80 Books For Your Booklist
I love reading (and one of my favorite things is quiet family reading time!), but there's something about colder temperatures that especially makes me hunger for a good book to cozy up with under a blanket. A while ago, I queried about favorite books and got an amazing response. I've finally had a chance to organize the list; here are 80 books for your booklist! I've included quoted commentary + multiple votes since I find that helpful in figuring out where to start...yes, I put several of these on my Christmas list!
1. A Treacherous Paradise (via Morra)
2. A Walk In The Woods (via Katherine: “I always love Bill Bryson--my favorite is A Walk In The Woods)
3. Ahab's Wife (via Heather)
4. Beautiful Ruins (via Kate)
5. Bossypants (via Kaitlyn + via Katherine: “It’s delicious.”)
6. Can You Keep a Secret (via Kristy: “For laugh out loud, more low-brow stuff.”)
7. Carry On Warrior (via Maile: “I just read and LOVED Carry On Warrior”)
8. City of Thieves (via Rasmia)
9. Crazy Rich Asians (via Morra)
10. Defending Jacob (via Heather + via Judi: “Defending Jacob. Still haunts me.” + via Amy)
11. Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark (via Jessica + via Jessica)
12. Ender's Game (via Liz + via Grant)
13. Firefly Lane (via @AccordingToNina: “It's kind of old, but I finished Firefly Lane last month and loved it.” + via Amy)
14. Grace: A Memoir (via Morra)
15. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet (via Amy + via Christine)
16. How It All Began (via Kate)
17. How to Be a Woman (via Kaitlyn)
18. How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia (via Vanessa: “A fast good read. I loved it. And now I want to plan my next trip to India because of it.”
19. How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe (via Grant: “Hilarious and well-written. You are a nerd - you will love it.”)
20. If You Find Me (via Liz)
21. Joyland (via Liz)
22. Life after Life (via Morra: “It was so compelling, so haunting, so intense I didn't want it to end.”)
23. Lionel Asbo, State of England (via Morra: “A true return to form by Martin Amis. Loved it.”)
24. I Capture the Castle (via Kristy)
25. In the Heart of the Sea (via Katherine: “A fantastic read--the true story of the whaleship Essex and what happened after it was rammed and sunk by a whale.”)
26. Language of Flowers (via Stacey)
27. Me Before You (via Kelly)
28. Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore (via Kristy: “So fantastic—Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore” + via Chuck + via Liz)
29. My Beloved World (via Sharon: “REALLY liked it!”)
30. Night Film (via Chuck + via Kelly)
31. Night Road (via Amy)
32. Once We Were Brothers (via Amy)
33. Orange is the New Black (via Heather)
34. Ordinary Grace by Krueger (via Carolyn)
35. Ready Player One (via Liz + via Vanessa: “WONDERFULLY fun. Especially for those of us who grew up in the 80's!”)
36. Revolutionary Road (via Kate)
37. Rules of Civility (via Christie)
38. Seating Arrangements (via Kate)
40. Slouching Toward Bethlehem (via Kaitlyn)
41. Telegraph Avenue (via Chuck)
42. Tell the Wolves I'm Home (via Christie)
43. The Affair (via Chuck)
44. The Book Thief (via @SarahPocologan: “I can’t wait to read The Book Thief! I've heard it's a gorgeous read.” + via Sheri: “I just finished The Book Thief. Totally amazing.” + via Carolyn)
45. The Emperor's Children (via Kaitlyn: “This is perhaps my favorite novel I've ever read. And she's a Camberville resident!”)
46. The End of Your Life Book Club (via Kristy + via Roxanna: “a must read”)
47. The Fault In Our Stars (via Susan: “It's technically YA, but it might be my favorite book of the year.”)
48. The Gift Of Sex (via Stacey: “Good book. Read it for class. Good for married couples.”)
49. The Goldfinch (via Leigh + via Kelly)
50. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (via Kristy)
51. The Art of Racing in the Rain
52. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (via Connie)
53. The Kitchen House (via Liz)
54. The Language of Flowers (via Sharon)
55. The Light Between Oceans (via Kelly + via Stacey + via Kristy + via Tara + Rebecca)
56. The Ocean at the End of the Lane (via Liz + via Leslie)
57. The Paris Wife (via Heather)
58. The Rosie Project (via Tara)
59. The Shoemaker's Wife (via Monique)
60. The Signature of All Things (via Lindsey: “LOVED Elizabeth Gilbert's new book”)
61. The Snow Child (via Stacey)
62. The Tiger's Wife (via Carolyn)
63. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (via @kristinapp: “Just started The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Only a few pages in, but I can already tell I'm going to love it.”)
64. The Year of Magical Thinking (via Kaitlyn)
65. The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls (via Kaitlyn)
67. Unbroken (via Danielle: “Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand is extraordinary. And true.”)
68. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves (via Lauren)
69. We Are Water (via Julie)
70. We Need to Talk About Kevin (via @Bourgeois_Baby: “Loved We Need To Talk About Kevin” + via Heather)
71. Where’d You Go Bernadette (via Stacey + via Sharon + via Kristy + via Cynthia: “Hilarious and moving. Main characters are a mom and her daughter, I'm just sayin'…”)
72. Wild (via Julia)
74-77. “Anything by Geraldine Brooks: Caleb's Crossing, March, The Year of Wonders,People of the Book” (via Connie)
78-80. “This summer I went through a major John LeCarre phase...I read A Perfect Spy, Tinker Tailor and the Spy Who Came in from the Cold, and The Constant Gardener” (via Morra)
Image credits: Book jackets via Amazon.com; compilation image by Christine Koh