All my 2024 book recommendations

A veritable smorgasbord of recs

Two weeks ago I posted my favorite reads of 2024 but I decided I also wanted to create a more comprehensive collection of everything I read and would recommend in 2024, from sci-fi sagas to swoony romances to sweeping historical fiction. The list below is organized by genre and, simply put, includes everything that I would recommend. Books that I think about and find myself instantly wanting to sell my reader friends on, books that I think should have gotten more attention, and books that got a lot of attention and that I want to shout about anyway. This includes titles that I had minor quibbles about but still really enjoyed, titles that I really liked, and titles that I unabashedly loved and as I discovered when I looked back on a year’s worth of reading, it’s quite a long list. Hopefully you find a new read (or two) in here!

Romance

Contemporary romance

• Happy Medium by Sarah Adler: The perfect mix of emotional heft and humor, this deftly combines a TV-obsessed ghost, goat shenanigans, and a deeply lonely con woman heroine afraid to let anyone get close to her.

• Pointe of Pride by Chloe Angyal: A ballet romance with two deeply compelling flawed main characters that have fiery chemistry, a dreamy Australian setting, and a thoughtful depiction of a heroine who can’t have penetrative sex.

• Bad Reputation by Emma Barry: A Hollywood romance with fun behind-the-scenes details, smart reflections on creativity and fame, and a portrayal of a hero trying to make up for his past and do the right thing.

• Ready or Not by Cara Bastone: An unexpected pregnancy romance and coming-of-age story that includes a great narrative voice, a strong sense of New York, and a lovely slow-burn romance with a love interest who's human sunshine.

• Truly, Madly, Deeply by Alexandria Bellefleur: Light on plot but heavy on banter and sexual tension, this has all my favorite things: a hero who’s utterly weak for the heroine, a snappy back-and-forth, and lots of musical theater references.

• Mixed Signals and Business Casual by B.K. Borison: A pair of friends-to-lovers stories set in the coziest fictional small town that embody summer and fall, respectively, and feel like a hug in book form.

• Luck of the Draw by Kate Clayborn: A deeply felt enemies to lovers romance, an emotional look at trauma, and a beautiful portrait of friendship and the power of letting people love you for all your bad parts as well as your good ones.

• The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn: A blend of romance, mystery, and sister story that blew me away with its craft, depth of feeling, and breathtaking love story between two guarded people slowly opening up to each other.

• Here We Go Again by Allison Cochrun: A story about grief, growing up, and the power of queer community as two childhood friends turned enemies reunite on a road trip with their dying high school English teacher.

• Is She Really Going Out with Him? by Sophie Cousens: A charming, fizzy romance about a divorced journalist who winds up writing a column about a series of dates selected by her children--and maybe falling for her office rival along the way.

• At First Spite by Olivia Dade: A soft, sincere, and funny love story about a woman who moves into a tiny spite house, only to find that she’s living next to her ex-fiance’s brother (who convinced him to dump her).

• One Star Romance by Laura Hankin: Part slow-burn, part friendship story, and part coming-of-age, this novel pairs two prickly, very real characters and lets the reader in on the pleasure of watching them grow and change over the years.

• Funny Story by Emily Henry: A fake-dating story and exquisitely done slow burn that might be my new favorite of Henry’s novels, set in a lakeside Michigan town that exudes summer.

• Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday: A deeply warm romance about two lovable main characters trying their best: a single dad grappling with grief and a dance teacher learning to stand up for herself and build a new relationship to ballet.

• The Ex Vows by Jessica Joyce: A second chance romance about estranged exes drawn back together in an attempt to save their mutual best friend’s wedding that contains some of the best chemistry, yearning, and feelings I read all year.

• Love Me Do by Lindsey Kelk: An absurdly charming romp of a book and modern day spin on Cyrano de Bergerac set in the Hollywood Hills.

• How You Get the Girl by Anita Kelly: A deeply kind and thoughtful sapphic sports romance with two wonderfully developed main characters, a touching story of self-discovery, and a happy ending that feels oh so earned.

