Wherein I try, and usually fail, to read 50 books each year. Book lists from previous years can be found here.
2023 (what happened to 2022? Who knows?)
Wintering (Katherine May)
The Book of Form And Emptiness (Ruth Ozeki)
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (Gabrielle Zevin)
Born a Crime (Trevor Noah)
How to Know God: The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali (Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood)
Where the Crawdads Sing (Delia Owens)
Our Missing Hearts (Celeste Ng)
Matrix (Lauren Groff)
The Creative Act: A Way of Being (Rick Rubin)
American Dirt (Jeanine Cummins)
Age of Vice (Deepti Kapoor)
The Seven Storey Mountain (Thomas Merton)
Demon Copperhead (Barbara Kingsolver)
Wild Mercy: Living the Fierce and Tender Wisdom of the Women Mystics (Mirabai Starr)
Slow Time (Waverly Fitzgerald)
We Ride Upon Sticks (Quan Barry)
Collision With the Infinite (Suzanne Segal)
Doppelganger (Naomi Klein)
Maps for Lost Lovers (Nadeem Aslam)
Sacred Nature (Karen Armstrong)
Illuminations (Mary Sharratt)
The Great Believers (Rebecca Makkai)
Lessons In Chemistry (Bonnie Garmus)
Harlem Shuffle (Colson Whitehead)
2021 (21… for 2021, I suppose)
The Guardians: A Novel
The Searcher: A Novel
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
Braiding Sweetgrass
Barkskins: A Novel
Upstream: Selected Essays
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (A Hunger Games Novel)
Good Neighbors: A Novel
The Underground Railroad: A Novel
Aging as a Spiritual Practice: A Contemplative Guide to Growing Older and Wiser
Dry
My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies
Cassandra Speaks: When Women Are the Storytellers, the Human Story Changes
Star of the Sea: A Novel
At the Root of This Longing: Reconciling a Spiritual Hunger and a Feminist Thirst
The End of October: A novel
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World: A Novel (Vintage International)
Dream Girl: A Novel
Obasan
The Golem and the Jinni: A Novel (Harper Perennial Olive Editions)
If Women Rose Rooted: A Life-changing Journey to Authenticity and Belonging
All About Love: New Visions
2020 (only 14 –worse than ever for books — I did a lot of reading for Yoga Teacher Training)
The Rules of Magic: A Novel (1) (The Practical Magic Series)
Imaginary Friend
Little Fires Everywhere: A Novel
Skill in Action: Radicalizing Your Yoga Practice to Create a Just World
The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World
Zen Camera: Creative Awakening with a Daily Practice in Photography
The Murmur of Bees
The Inner Tradition of Yoga: A Guide to Yoga Philosophy for the Contemporary Practitioner
Into the Water: A Novel
The God of Small Things: A Novel
World as Lover, World as Self: Courage for Global Justice and Ecological Renewal
The Cloister Walk
Gather the Daughters: A Novel
Lone Wolf by Picoult, Jodi
2019 (not a good reading year — only 24)
How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence
Elevation
The Devoted: A Novel
Transcendence: Healing and Transformation Through Transcendental Meditation
The Cuckoo’s Calling (Cormoran Strike)
New York 2140
Iola O
The Overstory: A Novel
Move Your DNA: Restore Your Health Through Natural Movement Expanded Edition
Merlin: Book Two of the Pendragon Cycle
The Book of the Unnamed Midwife (The Road to Nowhere)
Abduction [Mass Market Paperback]
The Book of Etta (The Road to Nowhere)
The Book of Flora (The Road to Nowhere)
Sharp Objects: A Novel
The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern’s Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure
Something in the Water: A Novel
The Institute: A Novel
The Handmaid’s Tale
The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice
The Testaments: The Sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale
Station Eleven
Come of Age: The Case for Elderhood in a Time of Trouble
The Garden of Last Days: A Novel
2018 (45 this year! Woo-hoo!)
Nature’s End
The Rooster Bar
Inside the O’Briens: A Novel
A Year to Live: How to Live This Year as If It Were Your Last
The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo
The Ghost Bride: A Novel (P.S.)
