Books Read 2016

Note from Terri: My apologies to those who have viewed this more than once. I was delayed in completing the list and forgot I had scheduled it to post automatically - twice. The following list is finally the finished version. Thank you for sticking with me, Friends!

January

The Wise Woman by Philippa Gregory
Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie - MONTHLY FAVORITE
My Brilliant Friend (The Neapolitan Novels, #1) by Elena Ferrante
The 13 Clocks by James Thurber
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
The Martian by Andy Weir

February

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1) by Becky Chambers
Jubilee by Margaret Walker - MONTHLY FAVORITE
The Garden Intrigue Lauren Willig
Singing to a Bulldog by Anson Williams

March

The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima
Turbulence by Samit Basu
Circling the Sun by Paula McLain
True Grit by Charles Portis - MONTHLY FAVORITE
This One Summer by Jillian Tamaki
Rock with Wings: A Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito Novel by Anne Hillerman
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf - FAVORITE RE-READ

April

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
Orlando by Virginia Woolf - MONTHLY FAVORITE
The Dark Gnu and Other Poems by Wendy Videlock
Foreigner (Foreigner, #1) by C.J. Cherryh
Plum Wine by Angela Davis-Gardner
Slade House by David Mitchell
Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss
The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat by Edward Kelsey Moore

May

Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera
Mr. Splitfoot by Samantha Hunt
Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson
Slingshots and Love Plums by Wendy Videlock
The Hours by Michael Cunningham - MONTHLY FAVORITE
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
Kabu Kabu by Nnedi Okorafor
Labyrinth (Languedoc Trilogy, #1) by Kate Mosse
The Future is Japanese by Nick Mamatas

June

Light Years by James Salter - MONTHLY FAVORITE
Six-Gun Snow White by Catherynne M. Valente
Dream London by Tony Ballantyne
Dream Paris by Tony Ballantyne
Enchanted Islands by Allison Amend

July

Hild by Nicola Griffith
The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke - MONTHLY FAVORITE

August

How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn
Before the Feast by Sasa Stanisic
The Healing by Jonathan Odell - MONTHLY FAVORITE
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham | Review
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Chess Story by Stefan Zweig
In the Cafe of Lost Youth by Patrick Modiano | Review
The Decision by Britta Bohler
The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty

September

The Dogs of Riga (Wallander #2) by Henning Mankell - MONTHLY FAVORITE
Ragnarok: The End of the Gods by A.S. Byatt
Eleven Kinds of Loneliness by Richard Yates
Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov
Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks

October

The Magician by W. Somerset Maugham
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov - MONTHLY FAVORITE (Re-read)
The Whole Enchilada by Diane Mott Davidson
The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia by Michael Booth
I Remember You: A Ghost Story by Yrsa Sigurdardottir
Girl Jacked by Christopher Greyson

November

Jack Knifed by Christopher Greyson
Jacks Are Wild by Christopher Greyson
The Cozy Life by Pia Edberg
Jack and the Giant Killer by Christopher Greyson
The Sense of An Ending by Julian Barnes - MONTHLY FAVORITE
Data Jack by Christopher Greyson
Thanksgiving by Melanie Kirkpatrick
Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

December

Dashing Through the Snow by Debbie Macomber
A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny - MONTHLY FAVORITE
Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 by David Petersen
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
A Christmas Party by Georgette Heyer

Books Read 2015

January

1. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (mini review)
2. The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata (mini review)
3. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (mini review)
4. Death of a Gossip by M.C. Beaton (mini review)
5. Hell is Empty by Craig Johnson (mini review)
6. As the Crow Flies by Craig Johnson (mini review)
7. A Serpent's Tooth by Craig Johnson (mini review)
8. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson (mini review)

February

9. Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami (review) (mini review)
10. The Iron Jackal by Chris Wooding (mini review)
11. Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin (mini review)
12. Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman (mini review)
13. Family by J. California Cooper (mini review)
14. Hawkeye, Vol. 1: My Life as a Weapon by Matt Fraction (mini review)
15. Hawkeye, Vol. 2: Little Hits by Matt Fraction (mini review)
16. Hawkeye, Vol. 3: L.A. Woman by Matt Fraction (mini review)
17. Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings (mini review)

