I make it a point to read “for fun” each and every day, even if only for a few minutes before I go to sleep. These are books that are not part of the classes I teach or the research I am conducting (though I read a lot that would fall under that category as well). I’m frequently asked for book recommendations, so I thought I’d start to keep a list, and this one dates back to 1 January 2013. Asterisks for my most favorite. Links (when they appear) are Amazon affiliate.
2022
Dark Age (Pierce Brown)
The Midnight Lock (Jeffrey Deaver)
Summit Lake (Charlie Donlea, audiobook)
The Girl Who Was Taken (Charlie Donlea, audiobook)
Don’t Believe It (Charlie Donlea, audiobook)
Twenty Years Later (Charlie Donlea, audiobook)
The Suicide House (Charlie Donlea, audiobook)
Behind Her Eyes (Sarah Pinborough, audiobook)
The Professionals (Owen Laukkanen, audiobook)
Gale Force (Owen Laukkenen, audiobook)
The Last Thing He Told Me (Laura Dave, audiobook)
The First Husband (Laura Dave, audiobook)
Hello Sunshine (Laura Dave, audiobook)
Eight Hundred Grapes (Laura Dave, audiobook)
Devil House (John Darnelle, audiobook)
Visit From the Goon Squad (Jennifer Egan, audiobook)
The Candy House (Jennifer Egan, audiobook)*
The Paris Apartment (Lucy Foley, audiobook)
The Glass Hotel (Emily St. John Mandel, audiobook)
The Sea of Tranquility (Emily St. John Mandel, audiobook)*
Make Them Cry (Smith Henderson)
State of Terror (Hillary Rodham Clinton)
Body on the Island (Nick Louth)
Body on the Moor (Nick Louth)
Rising Tiger (Brad Thor)
The Love of My Life (Rosie Walsh)
Cloud Cuckoo Land (Anthony Doerr)
Cruel Deeds (Catherine Kirwan)
The Murder Rule (Dervla McTiernan)
Nine Lives (Peter Swanson)
The Appeal (Janice Hallett)
Still Life (Louise Penny)
The Accident (Chris Pavone)
Two Nights in Lisbon (Chris Pavone)
The Cartographers (Peng Shepard)
Missing, Presumed (Susie Steiner)
Persons Unknown (Susie Steiner)
Remain Silent (Susie Steiner)
Where the Crawdads Sing (Delia Owens)
A Fatal Grace (Louise Penny)
Quarter to Midnight (Karen Rose)
True Crime Story (Joseph Knox)
Bewilderment (Richard Powers)
Bad Actors (Mick Herron)
No One Is Talking About This (Patricia Lockwood)
Rogues (Patrick Radden Keefe)
Carrie Soto Is Back (Taylor Jenkins Reid)*
Enemy at the Gates (Vince Flynn/Kyle Mills)
Recursion (Blake Crouch)
Upgrade (Blake Crouch)
Fight Night (Miriam Toews)
56 Days (Catherine Ryan Howard)
Small Things Like These (Claire Keegan)
The Trees (Percival Everett)
The Body in the Stairwell (Nick Louth)
The Lying Game (Ruth Ware)
Hunting Time (Jeffrey Deaver)
Luster (Raven Leilani)
The Violin Conspiracy (Brendan Slocumb)
Transcendent Kingdom (Yaa Gyasi)
Nightcrawling (Leila Mottley)
Sister Novelists (Devoney Looser)
Lost Girls (Jon Mills)
Desert Star (Michael Connelly)*
Suspect (Scott Turow)
The Bullet That Missed (Richard Osman)
The Fields (Erin Young)
2021
When No One Is Watching (Alyssa Cole, audiobook)
Unsub (Meg Gardiner, audiobook)
Into the Black Nowhere (Meg Gardiner, audiobook)
The Dark Corners of the Night (Meg Gardiner, audiobook)
The Lincoln Lawyer (Michael Connelly, audiobook)
The Brass Verdict (Michael Connelly, audiobook)
The Reversal (Michael Connelly, audiobook)
The Fifth Witness (Michael Connelly, audiobook)
The Gods of Guilt (Michael Connelly, audiobook)
Blood Work (Michael Connelly, audiobook)
The Narrows (Michael Connelly, audiobook)
A Darkness More The Night (Michael Connelly, audiobook)
The Closers (Michael Connelly, audiobook)
Echo Park (Michael Connelly, audiobook)
The Overlook (Michael Connelly, audiobook)
Nine Dragons (Michael Connelly, audiobook)
The Drop (Michael Connelly, audiobook)
The Black Box (Michael Connelly, audiobook)
The Burning Room (Michael Connelly, audiobook)
The Crossing (Michael Connelly, audiobook)
