The Best Reads of 2024

This was an excellent year for reading. In making my top ten list I had to reject many books that other years would’ve been a shoo in for recognition. The only reason So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson isn’t on the list is because I fear recency bias. Here are my top ten, followed by a complete list. As always, I welcome your recommendations!

1. Miracle Creek by Angie Kim-- A nonspoiler trigger warning: this book revolves around the death of a child and the fallout from that. Parts can be hard to read. But it’s gripping and poignant and I still find myself thinking about it. The mystery element is well put together, with enough clues the reader can piece together what’s happening but some twists that also make sense. The characters are all flawed humans. Some I empathized with, some I hated, but they all felt like real people. The discussion this book is having about parenting is fascinating. What do we give to our children and what do they take from us?

2. Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr-- I went into this one blind and I think that’s how I’d recommend it. All you need to know is there are four narrators in three different time periods and they all have connections to an ancient Greek comedy. I sobbed at the ending of one of the narrator’s stories and I very seldom cry while reading. It’s long but Anthony Doerr is absolutely worth it.

3. The River of Doubt by Candace Millard-- This felt like an adventure novel, but all the best stories are true. In 1912, despondent over losing the presidency, Theodore Roosevelt traveled with his son and an expedition down an unmapped river in the Amazon. He set out to have a grueling physical challenge and, well, it definitely succeeded in being that. It’s incredible what humans can accomplish and where they can survive. This book made me feel like I could see the expedition unfolding before me. Highly recommend.

4. Extra Life by Steven Johnson-- Okay this is the nonfiction that got me to tear up this year. Insert the Seinfeld meme-- “You’re crying from reading about how lifespans have lengthened over the past century?” “The myriad of good that has come from science got to me.” As you probably know, the reason the average person’s life expectancy has shot up isn’t that people in the Middle Ages died randomly in their twenties or thirties (although that happened too) but because child mortality was so high. Why has it dropped? Beyond vaccines and antibiotics, which are obvious, artificial fertilizer is on the list. This is Steven Johnson’s best book since The Ghost Map, which he also references. It’s both scientific, well written, feel good, and somehow philosophical. What do we do with all this extra time most of us take for granted?

5. A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik-- As I age I read less and less fantasy as the tropes have grown tiresome, but this was a joy. A darkly funny joy. Think Hogwarts meets the Hunger Games. Students are drafted into a magical boarding school and don’t get to leave until they graduate-- if they can survive that long.

6. Joyful Recollections of Trauma by Paul Scheer-- I know and love Paul Scheer through the incredible How Did This Get Made podcast, which is something else I highly recommend. I had no idea that Paul’s childhood was this, well, traumatic, because he’s such a positive person. Obvious trigger warning for children experiencing trauma. But it’s not all bad; Paul is inherently funny and the book doesn’t dwell in moroseness. If you’re looking for an audiobook this is a great one to hear narrated by the author.

7. The Hilarious World of Depression by John Moe-- Kind of funny that these two ended up right next to each other on the list. They’re both about serious topics (depression and suicidal ideation in this case) with bleak sections, and yet are not depressing to read and have humor laced throughout. Whether you struggle with depressive tendencies or are trying to understand what it’s like, this is a great read.
8. Divine Might by Natalie Haynes-- Natalie Haynes writes in a delightfully droll way. I would read her analysis of anything, but goddesses in ancient myth is a real treat. I found this book in an airport bookstore and bought it immediately because Pandora’s Jar is one of my all time favorites. The well known names like Hera and Athena are here, but also some more obscure names, like Hestia. I especially loved Demeter’s chapter.

9. The President & the Assassin by Scott Miller-- This is the second book on presidential assassination to end up on my annual top ten (Candace Millard wrote the other; she’s a gem). There’s just something so intriguing about the intersection of two people’s lives in a way that changes the entire world. It feels inevitable, but it could’ve gone millions of different ways. I read this quickly and it left me humming Sondheim, of course. “Czolgosz/Working man/Born in the middle of Michigan…"

10. The Martian by Andy Weir-- This was a last minute decision as there were so many titles I could have put in this last spot, but this one just made me feel happy to read it. I’m late to the party but I’ll definitely be checking out more Andy Weir in the future.
 
Honorable Mentions:
Nonfiction-- Grandma Gatewood’s Walk by Ben Montgomery
Fiction-- Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie 

 Books are listed alphabetically by author. Asterisks denote a reread, recommendations are bolded.

