Reading a book is one of my favorite hobbies! Having a good mix of current fiction, classics, memoirs, and helpful non-fiction titles is important to me. I read on my Kindle Paperwhite as well as physical books I get from many different stores. I love the ease of shopping at Amazon but also want to support independent book stores. I also enjoy getting books from Book of the Month.
After having one of the best reading years of my life last year I decided to set a couple harder goals for this year. My main goal is to read at least 52 books and I want to read the books I already own. I am not saying I won’t buy any new books but I want the majority of the books I read this year to be ones from my personal library (which is pretty extensive).
- Celine by Peter Heller– A wonderful mystery that takes you through Wyoming & Montana
- A Million Little Ways: Uncover the Art You Were Made to Live by Emily P Freeman – A beautiful manifesto with inspiration and practical tips to help you create art in whatever medium you are called to
- The Stationary Shop by Marjan Kamali – A heartbreaking and beautiful story of a woman living in Iran during the 1950s and then moving to the United States. The descriptions of food in this book are so wonderful! Made me want to try Persian Cuisine.
- The Vandeerbeekers of 141st St by Karina Yan Glaser – We read this as a family read aloud. Everyone loved it. The story takes place in modern day Harlem where a family just found out their lease isn’t being renewed right before Christmas.
- The Dutch House by Ann Patchett – I loved this family drama and now I want to read all of Ann Patchett’s books (this was my first). It felt like a friend was telling you their story over the course of a few evenings.
- Falling Free by Shannan Martin – This memoir is so inspiring and convicting as Shannan tells the story of how God moved in their lives in unexpected ways.
- First Impressions by Charlie Lovett – This was a fun book inspired by Jane Austen but I liked The Bookman’s Tale better.
- Beholding and Becoming: The Art of Everyday Worship by Ruth Chou Simons – The art in this book is so beautiful and the words were so convicting! I highly recommend this for your devotional reading.
- Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow – I really appreciated the author’s demonstration of the power of words and the way she was able to talk about race and how we treat each other through this story. It is written like a historical fiction but with a sci-fi twist. I don’t want to spoil it for you but it was a unique storytelling. I am glad I read it even though it had a slow start.
- Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan – I really enjoyed this historical fiction. I have been a fan of CS Lewis for many years and this book really fleshes out Joy’s side of the story and their relationship.
- Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson – This was a super quirky and fun, quick read. The premise of the story is that a friend needs the main character to come be a nanny for the summer for her step-children that will be coming to live with them. The catch is that the children literally catch on fire when they are upset or angry! I loved how this book explored unconditional love, motherhood and class issues. One warning though: the author uses the F word a lot! I didn’t appreciate that aspect but the story was wonderful.
- The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by JRR Tolkien – We enjoyed this classic as a family read aloud.
- Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty – This was a great character driven story. If you love big character development even if its a slow plot you will enjoy this one. The setting is an Australian health resort. It has an exciting twist about half way into the book.
- Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott – I read through this book extra slowly so I could take in all of her great insights and practical advice for writing and life in general.
- A Portrait of Emily Price by Katherine Reay – This was a quick weekend read. I love how Katherine Reay weaves so many literature references into her books.
- The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes – If you love historical fiction this is a great one. It is the story of travelling librarians in the late 1930s in Kentucky and the power of friendship and literacy.
- Don’t Overthink It by Anne Bogel – I have followed Modern Mrs Darcy for years and this book has so much practical advice. I highly recommend it!
- Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
- Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout These book are written as short stories about different characters in a small town in Maine that is some way cross paths with Olive. It really is a study of ordinary people’s lives and how much the relationships with their families growing up make or break them and how love can heal. I liked that the stories were from an older person’s perspective. Reading these books made me want to love my family better.
- Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski & Amelia Nagoski This book has a ton of great practical tips and a lot of things to really dig in and think about. I am not a feminist and I don’t agree with everything in this book but I found it to be very thought provoking.
- Recursion by Blake Crouch This was a well written book but the timing was off for me. I don’t want to spoil the story. It is an intriguing story line.
- The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo I connected to this book on so many levels as it explored the inner lives of each family member and the choices they made. I love books that let you in to multiple people’s perspectives about the same events. This is a long one at 533 pages but I enjoyed my time with this family. I would rate this Mature because of language and sexual content.