The Wrong Side of Goodbye (Michael Connelly, audiobook)
Dark Sacred Night (Michael Connelly, audiobook)
Two Kinds of Truth (Michael Connelly, audiobook)
The Night Fire (Michael Connelly, audiobook)
The Lost Light (Michael Connelly, audiobook)
The Sentinel (Lee Child, audiobook)
Heartbreak Bay (Rachel Caine, audiobook)
The Survivors (Jane Casey, audiobook)
The Law of Innocence (Michael Connelly, audiobook)
Angel’s Flight (Michael Connelly, audiobook)
Later (Stephen King)
If We Were Villains (M.L. Rio)
The Thursday Murder Club (Richard Osman)
A Beautiful Crime (Christopher Bollan)
The Law of Innocence (Michael Connelly, audiobook)
Little Secrets (Jennifer Hillier)
Jar of Hearts (Jennifer Hillier)
Creep (Jennifer Hillier)
Freak (Jennifer Hillier)
My Year Abroad (Chang Rae Lee)
The First to Lie (Hank Phillipi Ryan, audiobook)
You Will Know Me (Megan Abbott, audiobook)
Dead West (Matt Goldman, audiobook)
Little Cruelties (Liz Nugent, audiobook)
Nick (Michael Farris Smith, audiobook)
American Spy (Lauren Wilkinson, audiobook)
The Killing Kind (Jane Casey, audiobook)*
Scrublands (Chris Hammer)
The Body on the Island (Nick Louth, audiobook)
The Bodies of Westgrave Hall (Nick Louth, audiobook)
The Good Detective (John McMahon, audiobook)
And Now She’s Gone (Rachel Howzell Hall, audiobook)
Red Widow (Alma Katsu, audiobook)*
Klara and the Sun (Kazuo Ishiguro, audiobook)
Our House (Louise Candish)
The Final Twist (Jeffrey Deaver, audiobook)
The Evil Men Do (John McMahon, audiobook)
The Plot (Jean Hanff Koreliff)
Malibu Rising (Taylor Jenkins Reid)*
Outlawed (Anna North)*
The Glass Hotel (Emily St. John Mandel)
We Begin At the End (Chris Whitaker)
Appleseed (Matt Bell)
Razorblade Tears (S. A. Cosby)*
Falling (T. J. Newman, audiobook)
Black Ice (Brad Thor)
Billy Summers (Stephen King)*
Slough House (Mick Herron, audiobook)
A Stranger In Town (Kelley Armstrong)
Anatomy of a Scandal (Sarah Vaughan, audiobook)
Little Disasters (Sarah Vaughan, audiobook)
What Strange Paradise (Omar El Akkad)
A Good Kill (John McMahon, audiobook)
Dream Girl (Laura Lippman, audiobook)
Betrayed (Lisa Scottoline, audiobook)
Corrupted (Lisa Scottoline, audiobook
Damaged (Lisa Scottoline, audiobook
Accused (Lisa Scottoline, audiobook)
The Expats (Chris Pavone, audiobook)
Exposed (Lisa Scottoline, audiobook)
Feared (Lisa Scottoline, audiobook)
All My Puny Sorrows (Miriam Toews)
Beautiful World, Where Are You (Sally Rooney, audiobook)
Better Off Dead (Lee Child, audiobook)
The Man Who Dies Twice (Richard Osman, audiobook)
The Echo Maker (Richard Powers, audiobook)
The Book of Form and Emptiness (Ruth Ozeki)
Autopsy (Patricia Cornwell, audiobook)
The Judge’s List (John Grisham, audiobook)
The Whistler (John Whistler, audiobook)
Northern Spy (Flynn Berry, audiobook)
Under the Harrow (Flynn Berry, audiobook)
The Travelers (Chris Pavone, audiobook)
Iron Gold (Pierce Brown)
The Dark Hour (Michael Connelly)
2020
The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook (Ben Mezrich)
Blue Moon (Lee Child, audiobook)
The Echo Killing (Christi Daugherty, audiobook)
A Beautiful Corpse (Christi Daugherty, audiobook)
Heaven My Home (Attica Locke)
Say Nothing: A True Story of Memory and Murder in Northern Ireland *(Patrick Radden Keefe)
The Institute (Stephen King)
Agency (William Gibson)
Lethal Agent (Vince Flynn, audiobook)
The Water Dancer (Ta-Nehisi Coates, audiobook)
Revolver Road (Christi Daughtery)
Cruel Acts (Jane Casey)
Some Choose Darkness (Charlie Donlea)
Black Swan Green (David Mitchell, reread)
The Bone Clocks (David Mitchel, reread)*
Little Gods (Meng Jin)
The Lying Room (Nicci French)
The Ten Thousand Doors of January (Alex Harrow)
The Pursuit of William Abbey (Claire North)
All of This Could be Yours (Jami Attenberg)
Weather (Jenny Offill)*
Ninth House (Leigh Bardugo, audiobook)