Nonfiction
Why Does the Other Line Always Move Faster?: The Myths and Misery, Secrets and Psychology of Waiting in Line-- David Andrews
Invictus: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation-- John Carlin
Queen Victoria: A Life of Contradictions-- Matthew Denison
Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American Independence-- Joseph J Ellis
All the Knowledge in the World: The Extraordinary History of the Encyclopedia-- Simon Garfield
Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body-- Roxane Gay
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference-- Malcolm Gladwell
Misfit: Growing Up Awkward in the '80s-- Gary Gulman
Spare-- Prince Harry (It desperately needed an editor but who doesn't love Harry reading an audiobook, so it's worth checking out the chapters on the time periods you're interested in)
***Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths-- Natalie Haynes
Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth-- Natalie Haynes
The Best American Magazine Writing 2023-- edited by Sidney Holt
Raising Demons-- Shirley Jackson (the only author to appear on both sections on this list!)
Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer-- Steven Johnson
31 Dates in 31 Days-- Tamara Duricka Johnson
The Loneliest Americans-- Jay Kaspian Kang
The Envoy: the Epic Rescue of the Last Jews of Europe in the Desperate Closing Months of World War II-- Alex Kershaw
The Pirate King: The Strange Adventures of Henry Avery and the Birth of the Golden Age of Piracy-- Sean Kingsley and Rex Cowen
Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll-- MG Lord
In the Dream House-- Carmen Maria Machado
Bully!: The Life and Times of Theodore Roosevelt-- Rick Marschall
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey-- Candice Millard
The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and the Empire at the Dawn of the American Century-- Scott Miller
The Hilarious World of Depression-- John Moe
Grandma Gatewood's Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail-- Ben Montgomery
I Know Who You Are: How an Amateur DNA Sleuth Unmasked the Golden State Killer and Changed Crime Fighting Forever-- Barbara Rae-Venter
So You've Been Publicly Shamed-- Jon Ronson
My Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me: A Memoir-- Jason B Rosenthal
100 Essays I Didn't Have Time to Write: On Umbrellas and Sword Fights, Parades and Dogs, Fire Alarms, Children, and Theatre-- Sarah Ruhl
Joyful Recollections of Trauma-- Paul Scheer
Jerusalem's Traitor: Josephus, Masada, and the Fall of Judea-- Desmond Seward
The Secret Lives of COlor-- Kassia St Clair
This Isn't Going to End Well: The True Story of a Man I Thought I Knew-- Daniel Wallace
Benjamin Harrison: America's 23rd President-- Jean Kinney Williams
Little Sister: My Investigation Into the Mysterious Death of Natalie Wood-- Lana Wood
Fiction
Evergreen Tidings From the Baumgartners-- Gretchen Anthony
***The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy-- Jeanne Birdsall
Evil Under the Sun-- Agatha Christie
***Gregor the Overlander-- Suzanne Collins
***Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane-- Suzanne Collins
***Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods-- Suzanne Collins
***Gregor and the Marks of Secret-- Suzanne Collins
***Gregor and the Code of Claw-- Suzanne Collins
Kill the Farm Boy-- Delilah S Dawson and Kevin Hearne
Cloud Cuckoo Land-- Anthony Doerr
Sometimes I Lie-- Alice Feeney
The Return -- Rachel Harrison
The Paradox Hotel-- Rob Hart
The River-- Peter Heller
Funny Story-- Emily Henry
We Have Always Lived in the Castle-- Shirley Jackson
Miracle Creek-- Angie Kim
A Stranger in the House-- Shari Lapena
No One Goes Alone-- Erik Larson
The Devil Among the Lawyers-- Sharyn McCrumb
***What Alice Forgot-- Liane Moriarty
A Deadly Education-- Naomi Novik
There There-- Tommy Orange
The Bell Jar-- Sylvia Plath
The Revenant-- Michael Punke
Excellent Women-- Barbara Pym
***Where the Red Fern Grows-- Wilson Rawls
The Labors of Hercules Beal-- Gary D Schmidt
The Glass Hotel-- Emily St. John Mandel
Stepping Off-- Jordan Sonnelblick
One to Watch-- Kate Stayman-London
The Martian-- Andy Weir
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow-- Gabrielle Zevin

A Hundred Out of a Thousand

 Short and simple:

I've read a thousand books since I started keeping track in late 2011. To celebrate I made a list of a hundred that I highly recommend. Organized roughly in the order I read them, blue is fiction, black is nonfiction. I'm happy to chat more about any of these if you'd like to!

