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#1. Badass Habits by Jen Sincero: I like to start the year with some motivation to clean up my act a bit. I didn’t do that in 2020, which was the perfect year not to bother. This book is okay. It’s a quick read. Bookshop. Amazon.
#2. How to be Fine by Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer: This book is based on Greenberg and Meinzer’s popular podcast “By the Book,” which is about their attempts to follow a new self-help book for two weeks at a time. I listened to a few seasons several years ago and enjoyed it. The book captures their voices well and I read it in one quick sitting. While I didn’t take anything too new from it after being a fan of the show, it was fun to revisit some of their reactions to the self-help concepts. Bookshop. Amazon.
#3. Being Lolita by Alisson Wood: This memoir started out strong for me, and I did read it quickly so that’s a big positive for the book. I felt it lost steam 3/4th of the way through. Last year I happened to read My Dark Vanessa (fiction) and Excavation (memoir), both dealing with the same subject as Being Lolita–teacher and student relationship. All three were well done, it’s just a lot of the same topic in a short time. I suppose that says something about me as I’m the one who decides what to read. Bookshop. Amazon.
#4. I’ll Be Seeing You by Elizabeth Berg: This was such a moving and thoughtfully written memoir about aging parents. Highly recommend. Bookshop. Amazon.
#5. Survival of the Thickest by Michelle Buteau: Thank you to libro.fm for the audio copy of this one. I knew nothing about Buteau before listening to this memoir, but I found her funny and wise. Was an entertaining and sometimes touching (and also crass) memoir. Covers issues beyond comedy–plenty about race, marriage, fertility, and more. Bookshop. Amazon.
#6. Broken by Jenny Lawson: I tend to like Lawson’s honest writing. This was no exception. The stories are not as funny as her first memoir, which is still my favorite of hers, but these topics of depression and anxiety are much more serious so that makes sense. Thank you to libro.fm for the copy.
#7. Lilyville: Mother, Daughter, and Other Roles I’ve Played by Tovah Feldshuh: Thank you to netgalley.com for the copy of Feldshuh’s memoir. I’ve loved Feldshuh in several shows and I would have loved to have seen her in Yentel on stage. I enjoyed her stories of the hard work of making her acting dreams come true. Her nuanced relationship with her mother was interesting and wise. If you’re a Feldshuh fan, you will hear her voice in your head as you’re reading. I’m sure the audio book is great. Bookshop. Amazon.
#8. Milk Fed by Melissa Broder: Finished and really need to process this one. One thing for sure—I loved Melissa Broder’s audio narration. Would I recommend it… I’m not sure. Maybe? Yes? But in fairness, I’ve been thinking about the story for days. I liked the parts about food and the combo of food and desire. The sex scenes weren’t for me though. Too detailed. But I liked the relationship and romance between Rachel and her beloved, who I won’t name or it would ruin a surprise. I liked the mother issues, but not the mother fantasies. Bookshop. Amazon.
#9. My Eyes Are Up Here by Laura Zimmermann: I really adored this young adult novel from Twin Cities author, Laura Zimmermann. It’s about Greer, who is extremely self-conscious about the size of her boobs. The characters are great, and I love Greer’s realistic voice. I’m hoping my 14-year-old daughter will read it next. Bookshop. Amazon.
#10. Widowish by Melissa Gould: Quick memoir that I liked, but didn’t love. Bookshop. Amazon.
#11. A Star is Bored by Byron Lane: Fun, light read about a personal assistant to a celebrity. The author says in his bio he was Carrie Fisher’s assistant, which gives the book a Devil Wears Prada Quality.
#12. The Wrong Kind of Woman by Sarah McCraw Crow: Enjoyed the 70s setting for this novel and the focus on women in academia. Also, one of my favorite covers! It’s just cool.
#13. Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid: Thank you to netgalley.com for this one! I’m generally a fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s fiction and Malibu Rising was no exception. As a parent of four kids, I particularly like books (and shows) with four kids in the family. Let’s hope my four have a better childhood than these four. I would for sure recommend this book to Reid fans. My only complaint was how one of the main characters was a bit too perfect, and oddly enough she shares my name so I was rooting for her more than usual to show a bit more nuance. Bookshop. Amazon.
