So many books, so little time—part ten.
My son started keeping a reading list in third grade, so I did too. This is the tenth year we’ve done this.
My favorite books of 2016 were probably You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott, a mystery-thriller set in the world of women’s gymnastics; Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave, set in the world of wine-making; Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler, which is about the restaurant business; Barbara the Slut and Other People by Lauren Holmes, a terrific collection of shot stories; and The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff, who also wrote Fates and Furies, one of my favorite books I read last year.
As usual, I tend to find an author I like and then read anything I can get my hands on. I adored Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple so much that I also read her two other novels, Today Will be Different (in development as a TV series with Julia Roberts) and This One is Mine, both of which I liked but didn’t LOVE the way I did Bernadette.
Anyway, I’d love to hear about other people’s favorite books this year.
| Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake | Anna | Quindlen | ||||
| Why Not Me? | Mindy | Kaling | ||||
| Boys & Girls Together | William | Goldman | ||||
| Fun Home | Allison | Bechdel | ||||
| Precious Gifts | Danielle | Steel | ||||
| 23 Degrees South | Neal | Rabin | ||||
| Last One Home | Debbie | Macomber | ||||
| Feel This | Ben | Stiller & Janeane Garofalo | ||||
| A Whole New Light | Sandra | Brown | ||||
| All Fall Down | Jennifer | Weiner | ||||
| The Children Act | Ian | McEwan | ||||
| Purity | Jonathan | Franzen | ||||
| Crooked Little Lies | Barbara | Taylor Sissel | ||||
| The Rumor | Elin | Hildebrand | ||||
| The Truth About Alice | Jennifer | Mathieu | ||||
| Girl Tripping | Gina | Iamanna | ||||
| Everything’s Relative | Jenna | McCarthy | ||||
| The Clasp | Sloane | Crosley | ||||
| The Guestbook | Andrea | Hurst | ||||
| The Art of Peeling an Orange | Victoria | Avilan | ||||
| What Alice Forgot | Liane | Moriarty | ||||
| Bettyville | George | Hodgman | ||||
| Between the Lines | Jodi | Picoult & Samantha van Leer | ||||
| Miss Adventure | Geralyn | Corcillo | ||||
| Who Do You Love? | Jennifer | Weiner | ||||
| Girl Waits With Gun | Amy | Stewart | ||||
| The Tender Bar | J.R. | Moehringer | ||||
| The Monsters of Templeton | Lauren | Groff | ||||
| Connect the Stars | Marisa | de los Santos and David Teague | ||||
| Barbara the Slut and Other People | Lauren | Holmes | ||||
| The Moon and More | Sarah | Dessen | ||||
| The Apartment | Danielle | Steel | ||||
| Dead of Night | J.D. | Robb, Mary Blayney, Ruth Ryan Langan and Mary Kay McComas | ||||
| The Swans of Fifth Avenue | Melanie | Benjamin | ||||
| Lizzie Bennett Diaries | Bernie | Su and Kate Noble | ||||
| The List | Siobhan | Vivan | ||||
| One Plus One | JoJo | Moyes | ||||
| Nora Roberts Land | Miles | Ava | ||||
| Windfallen | JoJo | Moyes | ||||
| Dear Mr. You | Mary Louise | Parker | ||||
| The Sleuth Sisters | Maggie | Pill | ||||
| Fireside | Susan | Wiggs | ||||
| Sweetbitter | Stephanie | Danler | ||||
| Tiny Pretty Things | Sona | Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton | ||||
| My Favorite Husband | Pam | McCutcheon | ||||
| The Fixer Upper | Mary Kay | Andrews | ||||
| The Inn at Rose Harbor | Debbie | Macomber | ||||
| I Was Told There Would be Cake | Sloane | Crosley | ||||
| A Girl’s Guide to Moving on | Debbie | Macomber | ||||
| Drinking Closer to Home | Jessica Anya | Blau | ||||
| Identical | Scott | Turrow | ||||
| If I Stay | Gayle | Forman | ||||
| Euphoria | Lily | King | ||||
| Eight Hundred Grapes | Laura | Dave | ||||
| In the Unlikely Event | Judy | Blume | ||||
| Remembrance | Meg | Cabot | ||||
| Innocents & Others: A Novel | Dana | Spiotta | ||||
| Calling Invisible Women | Jeanne | Ray | ||||
| Royal Wedding | Meg | Cabot | ||||
| Eligible | Curtis | Sittenfeld | ||||
| The Man of the House | Stephen | McCauley | ||||
| Be Frank With Me | Julia | Claiborne Johnson | ||||
| Fallen in Love | Lauren | Kate | ||||
| Four of a Kind | Valerie | Frankel | ||||
| The Bridge Ladies | Betsy | Lerner | ||||
| The Goodbye Quilt | Susan | Wiggs | ||||
| French Roast | Ava | Miles | ||||
| Behind Closed Doors | B.A. | Paris | ||||
| Heat & Light | Jennifer | Haigh | ||||
| The Grand Opening | Ava | Miles | ||||
| Paris for One & Other Stories | JoJo | Moyes | ||||
| My Kind of Perfect | Hannah | Ellis | ||||
| Heroes Have Always Been My Weakness | Susan Elizabeth | Phillips | ||||
| You Will Know Me | Megan | Abbott | ||||
| The History of Love | Nicole | Krauss | ||||
| Today Will Be Different | Maria | Semple | ||||
| This One is Mine | Maria | Semple | ||||