1.      A Tale of Two Cities-- Charles Dickens

2.      Treasure Island-- Robert Louis Stevenson

3.      Oliver Twist-- Charles Dickens

4.      The Alchemyst-- Michael Scott

5.      Wuthering Heights-- Emily Bronte

6.      Hide and Seek With Angels-- Lisa Chaney

7.      American Emperor-- Stewart

8.      The Scarlet Letter-- Nathaniel Hawthorne

9.      Maphead-- Ken Jennings

10.   Ivanhoe-- Walter Scott

11.   War and Peace-- Leo Tolstoy

12.   My Fair Godmother-- Rallison

13.   The Uses of Enchantment-- Bruno Bettelheim

14.   The Great Brain-- John Fitzgerald

15.   Union 1812-- AJ Langguth

16.   American Eve-- Paula Uruburu

17.   James Madison-- Richard Brookhiser

18.   The Better Angels of Our Nature-- Steven Pinker

19.   Ender’s Game-- Orson Scott Card

20.   Roughing It-- Mark Twain

21.   Lad, a Dog-- Alfred Terhune

22.   The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks-- E Lockhart

23.   At Home-- Bill Bryson

24.   The Ballad of Tom Dooley-- Sharyn McCrumb

25.   The Fellowship of the Ring-- JRR Tolkien

26.   The Color of Magic-- Terry Pratchett

27.   American Tempest-- Harlow Giles Unger

28.   The Merchant of Death-- DJ MacHale

29.   The Violinist’s Thumb-- Sam Kean

30.   The Ghost Map-- Samuel Johnson

31.   The ABC Murders-- Agatha Christie

32.   Okay For Now-- Gary Schmidt

33.   The Color Purple-- Alice Walker

34.   Emma-- Jane Austen

35.   Verily, a New Hope-- Ian Doescher

36.   The Kite Runner-- Khaleed Hosseini

37.   The Clockwork Universe-- Edward Dolnick

38.   Crime and Punishment-- Fyodor Dostoevsky

39.   Living My Life-- Emma Goldman

40.   The Book Thief-- Marcus Zusak

41.   Neverwhere-- Neil Gaiman

42.   Around the World in 80 Days-- Jules Verne

43.   The Hobbit-- JRR Tolkien

44.   The Heart of the Matter-- Graham Greene

45.   Song of Spider-man-- Glen Berger

46.   The Shakespeare Wars-- Ron Rosenbaum

47.   Gone Girl-- Gillian Flynn

48.   Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie-- Jordan Sonnelblick

49.   Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?-- Mindy Kaling

50.   George Eliot in Love-- Brenda Maddox

51.   Four Seasons in Rome-- Anthony Doerr

52.   Alice in tumblr-Land-- Tim Manley

53.   This is a Book- Demetri Martin

54.   The Handmaid’s Tale-- Margaret Atwood

55.   Odd Thomas-- Dean Koontz

56.   Room-- Emma Donoghue

57.   Confessions of a Latter-day Virgin-- Nicole Hardy

58.   Fooling Houdini-- Alex Stone

59.   The Girl With All the Gifts-- MR Carey

60.   Born to Run-- Christopher McDougall

61.   Never Cry Wolf-- Farley Mowat

62.   The Princess Diarist-- Carrie Fisher

63.   The Civil Wars of Julia Ward Howe-- Elaine Showalter

64.   The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance-- Elna Baker

65.   Kissing in America-- Margo Rabb

66.   On the Map-- Simon Garfield

67.   Wishful Drinking-- Carrie Fisher

68.   The Ocean at the End of the Lane-- Neil Gaiman

69.   A Man Called Ove-- Fredric Backman

70.   A Train in Winter-- Caroline Moorehead

71.   Timekeepers-- Simon Garfield

72.   Junius and Albert’s Aventures in the Confederacy-- Peter Carlson

73.   What Alice Forgot-- Liane Moriarty

74.   The Caped Crusade-- Glen Weldon

75.   The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society-- Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Burrows

76.   I, Robot-- Isaac Asimov

77.   Clementine: The Life of Mrs Winston Churchill-- Sonia Purnell

78.   Anne of Green Gables-- Lucy Maud Montgomery

79.   Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine-- Gail Honeyman

80.   Strangers on a Train-- Patricia Highsmith

81.   The Girls of Murder City-- Douglas Perry

82.   Permanent Record-- Edward Snowden

83.   The Rest of Us Just Live Here-- Patrick Ness

84.   Planet Funny-- Ken Jennings

85.   Talking to Strangers-- Malcolm Gladwell

86.   Mao’s Last Dancer-- Li Cunxin

87.   The New One-- Mike Birbiglia

88.   The Mirage Factory-- Gary Krist

89.   The Fifth Season-- NK Jemisin

90.   Destiny of the Republic-- Candice Millard

91.   Station Eleven-- Emily St John Mandel

92.   American Heiress-- Jeffrey Toobin

93.   Listen to the Marriage-- John Jay Osborn

94.   Pandora’s Jar-- Natalie Haynes

95.   Life Among the Savages-- Shirley Jackson

96.   November Road-- Lou Berney

97.   Grant-- Ron Chernow

98.   The Queens of Animation-- Nathalia Holt

99.   Incendiary-- Michael Cannell

1       The Glass Hotel-- Emily St John Mandel

What I Read in 2023

 I meant to read more than forty eight books this year. But it turned out to be the hardest year of my life and the best we can do is all we can do. 