The Cutting Place (Jane Casey, audiobook)
Saint X (Alexis Schaitkin, audiobook)
Such a Fun Age (Kiley Reid, audiobook)*
The Guardians (John Grisham)
My Dark Vanessa (Kate Elizabeth Russell, audiobook)
Girl, Woman, Other (Bernadine Evaristo)
New Waves (Kevin Nguyen)
If It Bleeds (Stephen King)*
The Slow Horses: Slough House 1 (Mick Herron, audiobook)
Dead Lions: Slough House 2 (Mick Herron, audiobook)
Real Tigers: Slough House 3 (Mick Herron, audiobook)
Spook Street: Slough House 4 (Mick Herron, audiobook)
London Rules: Slough House 5(Mick Herron, audiobook)
Joe Country: Slough House 6 (Mick Herron, audiobook)
Conviction (Denise Mina)
The Last Trial (Scott Turow, audiobook)
Valentine (Elizabeth Wetmore, audiobook)
The End of Wasp Season (Denisa Mina, Audiobook)
Sirens (Joseph Knox, audiobook)
The Smiling Man (Joseph Knox, audiobook)
The Hunting Party (Lucy Foley, audiobook)
Catherine House (Elizabeth Thomas, audiobook)
The Guest List (Lucy Foley, audiobook)
Pretty Things (Janelle Brown, audiobook)
The Roommate (Dervla McTiernan, audiobook)
The Good Turn (Dervla McTiernan, audiobook)
Too Close to Breathe (Olivia Kiernan, audiobook)
The Killer in Me (Olivia Kiernan, audiobook)
A Nearly Normal Family (M.T. Edvarsson, audiobook)*
Y Is for Yesterday (Sue Grafton, audiobook) I miss Kinsey Milhone. A lot.
No Second Chance (Harlen Coben, audiobook)
Don’t Let Go (Harlen Coben, audiobook)
Hold Tight (Harlen Coben, audiobook)
Six Years (Harlen Coben, audiobook)
Fool Me Once (Harlen Coben, audiobook)
Stay Close (Harlen Coben, audiobook)
A Matter of Will (Adam Mitzner, audiobook)
The Millionaires (Brad Metzler, audiobook)
Dead Certain (Adam Mitzner, audiobook)
Near Dark (Brad Thor, audiobook)
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (Taylor Jenkins Reid, audiobook)*
Defending Jacob (William Landay, audiobook)
Down River (John Hart, audiobook)
The Last Child (John Hart, audiobook)
Redemption Road (John Hart, audiobook)
The Iron House (John Hart, audiobook)
The Hush (John Hart, audiobook)
Stillhouse Lake (Rachel Caine, audiobook)
Killman Creek (Rachel Caine, audiobook)
Wolfhunter River (Rachel Caine, audiobook)
Bitter Falls (Rachel Caine, audiobook)
Generation Loss (Elizabeth Hand, audiobook)
Available Dark (Elizabeth Hand, audiobook)
Hard Light (Elizabeth Hand, audiobook)
Snow (John Banville, audiobook)
Fair Warning (Michael Connelly, audiobook)*
The Scarecrow (Michael Connelly, audiobook–reread)
We Gather Together (Denise Kiernan)
Rewind (Catherine Ryan Howard, audiobook)
The Liar’s Girl (Catherine Ryan Howard, audiobook)
Distress Signals (Catherine Ryan Howard, audiobook)
The Devil and the Dark Water (Stuart Turton)
The Body in the Marsh (Nick Louth, audiobook)
The Body on the Shore (Nick Louth, audiobook)
The Body in the Mist (Nick Louth, audiobook)
Lying in Wait (Liz Nugent, audiobook)
We Keep the Dead Close (Becky Cooper, audiobook)
The Defense (Steve Cavanaugh, audiobook)
The Plea (Steve Cavanaugh, audiobook)
Thirteen (Steve Cavanaugh, audiobook)
The Law of Innocence (Michael Connelly, audiobook)
The Lincoln Lawyer (Michael Connely, audiobook–reread)
Blacktop Wasteland (S. A. Cosby, audiobook)*
The Body in the Snow (Nick Louth, audiobook)
City of the Lost (Kelley Armstrong, audiobook)
A Darkness Absolute (Kelley Armstrong, audiobook)
This Fallen Prey (Kelley Armstrong, audiobook)
Watcher in the Woods (Kelley Armstrong, audiobook)
Alone in the Wild (Kelley Armstrong, audiobook)
The Body on the Island (Nick Louth, audiobook)
2019
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (David Mitchell, audiobook)
Rosewater (Tade Thompson, audiobook)
Space Opera (Catherynne M. Valente)
The Feral Detective (Jonathan Lethem, audiobook)
Elevation (Stephen King)
Motherless Brooklyn (Jonathan Lethem)
Red War (Kyle Mills as Vince Flynn)
