I just finished Lucky Red ten minutes ago, and basically quit working for awhile to speed through The Bee Sting earlier this month... so good. Exalted was a lot of fun, loved the lesbian antihero energy.
I read at night in bed - it's how I wind down and quiet my mind in advance of sleep! Sometimes for hours, sometimes only for 20 minutes, but pretty much every night, hence the high book total on the year :-P
A friend has just given me (today!) a copy of Yellowface, which I am really looking forward to reading. And I only started keeping a book/reading list this year on my notes app. Pretty basic, but does the job and you can even add bullet points, which feels fancy.
Hope you enjoy it! I have a tendency to wind up disappointed by books (or anything) that are super hyped, but Yellowface really did it for me. This is partly why I waited so long to read Demon Copperhead after everybody said how amazing it was; I was worried that my expectations were too high and I would be let down, but I thought it was great.
Oh, yeah, by “favorite of the year” I just mean “the year in which I read it 😂” I’m very late to the party on most books - the tbr pile is too high to stick to new ones all the time!
I use Goodreads to track what I’ve read and want to read. My favorite fiction this year was Weyward by Emilia Hart. 3 women connected across generations. Listened to and loved it!
You know, I’ve never listened to an audio book--although I have recorded 6 of my own! Is that how you consume all books, or do you alternate between print, ebooks, and audio?
I usually have at least one print book and one audio going at the same time. I’ve been doing audio regularly for about 7 years typically on my commute. I have friends who can listen and do other things at the same time but other than driving or folding clothes I can’t multitask with audio books. I’m a much faster processor with text than audio. I’m picky about what nonfiction I listen to. If it’s a book I’m super interested in the topic or well footnoted I want the print so I can write in the margins.
Great list! It's always hard to choose favorites, but the books I recommended to friends the most this year were Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld and I've Got Some Questions for you by Rebecca Makkai, which my teenage daughter loved too! And Number Go Up by Zeke Faux about Sam Bankman-Fried and crypto. Highly recommend that one!
Choosing a favorite is so hard! There’s a certain very personal alchemy to it that I’m sensitive to. Like, people often ask me for recs because of my job(s) but I always say “Tell me what you like to read” because what I might love the most won’t necessarily be right for you. There are a lot of what I think of as “3 star” reads for me that I would recommend highly to someone else who I know really likes that kind of book--for them it could be a 4 or 5 star. Yellowface won the year for me through a combination of smart social commentary, an inventive hook, propulsive pacing, and that “insider” publishing stuff that is so specific to my experience. I also loved Demon Copperhead and Bright Young Women and several others. (Heat 2, for example, was a perfect thriller. No notes!) It would be easy to call any of them a best of the year; but for me, *this* year, Yellowface edged them out.
Favorites are so hard to choose - but there's no better feeling than figuring out what someone might like based on their reading and personality and recommending a book (or in my case tv show or movie 😉) that they just love! 🤩
For the first time this year I kept a list and found it so satisfying too. I always love an Instagram round of of books people have read during the year and often take inspiration from it. Just starting Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow and can’t wait to read Yellowface. A little life was my book of the year. Floored me...but I couldn’t put it down. Read it in 12 days 🥵
You know, I started A Little Life a long time ago and couldn’t seem to get into it, so I set it aside. Years later, suddenly you are the second person to highly recommend it in one week! Maybe I’ll go back to it...
It’s a behemoth. I started it in January this year and was not social at all. I’d defo recommend trying it again. It is harrowing though. It’s dubbed ‘Trauma porn’ 😳😅
I’m inspired to keep track of my books this year! 9/10 I’ll push through and finish a book but I’ve fallen in to the habit of dragging out the reading thinking “ooh I’ll sit down and enjoy that later” when really I should just inhale in a few days instead as I want to. Currently 2/3 way through Yellowface and love it!
Oh I never drag it out if I don’t have to 😂 I will frequently stay up WAY TOO LATE to finish a great book--but then again, I work for myself and have no kids, so I can usually sleep later if necessary!
