my favorite books I read this year

narrowed them down to a dozen!

In the spirit of end-of-the-year lists, I thought I’d share my favorite books I read this year.

I read before bed every night (I use a Kobo which means I can read as late as I want without turning on a bedside lamp, which has been great for my marriage!) and tend towards contemporary fiction. I also intersperse a lot of queer romance / YA romance because I just love a love story, especially an easy-going one.

Not every book on this list came out this year, but these are the books I read this past year that I most enjoyed.

Shout out to my BFF Cleo who is an avid reader and always steers me in a good direction when I ask her what to read next!

Read something you loved this year and don’t see it here? Let us know in the comments!! Read something on this list and hated it? That’s okay! There are enough books out there for all of us!

This newsletter is also an excuse for me to let you know I finally started a bookshop.org affiliate author page so I can keep an ongoing list of books I’ve really liked reading. It’s a work in progress, so if you’re also a big reader, keep an eye on it (and again, I want your book recs — send them my way!). Also note I will get a tiny percentage of sales through this page. I have no idea how much that will turn out to be, but if it’s more than like three cents, I’ll definitely share with a literacy org.

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Here We Go Again by Alison Cochrun: Okay I read a LOT of queer romance novels this year, but I think this one was my favorite. A really touching story about two rivals who end up on a cross-country road trip with their teacher/mentor who is dying. Loved it!

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride: Just amazing. READ IT!

Housemates by

Emma Copley Eisenberg

: Queerness, romance, road trips, friendship, photography, fatness….just so many things I care about in one book. Really enjoyed it.

North Woods by Daniel Mason: It took me a minute to get into this book, but then I came to really love it, especially the fact that the house is the through line.

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee: I’m about seven years late to this incredible generations-spanning family saga. It lives up to the hype! And let this be a reminder that it’s never too late to read a popular book even if you missed the parade when it first came out.

Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe: I just loved this character and was rooting for her!!! which I think is such a nice feeling to have about someone in a book.

A Tale of Two Florists by Brenna Bailey: Queer romance about two older women who are both florists in a small town. What more could I say!?!?!

There There by Tommy Orange: By no means a light read, but wow wow wow this is a powerful book.

The Trees by Percival Everett: An incredibly powerful reflection on the history on lynching in America that’s disguised as a mystery novel.

Opinions by

Roxane Gay

: When the world feels impossible, I feel like Roxane Gay is the person I trust and look to the most. She dives straight into the impossible thing and tells us, with so much clarity, what’s going on and what it means. I love her clear, crisp writing so much. This collection includes some of her best work from the past decade.

James by Percival Everett: The retelling of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim. I read it in one night and could not stop thinking about it after. Just unbelievable.

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar: What an incredibly beautiful book with amazing characters that is really about all the ways we find, and construct, meaning.

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And the cookbook that’s meant the most to me this year? Obviously it’s this one:

talk to y’all soon xooxoxoox julia