Book Reviews

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I started trying to organize this list by genre, but I don’t read many books that fit neatly into a single genre, so instead, I used these abbreviations to indicate the genres and/or types of themes in each book. They are organized alphabetically by title within general types, with a * to indicate my favorites and links to my reviews (where there are no links, those were reviews I wrote for a publication that wants their reviewers to remain anonymous).

C = Classic
COA = Coming-of-Age

D = Disabilities & Mental Illness

F = Family

Fa = Fantasy

Fr = Friendship

H = Historical
Hu = Humor

I = International

L – Love/romantic

M = Mystery

Me = Memoir/autobiography
NF = Nonfiction

S/T = Suspense/Thriller

SF = Science Fiction

SH/I = Self-help/Inspirational

SS = Short stories

Fiction

* An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green (Fr, Hu, SF)

The Adults by Caroline Hulse (F, Hu)

* Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood (H)

All the Beautiful Lies by Peter Swanson (M, S/T)

* America's First Daughter by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie (F, H, I, L)

* American War by Omar El Akkad (COA, F, SF)

Anatomy of a Miracle by Jonathan Miles (D, F)

-->* And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini (F, H, I)

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker (F, I, L)

The Art Thief by Noah Charney (I, M, S/T)

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate (F, H)

* The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez (COA, F, I)

The Book That Matters Most by Ann Hood (F, L)

Circling the Sun by Paula McLain (H, I)

-->

Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian (COA, D, F, Fr)

* Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (F, Fr, H, I, M, SF)

* A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra (F, H)

Dark Saturday by Nicci French (M, S/T)

The Dogs of Littlefield by Suzanne Berne (F, Fr)

* Dracula by Bram Stoker (Fa, M, S/T)

Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton (H, S/T)

* Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon (F, H, L, SF)

Ellis Island  by Kate Kerrigan (F, I, L)

* Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave (Fr, H, L)

* My Ex-Life by Stephen McCauley (F, Fr)

-->

* Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (I, SF)

* Fifty Mice by Daniel Pyne (Hu, S/T)

The Fold by Peter Clines (SF, S/T)

-->
-->Fram by Steve Himmer (Fa, I)  Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich (F, SF)

Get in Trouble by Kelly Link (SF, SS)

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (I, M, S/T)

Girls on Fire by Robin Wasserman (COA, Fr, S/T)

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee (F, H)

The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick (D, F, Fr, Hu)

* A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson (F, H, I, L)

* The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah (COA, D, F, L)

* Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (C, COA, F, Fr, H)

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (C, I)

Her Pretty Face by Robyn Harding (F, Fr, S/T)

* Here and Now and Then by Mike Chen (F, SF)

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin (F, L)

-->Is This Tomorrow by Caroline Leavitt (F, Fr, M)

Isra Isle by Nava Semel (H, L, M)

* LaRose by Louise Erdrich (COA, F, Fr, H)

* The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey by Walter Mosley (D, F)

* Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult (F, Fr, M)

* Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (F, Fa, H)

* Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz (F, Hu, M, S/T)

* The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens (M, S/T)

The Lightkeeper's Daughter by Jean E. Pendziwol (F, Fr, H, L)
The Lost Ones by Sheena Kamal (M, S/T)

The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce (Fr, I, L)

Macbeth by William Shakespeare (C)

* Marriage on the Street Corners of Tehran by Nadia Shahram (COA, F, Fr, I, L)

The Martian  by Andy Weir (SF, S/T)

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (C, SF)

Maurice by E.M. Forster (C, H, L)

-->

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (C, F, Fa, I)

* The News At the End of the World by Emily Jeanne Miller (COA, F)

* The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (F, H, I)

* One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus (Fr, H, L)

* Only Child by Rhiannon Navin (F)

The Optimistic Decade by Heather Abel (F, Fr, H, L)

-->* Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline (COA, F, H)

* A Paper Son by Jason Buchholz (F, Fr, I, L, M)