March

18. Life Is Short But Wide by J. California Cooper
19. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
20. Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
21. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
22. The Ace of Skulls by Chris Wooding
23. The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami
24. The Female Factory by Lisa L. Hannett
25. Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor

April

26. Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima
27. Ammonite by Nicola Griffith
28. Tokyo: A Certain Style by Kyoichi Tsuzuki
29. Queen of Sorcery by David Eddings
30. The City and the Stars by Arthur C. Clarke

May

31. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
32. Dark Eden by Chris Beckett
33. The Magicians by Lev Grossman
34. Rat Queens, Vol. 1: Sass & Sorcery by Kurtis J. Wiebe

June

35. The Magician King by Lev Grossman
36. The Magician's Land by Lev Grossman
37. The Buried Pyramid by Jane Lindskold
38. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
39. And the Good News Is ... by Dana Perino

July

40. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
41. Strangers by Taichi Yamada
42. Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
43. Wool by Hugh Howey

August

44. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
45. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagehara
46. Chasing the Moon by A. Lee Martinez
47. Harmony by Project Itoh
48. The Hunters by James Salter
49. The Hum and the Shiver by Alex Bledsoe

September

50. The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard
51. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
52. The Burning Dark by Adam Christopher
53. The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

October

54. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
55. Fledgling by Octavia Butler
56. Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon
57. Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
58. It's a Big World, Charlie Brown by Charles M. Schulz
59. We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie
60. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
61. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham

November

62. The Chamber by John Grisham
63. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
64. Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley
65. Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
66. Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell
67. Brightness Falls From the Air by James Tiptree Jr.
68. The Curse of the Pharoahs by Elizabeth Peters

December

69. The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman
70. The Mummy Case by Elizabeth Peters
71. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
72. A Rumpole Christmas by John Mortimer
73. The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
74. My Salinger Year by Joanna Rakoff
75. Spider Woman's Daughter by Anne Hillerman
76. The Diamond as Big as the Ritz by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Monthly Reading Wrap-up: February 2015

I read nine (9) books in February, but before you start getting really impressed by my reading speed I will admit up front that:

• none of these books was very long ...
• they were all fast, easy reads ...
• one was a children's chapter book ...
• and three of them were comics.

Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami
Sputnik Sweetheart is a melancholy love story, a detective story, and a surreal mystery all wrapped up into a meditation on the human condition of longing and loneliness.

I read this book as a buddy read with Sabrina at Unmanaged Mischief. She has a fantastic channel on YouTube that you should check out. I also read this as part of my own reading goals for 2015 to read at least one piece of Japanese Literature per month.

I've written a full review of Sputnik Sweetheart that you can find here.

Recommended: Recommended for those who like to read Japanese literature or who have read other works by Murakami. If you don't like magical realism or can't stand ambiguous endings, then you might want to give this one a pass.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

“You don’t have a home until you leave it and then, when you have left it, you never can go back."

Giovanni's Room is set in 1950s Paris. It is about an American and other expatriates living lives of sexual liaisons outside of the conventional morality of the time - most especially outside of the conventional morality of America. The main character is torn between his desire to live a life of passion with those of his same sex and an equally strong desire to follow a conventional pathway of marriage, home, and children. Through the main character we find the above quote about home to be applicable to both country and relationships - sometimes you can never go back. I found the writing to be beautiful, the story depressing, and the characters overly self involved. Even so, I liked the book immensely!

I read this book as part of my personal reading goals for Black History Month.

Many reading and other events took place online during the month of February for Black History Month. One of these events was #ReadSoulLit, a photo challenge, hosted by Didi via both Twitter and Instagram. She also hosted various reader videos on her YouTube channel, frenchiedee. You can find out more about #ReadSoulLit on her blog, Brown Girl Reading. I highly recommend both her blog and her YouTube channel!

Recommended: Recommended if you like beautiful writing, stories of sexual exploration, or stories of ex-pats living in Paris during mid-twentieth century.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Family by J. California Cooper
Family is one of the most beautiful novels I've ever read. It is set in the Civil War era and is the history of four generations of a slave family. It is a novel filled with some of the greatest ugliness that humankind can inflict on each other as well as a testament to love, hope, persistence, and family.

