.)

untamed, by glennon doyle (did i love this book or did i hate this book?  i can't tell.  parts of it really spoke to me and parts i had a hard time connecting with - especially when she talked about the struggles of balancing yourself and your obligation to your children, as i'm not a parent.  do i hate her as she goes through this self examination that i've done much of already...or do i love her for her vulnerability and wise words?  not sure, but i've had a lot of conversations about this book with friends since i read it, so i'm definitely glad that i did.  she's no brene brown, but she reminds me of her.)

one day, by gene weingarten (oh, i loved this book - please read it!  it's nonfiction - the author is a journalist, who picks a date out of a hat and then follows some of the stories of what happened on that day in 1986 through to the present.  i loved the way he told these stories, many of which were quite ordinary and he found the interesting twist within it.  a great concept, and a well-fleshed out book.  parts of it - the two house fires that he follows up on, for example, and the woman who had the first heart transplant at a hospital in DC - i'm still thinking about.)

valentine, by elizabeth wetmore (oh, i loved this one, too.  the story of a bunch of women in a west texas town who are tangentially connected to each other and tangentially connected to a girl who is raped (the book begins with her escaping her rapist the morning after the crime).  i loved how vividly constructed the time and place were, and i always love books where characters are connected in interesting ways that unfold over the course of the story.  it's not a light read, but i really liked it - this was my book of the month pick in april.)

march: 10, 11, 12, 13 & 14

march's reading was higher than normal, i think because social distancing gave me more time at home and thus more opportunities to open up a book.  i have heard from others that they actually haven't read as much as usual because it's hard to focus on a book with so many other things banging around in their head.  i feel lucky to still be able to focus on this past time that i love.  this month i read:


things in jars, by jess kidd (this was a book of the month pick and it was fine but i wouldn't recommend it.  ultimately, i wasn't sure how much i cared about the characters.  i found the ending unsatisfying.  but there was an air of magical realism in it, which is definitely not my jam, and i'm not obsessed with literature set in the victorian era, either.  i know there's an audience for this book, but i don't think it's me.)

evvie drake starts over, by linda holmes (this was cute and light, but didn't change my life.)

say nothing, by patrick radden keefe (this was a book club pick and i'm really glad my friend veronica pushed us to pick it.  it's the story of the provisional IRA in belfast, told through the lens of the kidnapping and murder of a housewife.  i learned a ton.  it was narrative enough to be something i could read before bed [i can't do that with all nonfiction], and the storyline was fascinating.  definitely recommend this one if you like history and nonfiction writing.)

kindred spirits, by rainbow rowell (this was a cute little kindle short story by a YA author i love.  if you have a kindle and like rowell's writing and haven't read this, it's worth the couple bucks it costs.)

fleishman is in trouble, by taffy brodesser-akner (some books about the depths of marriage or parenthood are really hard for me to relate to, as i'm neither married nor a parent, and this book fell into that camp at times for me.  [and also, sometimes i don't care about rich people problems, and this book has a lot of rich people problems.]  but it does a really interesting thing, which is to show the relationship and the crisis situation that the book centers on from the perspective of first the father and then the mother.  and then the narrator is actually the father's friend from college?  so there is definitely stuff going on here that is different and worth puzzling over and you should ponder for yourself whether you want to check this book out.)

february: 6, 7, 8 & 9

oh, to look back at a different time, where i read books in restaurants and drove around enough to listen to audiobooks in large chunks...

in february i read:


this book is anti-racist, by tiffany jewell (this is the book i read in a restaurant, as i took myself out to a fancy dinner before going back to work for an evening event.  the director of equity and inclusion at my school gave it to me to preview because she's considering asking the whole faculty to read it this summer.  it's aimed at a high school audience, but is a great primer for talking about diversity work; i ultimately highly encouraged her to go forward with her plan.  two phrases i particularly liked: instead of "minority" or "people of color," she prefers "people of the global majority."  i was into that.  and instead of "allies," she calls people like me "co-conspirators," which i also loved.  if you work in education, this would be a valuable book to investigate!)

leaders eat last, by simon sinek (this took me a long time to read, as many professional development books do, but i finally finished it in february.  a lot of valuable ideas in this and it's definitely worth familiarizing yourself with sinek's work if you do leadership work in your organization.)

there there, by tommy orange (i re-read this because tommy orange came to pittsburgh and i had tickets to see him!  guys, in february we gathered together in large numbers.  it was a thing we did.  i loved his lecture, which was thoughtful and intimate.  and this book is really incredible, so i continue to recommend it to you!)