#14. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig: I absolutely adored this book. It starts a little slow and blue, but watching the main character Nora try on different lives was very compelling. I love books that play with the afterlife or time in some capacity. I also appreciated the few (but important) references to Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar. Haig quoted/summarized a page I’ve quoted for years. Bookshop. Amazon.
#15. Replay by Ken Grimwood: REPLAY is a gem from the 80s I didn’t know about until one of my writing group members told me about it. The story is Groundhog Day meets The Midnight Library meets Hangin’ Out With Cici. It’s a time travel / alternative universe / question all of your life choices kind of story. Highly recommend. (Only available on Amazon.)
#16. Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad: Powerful memoir about cancer survival and creating the life you want. Bookshop. Amazon.
#17. Friendship by Lydia Denworth: A scientific look at how friendship works. Interesting! (Perhaps more so for me than the average reader.)
#18. Share Your Stuff. I’ll Go First. by Laura Tremaine: I really enjoy Tremaine’s voice, on her podcast, too. I think we’re about the same age (mid-40s) and her references and topics speak to me. In Share Your Stuff she talks a lot about friendships, which is obviously my pet topic. Bookshop. Amazon.
#19. Where the Grass is Green and the Girls Are Pretty by Lauren Weisberger: Classic Weisberger. I liked it. Entertaining audio. I like the topic of college admissions. Bookshop. Amazon.
#20. My Salinger Year by Joanna Rakoff: Thoughtful memoir of the year Rakoff (author of a novel I adored a few years ago called A Fortunate Age) spent as the assistant to Salinger’s agent. Fun insight into a quirky literary agency and their star author. Bookshop. Amazon.
#21. Bring Your Baggage and Don’t Pack Light by Helen Ellis: I loved these essays by Ellis. She’s a favorite essayist of mine in the spirit of Nora Ephron and Erma Bombeck. Funny and relatable essays about friendship and aging.
#22. The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw: Best short story collection I’ve read in a while. Original and kept me turning the pages.
#23. Empty by Susan Burton: Wow, this book was so well written, but also tough. Anyone triggered by eating disorder details should be forewarned. I appreciated Burton’s honesty and am glad to have read this one.
#24. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab: It’s been a long time since I devoured a novel the way I devoured this one. There’s romance, mystery, darkness (but not violence), fantasy, and the requirement, as a reader, to dive into the impossible. There’s also one of the key elements to friendship woven throughout the story—which is this: We all want to be seen and acknowledged. And we want to be remembered. See my full post with quotes I loved from the book here.
#25. Psychiatrized: Waking Up After a Decade of Bad Medicine by Renee A. Schuls-Jacobson: This is such an honest, raw, beautifully written, and important book. Schuls-Jacobson tells the difficult story about the doctors who put her on psychiatric drugs with a false diagnosis and the long, harrowing journey of getting her mind and her life back. Excellent writing. I read this one in two sittings.
#28. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins: This one was really too long. I liked it. It could have been 80 pages shorter, at least.
#29. The Price You Pay For College by Ron Lieber: I love al of Lieber’s books and articles. He’s practical and knowledgeable and shares information from a place of curiosity rather than judgement.
#30. Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau: I really really really liked this one about a 14-year-old girl from a WASP-Y family who is hired as a nanny for a bohemian family down the street. Set in the 70s. It’s so sweet and fun, too. Was highly recommended by Ann, the owner of Excelsior Bay Books.
A favorite quote, ” . . . people you loved could do things you didn’t love. Still, you could keep loving them.” (page 204) Bookshop. Amazon.
#31. Friendship in the Age of Loneliness by Adam Smiley Poswolsky:
Tons of practical tips and real world wisdom for keeping friendship central in our lives, making new friends, and keeping friends.
#32. These Precious Days by Ann Patchett: I loved this essay collection so much, and I highly recommend the audio version because Patchett reads herself and it’s wonderful.
#33. Dusk Night Dawn by Anne Lamott: Classic Anne Lamott.
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