I read this book as part of my personal reading goals for Black History Month.

Watch this lovely video of J. California Cooper reading her "Wild Stars Seeking Midnight" in 2007 or this interview with the author in 2013.

Recommended: Everyone should read this!
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman
Odd and the Frost Giants is a short novel inspired by Norse Mythology. It is full of gods and giants and is simply magical. A little boy named Odd comes across a fox, a bear, and an eagle while out in the forests of Norway. They tell a strange story and then embark with Odd on a journey to save Asgard from the Frost Giants and bring Winter to an end.

Gaiman's stories are hit and miss for me, but this one is absolutely delightful.

Gaiman shines when reading his own work and I had the good fortune to hear him read a part of this story a few years back at UCLA. Here is a video snippet of Gaiman reading from this book (from an appearance at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, GA).

Recommended: Fans of Gaiman must read this. I would also recommend it to those interested in mythology or to those simply looking for a delightful and magical read.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Iron Jackal (Ketty Jay) by Chris Wooding
I'm tempted to say, "Just read it! It's FUN!" The Iron Jackal is non-stop action packed adventure with a bunch of wisecracking characters aboard the Ketty Jay (spacecraft) that reminds me of the crew of Joss Whedon's Firefly. The crew of the Ketty Jay are a bunch of misfits who learn to pull together and become the family that none of them has outside of the crew.

The Iron Jackal is the third of four books about the crew of the Ketty Jay.

Recommended: Recommended for those who like action-adventure, wise-cracking characters that you can come to love, and just all around fun reading. Those who liked the Firefly series by Joss Whedon will probably LOVE this series.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Pawn of Prophecy (The Belgariad) by David Eddings
A fantasy book full of adventure, magic, and mystery. It is a story of war between gods and the men who follow those gods. Sorcerers, prophecies, objects of immense power, and quests fill this fantasy. What I like best about this first book in a series of five, is the storytelling. I feel that Eddings is telling me an ancient story and I really want to know what happens next. Good thing I've got the next book in the series!

Recommended: Recommended for those who like classic fantasy and a good story.
Rating: not yet rated (I will rate this when I've finished the series)




Hawkeye: My Life As a Weapon by Matt Fraction
Hawkeye: Little Hits by Matt Fraction
Hawkeye: L.A. Woman by Matt Fraction
Comic series about Marvel character Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, as he fights for justice with Kate Bishop, aka Hawkeye and ex-Young Avenger, by his side. These comics are fast paced and tell the story of what Clint Barton does when he's not being an Avenger. Because of this, familiarity with the Avengers story lines are not necessary to enjoy these Hawkeye comics. The third in the series, L.A. Woman, features Kate Bishop, a real kick-ass lady!

For a much better look at these comics, you really should go visit Memory Scarlett at her blog, In the Forest of Stories. She is much more expert with comics in general and Hawkeye comics (and Kate Bishop!) in particular:

• My Year With Marvel: Matt Fraction and David Aja's Hawkeye
• My Year With Marvel: Kate Bishop

Recommended: For fans of the Avengers, Marvel comics, kick-ass action, and style.
Rating: 3 and 4 stars out of 5
(5 stars for the stylish artwork that made me want to rip my copies apart to frame the individual issue cover art)

Monthly Reading Wrap-up: January 2015

I read eight (8) books in the month of January. I'm not sure how that happened. I wasn't trying to read so many books in one month! I generally read four (4) or five (5) books most months. I am actually trying to read a little LESS in 2015. I want to focus on other areas of my life as well as allow time to read more deeply and THINK about what I've read. Sometimes it feels like a bit of a race. I also want time to write reviews and otherwise blog about my reading. This all plays into my focus word for 2015, BALANCE.

Here is what I read:

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Note: My copy includes both Little Women and Good Wives

I started reading Little Women in December, but with all of the busyness of the Christmas and New Year holidays I didn't finish it until well into January. This book was a re-read for me. I read this as a child and that was so many years ago that it was almost like reading it for the first time. It was interesting for me to read this as an adult and compare my childhood memory of it to my adult impressions. It is a very sweet book and I accepted that sweetness at face value when I was a child, but as an adult I did find myself trying not to roll my eyes at the same sweetness that seems somewhat manipulative now. I was able to get past this though by reminding myself that it was published in 1868 (Little Women) and 1869 (Good Wives) and has elements of both Romantic and Sentimental novels. It would make a fascinating study as a piece of Feminist Literature. This book helps to fulfill my Classics Club reading goal.