the dutch house, by ann patchett (i listened to the first half of this on audiobook (tom hanks narrates - it's amazing) and then when it got auto-returned to the library because my time was up i read a hard copy of the remaining 2/3 of the book.  i would highly recommend this book - the story of a family and a house that is just as much a character as the family is.  it goes back and forth in time and thus unfolds in a really interesting way.  read this book!  it's just as good as all the hype says it is.)

january: 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5

new year, new reading list!  i started off strong in january:

a woman is no man, by etaf rum (oh, i loved this book, the story of a palestinian woman who moves to america to get married, and also the story of her american-born daughter.  this is one of those books that opened up my eyes to a world i hadn't encountered before and the story is SO well told.  highly highly recommend!)

city of girls, by elizabeth gilbert (you just go ahead and skip this one, unless you're on a beach and need a really light read between sips of fruity drinks.  it was too light and not terribly interesting, honestly...and also a horrible book to read following the super intense and really enlightening read of a woman is no man - it just couldn't compare to how much i loved that book.)

out of this furnace, by thomas bell (guys, my now-boyfriend bought me this book when he was just my friend and i had just moved to pittsburgh.  it's his favorite book, and tells the story of three generations of immigrant mill workers in pittsburgh in the late 19th and early 20th century.  it's beautifully written in places and a really compelling story of how my new city was built!  he re-read it while i read it for the first time (all told, it took me about six months to finish this book as i kept putting it down while i waited for him to catch back up to where i was) and the act of read it alongside him was just as sweet to do as you're imagining it would be.  i would highly recommend that pittsburghers read this!)

letters to a young poet, by rainer maria rilke (this is a tiny book that piqued my interested when it was referenced in the friend and i'm glad i picked it up and dived into it.  i don't think it changed my life, but it does include the best line about love that i've maybe ever read: “Love consists of this: two solitudes that meet, protect and greet each other.”)

golden child, by claire adam (guys, this is another one of sarah jessica parker's recommendations through the publishing house that she's working with and i loved it.  SJP can recommend books for me any day!  this is the story of twin brothers in trinidad - one is the brilliant gifted student and the other appears to have some misunderstood learning difference.  it's about family and tough choices and parental sacrifices and i found it an incredibly compelling story line.  this would make a great book club read - so much to talk about!  highly recommend.)

2019 in books

a recap:
2010: i read 15 books.
2011: i started my book challenge with the goal of reading 25 books; i read 38.
2012: 34 books
2013: 34 books again
2014: 32 books
2015: 35 books
2016: 58 books (fluke/who have i become?)
2017: 57 books (the new normal?)
2018: 42 books (which somehow feels like a failure even though i know it's not.)
2019: 54 books (i'm back, baby!)

17 of those were diverse books (as in, the main character or the author is not white) - this is my highest total in a year yet and i'm really proud of this!

my favorite books of 2019:
bone, by yrsa daley-ward
the heart’s invisible furies, by john boyne
a place for us, by fatima farheen mirza
all the ugly and wonderful things, by bryn greenwood
heavy, by kiese laymon
no one tells you this: a memoir, by glynnis macnicol
the testaments, by margaret atwood

december: 52, 53 & 54

here's how i finished up 2019!

political tribes, by amy chua (i listened to this on audiobook and it was interesting and ultimately good but could have been a longform essay instead of a book, which is how i feel about a fair amount of nonfiction.  so don't rush out to get this, but i did learn some interesting stuff in this book about human desire to belong to a group and thus to create "out group members" and the problems that can create.)

this is my body, by cameron dezen hammon (i read this at the recommendation of a friend and it was fine and all but i think a more religious person was the target audience here.  if you are that more religious 30-something woman, look into this book.  otherwise, please skip.)

salt to the sea, by ruta sepetys (arron's aunt lent me this and i really enjoyed it.  there are four narrators and each chapter is only a few pages long, so it was perfect to read in little snippets during winter break.  a super easy and rewarding read and i learned a lot about an aspect of WWII history that i knew nothing about - the fleeing of refugees and wealthy germans by boat in 1945 as it became clear germany was going to lose the war.  if you like historical fiction, i highly recommend!)