The Boy on the Bridge (M. R. Carey, audio)
Fellside (M. R. Carey, audio)
The Witch Elm (Tana French, audio)*
Census (Jesse Ball)
The Water Cure (Sophie Mackintosh, audiobook)
Freefall (Jessica Barry)
Finding Ultra (Rich Roll)
Lone Survivor (Marcus Luttrell)
Can’t Hurt Me (David Goggins, audiobook)*
American Sniper (Chris Kyle)
Where Men Win Glory (Jon Krakauer, audiobook)
The Dreamers (Karen Thompson Walker, audiobook)
Salvage the Bones (Jesmyn Ward)
Gnomon (Nick Harkaway, audiobook)
Golden State (Ben Winters, audiobook)
Cemetery Road (Greg Iles, audiobook)
Optic Nerve (Maria Gainza)
Blood on Snow (Jo Nesbø)
Children of Ruin (Adrian Tchaikovsky, audiobook)
A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World (C. A. Fletcher)
The Last (Hannah Jameson, audiobook)*
The Lost Man (Jane Harper, audiobook)
Rage Against the Dying (Becky Masterman, audiobook)
Fear the Darkness (Becky Masterman, audiobook)
A Twist of the Knife (Becky Masterman, audiobook)
The Red Birds (Mohammed Hanif)
We Were Killers Once (Becky Masterman, audiobook)
The Never Game (Jeffrey Deaver, audiobook)
The Nickel Boys (Colson Whitehead)
This Is How You Lose the Time War (Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone)
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous (Ocean Vuong)*
The Other Americans (Laila Lalami)
The Descent (Tim Johnston)
Knife (Jo Nesbo, audiobook)
The Dog Stars (Peter Heller, audiobook)
The River (Peter Heller, audiobook)
The Scholar (Dervla McTiernan)
The Sisters (Dervla McTiernan, audiobook–FREE IN SEPT)
Level Five (William Ledbetter)
Kindred (Octavia Butler)
The Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI (David Grann)
My Sister the Serial Killer (Oyinkan Braithwaite)
The Chain (Adrian McKinty)
The Mothers (Britt Bennett)
Mostly Dead Things (Kristen Arnett)
Dare to Lead (Brene Brown)
The Shallows (Matt Goldman, audiobook)
Night Man (Brett Battles)
The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair (Joel Dicker, audiobook)
Backlash (Brad Thor, audiobook)
Dark Sacred Night (Michael Connelly, audiobook)
Spymaster (Brad Thor, audiobook)
From a Low and Quiet Sea (Donal Ryan, audiobook)
The Reckoning (John Grisham, audiobook)
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World (Elif Shafak, audiobook)
Supernova Era (Cixin Liu, audiobook)
The Starless Sea (Erin Morgenstern)
Trust Exercise (Susan Choi, audiobook)
Find Me (Laura van den Berg, reread)
The Gone World (Tom Sweterlitsch, audiobook)*
The Night Fire (Michael Connelly, audiobook)
The Department of Speculation (Jenny Offill)
10:04 (Ben Lerner)
The Topeka School (Ben Lerner)
Normal People (Sally Rooney, audiobook)*
Daisy Jones and the Six (Taylor Jenkins Reid, audiobook)*
Infinite Detail (Tim Maughan)
Catch and Kill (Ronan Farrow, audiobook)*
The Testaments (Margaret Atwood, audiobook)*
Tomorrow and Tomorrow (Thomas Sweterlitsch, audiobook)
Bitcoin Billionaires (Ben Mezrich, audiobook)
2018
Chaos (Patricia Cornwall)
The Bone Clocks (David Mitchell, audiobook)*
The Use of Force (Brad Thor)
Black Swan Green (David Mitchell, audiobook)
Iron Gold (Pierce Brown, audiobook)
Ghostwritten (David Mitchell, audiobook)*
Annihilation (Jeff VanderMeer, audiobook)
Authority (Jeff VanderMeer, audiobook)
Acceptance (Jeff VanderMeer, audiobook)
Number9Dream (David Mitchell, audiobook)
A Wrinkle In Time (Madeleine L’Engle)
A Wind in the Door (Madeleine L’Engle)
Borne (Jeff Vandermeer, audiobook)
IQ (Joe Ide, audiobook)
Plum Island (Nelson DeMille, audiobook)
Cloud Atlas (David Mitchell, audiobook)*
Let the Dead Speak (Jane Casey)
Ill Will (Dan Chaon, audiobook)
Children of God (Mary Doria Russell, audiobook)
The Overstory (Richard Powers)*
Gone to Dust (Matt Goldman, audiobook)
Force of Nature (Jane Harper, audiobook)