More about this author here.

Recommendation: Anyone looking for a good old fashioned read or interested in Feminist Literature.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata

This book was such a quiet read. The writing was beautiful, which was expected from this author. Last year I read Snow Country by Kawabata, and it too was a quiet and rather melancholy novel; I'm guessing that this may be a pattern with Kawabata. The Sound of the Mountain is a novel about a family and told from the perspective of the aging patriarch. It is full of the types of questions one might ask when facing one's mortality. This is a very thoughtful piece that I plan to review more fully, so watch for that review to come.

I read this book as one of my personal reading goals for 2015. I'm hoping to read at least one piece of Japanese Literature per month.

More about this author here.

Recommendation: Those interested in Japanese Literature and/or stories that involve mature reflections on life.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

I do love a good post-apocalyptic novel once in a while. This one sure filled the bill for me. Mandel is a relatively new author and she is definitely new to me. Station Eleven held my attention and I wanted to read it in one sitting. I do recommend that you read this book in as few sittings as possible since the shift in both point of view and time can leave you confused if you don't stay with the story. I am not a big fan of novels that jump around in time too much, but this author uses the device cleverly to slowly reveal the story. I think this slow reveal brings a richness and greater impact to the book. One of the things I liked most about Station Eleven is the motto that there is more to life than just survival. Unlike some post-apocalyptic novels that leave the reader with no sense of hope, I found this one refreshingly hopeful.

More about this author here.

Recommendation: Those who like post-apocalyptic stories and want to see some hope amidst the trials.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Death of a Gossip by M.C. Beaton

I like to pick up a cozy mystery every once in a while, so I thought I'd give M.C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth mysteries a chance. I was really looking forward to this read. Guess what? I didn't care for it much. I expect a formulaic and somewhat ridiculous plot from this type of book. I don't need to like or connect to the characters (I didn't like any of them). So these were not the reasons for my ambivalence. I'm still not quite sure what it was that turned me off. It just seemed flat. At least it is short (a little over 100 pages). I tend to give authors more than one chance though, so I will probably read another in this series. Death of a Gossip is the first in the series so perhaps the later books are better. The British TV series has been recommended to me, so I might try that out someday too.

More about this author here.

Recommendation: Fans of cozy mysteries might want to read it and see if they like it.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars



Hell is Empty by Craig Johnson (5 stars)
As the Crow Flies by Craig Johnson (4 stars)
A Serpent's Tooth by Craig Johnson (4 stars)
The Walt Longmire Series

I did a little series reading in January, as you can see. Two additional Walt Longmire books are coming out in May that I am very interested in, so I needed to catch up. Besides, I REALLY LIKE THIS SERIES. I'm a fan. Can you tell? If you're not familiar with the Walt Longmire series, it is a western/mystery/crime/hard-boiled kind of thing. There is a lot of action and tension, witty dialogue and hard-boiled humor, and thoughtful philosophical passages that address many of the feelings and big questions that we all have. As Craig Johnson says, he tries to "deal with the universal imperative of the human condition." Native American culture features predominantly and Johnson does a fantastic job exploring the intersection of Native American (mostly Crow and Cheyenne) culture with predominant U.S. culture.

More about this author here.

Recommendation: Highly recommended for anyone who likes good writing, stories, and is interested in the human condition.
Rating: I generally give books in this series 4 or 5 out of 5 stars.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

This was such a lovely debut novel. The story is set in a small village in the English countryside. Major Pettigrew is a widowed and retired proper Englishman who believes in honor, duty, and decorum. He is drawn to Mrs. Jasmina Ali, a widowed Pakistani shopkeeper, by their mutual fondness for literature. As their friendship blossoms into something more, societal and family pressures threaten to separate them. Can their relationship withstand these pressures as they flaunt culture and tradition?