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
Two Kinds of Truth (A Harry Bosch Novel)
Cinder
Reveal: A Sacred Manual for Getting Spiritually Naked
Taliesin (The Pendragon Cycle, Book 1)
Sing, Unburied, Sing: A Novel
Thank You for Smoking
Exit West: A Novel
Persona (The Persona Sequence)
The Death and Life of the Great Lakes
Kindred
The Woman in the Window: A Novel
Emotional Alchemy: How the Mind Can Heal the Heart
Horns: A Novel
Educated: A Memoir
We Are Called to Rise: A Novel
Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orisha)
Birdology: Adventures with a Pack of Hens, a Peck of Pigeons, Cantankerous Crows, Fierce Falcons, Hip Hop Parrots, Baby Hummingbirds, and One Murderously Big Living Dinosaur (t)
Less (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize): A Novel
The Floating World: A Novel
Pachinko (National Book Award Finalist)
Providence: A Novel
The Outsider: A Novel
An American Marriage: A Novel (Oprah’s Book Club 2018 Selection)
The Cabin at the End of the World: A Novel
What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky: Stories
Unplugging the Patriarchy – A Mystical Journey into the Heart of a New Age
Earning the Rockies: How Geography Shapes America’s Role in the World
False Memory: A Novel
Memoirs of a Polar Bear
Once upon a Winter’s Night
American Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West
The Gin Closet: A Novel
Sleeping Beauties: A Novel
The Female Persuasion: A Novel
Ohio
An Ocean of Minutes: A Novel
2017 List (only 24 this year… must have been busy!)
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
The Girls
Far from the Madding Crowd (Penguin Classics)
The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer (Bantam Spectra Book)
Innocence (with bonus short story Wilderness): A Novel
Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom
A Thousand Acres: A Novel
The Compassionate Achiever: How Helping Others Fuels Success
When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice
Americanah
The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth)
Black Chalk
Second Nature: A Gardener’s Education
All Our Waves Are Water: Stumbling Toward Enlightenment and the Perfect Ride
The Obelisk Gate (The Broken Earth)
Still Alice
On the Beach
The Stone Sky (The Broken Earth)
The Paying Guests
The Buried Giant (Vintage International)
The Bazaar of Bad Dreams: Stories
Mythago Wood (The Mythago Cycle)
Men Explain Things to Me
The Snowman (Harry Hole Series)
2016 List (31 books this year)
Wild Ginger: A Novel
Nothing to Grasp
The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story
The Eyre Affair: A Thursday Next Novel
The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge
Dark Places
Housekeeping: A Novel
She Is Me: A Novel
Everything I Never Told You
Stardust
The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel
Alive: Book One of the Generations Trilogy
Falling into Grace: Insights on the End of Suffering
The Invention of Wings
Life Class
Toby’s Room
Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot
Nemesis
The Liars’ Club: A Memoir
Revival: A Novel
The Language of Flowers: A Novel
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (Vintage Contemporaries)
Cherry
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (Movie Tie-In Edition) (Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children)
The Girl on the Train: A Novel
The Gemini Contenders: A Novel
Lit: A Memoir (P.S.)
End of Watch: A Novel (The Bill Hodges Trilogy)
Euphoria
Hollow City: The Second Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children
Sycamore Row (The Jake Brigance)