Yellowface is the next fiction book I’m going to read. I’ve kept a list of books I’ve read for the past couple of years and this year has been about half of last year 😕 I put that down to the research papers I’ve had to read for my uni degree and writing a book myself. Next year I want to make more book reading time!
For sure, any kind of studying or “work” reading will cut drastically into the pleasure books; it did that to me for years and years. Although even while writing my own, I like to decompress with a pleasure read, even if it’s just for 20 minutes before falling asleep. It helps reset my brain. (But I write sweary self-help books, so it’s not like a novel or a memoir is going to take me out of my own creative space. I’m not sure I’d want/be able to read as much fiction if I were trying to write a novel myself. Might feel too intimidating 😂)
I completely agree, the book I've written is a self-help book (lacking in the sweariness though) and I've really felt the need for fiction as a complete contrast to my subject and to my study reading. The thought of writing a novel is way too intimidating to me!
I love this! Definitely a couple to add to my tbr list. I started reading more in 2020 and have made yearly lists ever since. This year I’ve read the most books I ever have and that feels a huge achievement for a slow reader who, as a child hated reading!
I love that! My husband was never a reader--hated it as a kid (mostly I think because it required him to sit still 😂) and even well into his 30’s. But I think he saw how much I was reading and enjoying myself these last several years and he developed some specific interests (Naval disasters! Arctic exploration! Musician biographies! The complete works of Erik Larson!) and now he happily has a book going at all times. It might take him a month to finish it, mind you, but he has a book 😉
Oh, I LOVE Less SO MUCH! So funny and sad and adorable! Yellowface was such a ride, June is so deliciously dreadful- it felt really fun to read. I was surprised and delighted by how much I loved Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow - it was such a happy, tender book to be immersed in. And no-one needs me
to tell them about Tom Lake - but I loved the sweetness of it, and the sisters - (the peerless!) AP simultaneously reminding me of Curtis Sittenfeld and Lorrie Moore.
I don’t know why I’ve been so resistant to the Gabrielle Zevin! Everybody says “You don’t have to care about gaming to love this book” and I keep not believing it will be true for ma 😂 Maybe 2024 is the year for it at last.
I felt exactly the same - it was every bloody where, and I felt NAGGED by it - and madly jealous of it (because it came out around the same time as Careering or Limelight and everyone was reading that book, not my book, which was NOT FAIR!) And I was put off by video games, for sure. But the only way I can describe it is - the vibe evokes the warmest, most tender parts of A Little Life, when Jude and Willhem are in their apartment (but it’s nowhere near as harrowing). It also gave me good Meg Wolitzer-y feelings. I felt resistant and sulky and very ‘WELL, I suppose I have to’ and I fell completely in love with it.
Not too shabby indeed! That's really amazing! I read some of the same and have quite a few in my TBR pile. Curious what you thought of She's Come Undone. Does it hold up? I remember loving it when I first read it.
I thought She’s Come Undone was great. (And it gave me a lot of feelz...) Hard to believe I missed it for 30 years 😮 I read his novel I Know This Much is True a while ago and really enjoyed that as well.
Oh wow - I wish I could read quicker. Actually, I would like an extra hour between 10 and 11am and an extra day between Thursday and Friday.
I just finished Lucky Red ten minutes ago, and basically quit working for awhile to speed through The Bee Sting earlier this month... so good. Exalted was a lot of fun, loved the lesbian antihero energy.
58 books, just amazing me. Do ‘readers’ have a routine. Or is just not turning on the sports channel or picking up your phone and reading some pages!
I read at night in bed - it's how I wind down and quiet my mind in advance of sleep! Sometimes for hours, sometimes only for 20 minutes, but pretty much every night, hence the high book total on the year :-P
Oooo so jealous of you for getting to enjoy the wonder that is LESS for the first time.
Fab list!