Macbeth (Jo Nesbø, audiobook)
A Place of Execution (Val McDermid, audiobook)
Night Film (Marisha Pessl, audiobook. again)*
I’ll Be Gone In the Dark (Michelle McNamara, audiobook)
Lexicon (Max Berry, audiobook)
Quicksand (Malin Persson Giolito, audiobook)
Bluebird, Bluebird (Attica Locke, audiobook)
Freedom (Jonathan Franzen, audiobook)
Sleeping Beauties (Stephen King and Owen King, audiobook)
The Sense of An Ending (Julian Barnes)
Gwendy’s Button Box (Stephen King & Richard Chizmar)
Two Kinds of Truth (Michael Connelly)
The Buried Giant (Kazuo Ishiguro, audiobook)
The Late Show (Michael Connelly)
Mistress of Justice (Jeffrey Deaver)
Manhattan Beach (Jennifer Egan, audiobook)
The Book of M (Peng Shepard, audiobook)*
Broken Ice (Matt Goldman, audiobook)
Zero Day (Mark Russinovich, audiobook)
Trojan Horse (Mark Russinovich, audiobook)
Rogue Code (Mark Russinovich, audiobook)
Blindness (Jose Saramago, audiobook)
The Red Clocks (Leni Zumas, audiobook)
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup (John Carreyrou, audiobook)*
Sourdough (Robin Sloan)
The Cutting Edge (Jeffrey Deaver, audiobook)
The Life and Death of Sophie Stark (Anna North, audiobook)*
The Ruin (Dervla McTiernan, audiobook)
Into the Darkest Corner (Elizabeth Haynes, audiobook)
Enemy of the State (Kyle Mills & Vince Flynn, audiobook)
Order to Kill (Kyle Mills & Vince Flynn, audiobook)
Code of Conduct (Brad Thor, audiobook)
Night School (Lee Child, audiobook)–can you tell that I was at the beach last week?
Foreign Agent (Brad Thor, audiobook)
Ghosted (Rosie Walsh, audiobook)*
The Mars Room (Rachel Kushner, audiobook)
The Third Hotel (Laura van den Berg)*
Stephen Florida (Gabe Habash, audiobook)
The Book of Jonas (Stephen Dau, audiobook)
Lethal White (Robert Galbraith–AKA JK Rowling–audiobook)
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (Stuart Turton, audiobook)
The Incendiaries (R. O. Kwon, audiobook)
Exit West (Mohsin Hamid, audiobook)
Washington Black (Esi Edugyan, audiobook)
There, There (Tommy Orange, audiobook)
It (Stephen King, audiobook–a version of “comfort food”)
Icarus Girl (Helen Oyeyemi)
Killing Commendatore (Haruki Murakami, audiobook)
The Great Believers (Rebecca Makkai, audiobook)
Little Fires Everywhere (Celeste Ng, audiobook)
The Milkman (Anna Burns, audiobook)
You (Caroline Kepnes, audiobook) I didn’t like this one much.
The Outsider (Stephen King, audiobook)
Finders Keepers (Stephen King, audiobook)
**The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (David Mitchell, audiobook)
**Rosewater (Tade Thompson, audiobook)
2017
Countdown City: The Last Policeman Book 2 (Ben Winters)
World of Trouble: The Last Policeman Book III (Ben Winters)
I Am No One (Patrick Flanery)
The Secret History (Donna Tartt, audiobook)
The Little Friend (Donna Tartt, audiobook)
I Am Pilgrim (Terry Hayes, audiobook, repeat)
Mississippi Blood (Greg Iles, audiobook)
The Sellout (Paul Beatty, audiobook)
Girls on Fire (Robin Wasserman)
The Girls (Emma Cline)
Orfeo (Richard Powers, audiobook 2x)
A Head Full of Ghosts (Paul Tremblay, audiobook)
Disappearance at Devil’s Rock (Paul Tremblay, audiobook)
And Again (Jessica Chiarella, audiobook)*
Find Me (Laura van den Berg)
Night Film (Marisha Pessl, audiobook–again)*
The Steel Kiss (Jeffrey Deaver)
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August (Claire North, audiobook)
The Trespasser (Tana French, audiobook)
The Secret Place (Tana French, audiobook, reread)
Children of Time (Adrian Tchaikovsky, audiobook)
So Say the Fallen (Stuart Neville)
Everyone’s an Aliebn When You’re an Aliebn Too (Jomny Sun)
The Sympathizer (Viet Thanh Nguyen, audiobook)
The Thirst (Jo Nesbø, audiobook)
The Nix (Nathan Hill, audiobook)*
How Bad Do You Want It (Matt Fitzgerald, audiobook)*
Blackbirds (Chuck Wendig, audiobook).
