23 in 23.
Unlike most people, my reading goals the last few years have been to read LESS. I’d like to slow it down. Take more in and frankly get off my couch. People ask me how I read so much…and mostly I’m just a very fast reader and I don’t get car sick or have tiny children demanding all my attention. I make great use of my library card and the Libby app. I don’t watch a ton of TV and I do even less laundry. Below are some of my favorite books I read in 23. One of my favorite things is to pair each book to a song. I've linked a playlist on Spotify if you want a soundtrack to your reading. You can also scan the code above on your Spotify app. (Want more??? I write a monthly-ish newsletter where I post short summaries -- like these - of what I have been reading with an essay or two of my own – sign up here).
Fiction:
The Covenant of Water - Abraham Verghese. I read this book in June and I am still thinking about it. This book is a commitment, (coming in at over 700+ pages)..but well worth every minute you spend with it. I don’t know how to describe this epic book - so I’ll steal part of the Washington Post’s review. “A lavish smorgasbord of genealogy, medicine and love affairs”. I’ll add : family, fault and resilience to the board. If I gave out ranking stars by the number of copies of the book I have gifted - this would easily get over 5. Song: Belong - Carey Brothers
The Widely Unknown Myth of Apple and Dorothy - Corey Ann Hady. This book is why I don’t post these lists early. I read it in the last few days of 2023 and easily made the top 5 of the year. So it is everything I usually don’t read in a book - middle grade, fantasy and Greek mythology. However, it is also everything I love in a book - the beauty and pain of being human. The premise is two teen friends, one grappling with the loss of her mother but it is also an ode to friendships (and loving who your friends are instead of who you want them to be). Please don’t let the middle grade label disway you. It is beautiful and has plenty to teach this middle-aged mom. Song: Place We Were Made - Maisie Peters
No Two Persons - Erica Bauermeister. A book about one book with nine perspectives from the author to the editor to the voice actor. Reading this book is like getting your own chapter…and trust me …we should all have a chapter. Song: Library Magic - The Head and the Heart
The Celebrants by Steven Rowley. If you are a fan of The Guncle, let me warn you…this is not the same vibe. This book found me at the right time. A small group of friends makes a pact to call their own funerals while they are still living. I read it in the midst of non-fictional grief and it somehow felt right. It found the balance between hopeful and honest. Song: Linger - Ginger Riley
Go as a River- Shelley Read. I don’t give too many five star ratings on GoodReads, but this was a no-brainer. This book follows the main character for most of her adult life. It is a story of hope, strength, loss and becoming. The language is beautiful but the story is compelling enough to carry you on. Song: Stubborn Love - The Lumineers
All the Sinners Bleed - S. A. Cosby. This book comes in hot and is not for the faint of heart. Trigger warnings abound. Small southern town, black sheriff, serial killer - it is gritty, compelling and thoughtful. Song: I Shot the Sheriff - Eric Clapton
All My Rage - Sabaa Tabor. YA with an adult punch. Sal, a teen son of a Pakistani immigrant works to save the family motel. It is hard and hopeful and I unexpectedly love it. Song: The Wanderer - U2 & Johhny Cash
Yellowface - R.F. Kuang. This book has been everywhere and for good reason. It is much shorter and easier to read than Kuang’s last book (Babel) with all the same talent. It is up for my next bookclub and I’m glad because this is a book that begs to be talked about. It questions who owns a story and who has a right to tell it. Song: Karma - Taylor Swift
In the Lives of Puppets - T. J. Klune. Klune writes beautiful books, although this is certainly his oddest one. It might take a bit to get into (a vacuum cleaner is an entire character) - but it will be worth it. It is the story of three robots and a human but, at it's core it is a story of forgiveness and deciding if who we are is who we have to always be. Song: People Change - Mipso
Hello Beautiful - Ann Napolitano. I have easily read over a thousand books in the last decade, this is in my top 5. It is everything I want a book to be. It will destroy in the best possible way (think hopeful and redemptive instead of sappy or emotionally manipulative). You will read it during soccer games (and not just half time – sorry daughter). You will cry in public. You will debate never returning it to the library. Song: Terrified - Katherine McPhee
Small Things Like These - Claire Keegan. Claire writes short teeny books that do big huge things to your heart. Song: Comfort - Deb Talon
All the Broken Places - John Boyne. This is an adult sequel to Boy in the Striped Pajamas, following the story of his older sister after the war. It is nuanced and complicated – just like I imagine most decisions in hard situations are. It asks hard questions about shame and guilt and the possibility of redemption. It forces the reader to ask themselves what can be forgiven. Song: Crack the Case -Dawes
Nonfiction
The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year - Margaret Renkl. I’m a reluctant nature essay reader. This is like a devotional for your backyard. You can read it in a few sittings (like me) or dip into it each week during the appropriate season. This is what I imagine Mary Oliver to be like, if she lived next door and helped me with the carpool. I’m pretty sure Renkl wrote this line for me, “Nothing in nature exists as a metaphor, but human beings are reckless metaphor makers anyway. Only a fool could fail to find the lesson here.” Margaret you see me, and the crows. Song: She Talks to Angels - The Black Crowes
How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentler Approach to Cleaning and Organizing - K.C. Davis. This book didn’t do anything magic for me, mostly I just appreciate that it exists. This is the opposite of Marie Kondo and mostly just permission to not get it all done. Someone needs to hear this line from Davis, “You are not a failure because you can’t keep up with laundry. Laundry is morally neutral.” Mess- Noah Kahan
The Life Council - Laura Tremaine. Podcaster Laura mapped out ten types of friends or people she needs in her life. If you don’t have ten friends don’t freak out, some people can hold more than one role and not all of them are in your daily life. I’ve always lived by “best friends are a tier not a person” but I’m still very guilty of lumping too many roles onto the same people. This was a much more balanced approach. It made me think of the kinds of people I need in my life and how I can be a better supporter of others. Song: You Will Be Found - Ben Platt
Heating and Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs - Beth Ann Fennelly. Well written essays, never more than a few pages. Almost but not quite poetry. I loved them. Each one was a lesson in how to tell the truth and capture a succinct cozy or thought provoking moment in as few words as possible. Song: Flowers in Your Hair - Lumineers (one of the shortest songs I know)
Mother Noise - Cindy House. This is a book of personal essays that will stick with me for a long time. It is kind of a book about recovery, but motherhood, marriage and friendship (like her pal David Sedaris). Unexpectedly hopeful and well written. I may not have a past heroin addiction, but I still grapple with some of her same questions. Song: Morton's Fork - Typhoon.
