Doesn’t include items read for work or books that were so bad I didn’t bother to finish them. Some of these are rereads but I didn’t mark which. Stand-outs include I Have Some Questions for You, The Survivalists, Rodham, Telephone, and Yellowface.
I can’t give an unqualified recommendation for all of these books (Endpapers and Your Driver is Waiting I found slow to start, though I liked them by the end, and I found the characters in The Late Americans frustratingly self-sabotaging, though the book is gorgeously written). However, if it’s on the list, I enjoyed something about it: I typically stop reading books that I can’t enjoy (and so they never get listed).
Content warning for the Agatha Christie books, which (while models of mystery plotting as well as brilliant and witty) contain casual sexism, racism, and nationalism reflective of mainstream white British thinking of the time.
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Half of a Yellow Sun
- Ramona Ausuba, The Last Animal
- Kelly Barhhill, The Crane Husband
- Lois McMaster Bujold, Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance
- Lois McMaster Bujold, Shards of Honor
- Lois McMaster Bujold, Penric & Desdemona 1: Penric’s Demon
- Lois McMaster Bujold, Penric & Desdemona 2: Penric and the Shaman
- Lois McMaster Bujold, Penric & Desdemona 3: Penric’s Fox
- Lois McMaster Bujold, Penric & Desdemona 4: Masquerade in Lodi
- Lois McMaster Bujold, Penric & Desdemona 5: Penric’s Mission
- Lois McMaster Bujold, Penric & Desdemona 6: Mira’s Last Dance
- Lois McMaster Bujold, Penric & Desdemona 7: Prisoner of Limnos
- Lois McMaster Bujold, Penric & Desdemona 8: The Orphans of Raspay
- Lois McMaster Bujold, Penric & Desdemona 9: The Physicians of Milnoc
- Lois McMaster Bujold, Penric & Desdemona 10: The Assassin of Chasalon
- Lois McMaster Bujold, Penric & Desdemona 11: Knot of Shadows
- M. R. Carey, Infinity Gate
- Beth Cato, A Thousand Recipes for Revenge
- Eleanor Catton, Birnham Wood
- Kashana Cauley, The Survivalists
- Alexander Chee, The Queen of the Night
- Agatha Christie, Appointment with Death
- Agatha Christie, Cards on the Table
- Agatha Christie, Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case
- Agatha Christie, Destination Unknown
- Agatha Christie, Elephants Can Remember
- Agatha Christie, Lord Edgware Dies
- Agatha Christie, Passenger to Frankfurt
- Agatha Christie, Sleeping Murder: Miss Marple’s Last Case
- Agatha Christie, The Big Four
- Agatha Christie, The Murder at the Vicarage
- Agatha Christie, The Mystery of the Blue Train
- Agatha Christie, The Seven Dials Mystery
- Agatha Christie, Third Girl
- Jennifer Crusie & Bob Mayer, Lavender’s Blue
- Jennifer Crusie & Bob Mayer, Rest in Pink
- Jennifer Crusie & Bob Mayer, One in Vermillion
- Cherie Dimaline, The Marrow Thieves
- Omar El Akkad, American War
- Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, This is How You Lose the Time War
- Akwaeke Emezi, Pet
- Percival Everett, Telephone
- Percival Everett & James Kincaid, A History of the African-American People [Proposed] by Strom Thurmond
- Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry
- Priya Guns, Your Driver is Waiting
- Alexis Hall, 10 Things That Never Happened
- Alexis Hall, A Lady for a Duke
- Alexis Hall, Boyfriend Material
- Alexis Hall, Husband Material
- Alexis Hall, Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake
- Alexis Hall, Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble
- Drew Hayes, The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant
- Jennifer Savran Kelly, Endpapers
- R. F. Kuang, Yellowface
- Lavanya Lakshminarayan, The Ten Percent Thief
- Ann Leckie, Translation State
- Yoon Ha Lee, Phoenix Extravagant
- Rebecca Makkai, I Have Some Questions for You
- Rebecca Makkai, The Hundred Year House
- Casey McQuiston, Red, White & Royal Blue
- Casey McQuiston, One Last Stop
- Naomi Novik, Scholomance 1: A Deadly Education
- Naomi Novik, Scholomance 2: The Last Graduate
- Naomi Novik, Scholomance 3: The Golden Enclaves
- Naomi Novik, Temeraire 1: His Majesty’s Dragon
- Naomi Novik, Temeraire 2: Throne of Jade
- Naomi Novik, Temeraire 3: Black Powder War
- Naomi Novik, Temeraire 4: Empire of Ivory
- Naomi Novik, Temeraire 5: Victory of Eagles
- Naomi Novik, Temeraire 6: Tongues of Serpents
- Naomi Novik, Temeraire 7: Crucible of Gold
- Naomi Novik, Temeraire 8: Blood of Tyrants
- Naomi Novik, Temeraire 9: League of Dragons
- Natasha Pulley, The Kingdoms
- Rainbow Rowell, 1: Carry On
- Rainbow Rowell, 2: Wayward Son
- Rainbow Rowell, 3: Any Way the Wind Blows
- Joanna Russ, The Female Man
- Curtis Sittenfeld, The Man of My Dreams
- Curtis Sittenfeld, Rodham
- Curtis Sittenfeld, Romantic Comedy
- Curtis Sittenfeld, Sisterland
- Lucy A. Snyder, Sister, Maiden, Monster
- Jesse Q. Sutanto, Dial A for Aunties
- Jesse Q. Sutanto, Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers
- Brandon Taylor, The Late Americans
- Drew Hayden Taylor, Chasing Painted Horses
- Emily Tesh, Some Desperate Glory
- Tade Thompson, Far From the Light of Heaven
- Karen Tidbeck, The Memory Theater
- Lavie Tidhar, Martian Sands
- Moses Ose Utomi, The Lies of the Ajungo
- Shelby Van Pelt, Remarkably Bright Creatures
- Aliya Whiteley, Skyward Inn
- Martha Wells, All Systems Red
- Martha Wells, Artificial Condition
- Martha Wells, Rogue Protocol
- Martha Wells, Exit Strategy
- Martha Wells, Network Effect
- Martha Wells, Fugitive Telemetry
- Martha Wells, System Collapse
- Scott Westerfield, Uglies
- Scott Westerfield, Pretties
- Scott Westerfield, Specials
- Scott Westerfield, Extras
- Connie Willis, The Road to Roswell
- Connie Willis, Blackout
- Connie Willis, All Clear
- Cathy Yardley, Role Playing
And a bonus book, which I’m halfway through right now: Cherie Dimaline’s Funeral Songs for Dying Girls. It’s a coming-of-age ghost story and I am loving it so far.
I am an affiliate of bookshop.org and earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
