An incomplete list of some of my favourite books from recent-ish years:

2023:

• The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue (utterly delicious, funny, smart, Irish hug of a book)

• Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld (my personal dream: comedy, TV, romance, words by Queen Curtis)

• Everything’s Fine by Cecilia Rabess (looooved reading this totally compelling car crash of a relationship)

• Small Things like These by Claire Keegan (hooooow does she do so much in so little)

• We Have Always Lived In The Castle by Shirley Jackson (my first Shirley Jackson, fan for life now)

• Crushing by Genevieve Novak (razor sharp, Novak is the top tier of the ‘sad girls in their twenties’ novels)

• Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano (this one really got under my skin)

• Run Towards The Danger by Sarah Polley (fascinating, brilliant, highly recommend the audio)

• I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai (campus novels are my catnip, this one is very, very good)

• Tom Lake By Ann Patchett (wonderful, deeply immersive, one scene haunts me in the best way)

2022 and older list:

• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (intense and complex in the best ways, I wept steadily from pages 284-311)

• Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason (from the first paragraph, the first sentence, I was in love)

• Love & Virtue by Diana Reid (felt like it was written specifically for me)

• You Think It, I'll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld (brilliant, as is almost every other book ever written by Curtis Sittenfeld.)

• Nothing To See Here by Kevin Wilson (funny, dark, fascinating, feel-good triumph)

• Normal People and Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney (complete and total perfection)

• Writers & Lovers by Lily King (made me both cry and laugh, and left me feeling nourished)

• I am, I am, I am by Maggie O'Farrell (can't stop thinking about that first chapter)

• In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado (astonishing, kept me up very late reading and I never stay up late anymore)

• French Braid by Anne Tyler (no one does little heartbreaking family moments like Tyler)

• My Name is Lucy Barton & Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout (probably the best writer working today. Anything Is Possible and Olive Kitteridge and Olive, Again are also masterpieces.)

• Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes (helped me fall back in love with reading after having a baby)

• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (extraordinary)

• The Museum of Broken Things by Lauren Draper (old-school, big-feels, romantic coming-of-age)

• Untidy Towns by Kate O'Donnell (warm-hearted and lovely)

• The Boy From The Mish by Gary Lonesborough (so tender, hopeful and beautiful)

• Educated by Tara Westover (harrowing, but worth it)

• Seven Days in June by Tia Williams (glorious)

• Amelia Westlake by Erin Gough (a delight)

• Single, Carefree, Mellow by Katherine Heiny (love this collection maybe too much, also Standard Deviation is very good)

• Mad About You by Mhairi McFarlane (such a good time, totally charming)

• Hunger by Roxane Gay (raw and necessary. Plus Bad Feminist)

• Words In Deep Blue by Cath Crowley (an all time favourite YA)

• The Goodbye Year by Emily Gale (the characters, the descriptions, the emotions, just the absolute very best children’s writer out there. Also I am Out With Lanterns, and Elsewhere Girls)

• A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (sobbed, of course)

• Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (devoured in one happy sitting)

• The End of the World Is Bigger Than Love by Davina Bell (so weird, so ambitious, so damn good)

• Beautiful Mess by Claire Christian (wonderful)

• The Mothers by Brit Bennett (one of my favourite debut novels. Also loved The Vanishing Half)

• The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon (that ending)

• Between Us by Claire Atkins (heartbreaking)

• Loner by Georgina Young (clever and funny)

• Girls on Fire by Robyn Wasserman (too much but not enough)

• One of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus (highly entertaining)

• Emergency Contact by Mary HK Choi (the banter, the texts, the dialogue)

• The Hating Game by Sally Thorne (this book is like a drug I would take every day if I could)

• The Secret Place by Tana French (my Tana French gateway novel)

• The Gaps by Leanne Hall (sharp and smart)

• Salt Creek by Lucy Treloar (slow burn that pays off)

• Confessions of a High School Disaster by Emma Chastain (made me so, so happy)

• In The Quiet by Eliza Henry-Jones (deeply moving)

• The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante (everything I was told they would be, and more)

• The Crazy Rich Asians trilogy by Kevin Kwan (my Game of Thrones)