november: 50 & 51

the testaments, by margaret atwood (this is atwood's sequel-of-sorts to the handmaid's tale and i put my name on the list at the library super early for this and was lucky enough to get it at the end of october - woo hoo!  i'm actually a card-carrying member of two libraries - houston and pittsburgh - which was been a real boon to my reading.  the pittsburgh carnegie library system is amazing and has much more extensive holdings than houston, btw, which you might not be surprised to hear given their namesake's endowment.  but that's neither here nor there.  i loved this book, which does not take us back to offred's story but instead gives us a few other women and their stories both inside and outside gilead.  the book is set 15 or so years after the handmaid's tale ends.  highly recommend!)

the great believers, by rebecca makkai (my friend kenley recommended this to me and i'm so glad she did.  a really great story told in two time frames - 1980s chicago, through the eyes of a gay man facing the AIDS crisis in his friend group, and 2010s paris, as the sister of a man in that friend group searches for her daughter.  this was a quick and satisfying read, though obviously pretty tough to read at points.)

october: 45, 46, 47, 48 & 49

and here i am catching up on posting what i read this fall.  sheesh - i should have posted this months ago!  but here we go.  in october i read:

educated, by tara westover (i listened to the audiobook of this one and loved it.  it's just as incredible as everyone says it is and memoirs are one of my favorite genres.  highly recommend!)

american spy, by lauren wilkinson (this book had such a great premise - black female CIA agent does lots of spying - but i found the book to be a bit ponderous and i kind of had to make myself finish it.  even though obama liked it, don't run out to grab this one.)

the woman in the window, by a.j. finn (super creepy thriller that i read for a work book club - it's not my normal genre, but i did like gone girl and the girl on the train so i guess i read these kind of books when they get a ton of press.  it gave me a nightmare so i guess it did its job.  i was definitely intrigued and was trying to guess who was the bad guy through the book.  this would be a great beach read or (what's the winter equivalent?)...a ski weekend read.  definitely google the author after you read the book.  he's got some weird stuff going on in his world, too...)

talking to strangers, by malcolm gladwell (i listened to the audiobook of this, too, which was worth it.  i always like gladwell's books and this was no exception, but this book tackles some really tough themes - rape, police shootings, and waterboarding among others - so be warned that parts of this book are hard to get through ESPECIALLY if you listen to the audiobook, as gladwell includes some real audio clips from sandra bland's police stop, for example.  i'm glad i read this and would recommend it!)

the handmaid's tale, by margaret atwood (i re-read this in preparation for reading her most recent book.  i've watched the tv show and really enjoyed it, but i loved going back to the story the show is based on and seeing how atwood crafted this world before hollywood got involved.  i pulled out several quotes from the book about love that really spoke to me.  all in all, very glad i went back to this.)

september: 42, 43 & 44

dreamland, by sam quinones (oh guys, i was fascinated by this book.  it's the (nonfiction) story of how the opioid epidemic got started, mixed with the story of heroin trafficking from mexico.  it's narrative and focuses on some particular cities and people.  i learned a ton and even though this book is a few years old the is obviously still news headlines and i feel a lot more able to understand the conversation.  i'd highly recommend it!)

the friend, by sigrid nunez (my school's librarian has started a book club for faculty which is obviously totally my jam.  this was the september pick - an author i'd never heard of, but this book won the national book award last year so i'm surprised i didn't know about her.  i really loved this book.  the story of a relationship and a dog and meditations on death and grieving.  the author spoke in pittsburgh and i went to the event with three people from work (look - i'm making friends!) and it was really cool to hear her speak.  this book is literary and really accessible all in one and i loved it.  highly recommend!)

this tender land, by william kent krueger (this was my book of the month club pick and it was fine and all but didn't blow me away.  it's a huck finn story set during the depression in minnesota, and the main characters are runaways from an indian boarding school.  great premise, but the book dragged a bit.  i didn't dislike it, i just am not running out to recommend it to others.)

august: 39, 40 & 41

in august i read:

transcription, by kate atkinson (i didn't love this book, and i really did love the few other kate atkinson books i've read.  read life after life instead of this one!  i just didn't find this story line compelling enough for me, and life after life is fantastic.)

how not to die alone, by richard roper (a super sweet and compelling story about a man who works for a government agency in england that tries to find the next of kin for people who die alone.  while he also works in his personal life on not being that person who does alone.  an easy read - would be perfect for the beach or another vacation, even given the somewhat grim subject matter - it's not a depressing book to read at all.  i recommend it!)

the reckless oath we made, by bryn greenwood (this is the second book by this author that i've read this year and i really love her writing.  this one, like all the ugly and wonderful things, is profoundly sad at times, but there's also a spirit to her characters that tells you they can overcome the bad things in their life.  i think that's why i like her writing so much!  i'd highly recommend you check out one of her books.)