Enchantment: Reawakening Wonder in an Anxious Age - Katherine May. May always manages to slow me down with her words and in this case, slow me down and open my eyes wider. Song: Enchanted (Taylor's Version) - Taylor Swift
You Could Make This Place Beautiful - Maggie Smith. Poet, Maggie Smith, wrote a memoir-ish book about the dissolution of her marriage. It is heavy and hopeful and you will want to have your own copy so you can underline all the good parts. The title comes from her poem that Meryl Streep helped make viral Good Bones - which is well worth a listen. Song: Beautiful Things - Gungor
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End - Atul Gawande. This book was fascinating to me. Dr. Gawande tackles all the topics most people avoid. It is a deep dive and history in how our culture approaches medical care and treatment of the aging and dying. It brought a dignified voice and background to some many conversations most people avoid. Song: Good Life - Kyle Church
A Curious Faith: The Questions God Asks, We Ask and We Wish Someone Would Ask Us- Lore Wilbert Number one sign that I love a book. I immediately want to give my copy to someone and then I order another copy because I need my own. And in this case I gave away my second copy. Each chapter in this book is based on a question. The bible is full of a whole lot more questions than answers. It only makes sense that our faith should revolve around questions instead of certainties. Few books have given me full permission to live into that like this one. Song: Saints out of Sailers - Flannelgraph
End of the Hour: A Therapist's Memoir. - Meghan Riordan Jarvis. I thought this book would be something else. A look from the other side of the couch, instead it was her own brutiful journey of loss and grief. She gave just the teensiest bit of science and background at the right times to normalize a complicated emotion. It was also a book about knowing the answers and the path, but still the struggle of walking it. I underlined half of it. Song: Growing Sideways -Noah Kahan.
The Lives We Actually Have: 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days - Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie. Blessings and truth for the kinds of days we don’t always have words for. These words are perfect, but most of all they are honest. Song - Too Good -Jess Ray.
World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments - Aimee Nezhukumatahil. Confession - I may have two science degrees both with a focus in biology, but sometimes I find nature writing a little too nature-y. This book of essays focused on one species and paired it with personal essay and reflection from the author. I learned some about whale sharks and plants I’d never heard of, but mostly I got a beautiful glimpse into the author’s heart and family. I loved every page. Song - Snow Shoes - Caamp
The short version
Fiction (in not particular order)
The Covenant of Water - Abraham Verghese
The Widely Unknown Myth of Apple and Dorothy - Corey Ann Haydu
No Two Persons - Erica Bauermeister
The Celebrants by Steven Rowley
Go as a River- Shelley Read
All the Sinners Bleed - S. A. Cosby
All the Broken Places - John Boyne
Small Things Like These - Claire Keegan.
Hello Beautiful - Ann Napolitano
In the Lives of Puppets - T. J. Klune
Yellowface - R.F. Kuang
All My Rage - Sabaa Tabor
NonFiction (in no particular order)
The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year - Margaret Renkl.
How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentler Approach to Cleaning and Organizing - K.C. Davis.
The Life Council - Laura Tremaine
Heating and Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs
Mother Noise - Cindy House
Enchantment: Reawakening Wonder in an Anxious Age - Katherine May
You Could Make This Place Beautiful - Maggie Smith
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End - Atul Gawande
A Curious Faith: The Questions God Asks, We Ask and We Wish Someone Would Ask Us- Lore Wilbert
End of the Hour: A Therapist's Memoir. - Meghan Riordan Jarvis
The Lives We Actually Have: 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days - Kate Bowler and Jessica RichieWorld of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments - Aimee Nezhukumatahil
A few books I am looking forward to reading in 24 (not necessarily new releases -- just ones in my TBR)
Mercury - Amy Jo Burns
In Memorium - Alice Winn
The Fury - Alex Micaelides
Divine Rivals - Rebecca Ross
Wandering Stars - Tommy Orange
Interesting Facts about Space - Emily Austin
A Different Kind of Gone - Catherine Ryan Hyde
Goodnight Irene - Luis Alberto Urrea
House Lessons: Renovating a Life: Erica Bauermeister
The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master myself and Win - Maria Konokova
The Understory: An invitation to Rootedness- Lore Ferguson Wilbert (May)
Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma - Claire Dederer
The Fragile Threads of Power - VE Schwab
How to Walk into a Room: The Art of Knowing When to Stay and When to Walk Away - Emily P. Freeman (March)
Grief is for People - Sloane Crosley
Field Notes for the Wilderness - Sara Bessey (June)