Top Ten of 2023:

1. November Road-- Lou Berney

Content warning for lots of sex and violence but my god I loved this book. I cried. Can we overcome who we have been?

2. Be Frank With Me-- Julia Claiborne Johnson

I usually hate precocious kid characters but this one was great.

3. Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, & the Last Trial of Harper Lee-- Casey Cep

Did you know at one point Harper Lee was apartment neighbors with Hall & Oates?

4. A Man of Iron: The Turbulent Life and Improbable Presidency of Grover Cleveland-- Troy Senik

5. It Came From the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror-- Ed. by Jose Vallese

6. Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics-- Stephen Greenblatt

7. Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts-- Kate Racculia

8. 100 Places To See After You Die: A Guide to the Afterlife-- Ken Jennings

9. Trailed: One Woman's Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders-- Kathryn Miles

10. Answers in the Form of Questions: A Definitive History & Insider's Guide to Jeopardy!-- Claire McNear

Honorable mentions: All Things Aside-- Iliza Shlesinger (nonfiction) and The Silent Land -- Graham Joyce (fiction)

And now the complete list. As always, my recommendations are bolded and sections are sorted alphabetically by author. Rereads are marked with ***. Here's to a happier 2024, and let me know what you think I should read in it!

Nonfiction

Black is the Body: Stories From My Grandmother's Time, My Mother's Time, & Mine-- Emily Bernard

Born Round: The Secret History of a Fulltime Eater-- Frank Bruni

***Shakespeare: The World as a Stage-- Bill Bryson

Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, & the Last Trial of Harper Lee-- Casey Cep

A Mind Spread Out on the Ground-- Alicia Elliott

Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics-- Stephen Greenblatt

Screaming on the Inside: The Unsustainability of American Motherhood-- Jessica Grose

Comedy Sex God-- Pete Holmes

100 Places to See After You Die: A Travel Guide to the Afterlife-- Ken Jennings

***Now I See You: A Memoir-- Nicole C Kear

The World Deserves My Children-- Natasha Leggero

Answers in the Form of Questions: A Definitive History & Insider's Guide to Jeopardy!-- Claire McNear

Trailed: One Woman's Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders-- Kathryn Miles

***Never Cry Wolf: The Amazing True Story of Life Among Arctic Wolves-- Farley Mowat

The Indomitable Florence Finch: The Untold Story of a War Widow Turned Resistance Fighter & Savior of American POWs-- Robert J Mrazek

The Impossible First: From Fire to Ice-- Crossing Antarctica Alone-- Colin O'Brady

The Taking of Jemima Boone: Colonial Settlers, Tribal Nations, & the Kidnap That Shaped America-- Matthew Pearl

The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity-- Esther Perel

We Thought We Knew You: A Terrifying True Story of Secrets, Betrayal, Deception, & Murder-- M William Phelps

The Far Land: 200 Years of Murder, Mania, & Mutiny in the South Pacific-- Brandon Presser

Brave, Not Perfect: Fear Less, Fail More, & Live Bolder-- Reshma Saujani

A Man of Iron: The Turbulent Life & Improbable Presidency of Grover Cleveland-- Troy Senik

All Things Aside: Absolutely Correct Opinions-- Iliza Shlesinger

Missing, Presumed-- Susie Steiner

***Unfriending My Ex & Other Things I'll Never Do-- Kim Stolz

Sitting Pretty: The View From My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body-- Rebekah Taussig

It Came From the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror-- Edited by Joe Vallese

The Witches Are Coming-- Lindy West

O My America! Six Women & Their Second Acts in a New World-- Sara Wheeler

Fiction

And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer & Longer-- Fredrik Backman

November Road-- Lou Berney

Five Little Pigs-- Agatha Christie

Long Black Veil-- Jennifer Finney-Boylan

*** The Ocean at the End of the Lane-- Neil Gaiman

***The Wind in the Willows-- Kenneth Grahame

A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor-- Hank Green

The Thin Man-- Dashiell Hammett

The Utterly Uninteresting & Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant-- Drew Hayes

