Inside: In case you’re looking for a new read (or a great gift for someone), here are the books I loved this year.
This was a strange year for books because I started and put down at least a dozen. Too dark. Too fluffy. Too sad. Too scary. Too many fairies and talking wolves. (Yes, I discovered that fantasy romance is not my genre.)
But I finished and loved these nine novels. Maybe you’ll enjoy them too.
Sandwich
by Catherine Newman
From Amazon: “This year’s vacation, with Rocky among his nearly grown children and aging parents, promises to be as delightful as previous summers, except, perhaps, for Rocky’s hormonal bouts of anger and melancholy. (Hello, menopause!) Your body is changing and so is your life. And then a chain of events sends Rocky back in time, reliving both the tenderness and pain of a handful of long-ago summers.”
Conversations with friends
by Sally Rooney
From Amazon: “Written with gem-like precision and marked by a sly sense of humor, Conversations with friends “She is wonderfully aware of the pleasures and dangers of youth, and of the confusing limits of female friendship.”
pain and joy
by Meg Mason
From Amazon “Something is wrong with Martha. She has been since a small bomb went off in her brain at age seventeen, leaving her changed in a way that no doctor or medication could fix then and no one, even now, can explain… Maybe there’s a different story to write , if Martha can decide where to start.”
We all want impossible things
by Catherine Newman
From Amazon: “Edith and Ashley have been best friends for over forty-two years. But now the unthinkable has happened. Edi is dying of ovarian cancer and is spending her final days in hospice near Ash… For anyone who has ever lost a friend or had one. Prepare to laugh through your tears.”
Copperhead Demon
by Barbara Kingsolver
From Amazon: “Located in the southern Appalachian Mountains, Copperhead Demon is the story of a boy born to a teenage single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival.
normal people
by Sally Rooney
From Amazon: “normal people is the story of mutual fascination, friendship and love. It takes us from that first conversation to the years that follow, in the company of two people who try to stay apart but discover that they can’t.
SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE LAKESIDE SUPPER CLUB
by Ryan Stradal
From Amazon: “In this disappearing world of condiment trays and old-fashioned brandy, New York Times bestselling author J. Ryan Stradal has given us a story full of his signature winning, honest but fallible characters from the Midwest as they deal with love and tragedy. difficulties and hope, and what their legacy will be when they disappear.”
after i do
By Taylor Jenkins Reid
From Amazon: “This is a love story about what happens when love fades. It’s about staying in love, harnessing love, letting it go, and committing to love with everything you have. And above all, after i do It is the story of a couple trapped in an old game and looking for a new path to happily ever after.”
Notes on a run
by Danya Kukafka
From Amazon: “Combining breath-taking suspense with astonishing empathy, Notes on a run presents a chilling portrait of womanhood while unraveling the familiar narrative of the American serial killer, interrogating our justice system and our cultural obsession with crime stories, asking readers to consider the false promise of seeking meaning in psyche of violent men. “
My previous book lists
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