A friend has just given me (today!) a copy of Yellowface, which I am really looking forward to reading. And I only started keeping a book/reading list this year on my notes app. Pretty basic, but does the job and you can even add bullet points, which feels fancy.
Hope you enjoy it! I have a tendency to wind up disappointed by books (or anything) that are super hyped, but Yellowface really did it for me. This is partly why I waited so long to read Demon Copperhead after everybody said how amazing it was; I was worried that my expectations were too high and I would be let down, but I thought it was great.
Yellowface is on my list too, along with Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, though that came out last year, I think. This won't come out until January, but here's my list. It's mostly fantasy. https://www.theauthorstack.com/p/132510e6-d799-4d23-a44f-a6c763ae82f6
Oh, yeah, by “favorite of the year” I just mean “the year in which I read it 😂” I’m very late to the party on most books - the tbr pile is too high to stick to new ones all the time!
Oh, I also loved Meet Me in Another Life.
Yes! Finally a book recommended for fans of The Time Traveler’s Wife that I thought actually lived up to the promise...
This is not the same genre, but have you read the 7-1/2 deaths of Evelyn hardcastle. Not a romance, but similar energy.
Definitely heard about it and am intrigued, but have not read it yet. The pile grows...
Same. I buy most of my books on chirp and it’s a bit behind the launch of a book
Bingeing is what backlists are for. Most exciting when you find a living author so you may not run out!
I use Goodreads to track what I’ve read and want to read. My favorite fiction this year was Weyward by Emilia Hart. 3 women connected across generations. Listened to and loved it!
You know, I’ve never listened to an audio book--although I have recorded 6 of my own! Is that how you consume all books, or do you alternate between print, ebooks, and audio?
I usually have at least one print book and one audio going at the same time. I’ve been doing audio regularly for about 7 years typically on my commute. I have friends who can listen and do other things at the same time but other than driving or folding clothes I can’t multitask with audio books. I’m a much faster processor with text than audio. I’m picky about what nonfiction I listen to. If it’s a book I’m super interested in the topic or well footnoted I want the print so I can write in the margins.
So interesting. I feel like I would get distracted and dip out of an audio book and keep missing things... But I know many readers swear by them! 🎧
Great list! It's always hard to choose favorites, but the books I recommended to friends the most this year were Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld and I've Got Some Questions for you by Rebecca Makkai, which my teenage daughter loved too! And Number Go Up by Zeke Faux about Sam Bankman-Fried and crypto. Highly recommend that one!
Choosing a favorite is so hard! There’s a certain very personal alchemy to it that I’m sensitive to. Like, people often ask me for recs because of my job(s) but I always say “Tell me what you like to read” because what I might love the most won’t necessarily be right for you. There are a lot of what I think of as “3 star” reads for me that I would recommend highly to someone else who I know really likes that kind of book--for them it could be a 4 or 5 star. Yellowface won the year for me through a combination of smart social commentary, an inventive hook, propulsive pacing, and that “insider” publishing stuff that is so specific to my experience. I also loved Demon Copperhead and Bright Young Women and several others. (Heat 2, for example, was a perfect thriller. No notes!) It would be easy to call any of them a best of the year; but for me, *this* year, Yellowface edged them out.
Favorites are so hard to choose - but there's no better feeling than figuring out what someone might like based on their reading and personality and recommending a book (or in my case tv show or movie 😉) that they just love! 🤩
For the first time this year I kept a list and found it so satisfying too. I always love an Instagram round of of books people have read during the year and often take inspiration from it. Just starting Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow and can’t wait to read Yellowface. A little life was my book of the year. Floored me...but I couldn’t put it down. Read it in 12 days 🥵
You know, I started A Little Life a long time ago and couldn’t seem to get into it, so I set it aside. Years later, suddenly you are the second person to highly recommend it in one week! Maybe I’ll go back to it...