- The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall One of my favorite reads this year so far. It explores the lives and faith of 4 people through the challenges of life in a way that doesn’t minimize doubt. It was definitely a page turner! I highly recommend it!
- Writers & Lovers by Lily King This is a coming into one’s own story that I really appreciated. If you love books or writing this book has so many fun details. I would rate it mature.
- Time After Time by Lisa Grunwald It was a compelling story with some twists I didn’t expect. The story takes place from the 1920s to 1940s in Grand Central Station.
- Lovely War by Julie Berry Another one of my favorites of the year! A long but satisfying story covering love, war, music, friendship, racism, feminism and so much more through the lives of 4 young people during World War 1.
- Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn This book takes place mostly in New York City. I enjoyed seeing life through a creative’s eyes and all the games they played as they formed a relationship but was very surprised by the explicit sex scenes pretty far into the book.
- Happily Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez
- All Things Reconsidered by Knox McCoy This collection of essays is thoughtful and funny.
- The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett This book is so interesting because it lets you see how a set of twins live such different lives based on the perception of their race. Very timely book for this time in history.
- Chasing Vines by Beth Moore – I loved this deep dive into Jesus being the Vine and how it relates to our Christian walk and how God cultivates us in such a way as to produce good fruit even when we can’t see it (and it’s not all water & sunshine either. Favorite quote: “Much of the war against the devil is about whether you’ll quit.”
- Simon the Fiddler by Paulette Jiles – This was a great historical fiction taking place in Texas at the end of the Civil War. It follows a young man trying to build a life for himself with his fiddle. Captain Kidd from News of the World even makes a cameo appearance.
- The Overdue Life of Amy Bylar by Kelly Harms – This was a wonderful quick read this weekend! If you love a coming into your own story with lots of book titles and delicious sounding food you will love this. I laughed, I cried, and I felt seen reading this book of a single mother who goes on a #momspringa to NYC and finds herself and how to be a better mother too.
- This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger I really enjoyed reading This Tender Land. It feels like a great mix of Huckleberry Finn, David Copperfield and The Odyessy. It follows the adventure of 4 orphan kids in 1932 as they try to find a better life.
- I’d Give Anything by Marisa de los Santos – She has written another wonderful book exploring friendship and the cost of secrets. I love the depth of her characters and the compelling story line.
- Beach Read by Emily Henry – I loved the writer life insights as 2 writers are neighbors at the lake for the summer. It is both a fun summer read and it delves deep into grief and finding your true self.
- I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown – This is a great memoir of a modern Black woman and her experiences growing up in a white dominated world. I really appreciated her perspective and willingness to tell her story.
- Kindred by Octavia Butler – This was a wonderful work of fiction in which a 26 year old black woman mysteriously is transported back and forth in time to the 1830s on a plantation. She has to wrestle with how differently she is treated between the 2 timelines and what she can do to change people’s minds.
- Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cheeton – This book follows 3 different women over Labor Day weekend 1935 when a hurricane hits unexpectedly. It also explores what happened to many veterans after World War 1. I loved so many perspectives of the same event and learning about an historical event I didn’t know about before.
- Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout – This is a follow up to My Name Is Lucy Barton. Elizabeth Strout writes such wonderful characters even when they aren’t always likeable.
- The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez – After I read The Happily Ever After Playlist I found out that there was another book before it with overlapping characters. It was so fun getting to spend more time with these characters.
- Musical Chairs by Amy Poeppel This was a quirky book about a dysfuntional musical family and the main character is a middle aged woman which is fun.
- The Lazy Genius Way by Kendra Adachi – This is so good! One of my favorite books this year! It is filled with practical advice but not in a do it my way kind of way. It’s more like here are some ideas to figure out your best way to live. It is so encouraging and life giving!
- Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton I loved meeting the Perez family in this book and how it goes back and forth between the grandmother’s life in Cuba in the 1950s and the the granddaughter in the modern day. I also loved learning more about Cuba’s history.
- When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton This is the next book in the series about the Perez family only it features another member of the family. Absolutely loved this series and can’t wait for another book in this series to come out (hopefully next year)!