The Queen of the Tearling-- Erika Johansen

Be Frank With Me-- Julia Clairborne Johnson

***Howl's Moving Castle-- Diana Wynne Jones

The Silent Land-- Graham Joyce

Before the Coffee Gets Cold-- Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Interesting Times-- Terry Pratchett

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts-- Kate Racculia

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle-- Stuart Turton

Quick Service-- PG Wodehouse

Lemon-- Kwon Yeo-sun

she persisted

 This has been the hardest, worst, most tumultuous year of my life. There is still a month and a half to go. But there have also been streaks of light and love and joy. Esther Perel says catastrophe has a way of propelling us into the essence of things. Well, honey, we're in the essence now. And feeling so much, all the time is so exquisite and cruel and relentless. My heart sometimes is hit by waves of pain and longing so pure it feels like I'll break into a thousand pieces. My feelings are jagged and unpredictable. My toddler exclaims, whenever I cry, "Mama has big feelings!" My baby doesn't understand anything yet. He just stares at me with his dark gray eyes as if to remind me how much I am needed, how much responsibility I carry. How can I, someone so flawed, have had a hand in creating something so beautiful? 

And sometimes my beloved holds me and I cry on his chest and he strokes my hair and I'm sure that if we can just make it to the new year I'll be okay. The person I was before may have died but I think who I am now has a shot at happiness, if I can play my cards right.

My heart is like my newly postpartum body-- it may still be bleeding but it is doing its goddamn best.

A Year in Books: 2022

Happy New Year! Almost!

It's that very special time of year where I collect all the books I read this year and recommend my top ten favorites. This year's top 10 list was heavy on nonfiction, which I find myself drawn to more and more. I still like a good fantasy, but I keep finding all the best stories are true. As always I am looking for recommendations, fiction or otherwise! I've read 950 books since I started keeping track in 2011 so next year I'm on track to surpass the big 1000 :O

Total: 73 books, 40 nonfiction / 33 fiction

1. Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths by Natalie Haynes

I want Natalie Haynes to write about everything. This exploration of women in the Greek myths captivated me from the first page. She takes us from those viewed in a positive light like Helen to those viewed in a negative light like Medusa (are there really any villains here?) and every shade of moral grey in between. I learned so much and I cannot recommend it highly enough. 

2. Just My Type: A Book About Fonts by Simon Garfield

This is Simon Garfield's third appearance on my annual Top Ten list and I don't see that stopping anytime soon. When I saw this subtitle I felt as though it had been written just for me. I'm a huge font nerd (Georgia is the best no contest) and read this trivia filled romp through the history of typeface with delight. Serifs vs sans, face off.

3. Live Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson

I don't think I'm alone in associating Shirley Jackson with her chilling short stories that often feature evil in everyday settings. I read "The Lottery" in middle school and am still not over it. But I had no idea she'd written a couple of semiautobiographical books about raising her children in the middle of the 20th century that are full of comedy, heart, and relatability. No frights, except for the terror of raising children and wondering what to do when the furnace won't start. Lovely.

4. I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

Woooooooooof this is a tough read. One of the stars of iCarly opens up about everything. Trigger warnings for everything: Eating disorders, emotional abuse, sexual assault, really, really, really horrible parenting. I think we should abolish children acting on television, tbh. It's really well written, but skip if you're in an emotionally vulnerable place. I hope Jennette McCurdy is having a good day, god knows she deserves it.

5. Travels With George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy by Nathaniel Philbrick

I haven't read any of Nathaniel Philbrick's other historical books. Maybe I'm worried I'll be let down. But this was an excellent introduction and he's on my list for the future. He and his wife (and their dog) follow the path George Washington took after he was elected president and visited the thirteen original colonies. Philbrick mixes past and present day tales and tries to find connections between the two. You know what they say, the more things change....

6. American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes, and Trial of Patty Hearst by Jeffrey Toobin

Well this was a wild ride. I had been vaguely aware of Patty Hearst and associated her name with Stockholm Syndrome but I had no idea of the full goings on. It is frankly ridiculous that she was (spoiler alert) reintegrated into polite society with no more than a slight slap on the wrist but that's having a rich family for ya! This reads like a thriller.

7. Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire 

There are only two fiction books on this list and they're both dark with elements of horror. Maybe next year's fiction will be lighter? When girls like Alice come back from Wonderland, how are they supposed to function in the "real world"? They go to a boarding school to help them accept their loss. But someone has started killing them....  This is a short read but an excellent job of world building.