2015 List (38 books this year… woo-hoo!)
Where Have I Been All My Life?: A Journey Toward Love and Wholeness
A Memory of Light (Wheel of Time)
A Tale for the Time Being: A Novel
The Broker: A Novel
The Wind in the Willows
The Vegetarian: A Novel
In the Lake of the Woods
Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living (Shambhala Classics)
The Forest Unseen: A Year’s Watch in Nature
Annihilation: A Novel (The Southern Reach Trilogy)
The Longings of Wayward Girls: A Novel
Autumn Light (Miracles of Marble Cove, 5)
The Magician King: A Novel (Magicians Trilogy)
Authority: A Novel (The Southern Reach Trilogy)
Acceptance: A Novel (The Southern Reach Trilogy)
The Casual Vacancy
Everyday Sacred: A Woman’s Journey Home
Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
2Br02B
The Snow Child: A Novel
Shaman
Assassination Vacation
The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel
Finders Keepers: A Novel
The Samurai’s Garden: A Novel
Jumping the Queue: A Novel
The Abominable: A Novel
An Imaginative Experience
Loving Yourself to Great Health: Thoughts & Food–The Ultimate Diet
Gift from the Sea (50th Anniversary Edition)
The Signature of All Things: A Novel
A Spot of Bother
The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
Moonheart
Doctor Sleep
In a Dark, Dark Wood
The Juniper Tree: And Other Tales from Grimm
2014 List (30 books)
11/22/63: A Novel
The Beauty Experiment: How I Skipped Lipstick, Ditched Fashion, Faced the World without Concealer, and Learned to Love the Real Me
The Eternal Wonder: A Novel
Dead Ever After: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel (Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood)
Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith
Shock
The Daylight Gate
Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table (Random House Reader’s Circle)
A Dance with Dragons: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book Five
The Way to the Salt Marsh: A John Hay Reader
The Gathering Storm (Wheel of Time)
Lemonade Revealed
The Da Vinci Legacy
Mr. Mercedes: A Novel
Misty of Chincoteague
Towers of Midnight (The Wheel of Time)
Seaside Summer (Miracles of Marble Cove, 3)
Plain Truth
Drinking: A Love Story
The World Without Us
The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope: A Novel
Isaac’s Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History
The Four-Day Win: End Your Diet War and Achieve Thinner Peace
The Four Desires: Creating a Life of Purpose, Happiness, Prosperity, and Freedom
Salem Falls
Glimpsing Heaven: The Stories and Science of Life After Death
Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games)
Unwasted: My Lush Sobriety
Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games)
The Dovekeepers: A Novel
2013 List (32 books)
A Writer’s Book of Days: A Spirited Companion and Lively Muse for the Writing Life
Full Cup, Thirsty Spirit: Nourishing the Soul When Life’s Just Too Much
Dead And Gone (Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood, Book 9)
Something Wicked This Way Comes
The Plan: Eliminate the Surprising “Healthy” Foods That Are Making You Fat–and Lose Weight Fast
A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 3)
Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood, Book 10)
A Feast for Crows: Book 4 of a Song of Ice and Fire (Song of Ice & Fire)
Breaking Trail: A Climbing Life
Balance Of Power
Dead Reckoning (Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood, Book 11)
A Survival Guide for Life: How to Achieve Your Goals, Thrive in Adversity, and Grow in Character
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
Deadlocked (Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood, Book 12)
Meditation for the Love of It: Enjoying Your Own Deepest Experience
Wanderlust: A History of Walking
The View From the Lighthouse (The Miracles of Marble Cove, Volume 1)
breezes at dawn 
32 books is not to be scoffed at. Do you have a 2014 list?
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What I’m currently reading, and what I’ve already read this year, are over there –>
In the sidebar. 🙂
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I have read Anne Frank, A Thousand Spledid Suns and Small Island, all of which I found absorbing and moving. I don’t read enough these days.
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I felt the same about all three, Nickie. They were some of the best books I read throughout last year. I don’t read enough, either, but it seems to be picking up now that I have this slow internet connection. I get tired of it, and go read. 🙂
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Good for you. 🙂 Please give me a recommendation, if you will. Anything along similar lines would particularly suit.
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I just finished “The Daylight Gate” by Jeanette Winterson. I really liked it. It’s a short read, but interesting. It’s a bit of history that you’re probably more familiar with than I am, so might not be as interesting. I’ve read one or two other books by Winterson. I like her writing, the way she uses words. There are surprises in her sentences from time to time.
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OK, this sounds great, and I haven’t heard of it, so I am intrigued. Thanks Robin! x
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Do you like books about food, Nickie? I’m currently reading “Comfort Me With Apples,” a sequel to “Tender at the Bone.” I really enjoyed the first book, and am enjoying the second as well. They’re memoirs written by a woman who became a food critic. She’s had an interesting life, and the books include recipes.
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Wow! What a great, diverse list. I can see we have a lot in common – certainly we share a taste in books and genres/themes. Do you have a running list for what you want to read 2019? Or do you just go with the flow? What are you reading now? Someone recommended Overstory to me recently. I have a sneaking suspicion you’d like it. I’ve only recently started, but I love the language so far. Beautiful.
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Thank you, Lindsay! 🙂 I just go with the flow for the most part. There are so many good books out there that I think I’ll have to live forever so I can read them all. 😉 I am currently reading “New York 2140” by Kim Stanley Robinson. I read his Mars series a while back, and I seem to be in a post-apocalyptic genre phase lately (probably a result of the news cycle). It’s a hefty book with some interesting ideas.
What a coincidence!! I just bought Overstory. Someone mentioned it to me, too. I’ve reading that next.
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