The Guest Room (Chris Bohjalian, audiobook)
The Twelve (Justin Cronin, audiobook, repeat)
City of Mirrors (Justin Cronin, audiobook, repeat)
Dawn (Octavia Butler, audiobook)
Adulthood Rites (Octavia Butler, audiobook)
His Majesty’s Dragon: Temeraire Book 1 (Naomi Novik, audiobook)
The Throne of Jade: Temeraire Book 2 (Naomi Novik, audiobook)
Black Powder War: Temeraire Book 3 (Naomi Novik, audiobook)
Empire of Ivory: Temeraire Book 4 (Naomi Novik, audiobook)
Fox Hunter (Zoe Sharp)–Charlie Fox, I’ve missed you!
Victory of Eagles: Temeraire Book 5 (Naomi Novik, audiobook–do you notice a trend emerging?)
Tongues of Serpents: Temeraire Book 6 (Naomi Novik, audiobook)
Crucible of Gold: Temeraire Book 7 (Naomi Novik, audiobook)
Blood of Tyrants: Temeraire Book 8 (Naomi Novik, audiobook)
League of Dragons: Temeraire Book 9 (Naomi Novik, audiobook)
Uprooted (Naomi Novik, audiobook)
The End of the World Running Club (Adrian J. Walker)*
Imago (Octavia Butler, audiobook)
The Sparrow (Maria Doria Russell, audiobook)*
The Cold, Cold Ground (Adrian McKinty, audiobook)
The Last Castle (Denise Kiernan)
A List of Cages (Robin Roe, audiobook)
Duma Key (Stephen King, audiobook, repeat)
Delores Claiborne (Stephen King, audiobook)
Lisey’s Story (Stephen King, audiobook)
Lincoln in the Bardo (George Saunders)
Void Star (Zachary Mason, audiobook)*
Dark Matter (Blake Crouch, audiobook)
The Vegetarian (Han Kang)
American War (Omar El Akkad, audiobook)*
History of Wolves (Emily Fridlund)
Inherent Vice (Thomas Pynchon, audiobook)–I quit on this one. It was basically The Big Lebowski but a book.
Life After Life (Kate Atkinson, audiobook)
Autumn (Ali Smith)
The Rooster Bar (John Grisham, audiobook)
The Circle (Dave Eggers, audiobook)
Autonomous (Annalen Newitz, audiobook)
2016
Bone Dust White (Karin Salvalaggio, audiobook)
The Short Drop (Matthew Fitzsimmons)
Burnt River (Karen Salvalaggio, audiobook)
The Quiet Game (Greg Iles. audiobook)
Turning Angel (Greg Iles, audiobook)
The Death Factory (Greg Iles, audiobook)
The Devil’s Punchbowl (Greg Iles, audiobook)
Make Me (Lee Child)
Natchez Burning (Greg Iles, audiobook)
Second Life (S. J. Watson) I didn’t like this one nearly as much as I liked his first.
The Bone Tree, (Greg Iles, audiobook)
The Isle of Youth: Stories (Laura van den Berg)*
I’d Know You Anywhere (Laura Lippman)
Morning Star (Pierce Brown)*
Red Rising & Golden Son & Morning Star again (Pierce Brown)
The Burning (Jane Casey)
The Reckoning (Jane Casey)
The Last Girl (Jane Casey)
The Stranger You Know (Jane Casey)
The Kill (Jane Casey)
Contract to Kill (Andrew Peterson)
The Long Goodbye (Raymond Chandler)
Rogue Lawyer (John Grisham, audiobook)
The Ghosts of Belfast (Stuart Neville, audiobook)
Collusion (Stuart Neville, audiobook)
After the Fire (Jane Casey)
Mysteries of Pittsburgh (reread, Michael Chabon)
1Q84 (Haruki Murakami)
End of Watch (Stephen King)
The Passage (again, Justin Cronin, audiobook)
The Twelve (Justin Cronin, audiobook)
City of Mirrors (Justin Cronin, audiobook)
Homegoing (Yaa Gyasi)* I liked this one so much that I read it twice.
The Company (Robert B. Little, audiobook)
The Underground Railroad (Colson Whitehead)
Harry Potter & the Cursed Child (J. K. Rowling)
Deal Breaker (Harlan Coben, audiobook)
Tell No One (Harlan Coben, audiobook)
The Son (Jo Nesbo, audiobook)
The Fireman (Joe Hill)
The Bat (Jo Nesbø, audiobook)
Cockroaches (Jo Nesbø, audiobook)
The Redbreast (Jo Nesbø, audiobook) Discerning readers might notice a trend.
Nemesis (Jo Nesbø, audiobook)
The Devil’s Star (Jo Nesbø, audiobook)
The Redeemer (Jo Nesbø, audiobook)
The Snowman (Jo Nesbø, audiobook)
The Leopard (Jo Nesbø, audiobook)
Before the Fall (Noel Hawley)
Phantom (Jo Nesbø, audiobook)* Possibly my favorite, though I’ve enjoyed them all once they’ve gotten going.