It’s a behemoth. I started it in January this year and was not social at all. I’d defo recommend trying it again. It is harrowing though. It’s dubbed ‘Trauma porn’ 😳😅
I’m inspired to keep track of my books this year! 9/10 I’ll push through and finish a book but I’ve fallen in to the habit of dragging out the reading thinking “ooh I’ll sit down and enjoy that later” when really I should just inhale in a few days instead as I want to. Currently 2/3 way through Yellowface and love it!
Oh I never drag it out if I don’t have to 😂 I will frequently stay up WAY TOO LATE to finish a great book--but then again, I work for myself and have no kids, so I can usually sleep later if necessary!
Yellowface is the next fiction book I’m going to read. I’ve kept a list of books I’ve read for the past couple of years and this year has been about half of last year 😕 I put that down to the research papers I’ve had to read for my uni degree and writing a book myself. Next year I want to make more book reading time!
For sure, any kind of studying or “work” reading will cut drastically into the pleasure books; it did that to me for years and years. Although even while writing my own, I like to decompress with a pleasure read, even if it’s just for 20 minutes before falling asleep. It helps reset my brain. (But I write sweary self-help books, so it’s not like a novel or a memoir is going to take me out of my own creative space. I’m not sure I’d want/be able to read as much fiction if I were trying to write a novel myself. Might feel too intimidating 😂)
I completely agree, the book I've written is a self-help book (lacking in the sweariness though) and I've really felt the need for fiction as a complete contrast to my subject and to my study reading. The thought of writing a novel is way too intimidating to me!
I love this! Definitely a couple to add to my tbr list. I started reading more in 2020 and have made yearly lists ever since. This year I’ve read the most books I ever have and that feels a huge achievement for a slow reader who, as a child hated reading!
I love that! My husband was never a reader--hated it as a kid (mostly I think because it required him to sit still 😂) and even well into his 30’s. But I think he saw how much I was reading and enjoying myself these last several years and he developed some specific interests (Naval disasters! Arctic exploration! Musician biographies! The complete works of Erik Larson!) and now he happily has a book going at all times. It might take him a month to finish it, mind you, but he has a book 😉
Oh wow! That’s great for him! I truly believe there are books out there for anyone, no matter what!
Oh, I LOVE Less SO MUCH! So funny and sad and adorable! Yellowface was such a ride, June is so deliciously dreadful- it felt really fun to read. I was surprised and delighted by how much I loved Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow - it was such a happy, tender book to be immersed in. And no-one needs me
to tell them about Tom Lake - but I loved the sweetness of it, and the sisters - (the peerless!) AP simultaneously reminding me of Curtis Sittenfeld and Lorrie Moore.
I don’t know why I’ve been so resistant to the Gabrielle Zevin! Everybody says “You don’t have to care about gaming to love this book” and I keep not believing it will be true for ma 😂 Maybe 2024 is the year for it at last.
I felt exactly the same - it was every bloody where, and I felt NAGGED by it - and madly jealous of it (because it came out around the same time as Careering or Limelight and everyone was reading that book, not my book, which was NOT FAIR!) And I was put off by video games, for sure. But the only way I can describe it is - the vibe evokes the warmest, most tender parts of A Little Life, when Jude and Willhem are in their apartment (but it’s nowhere near as harrowing). It also gave me good Meg Wolitzer-y feelings. I felt resistant and sulky and very ‘WELL, I suppose I have to’ and I fell completely in love with it.
Sounds like me with Ted Lasso. “A show about a soccer coach? You must be joking!” And then... 🖤⚽️🖤
Not too shabby indeed! That's really amazing! I read some of the same and have quite a few in my TBR pile. Curious what you thought of She's Come Undone. Does it hold up? I remember loving it when I first read it.
I thought She’s Come Undone was great. (And it gave me a lot of feelz...) Hard to believe I missed it for 30 years 😮 I read his novel I Know This Much is True a while ago and really enjoyed that as well.
Oh yes, I remember that one too! 30 years??? I think that might justify a reread!