The Plot
So many books, so little time—part 16.
My son started keeping a reading list in third grade, so I did too. This is the 16th year we’ve done this.
Even though I was pretty busy this year, I read a LOT and audiobooks are definitely a big part of my routine these days as well.
Lessons in Chemistry
My favorite books this year were The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz (a twisty tale about the dark side of being a writer), Beartown by Fredrik Backman (one of those books that tons of people recommended to me for years, with sports parents as one of the scariest and realistic elements of a complex story), and Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (a funny, feminist tale that made me laugh out loud several times). I also really liked Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister, which is one of Reese Witherspoon’s recent picks; The Candy House by Jennifer Egan; Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin; Apeirogon by
The Heart’s Invisible Furies
Colum McCann; and The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne.
I’d love to hear what else people loved.
Here’s the 2022 list:
| The Wife Stalker | Liv | Constantine |
| The Startup Wife | Tahmima | Aham |
| The Cavendon Women | Barbara | Taylor Bradford |
| The Plot | Jean | Hanff Korelitz |
| The Fever | Megan | Abbott |
| One Day in December | Josie | Silver |
| Anxious People | Fredrik | Backman |
| The Book of Two Ways | Jodi | Picoult |
| Three Last First Dates: A Sweet Romantic Comedy of Love, Friendship and Even More Cake | Kate | O’Keefe |
| The Unhoneymooners | Christina | Lauren |
| The Guilt Trip | Sandie | Jones |
| Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography | Laurie | Woolever |
| State of Terror | Hillary Rodham Clinton & Louise | Penny |
| The Starless Sea | Erin | Morgenstern |
| Cavendon Hall | Barbara | Taylor Bradford |
| The Overdue Life of Amy Byler | Kelly | Harms |
| The Cavendon Luck | Barbara | Taylor Bradford |
| Tell the Wolves I’m Home | Carol | Rifka Brunt |
| The Two Lives of Lydia Bird | Josie | Silver |
| If the Fates Allow | Rainbow | Rowell |
| You Can Thank Me Later | Kelly | Harms |
| Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? | Lorrie | Moore |
| The Night She Disappeared | Lisa | Jewell |
| That’s What Frenemies Are For | Sophie | Littlefield and Lauren Gershell |
| 99 Percent Mine | Sally | Thorne |
| The Greatest Love Story Ever Told | Megan | Mullally and Nick Offerman |
| Five Tuesdays in Winter | Lily | King |
| Tweet Cute | Emma | Lord |
| Hooked: How Crafting Saved My Life | Sutton | Foster |
| Only Mostly Devastated | Sophie | Gonzales |
| A Sweet Mess | Jayci | Lee |
| Evvie Drake Starts Over | Linda | Holmes |
| The Book of Form and Emptiness | Ruth | Ozeki |
| We are Inevitable | Gayle | Forman |
| The Playground | Jane | Shemilt |
| I Was Here | Gayle | Forman |
| Where She Went | Gayle | Forman |
| The Reading List | Sara Nisha | Adams |
| The Story of the Lost Child | Elena | Ferrante |
| Music is History | Questlove | |
| My Name is Lucy Barton | Elizabeth | Strout |
| Lessons in Chemistry | Bonnie | Garmus |
| High Stakes | Danielle | Steel |
| Going There | Katie | Couric |
| The Unsinkable Greta James | Jennifer E. | Smith |
| Delilah Green Doesn’t Care | Ashley | Herring Blake |
| Vivian Rising | Daniella J. | Brodsky |
| The Summer Place | Jennifer | Weiner |
| Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead | Elle | Cosimano |
| Oh William! | Elizabeth | Strout |
| Honey Girl | Morgan | Rogers |
| Love Her or Lose Her | Tessa | Bailey |
| A Man Called Ove | Fredrik | Backman |
| Lorna Mott Comes Home | Diane | Johnson |
| Meant to Be | Emily | Giffin |
| No Words | Meg | Cabot |
| Ulysses | James | Joyce |
| Good Rich People | Eliza Jane | Brazier |
| Beartown | Fredrik | Backman |
| Old Filth | Jane | Gardam |
| Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting | Clare | Pooley |
| Tracy Flick Can’t Win | Tom | Perotta |
| The Messy Lives of Book People | Phaedra | Patrick |
| Carry On | Rainbow | Rowell |
| The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry | Gabrielle | Zevin |
| Wayward Son | Rainbow | Rowell |
| No One Asked For This | Cazzie | David |
| Any Way the Wind Blows | Rainbow | Rowell |
| I Kissed Shara Wheeler | Casey | McQuiston |
| Apeirogon | Colum | McCann |
| Nora Goes Off Script | Annabel | Monaghan |
| Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow | Gabrielle | Zevin |
| When No One Is Watching | Alyssa | Cole |
| Fix Her Up | Tessa | Bailey |
| Heartstopper | Alice | Oseman |
| By the Book | Jasmine | Guillory |
| It Happened One Summer | Tessa | Bailey |
| The Roughest Draft | Austin | Siegemund-Broka |
| You’ll Grow Out of It | Jessi | Klein |
| Cover Story | Susan | Rigetti |
| Kiss Me Now | Melanie | Jacobson |
| Counterfeit | Kristen | Chen |
| Second First Impressions | Sally | Thorne |
| Hook, Line and Sinker | Tessa | Bailey |
| About Grace | Anthony | Doerr |
| Love, Chai, and Other Four-Letter Words | Annika | Sharma |
| The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches | Sangu | Mandanna |
| Yes & I Love You | Roni | Loren |
| Marrying the Ketchups | Jennifer | Close |
| Carrie Soto is Back | Taylor | Jenkins Reid |
| The Church of Baseball: The Making of Bull Durham: Home Runs, Bad Calls, Crazy Fights, Bit Swings, and a Hit | Ron | Shelton |
| The Heart’s Invisible Furies | John | Boyne |
| The Nickel Boys | Colson | Whitehead |
| The Candy House | Jennifer | Egan |
| Heard it in a Love Song | Tracy | Garvis Graves |
| Anna K | Jenny | Lee |
| Luster | Raven | Leilani |
| Dava Shastri’s Last Day | Kirthana | Ramisetti |
| Uncharted Waters | Sally | Hepworth |
| Dear Reader | Mary | O’Connell |
| Dating Dr. Dil | Nisha | Sharma |
| The Not So Secret Emails of Coco Pinchard | Robert | Bryndza |
| When You Get the Chance | Emma | Lord |
| Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing | Matthew | Perry |
| Southern Lady Code | Helen | Ellis |
| Solitaire | Alice | Oseman |
| Our Missing Hearts | Celeste | Ng |
| The Emma Project | Sonali | Dev |
| As It Turns Out: Thinking About Edie and Andy | Alice | Sedgwick Wohl |
| Something Wilder | Christina | Lauren |
| The Last Chance Library | Freya | Sampson |
| Mid Night | Victoria | Shorr |
| Wrong Place, Wrong Time | Gillian | McAllister |
| Drunk on Love | Jasmine | Guillory |
| The One True Me and You | Remi K. | England |
| The Heartbreak Bakery | A.R. | Capetta |
| Recipe for Persuasion | Sonali | Dev |
| When You Were Mine | Rebecca | Searle |
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