Perfect Little World by Kevin Wilson (F, Fr, L)

-->

Picture Perfect  by Jodi Picoult (F)

* A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline (F, H, L)

-->

 * The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (COA, F, H, I)

* The Possible World by Liese O'Halloran Schwarz (F, H)

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver (F, Fr, L)

The Rain Watcher by Tatiana De Rosnay (F, I)

Rainey Royal  by Dylan Landis (COA, F, Fr, SS)

* The Reason You're Alive by Matthew Quick (D, F, Fr, Hu)

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier (C, L, M, S/T)

Red, White, Blue by Lea Carpenter (F, S/T)

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick (H. L, S/T)

* The River of Kings by Taylor Brown (COA, F, H)

The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion (D, F, Hu, L)

* The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (D, Fr, Hu, L)

The Secret History by Donna Tartt (COA, Fr, M)

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes (COA, F, Fr)

* Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (COA, F, I, M)

* She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper (F, S/T)

* The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls (F)

* Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel (Fr, L, SF, S/T) 
* The Sleepwalker by Chris Bohjalian (F, S/T)

* Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson (F, L, H, M)

* Song Yet Sung by James McBride (F, Fr, H)

* The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell (D, Fr, I, SF)

* Speak No Evil by Uzodinma Iweala (COA, F, Fr, I)

* Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (F, Fr, L, SF)

Still Life by Louise Penny (M)

* The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin (F, Fr, L)

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (C, SF)

* The Summer Guest by Alison Anderson (F, Fr, H, L)

* A Tale for the Time Being  by Ruth Ozeki (COA, D, F, I)

Tales of Mystery by Edgar Allen Poe (C, M, S/T)

They Are Trying to Break Your Heart by David Savill (COA, F, Fr, H, I, M)

The Three  by Sarah Lotz (M, SF, S/T)

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis (H, Hu, SF)

The Two-Family House by Lynda Cohen Loigman (F)

* The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce (F, Fr, I)

* The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell (COA, F, H, I, L)

* Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel (Fr, I, SF, S/T)

We Own the Sky by Luke Allnut (F)

* Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owen (F, Fr, L)

-->

* Wool by Hugh Howey (F, Fr, L, SF)

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware (M, S/T)

Work Like Any Other by Virginia Reeves (F, H)

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn (M, S/T)

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (C, F)

Nonfiction (see also Graphic Novels/Memoirs)

* Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo (COA, D, F, H, I)

Blog, Inc. by Joy Deangdeelert Cho (SH/I)

* How to Live Well with Chronic Pain and Illness: A Mindful Guide by Toni Bernhard (SH/I)
How To Wake Up by Toni Bernhard (SH/I)  

If the Oceans Were Ink by Carla Power (Me, SH/I)

Nathaniel's Nutmeg by Giles Milton (H, I)

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander (H)

* Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman (Hu, Me)

Personal History by Katharine Graham (Me)

* When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (Me)

Graphic Novels/Memoirs

Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli (F, L)

Black Hole by Charles Burns (COA, SF)

French Milk by Lucy Knisley (I, Me, NF)

* Fun Home by Allison Bechtel (Hu, Me, NF)

Here by Richard McGuire (F, H)

* Relish by Lucy Knisley (Me, NF)

* Persepolis  by Marjane Satrapi (Me, H, I, NF)

* Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi (Me, H, I, NF)

Something New: Tales from a Makeshift Bride by Lucy Knisley (Hu, Me, NF)

Teen/YA

All Fall Down by Ally Carter (F, Fr, M, S/T)

* Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz (COA, F, Fr)

Ask the Dark by Henry Turner (F, M, S/T)

* Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (Fa, L)

* Becoming Maria: Love and Chaos in the South Bronx by Sonia Manzano (Me, Fa, NF, Fr, Hu)

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater (Fr, L, SF)

Bone Gap by Laura Ruby (Fa, Fr, L, M)

