Goodreads is feeling glitchy, so it counted the Harry Potter books I read twice. In truth, I only read them once each this year.
This year was a good reading year. I read several thrillers, some lovely fantasy, and some books for only nostalgia’s sake. I’ll give a brief review of my favorite of the books I read this year below.
Thrillers/Mystery
The Zig Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths was a pretty traditional mystery. It was fun and engaging though and if memory serves the voice was strong. A good audiobook experience.
Dan Brown’s Origin was a fun science fiction thriller, another one in the Robert Langdon series. Where do we come from, where are we going?
Into the Water by Paula Hawkins was better than The Girl on the Train. Into the Water was a bit more about the mystery of witches (and the downing of witches) in a small town. Both end with a twist that isn’t particularly rewarding.
Future Home of the Living God ticks many of my boxes. It’s by Louise Erdrich (!), is apocalyptic, pseudo-science-y, has a woman of color as the protagonist and she is grappling with her identity, and she is grappling with the idea of motherhood. It was engaging and a worth the read/listen, but the end doesn’t land in a place that feels particularly resonant, and I really wanted the end to sing.
The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch is about a NCIS agent that travels through deep time and space to solve murders and try to stop the end of the world. It was a very fun listen (audiobook). The protagonist is a strong-willed, intelligent woman amputee. I loved it up until the epilogue.
Fantasy
Katherine Arden’s trilogy The Bear and the Nightingale, The Girl in the Tower, and The Winter of the Witch are AMAZING. The audiobook reader puts you into the world with her slight accent and proper pronunciation of Russian names. The writing and narrative is engrossing and such a lively, fresh take on fairy and folk tale. Arden makes ideas such as winter gods, lost maidens, mushroom fairies, and midnight spirits feel brand new. If you’re looking for a strong female protagonist embarking on a fairy tale adventure, this is your series.
Nonfiction
The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston is an engaging true account of an anthropological investigation into a mythic “lost” Mayan city. I love adventure through the wilderness and suspense/mystery, so this was a pretty engaging listen (audiobook).
I bought a copy of Sarah Vermunt’s Careergasm after a particularly difficult week at work, and I really appreciate the author’s tone and playfulness. The exercises in the book are helpful in fostering reflection and direction for your career goals and development.
Realistic Fiction
In general, I look for female protagonists and writers of color when I can. Chemistry by Weike Wang also appealed to me because the protagonist is at a breakdown and crossroads in her life, which speaks to me as a late twenty-something college educated gainfully employed woman with writing career aspirations and no children or books published (yet). I feel my life is eternally at a crossroads. I am trying to embrace the feeling of becoming.