Police (Jo Nesbø, audiobook)
The Crossing (Michael Connelly)
The Wrong Side of Goodbye (Michael Connelly)
Bluets (Maggie Nelson)*
Daring Greatly (Brene Brown)
The Last Policeman (Ben Winters)
My Brilliant Friend (Elena Ferrante, audiobook)
The Girl With All the Gifts (M. R. Carey, audiobook)
Until I Find You (reread, John Irving, audiobook)
Imagine Me Gone (Adam Haslett)
2015
All My Puny Sorrows (Miriam Toews)
This is Where I Leave You (Jonathan Tropper, audiobook)*
Wolf in White Van (John Darnielle)
Americanah (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, audiobook)
10:04 (Ben Lerner)
The Flamethrowers (Rachel Kushner, audiobook)
The Girl on the Train (Paula Hawkins)
Revival (Stephen King, audiobook)*
Big Little Lies (Liane Moriarty)
Mr. Mercedes (Stephen King, audiobook)
11/22/63 (Stephen King, audiobook re-read)
The Talisman (Stephen King & Peter Straub, audiobook re-read)
Kind of Blue: An Ash Levine Thriller (Miles Corwin)
The Gunslinger (Stephen King, audiobook re-read)
Midnight Alley (Miles Corwin)
The Secret Place (Tana French, audiobook)
Little Girl Gone: A Logan Pike Thriller (Brett Battles)
Every Precious Thing: Logan Pike 2 (Brett Battles)
Poe (Brett Battles)
The Burning Room (Michael Connelly)
Sick (Brett Battles)
God Help the Child (Toni Morrison, audiobook)
Red Rising (Pierce Brown)*
Golden Son (Pierce Brown)* I liked Brown’s novels so much that I also listened to the audiobooks, which are narrated by the fantastic Tim Gerard Reynolds, who also narrated Tana French’s Faithful Place.
Wolf Winter (Cecilia Ekbäck)
Unbecoming (Rebecca Scherm)
I Was Here (Gayle Forman)
The Water Knife (Paolo Bacigalupi)
Finders Keepers (Stephen King, audiobook)
After I’m Gone (Laura Lippman, audiobook)
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (Helen Fielding)
The Woman Upstairs (Claire Messud, audiobook)*
Veronica Mars: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line (Rob Thomas & Jennifer Graham)
I Am Pilgrim (Terry Hayes, audiobook)*
Baltimore Blues (Laura Lippman)
The Black House (Stephen King & Peter Straub, audiobook)
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake (Aimee Bender)
The Drawing of the Three: Dark Tower Book 2 (Stephen King, audiobook)
A Visit From the Goon Squad (Jennifer Egan)
The Waste Lands: Dark Tower Book 3 (Stephen King, audiobook)
The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty (Vendela Vida)
The Wizard and the Glass: Dark Tower 4 (Stephen King, audiobook)
Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands (Chris Bohjalian)
The Wolves of the Calla: Dark Tower 5 (Stephen King, audiobook)
A Little Life: A Novel (Hanya Yanagihara)** I liked this one so much I read it twice.
Song of Susannah: Dark Tower 6 (Stephen King, audiobook)
The Dark Tower: Dark Tower 7 (Stephen King, audiobook)
The Wind Through the Keyhole: Dark Tower 4.5 (Stephen King, audiobook)
Salem’s Lot (Stephen King, audiobook)
Insomnia (Stephen King, audiobook)
It (Stephen King, audiobook)
The Martian (Andy Weir)
The Stand Complete & Uncut (Stephen King, audiobook)
X: A Kinsey Millhone novel (Sue Grafton)
Flesh and Blood (Patricia Cornwell)
Farewell, My Lovely (Raymond Chandler, audiobook)
Oryx & Crake (Margaret Atwood, audiobook)
The Year of the Flood (Margaret Atwood, audiobook)
MaddAddam (Margaret Atwood, audiobook)
The Heart Goes Last (Margaret Atwood, audiobook)
The Robber Bride (Margaret Atwood, audiobook)
Did You Ever Have A Family? (Bill Clegg)
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves (Karen Joy Fowler, audiobook)
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore (Robin Sloan)*
The Dinner (Herman Koch, audiobook)
The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood, audiobook)
Sycamore Row (John Grisham, audiobook)
Our Endless Numbered Days (Claire Fuller)
The Woods (Harlan Coben, audiobook)
The Life We Bury (Allen Eskens, audiobook)
Among the Ten Thousand Things (Julia Pierpont, audiobook)
The Survivor (Kyle Mills & the late Vince Flynn, audiobook)
Fates and Furies (Lauren Groff)
Depraved Heart (Patricia Cornwell)
Thirteen Reasons Why (Jay Asher)
2014
Titles below are books I have read since January 1, 2014. Asterisks for my most favorite.