8. The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A Arthur by Scott S Greenberger

I've said it before but in my presidential biography reading I often like best learning about the ones I knew very little about. While it's a tragedy (and an avoidable one at that) that James A Garfield died in office, Chester Arthur shocked everyone by rising above his corrupt background and following the encouragement of a letter writing spinster who told him she believed he could do better. 

9. Reprieve by James Han Mattson

A hands on, no holds barred haunted house with a charismatic CEO. A dead teenager. A trial. I will say that the ending felt a bit rushed to me, but the creepy atmosphere leading up to it for the rest of the book is spot on.

10. Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Dani Shapiro

There have been a spate of the "I took a 23 and Me test and my life got turned upside down" books in the last few years, and I'm sure that craze isn't over yet. Whether through infidelity, adoption, or donor sperm, many people have learned secrets that never would have been revealed without DNA testing. Dani Shapiro ponders what makes a family in this bittersweet memoir.

Honorable Mentions: 

Just the Funny Parts by Nell Scovell (nonfiction)

Something to Live For by Richard Roper (fiction)

And now, all the rest! As always, recommendations are bolded and rereads are marked with *** and books are listed alphabetically by author.

Nonfiction

• Drunk Tank Pink: And Other Unexpected Forces That Shape How We Think, Feel, & Behave -- Adam Alter
• The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History-- Katherine Ashenburg
• The Lost Prince: The Survival of Richard of York-- David Baldwin
• Maeve's Times: In Her Own Words-- Maeve Binchy
• The Poison Squad: One Chemist's Single Minded Crusade for Food Safety at the Turn of the 20th Century-- Deborah Blum
• Wildcat: The Untold Story of Pearl Hart, the Wild West's Most Notorious Bandit-- John Boessenecker
• Too Pretty to Live: The Catfishing Murders of East Tennessee-- Dennis Brooks
• The Great Pretender: The Undercover Mission That Changed Our Understanding of Madness-- Susannah Cahalan
• Eat the Buddha: Life & Death in a Tibetan Town-- Barbara Demick
• I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman -- Nora Ephron
• Secret Lives of the Tsars: Three Centuries of Autocracy, Debauchery, Betrayal, Murder, & Madness From Romanov Russia-- Michael Farquhar 
• Beyond the Wand: The Magic & Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard -- Tom Felton (Excellent as an audiobook, narrated by the author)
• Ten Steps to Nanette: A Memoir Situation -- Hannah Gadsby (Excellent as an audiobook, narrated by the author)
• When Life Gives You Pears: The Healing Power of Family, Faith, & Funny People-- Jim Gaffigan
• Just My Type: A Book About Fonts-- Simon Garfield
• Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, & Murder in Queer New York-- Elon Green
• The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A Arthur -- Scott S Greenberger
• Murder by the Book: The Crime That Shocked Dickens's London-- Claire Harman
• Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths -- Natalie Haynes
• Life Among the Savages-- Shirley Jackson
• Heart: A History-- Saneep Jauhar
• The Women I Think About At Night: Traveling the Paths of My Heroes-- Mia Kankimaki
• Putting It Together: How Stephen Sondheim & I Created Sunday in the Park With George - James Lapine
• Walking the Bowl: A True Story of Murder & Survival Among the Street Children of Lusaka -- Chris Lockhart & Daniel Mulilo Chama
• Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, & the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth -- Rachel Maddow
• I'm Glad My Mom Died-- Jennette McCurdy
• Lions of the West: Heroes & Villains of the Westward Expansion-- Robert Morgan
• The Light We Carry-- Michelle Obama
• This Is What America Looks Like: My Journey From Refugee to Congresswoman-- Ilhan Omar
• Travels With George: In Search of Washington & His Legacy-- Nathaniel Philbrick
• Dancing in the Mosque: An Afghan Mother's Letter to Her Son-- Homeira Qaderi
• Catch the Sparrow: A Search for a Sister & the Truth of Her Murder-- Rachel Rear
• Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law-- Mary Roach
• Just the Funny Parts: And a Few Hard Truths About Sneaking Into the Hollywood Boys' Club-- Nell Scovell
• Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, & Love-- Dani Shapiro
• The Fly Trap-- Fredrik Sjoberg
• Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries-- Kory Stamper
• Brothers on Three: A True Story of Family, Resistance, & Hope on a Reservation in Montana-- Abe Streep 
• The Year of the End: A Memoir of Marriage, Truth, & Fiction - Anne Theroux
• American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes, & Trial of Patty Hearst-- Jeffrey Toobin
• Sigh, Gone: A Misfit's Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, & the Fight to Fit In-- Phuc Tran
• The Last Escaper: The Untold Firsthand Story of the Legendary World War II Bomber Pilot, "Cooler King," & Arch Escape Artist-- Peter Tunstall
• Instant Mom-- Nia Vardalos 
• The Fixed Stars: A Memoir-- Molly Wizenberg

