Consider this my Goodreads

A live post about the books I've read and am reading.

The antiquated UI of Goodreads is not charming to me, nor very helpful in finding new books. Instead of spending ten minutes looking for my “want to read” folder, please enjoy my Substack listicle of past, present, and future titles.

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Currently reading: Wedding Toasts I’ll Never Give by Ada Callhoun and The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

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The Best of the Best… my top 5 books in no particular order:

The Giver by Lois Lowry.

• This book triggered a mission to reread all of the classics I was forced to read (or SparkNote, depending on how many crushes I had to impress in that year’s English class). The Giver tells the story of a dystopian society (which reminded me of a recent study that claims our world is losing its vibrance), and its “chosen” boy who is responsible for the village’s memory. Lois Lowry’s novel left me with a profound reminder to enjoy what we so often take for granted: color, music, autonomy, twins!

I’m a Fan by Sheena Patel.

• I’ve talked at length about this gem of a [poetry-ish] book on my podcast, so I’ll spare you here, but whether you’ve read I’m A Fan or still need to be convinced to do so, I’d give this episode of Deep Read a listen where host Phoebe Lovett interviews author Sheena Patel. It was such a treat to find this conversation and hear more about Patel’s process and insights.

The Secret History by Donna Tart

• Reading this book < making a Pinterest board based on it afterward. The Secret History was a striking reminder of the aesthetic world that exceptionally gifted authors can create. Even when a chapter was mundane, my dreams would be dark academia-tinged if I read too close to bedtime.

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray.

• I wanted so badly for the attractive Three Lives & Co. staff members to comment on the grandeur of my newly acquired 600-page book, but a kind smile and my free bookmark had to do. From the moment I plopped down in a West Village park to crack the spine to when I finished the novel in Bristol, I was enthralled. Each chapter has a different narrator, switching between members of a particularly bleak Irish family during the 2008 financial crisis. I’m not sure how Murray gets into the minds of a dissociated dad, ADHD mom, pre-pubescent son, and hormone-fueled daughter so candidly, but it is a balancing act worth the read. This book was recommended to me by Sara, and recommended to her by Kate!

The Seven Spiritual Laws to Success by Deepak Chopra

• This book found its way to me just at the right time, but I believe anyone at any stage of their life can benefit from the profound lessons in this tiny pocket-sized book. I’ve since purchased a copy, and I imagine it will continue to be annotated and highlighted and earmarked for the rest of my life.

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My “4-Star” books:

• All Fours by Miranda July

• Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

• Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

• Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult

• Mean Baby by Selma Blair

• The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

• The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghul

• The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

• The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

• Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

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Books I wish I had stopped reading after Chapter 1:

• Beach Read by Emily Henry

• Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

• Delicious! by Ruth Reichel

• How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell

• It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

• Magnolia Parks by Jessa Hastings

• Memory Piece by Lisa Ko

• My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

• The Cuckoos Calling by Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling)

• The Guest by Emma Cline

• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

• Wedding Toasts I'll Never Give by Ada Calhoun

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What’s on my want-to-read list:

• A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

• Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose

• Big Swiss by Jen Beagin

• Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au

• Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

• Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein

• Down the Drain by Julia Fox

• Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

• Four Stars by Joel Golby

• Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

• Horse by Geraldine Brooks

• I Love Dick by Chris Kraus

• Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

• Kick the Latch by Kathryn Scanlan

• Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (thank you for the rec, Kate Snyder)

• Margo’s got Money Problems by Rufi Thorpe

• Mating by Norman Rush

• Newhouse: All the Glitter, Power, & Glory of America’s Richest Media Empire & the Secretive Man Behind it

• Sheep’s Clothing by Celia Dale

• Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel

• The Gods at Six O’Clock by Giovanni Nucci (apparently so good it stopped a crime)

• The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway

• The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard

• The Margot Affair by Sanae Lemoine

• (reread) The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

• The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel

• The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

• The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

See, Goodreads? I even alphabetized it.

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