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand is full of gentle humor with more than a bit of the pride & prejudice theme running through it. There was a quiet depth that ran through this novel that speaks to the clash of cultures and religion, and the tension between generations. Beautifully written. Reminded me a bit of  the movie, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

More about this author here.

Recommendation: Those interested in a story that involves issues surrounding cultural, religious, and generational differences, gently and beautifully told.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Books Read 2014

I've noted FAVORITES, FIND MYSELF THINKING ABOUT THE MOST, and MOST FUN at the end of the list. If I've reviewed a book, you will find a link labeled "thoughts" next to the book title and author.

January

1. The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
2. Maman's Homesick Pie by Donia Bijan
3. "A Question of Riches" in A Glove Shop in Vienna and Other Stories by Eva Ibbotson
4. Beauty and the Werewolf (series) by Mercedes Lackey
5. Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata (thoughts)
6. Second Watch (series) by J.A. Jance
7. Ethan Frome (novella) by Edith Wharton
8. Maisie Dobbs (series) by Jacqueline Winspear

February

8.  Notorious Nineteen (series) by Janet Evanovich
9. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (thoughts)
10. Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand (series) by Carrie Vaughn
11. Kitty Raises Hell (series) by Carrie Vaughn
12. Light Boxes by Shane Jones (thoughts)
13. Diary by Chuck Palahniuk
14. Kitty's House of Horrors (series) by Carrie Vaughn

March

15. Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac
16. Heartless (series) by Gail Carriger
17. Timeless (series) by Gail Carriger
18. Just Kids by Patti Smith

April

19. Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon
20. Show Your Work by Austin Kleon
21. Sacre Bleu by Christopher Moore
22. Kitty Goes to War (series) by Carrie Vaughn
23. Kitty's Big Trouble (series) by Carrie Vaughn
24. "Are Women Human" (essay) by Dorothy Sayers (thoughts)
25. Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut (thoughts)
26. Every Man for Himself by Beryl Bainbridge (thoughts)
27. Fables, Volume 1: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham
28. Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion
29. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton (thoughts)

May
 
30. Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
31. The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut (thoughts - video, thoughts - written)
32. The Fault In Our Stars by John Green
33. Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain (thoughts)

June

34. The House on Paradise Street by Sofka Zinovieff (thoughts)
35. Hyperion by Dan Simmons (thoughts)
36. Aya by Marguerite Abouet
37. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut
38. This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz

July

39. Matilda by Roald Dahl
40. The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons (thoughts)
41. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
42. Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
43. Tokyo on Foot by Florent Chavouet
44. Enchanted Night (novella) by Steven Millhauser
45. 13 1/2 by Nevada Barr
46. Divine Misfortune by A. Lee Martinez

August

47. The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
48. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
49. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
50. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

September

51. Ancillary Justice by Anne Leckie
52. Children of the Night by Dan Simmons
53. Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
54. Twelve (Danilov Quintet) by Jasper Kent

October

55. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
56. The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
57. Nightwoods by Charles Frazier
58. Thirteen Years Later (Danilov Quintet) by Jasper Kent
59. Takedown Twenty (series) by Janet Evanovich
60. The Man in the Picture by Susan Hill
61. Kitty Steals the Show (series) by Carrie Vaughn

November

62. Kitty Rocks the House (series) by Carrie Vaughn
63. Kitty in the Underworld (series) by Carrie Vaughn
64. Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding
65. The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley
66. Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
67. The Third Section (Danilov Quintet) by Jasper Kent
68. Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl S. Buck
69. The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston
70. The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell
71. The Black Lung Captain by Chris Wooding
72. How the Stars Fell Into the Sky by Jerrie Oughton
73. "The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton" (short story) by Charles Dickens

December

74. Endymion by Dan Simmons
75. The Night Before Christmas (novella) by Nikolai Gogol
76. The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain (novella) by Charles Dickens
77. Little Women (with Good Wives) by Louisa May Alcott

FAVORITES (in no particular order):
Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut (thoughts)
Hyperion by Dan Simmons (thoughts)
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (thoughts)
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion

FIND MYSELF THINKING ABOUT THE MOST:
Twelve & Thirteen Years Later & The Third Section by Jasper Kent

THE MOST FUN!
Retribution Falls & The Black Lung Captain by Chris Wooding