A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving perhaps the 5th time through–one of my most favorite novels)*
Pusheen the Cat (Claire Belton)
Hyperbole and a Half (Allie Brosh)
Orfeo (Richard Powers)
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena (Anthony Marra)
Last Night in Twisted River (John Irving)
Identical (Scott Turow)
The Discarded (Brett Battles)
Dust (Patricia Cornwell)
Dreams and Shadows (C. Robert Cargill)
The Queen of the Dark Things (C. Robert Cargill)
Never Go Back (Lee Child)
The Blood Whisperer (Zoe Sharp)
The Skin Collector (Jeffrey Deaver)
Long Knives (Charles Rosenberg)
Death on a High Floor (Charles Rosenberg–Long Knives is a sequel to Death on a High Floor, but I couldn’t remember much, so I decided to read it again).
The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair (Joel Dicker)
W is for Wasted (Sue Grafton)
The October List (Jeffrey Deaver)
Silkworm (Robert Galbraith, AKA J. K. Rowling)
The Good Lawyer (Thomas Benigno)
Point of Impact (Stephen Hunter)
Black Light (Stephen Hunter)
Dr. Sleep (Stephen King)
Ready to Kill (Andrew Peterson)
We are Water (Wally Lamb)*
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage (Haruki Murakami)
Accused (Mark Gimenez)
Time to Hunt audio (Stephen Hunter)
Protect and Defend audio (Vince Flynn)
Personal audio (Lee Child)
Act of War audio (Brad Thor)
Eyes Wide Open (Andrew Gross)
A Cold and Broken Hallelujah (Tyler Dilts)
Gone Girl audio (Gillian Flynn–this one is a reread before I see the movie, first read in 2012)
Extreme Measures (Vince Flynn)
Pursuit of Honor (Vince Flynn)
The Last Man (Vince Flynn)
Fourth of July Creek audio (Smith Henderson)*
Night Film audio–loved this so much I listened to it twice! (Marisha Pessl)**
In the Woods audio (Tana French reread–first time was in 2009)
The Hit (David Baldacci)
The Likeness audio (Tana French reread from 2009)
Faithful Place audio (Tana French reread 2011)
Broken Harbour audio (Tana French reread 2013)
The Good Girl (Mary Kubica)
Station Eleven audio (Emily St. John Mandel)*
My Sister’s Grave (Robert Dugoni)
Everything I Never Told You audio (Celeste Ng)
All My Puny Sorrows (Miriam Toews)
To Rise Again at a Decent Hour: A Novel audio (Joshua Ferris)
2013
The Racketeer (John Grisham)
No Return (Brett Battles)
Black List (Brad Thor)
The Lions of Lucerne (Brad Thor)
Path of the Assassin (Brad Thor)–discerning readers might notice a pattern here 😉
State of the Union (Brad Thor)
Blowback (Brad Thor)
Takedown (Brad Thor)
The First Commandment (Brad Thor)
The Last Patriot (Brad Thor)
The Apostle (Brad Thor)
Foreign Influence (Brad Thor)
The Athena Project (Brad Thor)
Full Black (Brad Thor)
At this point, I was seriously tempted to go back to Black List since I had caught up with the Scot Harvarth series, but I decided to branch out to:
Horns (Joe Hill)
Die Easy (Zoe Sharp)
Transfer of Power (Vince Flynn)
The Third Option (Vince Flynn)
Separation of Power (Vince Flynn)
11th Hour (James Patterson)
12th of Never (James Patterson)
Broken Harbor: A Novel (Tana French)
Faithful Place (reread) (Tana French)
Vengeance (Benjamin Black)
Joyland (Stephen King)*
The Kill Room (Jeffrey Deaver)
Double Feature (Owen King)
Under the Dome (Stephen King)
Hidden Order (Brad Thor)
Cuckoo’s Calling (Robert Galbraith / J. K. Rowling)
In One Person (John Irving)
Save Yourself (Kelly Braffet)
NOS4A2 (Joe Hill)*
Every Secret Thing (Laura Lippman)
The Inner Circle (Brad Meltzer)
The Fifth Assassin (Brad Meltzer)
The Enraged (Brett Battles)
Dead Even (Brad Meltzer)
Black Water Rising (Attica Locke)
The Night Strangers (Chris Bohjalian)
The Sandcastle Girls (Chris Bohjalian)
The LIght in the Ruins (Chris Bohjalian)
The Secrets of Eden (Chris Bohjalian)
Memorial Day (Vince Flynn)
Consent to Kill (Vince Flynn)
Act of Treason (Vince Flynn)
The Goldfinch (Donna Tartt)*
The Gods of Guilt (Michael Connelly)
NW (Zadie Smith)