july: 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 & 38

back into my bad habit of not updating this frequently enough!  here we go...here's what i read in july:

a very large expanse of sea, by tahereh mafi (a decent but not exceptional YA book about a muslim-american girl right after 9/11.  my new school actually picked it as the all-freshman read, but as an adult who likes YA i wasn't blown away.)

no one tells you this: a memoir, by glynnis macnicol (now this i was blown away by.  a memoir of a woman around her 40th birthday, confronting being single / does she want children and also struggling with her mother's chronic illness.  that sounds super depressing, but the writing was gorgeous and i could relate so much to the situation the author was in (minus the ill mother).  i was recommending this left and right to women around my age!)

me and earl and the dying girl, by jesse andrews (another decent but not exceptional YA book.  this one is set in pittsburgh, which is why i read it.  i think i read the whole thing on the flight from london to pittsburgh on my way back from my european trip.  i'd recommend it for a similar situation!)

thirteen ways of looking, by colum mccann (i loved this - short stories from an author i really enjoy.  i got this at a used bookstore and was so pleased to finally read it.)

the sun also rises, by ernest hemingway (uh, guys?  this didn't do it for me.  i know other people adore it and i have loved other hemingway works - and really enjoyed some autobiographical stuff he wrote - but this felt very dated.  pro-bullriding, pro-alcoholism, problematic language and discussions about people of other races.  this is not hemingway at his best in terms of character.  which is maybe me asking too much of him?)

heavy, by kiese laymon (adored this memoir.  a must-read for you all.  it's a memoir of growing up black in the south and also of growing up overweight.  i found a lot that spoke to my own experience with the voices in my head about my weight, but a lot that was a window into a totally different world and experience.  he's a GORGEOUS writer, and he read the audiobook.  so if you have an opportunity to read the book that way i'd highly recommend it!)

june: 29, 30, 31 & 32

finally catching up on telling you what i read in june!


american pop, by snowden wright (this is a fun quick read about a fictional family creating a fictional soda company to compete with coke and pepsi.  it moves around in time through different members of the same family and i found it easy to follow and an enjoyable story line.  not changing my life or anything, but i'd recommend!)



march, by geraldine brooks (oh, i loved this book - the retelling of little women from the absent father's perspective.  i really like geraldine brooks' writing and this book did not disappoint.  if you have read little women i would highly recommend this!  if you haven't, i think you can skip...much of the appeal is that i already "knew" the family.)



ask again, yes, by mary beth keane (this book is getting a ton of press right now and jimmy fallon just picked it to be his summer book club book and he's talking about it on his show on august 15th!  i really loved this book and would highly recommend it.  it's one of those books that doesn't fit a specific pattern and you don't totally know where it's going or how far into these characters' lives you will follow them, but you are super eager to find out more.  there are a few really good cliff hangers.  it's a perfect summer read - i'd highly recommend!)



daisy jones & the six, by taylor jenkins reid (everyone was talking about this book and it's a great vacation read.  it is set up in interview style, with a fictional band looking back on how they formed and their early years traveling the road together.  i legit would forget this wasn't a real band, and when they talked about specific songs or albums i'd almost get up to go listen to it on spotify.  ha!  this book didn't change my life but it was an enjoyable read.)

may: 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 & 28

this month i read:

american primitive, by mary oliver (when mary oliver died, i finally bought a book of her poetry after loving the few poems of hers that i had already read.  this book won the pulitzer prize, and was SO lovely.  highly recommend!)

the art of gathering, by priya parker (guys, i can't stop talking about this book.  brilliance about how to lead parties AND work meetings that are meaningful and purposeful.  i folded a ton of pages down and will be trying to implement some of the concepts at my new job.  HIGHLY recommend!)

beartown, by fredrik backman (i was really looking forward to this book, as i loved backman's other books.  this...didn't do it for me.  the book is about a sexual assault and the community's reactions to the aftermath.  processing it with some friends, i realized i didn't like it because it's TOO real and it was painful to spend like 60% of the book dwelling in how horrible the "after" was for the young woman and her family and the community.  so maybe that's actually a compliment for this book?  but it's the first of his books that i wouldn't recommend.  read something else of his instead!)

all the ugly and wonderful things, by bryn greenwood (uh guys this was incredible.  the [fictional] story of a girl called wavy who grows up the child of meth addicts.  i loved the characters and the relationships but it was heartbreaking at times.  HIGHLY recommend this one - the good stuff was so wonderful that it was worth the hard parts to read.)

