I read a lot of really good books this year! Honestly, there are TOO MANY good books published every year! This list doesn’t include a few books that I also liked a lot, like Recursion (Blake Crouch); Ghost Wall (Sarah Moss); and I Am, I Am, I Am (Maggie O’Farrell). I had to draw the line somewhere!
Once again, I read a lot of mystery-thrillers, books about toxic female friendships, and of course, books about rich people problems.
My Sister, the Serial Killer — Oyinkan Braithwaite. 9/10
I think this is supposed to be satire, but it balances along such a razor-thin margin that it’s hard to tell. Could a woman who exclusively deals with shallow, empty assholes kill without remorse? Probably, yeah.
The Great Believers — Rebecca Makkai. 9.5/10
WHAT A BOOK! Some books are so effective at teaching you about something that you would have otherwise never understood. It’s cliche to say, but that is the power of reading, and this is one of those books. Was I in Chicago during the 80s AIDS crisis? No, but now I have a better understanding of what it was like for those who were there: it was like war. So many people died; everyone knew someone (or multiple people) who had died. This book is really sad and really good at walking the reader through how devastating this was. It’s one thing to read the statistics, but it’s really another to read a narrative like this.
It can be tough to start reading a book that you know is going to launch you into a story about abuse. However, Whitehead is such a sensitive writer — and always so thoroughly interesting, and interested in what he’s writing about — that, in his hands, the topic doesn’t feel exploitative. This is a pretty short book, and I really recommend it.
The Lost Man — Jane Harper. 9/10
This was great; the best Jane Harper book yet. A thoughtful, well-written mystery that takes place at a cattle station in a vividly described in the Australian outback.
My Year of Rest and Relaxation — Ottessa Moshfegh. 9/10
This book is weird but I liked it a lot. Who amongst us hasn’t, in the face of grief or heartbreak, just wanted to go to sleep and not wake up for a while? A long while? It doesn’t sound like the most compelling narrative, but Moshfegh makes it work.
The Need — Helen Phillips. 9/10
Speculative fiction + motherhood = SO GOOD. This book has one of the best opening sections I’ve ever read. It’s scary, and the pacing is perfect. It’s hard (if not impossible) to keep a high level of mystery and suspense for an entire book, but this book does as well as possible. There are at least a couple of ways the book’s events can be interpreted, so let me know if you read it!
Little Darlings — Melanie Golding. 9/10
This was SO GOOD!! Another story about a mom who has postpartum psychosis … OR DOES SHE?!? She may just have a shitty husband and is also being targeted by a witch!!!!! I’m not selling this, but it was very good. A psychological thriller that weaves in folklore and postpartum motherhood!!!
The Paper Wasp — Lauren Acampora. 9.5/10
This book was great. I love books about toxic female friendships I guess???? Something for me to think about 🤔 This is in the same vein as the movie Ingrid Goes West and the book Looker by Laura Sims. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU READ IT!!
Looker — Laura Sims. 9/10
This is one of the best books I’ve read all year (yes, I know it’s only March). Not exactly a thriller, it’s a first-person account of a woman having a mental breakdown, with elements of a thriller (especially those that have been published recently, and are women-written and women-driven). A short, captivating read; the sort of book that makes me think, “I wish I’d written this!”
No Visible Bruises — Rachel Louise Snyder. 9.5/10
Extremely well-written, compelling, and very sad. This book breaks down a lot of the misconceptions around domestic violence. A must-read.
The Expectations — Alexander Tilney. 9/10
The reviews of this are surprisingly middling — I thought it was very good. The author did a great job of capturing the insecurity and angst of teenagers. There is a piece of writing where the protagonist describes a hat he owns that, when worn, will signal to everyone how nonchalantly cool he is and it’s so earnest and relatable, and I remember having the exact same thoughts as a teen. This is a debut novel, and I’m excited to read whatever comes next.
You Think It, I’ll Say It — Curtis Sittenfeld. 9/10
I don’t usually read short story collections, but I’m so glad I read this one, finally! I actually liked it better than her novels. I have many things I like to read about, and relationship problems between upper-middle class people is definitely one of them.
I know, I was watching 