Fiction

• Leave the World Behind -- Rumaan Alam (For the first time in nine years of book blogging I honestly don't know if I recommend it or not. I'm so torn. The writing was pretentious and I hated the ending but the middle was so compelling. You may love it, you may hate it; it's certainly not for everyone.)
• If Beale Street Could Talk-- James Baldwin
• The Immortalists-- Chloe Benjamin
• The Postman Always Rings Twice-- James M Cain
• The Boy on the Bridge-- MR Carey
• Highfire-- Eoin Colfer
• Absolute Certainty-- Rose Connors
• ***The Eyre Affair-- Jasper Fforde
• The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter-- Theodora Goss
• The Cactus-- Sarah Haywood
• The Perfect Girl-- Gilly Macmillan
• Reprieve-- James Han Mattson
• Every Heart a Doorway-- Seanan McGuire
• Oona Out of Order-- Margarita Montimore
• The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August -- Claire North
• Noor-- Nnedi Okorafor
• Listen to the Marriage-- John Jay Osborn
• The Magician's Assistant-- Ann Patchett
• Soul Music-- Terry Pratchett
• ***The Lost Hero-- Rick Riordan
• ***The Son of Neptune-- Rick Riordan
• ***The Mark of Athena-- Rick Riordan
• Something to Live For-- Richard Roper
• Lizzie Bright & the Buckminster Boy-- Gary D Schmidt
• It's Not Like It's a Secret-- Misa Sugiura
• The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules-- Catharina Ingelman Sundberg
• Mrs Sinclair's Suitcase-- Louise Walters
• Lum-- Libby Ware

A Multiverse With Plenty of Madness

 So Doctor Strange was real bizarre.

Truly a trippy film. Not a well put together review but man, I am glad we saw it in a basically empty theatre because I was cackling. Some parts that weren't meant to be funny (like America exploding her parents into the multiverse because she saw... a bee?) were hysterical. Also, THE SOULS OF THE DAMNED. That's when the movie really jumped the shark for me. It was not a good movie , but at least it wasn't boring.

Assorted ramblings, full of spoilers:

-Christine-- surely no one can believe he actually cares about her since he hasn't mentioned her once since his standalone movie. This isn't a Peggy Carter situation; if you put a gun to my head yesterday and asked who Dr Strange's love interest was I could not have told you

- SO many candles. That combined with the constant evoking of "Christine" (because Sam Raimi believes if you mention something enough times that's the same thing as having it make sense) gives it real Phantom of the Opera vibes

- speaking of PoTO, there's a fight with piano notes?? like Marvel meets Fantasia?? And the climatic blow is struck by a single harp note that I guess is just extra special

- Dr Strange torments a man who was stolen from and it's presented as "how funny"

- There are SO MANY bad "quippy" one liners in this movie. The dialogue is atrocious. 

- Did I mention THE SOULS OF THE DAMNED???? That sound like the "it's me, boy" TikTok? Does this mean there is a god in this universe? What are they damned from? Just general wtf

- The reason No Way Home worked so well is because we knew all the Spider-Men and were excited to see the actors reunited. This was just Benedict Cumberbatch with different hair

- What was up with the evil one? just a plot point I guess

- They massacred Wanda's character. I wanted to feel compelled by both sides like in Civil War but they really did her dirty. And then she couldn't actually be defeated so they just had her pull a Padme and die of sadness. What a girlboss. I also love how Vision wasn't in any of her fantasies because I guess Paul Bettany didn't want to do the movie

- Plot? Don't know her. The whole movie was running to place to place, cringey dialogue, running again. My least favorite kind of plot. Nothing really happened via logical cause and effect, there were just cool looking fight scenes Sam Raimi wanted and so they happened. Woo.

I want to sit down with Sam Raimi and watch this and pause it a lot and be like, "so let me explain to why that line is stupid. And why this isn't enjoyable to watch. You did a bad thing."

Marvel is truly sending out its C list movies now, they know the superhero movie bubble is gonna burst soon.

New York, New York

 I always stress about a lot of different things with trips like this and then it’s the ones I don’t expect that pop up. But honestly today’s New York trip went about as well as it could go, until MegaBus. I found the new stop this morning with only a little weird driving to get into the garage. It’s on the bridge now which is cool. The ride up was uneventful; nice to see New Jersey again. It was chilly in New York but I had a jacket. First stop was 45 Bond because I wanted to try something new and it was highly reviewed for brunch. Very Italian and they had a butt statue to rub, haha. I am not sure if I needed my reservation or not but I had one and the waiters were very fancy. I got an omelet and breakfast potatoes. It was really good! Nice thick cheese in there and then eggs like the place from the mill. Mmm.