the second mrs. hockaday, by susan rivers (a fine but not exceptional civil war epistolary novel about a woman and a man and a baby who dies.  i'm into that kind of book, but i know it's not everyone's cup of tea.)

how to raise an adult, by julie lythcott-haims (lythcott-haims came to the school where i work and spoke this fall; my book club read her memoir of growing up biracial in the 1980s, and then i finally read this education/parenting book this spring.  highly recommend, if you work in education or are a parent!  i folded down a lot of pages.)

goodbye days, by jeff zentner (young adult - another book by an author i loved but this wasn't the right book for me because it was too real and too sad.  in this one, a kid texts a friend who is driving a car.  in responding to the text, he gets into an accident and the three kids in the car die.  SO DEPRESSING OMG I CRIED A FAIR AMOUNT.  another one i can't recommend because, though it was super well written, it was too sad to foist upon another person.)

april: 18, 19, 20 & 21

evicted, by matthew desmond (this is a re-read of an incredibly powerful and important book - i re-read it because i led a faculty book club at school on the book this spring.  reading and talking about it with others was so rewarding - but also a reminder of how depressing it is to enter the world of people constantly facing eviction.  it's as if looking at that world alongside other people forces you to confront how truly horrible it is.  sigh.  READ THIS BOOK, even though parts of it will be hard to get through.)

normal people, by sally rooney (this was my book of the month club pick last month, and it's getting a ton of good press, but this book did not do it for me.  the relationship was messy and both main characters had some real flaws and self-destructive qualities that i was like YOU NEED TO SEEK THERAPY FOR THIS and it wasn't escapist - it was just messy and occasionally bad like real life is messy and occasionally bad.  so it didn't do it for me, and i was glad that others on goodreads agreed with me - with the articles in the major newspapers being so positive, i wanted to make sure i wasn't being too judge-y.  goodreads gave me permission to feel the way i feel about it.)

the library book, by susan orlean (i read this for my book club - what a lovely meditations on libraries and los angeles and (the main point of the book) the library fire from the 1980s.  this was an easy book to pop in and out of because a lot of the chapters could stand on their own - and weren't terribly long.  highly recommend!)

uncommon type, by tom hanks (on a friend's suggestion, i listened to the audiobook of this one, which hanks reads.  i liked this but didn't love it - it was well worth a listen while i drove around town, but i won't be running out to purchase it for anyone.  the common theme throughout all these short stories is typewriters, and seeing how the typewriter played a role in each story was fun.  there are also three or four stories that feature the same set of characters, which i really enjoyed.)

march: 13, 14, 15, 16 & 17

a place for us, by fatima farheen mirza (this book was fabulous - the story of a muslim-american family with three children, told from different points of view within the family over a 25-ish year span.  you revisit events and see them from different perspectives.  you see the impact of gender and expectations and birth order and the immigrant experience.  i LOVED this book and the characters in it, and it made me want to read other books that sarah jessica parker is promoting through her new imprint with hogarth press.)

year of yes, by shonda rhimes (i don't often buy "self help"-ish books, but this one seemed like a good one to bring into my 2019.  it was a super easy read and i loved her story.  not too much in terms of take aways (i had no huge "aha!" moments while reading it), but i enjoyed it.  it would be a perfect read for an airplane or on vacation.)

queenie, by candice carty-williams (my newest book of the month club selection, set in london with a main character who is jamaican-british.  she's going through a rough patch - both of her own making and of things outside her control - so parts of the book are hard to read because you are watching the main character be self-destructive.  but she was so vividly brought to life as a character that i enjoyed this story and the journey she went on.  don't rush out to buy it, but i give it a thumbs up.)

dead wake, by erik larson (i listened to the audiobook of this, which is about the sinking of lusitania.  you get the story in alternate chapters from onboard the boat, on board the u-boat that ended up sinking it, and in the british intelligence office that had cracked the german code and was monitoring u-boats in the english channel.  i was fascinated by all the details in this story.  erik larson is really great at his job as a writer of narrative nonfiction.  big thumbs up, and i would recommend this even if you don't think you care about the lusitania!)

the terrible, by yrsa daley-ward (i read this in one day, on the yoga retreat i went on at the end of march.  i loved daley-ward's book of poetry called bone, and this is a poetry-prose memoir of her childhood.  i LOVE memoirs and this one did not disappoint.  a fascinating look into a different word, and crazy to imagine that she has become as successful as she has with the obstacles she's had to overcome.  love her work, and i would LOVE to see her read or speak in person.)