* The Cage by Megan Shepherd (Fr, L, SF, S/T)

The Cemetery Boys by Heather (Zac) Brewer (COA, F, Fr, S/T)

* Challenger Deep by Neal Schusterman (D, F)

Code of Honor by Alan Gratz (Fa, S/T)

The Conspiracy of Us  by Maggie Hall (L, S/T)

The Cost of All Things by Maggie Lehrman (COA, F, Fa, Fr)

Drag Teen by Jeffrey Self (COA, Fr, Hu)

Dreamology by Lucy Keating (Fa, Fr, L)

The Drowning by Rachel Ward (Fa, Fr, L, S/T)

The Hunt by Megan Shepherd (Fr, L, SF, S/T)

I Was Here by Gayle Forman (D, Fr, L, M)

The Law of Loving Others by Kate Axelrod (D, F, Fr, L)

* Looking for Alaska by John Green (COA, D, Fr, Hu)

The Many Lives of John Stone by Linda Buckley-Archer (F, Fa, H, I)

* The Memory of Light by Francisco X. Stork (COA, D, Fr)

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (F, Fa, Fr, S/T)

* Mosquitoland by David Arnold (D, F, Fr)

The Mystery of Hollow Places by Rebecca Podos (COA, F, Fr, M)

The Outliers by Kimberly McCreight (F, Fr, SF, S/T)

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater (Fa, Fr, S/T)

* Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys (F, Fr, H, I, L)

* Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern (D, L)

The Secret Language of Sisters by Luanne Rice (D, F, Fr)

* Solitaire by Alice Oseman (COA, D, Fa, Fr, L)

* Unbecoming by Jenny Downham (COA, F)

* UnDivided by Neal Schusterman (SF)

* Vivian Apple At the End of the World by Katie Coyle (COA, F, Fr, L)

What Waits in the Woods by Kieran Scott (S/T)

Middle-Grade

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (F, Fr, I)

The Baby-Sitter's Club: Kristy's Great Idea  by Ann M. Martin and Raina Telgmeier (Fr, graphic novel)

Bera the One-Headed Troll by Eric Orchard (graphic novel) (Fa)

* The Big Dark by Rodman Philbrick (F, Fr, SF, S/T)

Crows and Cards by Joseph Helgerson (H)

* The Danger Box by Blue Balliett (D, F, Fr, M)

* Doll Bones by Holly Black (Fr, M, S/T)

* Echo by Pamela Munoz Ryan (F, Fr, H)

* Finding the Worm by Mark Goldblatt (D, Fr)

Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt (D, Fr)

George by Alex Gino (F, Fr)

* Ghost Hawk by Susan Cooper (F, Fr, H)

* The Lightning Queen by Laura Renau (F, Fr, H, I, L)

* Listen, Slowly by Thanhha Lai (F, Fr, I, M)

Magnificent Mya Tibbs by Crystal Allen (F, Fr)

* The Marvels by Brian Selznick (F, Fr, H, L)

* Masterminds by Gordon Korman (Fr, SF, S/T)

Masterminds: Criminal Destiny by Gordon Korman (Fr, SF, S/T)

* My Name Is Not Friday by Jon Walter (COA, F, H)

* Nest by Esther Ehrlich (D, Fa, Fr)

* A Night Divided by Jennifer Nielsen (F, Fr, H, I, S/T)

* Pax by Sara Pennypacker (F, Fr)

* Revolution by Deborah Wiles (F, Fr, H)

Smile by Raina Telgemeier (F, graphic novel, Hu)

Some Kind of Courage by Dan Gemeinhart (F, Fr, H)

Sunny Side Up by Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm (F, Fr, graphic novel, Hu)

* Swing Sideways by Nanci Turner Steveson (F, Fr)

* This Side Of Wild by Gary Paulsen (Hu, NF)

The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann (Fa, Fr)

When Marnie Was Here  by Joan G. Robinson (Fr)