- All Adults Here by Emma Straub – I have mixed feelings about this book and I don’t think I want to talk about it here 🙂
- Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev – I fell hard for Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev! Inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion it is a story of second chances, love and complicated relationships. I laughed, I cried and the main characters participate in a Food Network show! Highly recommend!
- Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev- After enjoying Recipe for Persuasion I found out that that there was another book before it. It was so wonderful to be immersed in this family for awhile longer and I love all the Jane Austen bits woven through the story!
- The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner – “For the world that really existed demanded the pain, and the living with it, and would never let you go even when everything else fell away.” This was an amazing story with a hodgepodge of characters shortly after World War 2 coming together because of the way Jane Austen’s stories effected them and now they want to preserve her history. If you love Jane Austen, you will love this book!
- All the Devils are Here by Louise Penny – Is cozy murder a genre? I love this entire Inspector Gamache series and loved this one that takes place in Paris!
- The Switch by Beth O’Leary was such a fun weekend read! I really appreciated the 3 generations of women all being complex characters and watching how they all dealt with their grief as well as fun romance. I love this trend in books to carry more than one thing like grief and love.
- The Secret Thing by Marybeth Whalen This was a fun read rich with characters and a mystery to solve.
- The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. Everyone loved The Phantom Tollbooth as a family read aloud! We especially loved all the word play throughout the story.
- Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo I would never have picked this book but I am so glad it was our book of the month for Modern Mrs. Darcy Bookclub. It is a story told in verse by a 15 year old girl from the Dominican Republic living in Harlem. It reminded me of my youth and made me consider my relationships with my daughters.
- Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner This is a quick summer read about friendship, body image and a mystery thrown in.
- I’m Fine and Neither are You by Camille Pagan I loved this coming into your own story in midlife. The author explores processing grief and the effect of trying to act like we are fine when we aren’t, so well! Highly recommend.
- This Won’t End Well by Camille Pagan
- Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
- 100 Cupboards by ND Wilson Another great read aloud although there are some scarier parts for younger kids.
- The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbie Waxman I loved this book so much! I don’t remember the last time I laughed so much! There were so many book references! I also loved how she highlighted the importance of family relationships and living with anxiety.
- Anxious People by Fredrik Backman I loved the depth of the characters and that the author kept throwing in little surprises as he told the story and how demonstrates how much we need each other and how our lives are connected to others in ways we may never know.
- Frontier Follies by Ree Drummond I have been following The Pioneer Woman for years and years. Her latest book Frontier Follies: Adventures in Marriage & Motherhood in the Middle of Nowhere is such a fun, light read. In the midst of isolation during this pandemic it truly feels like spending time with a friend swapping stories.
- The Bright Side of Going Dark by Kelly Harms “Everything you can do on a phone you can do better without a phone. Except the self-numbing and avoidance. Just skip those.” This book delves deeply into our modern lives of living through our phones. She doesn’t hold back any punches. The characters are deep and complicated. Mental health issues are a big part of the story and I appreciated the telling of this story. It is not a light happy read like I expected but I am so glad I read it and have been thinking about it a lot the last few days after finishing it.
- People Fuel by John Townsend This has so much practical advice for how interact with others in such a way to grow and have healthy relationships.
- Mastering the Art of French Eating by Ann Mah I absolutely loved this book! This was the December pick for Modern Mrs. Darcy Bookclub. This memoir made me want to go to France to try most of the things she described and see all the places she visited! It has amazing recipes too! I loved the tie ins with Julia Child (and made me want to watch Julie & Julia again).
- Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gasi What a wonderful story of a young black woman wrestling with faith and science in the face of troubling circumstances.
- Welcome Home by Myquilyn Smith This was such an encouragement to live seasonally in our homes. I loved the idea of having a special drink bar like apple cider, lemonade or something fun when we have company.
- Woman Last Seen in her Thirties by Camille Pagan This was a wonderful coming into one’s story when life threw a curveball. It is amazing how so many of us get lost during our parenting years and have to rediscover our own selves later on. So much can change and yet some parts remain there waiting for us to return.
Book Lists from Past Years
Here is the Book list for 2019
and the Book list for 2018