Then I walked around Times Square for a while; I can’t believe it’s been two years since I’ve been. Theatres require ID and proof of vaccination to get in, which is all you can ask for. It’s weird feeling okay with some things and then weird about others. This is gonna be the thing we never really get over, I think.

Then I went to Westside Theatre for Little Shop of Horrors. I’ve never done Off Broadway before so I wasn’t sure what to expect but I really loved it. In the lobby there were several teenagers and the boys were going back and forth a routine oh “Batman has one rule. What rule? He doesn’t kill people. It’s his only rule. Won’t kill anyone. No other rules? Nope, only one rule.” What ‘boys will be boys’ should mean, haha

 It was a much smaller house obviously (with a plant in the lounge ;O)  but y’allllll these guys blew it out of the water. I was most excited for Christian Borle and of course he delivered. A nice surprise was that he did more than just the dentist, he was an assortment of characters as well.

I expected to like Conrad from HTGAWM because Oliver was the best non Viola Davis character and he absolutely slayed it. So earnest and sweet and good. I am a big fan of his more specifically now. Also I just looked it up and he’s forty three??????????? Literally would have bet on him being like 31. Him trying to point a gun: cinnamon roll. The ensemble girls were also fierce and on point. It’s such a small cast but that can also be an asset. And at bows they brought out the techies and the plant operators and the conductor on a TV as well as the voice of Audrey II of course.

Highlights: Christian Borle’s dentist hair lol. When he was a random guy “couldn’t help but notice that strange and interesting plant” he did a little tooch back on “I guess I’ll just have to buy twice as many then” and it was pure chaos, I Love it. The dewop girls throwing dollars into the audience and then demanding them back. The sparkly red outfits and encouraging Seymour to jump onto the garbage can. When Christian Borle comes on as three characters in a row giving Seymour contracts, including as an old lady, and each time he takes off Seymour’s glasses and recoils. “Nope.” “WOOF” “ugh” I was dying

The plant was super cool; I’ve only seen the show once and at the Empress and their plant was neat but this was obviously like ooooh. It could move almost to the audience and it was huge. And at the end it sprayed blood out and I jumped. Someone’s phone went off near the beginning of act two and Connor’s line right after was “I’ll call for you” and he gestured to the audience and smirked. “You’ll hear it.” He also seemed to nearly break for a second when old lady Christian was talking.

For the Broadway Cares plug Christian Borle said “just a minute here and we’ll start act three.” “We know you paid a lot of money to be here, we’re just asking for you to pay a little more to get out” It was great. I totally would have stage doored if they were doing it but alas Covid has taken it. But one of my favorite shows I’ve seen in New York even though it’s an older script. (Definitely aged, the Audrey stuff that was originally comedy now seems much harsher.)

Next was Six. It was pretty much what I thought, more a pop concert than a musical. Everyone was really talented it just wasn’t the same for me as something like Little Shop. The dialogue was horrible, so cringey. It was super cool to have an all women band though and call them the Ladies in Waiting. The outfits were awesome; I want Jane Seymour’s dress. Silver and lovely metallic shimmer. There were definitely some bangers but I think it still needs some work. But it is what it is, which is not a musical. But props to those ladies because that is a ton of dancing and singing in crazy spiked heels so damn they must all be fit as hell. (Oh and Six had a “suddenly Seymour” reference lol)

My schedule was working perfectly as I was going to get to the bus stop right on time for the bus to take off. HOWEVER the 8:15 bus, according to the driver, “never showed up” so we became the 9:15 bus and merged with those riders. I don’t know if they just got lucky and had enough seats or if some people didn’t get on but I’m just glad I a) had a seat, b) got to wait on the bus instead of outside for an hour, which I’ve had to do for buses, and c) that it was the bus home and not there that was vanished. Also I guess reading lights on the bus don’t work once they leave which I think I knew but had forgotten. Oh well.

It was SO cold when I got off the bus and bitterly windy, even colder than the first day in Philly at the Navy Yard because it was after dark. I found the parking garage without much trouble but then trying to get out it said exit closed and I was like “what am I gonna do, sleep here?” But there was another exit and all was well. Then I got turned around trying to take a different exit than I usually took to get home but I made it to Broad Street and then from there I knew where to go from dropping off/picking up Justin all those times when we shared a car, and also when I went to the Sixers games. All in all it was a fun and busy day but when the radio played “Take Me Home Tonight” I agreed. In bed now. Tomorrow home!