• How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang: A messy, gloriously angsty romance about two people bound together by tragedy that’s perfect for readers that want an emotional gut punch along with their love story.

• Say You’ll Be Mine by Naina Kumar: A sweet, gentle fake dating romance with two well-developed main characters and classic romcom vibes that I’m dying to see become a movie.

• The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren: The perfect steamy summer escape, featuring a marriage of convenience, rich people drama, and absolutely lush descriptions of the Indonesian island most of the book takes place on.

• Bergman Brothers series #1-4 by Chloe Liese: A cozy, compassionate series about a large and loving Swedish-American family that showcases Liese’s ability to write characters with rich emotional interior lives and arcs and thoughtful mental health representation.

• Marry Me, Juliet series by Jodi McAlister: A compulsively readable series set around one very eventful season of a Bachelor-esque dating show that’s a smart yet loving send-up of the reality TV franchise I just can’t quit.

• Reel by Kennedy Ryan: A sweeping, sizzling romance between an up-and-coming actress and her director that celebrates Black creativity and artistry, dives into the challenges of living with a chronic illness, and delivers an epic love story.

• This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan: A powerful, emotional story about a woman rebuilding her life and learning to love herself after a devastating betrayal, featuring one of my favorite romance heroines of the year.

• Tastes Like Shakkar and Marriage & Masti by Nisha Sharma: A series of loose Shakespeare retellings set in the New Jersey South Asian community perfect for anyone looking for fast-paced, spicy reads with fabulous heroines, thoughtful portrayal of female friendship, and a dash of Shakespeare references.

• Flawless by Elsie Silver: A steamy, tropey romance between a notorious bull rider and his the woman assigned to rehab his reputation that I devoured on vacation.

• The Art of Catching Feelings by Alicia Thompson: Messy and swoony in all the right ways, this contemporary romance about a professional baseball player and his heckler is funny, sincere, and suffused with a real love of baseball.

• With Love, From Cold World by Alicia Thompson: An emotionally grounded, big-hearted workplace romance about two people trying to open up their worlds and make peace with their pasts, set at a wonderfully kistchy Florida attraction.

• A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams: An enchanting genre mash-up with the feel of a contemporary fairytale, as a free spirit florist and a mysterious musician find themselves irresistibly drawn together over the course of a leap year February.

• Under Your Spell by Laura Wood: An absolute delight of a celebrity-normal person romance, with the dreamiest rockstar love interest, a magical seaside setting, and a set of fiercely loving sister relationships at its heart.

Historical romance

• The Lady He Lost by Faye Delacour: A lightly Persuasion-inspired second-chance romance with an emotionally attuned hero, pricklier heroine, and wonderfully heated chemistry between them.

• Difficult by Brianne Gillen: A marriage of convenience romance set in 1940's Hollywood, featuring an actress dogged by her undeserved reputation and a former golden boy forced to team up on a guaranteed disaster of a picture.

• Earls Trip by Jenny Holiday: A warm-hearted burn friends-to-lovers Regency romance with a slightly modern twist that really shines when it comes to its depiction of found family, male friendship, and sisterly relationships.

• Any Duke in a Storm by Amalie Howard: A swashbuckling, dashing romance set in the Caribbean between an undercover English spy and a French duke that offers adventure, a wonderfully capable heroine, and a shockingly charming hero.

• Forbidden by Beverly Jenkins: Set in the Old West, this novel from a legendary romance author includes a gritty, determined heroine, charming hero, and fascinating pieces of lesser known history.

• The Finest Print by Erin Langston: A love story that simmers with feeling and tension, as a printer saddled with an inherited mountain of debt and an aspiring novelist join forces to publish a penny blood in Victorian London.

• My Season of Scandal by Julie Anne Long: From one of my favorite series, this is a gorgeously written and gloriously messy love story between a firebrand member of Parliament and a country girl with one chance to find a husband in the London Season.

• Mimi Matthews

  • The Winter Companion: A quiet romance about how two people who've been wounded in various ways find love, hope, and understanding in each other. (Read the other Parish Orphans of Devon novels first!)

  • The Lily of Ludgate Hill: A gorgeous slow-burn, second chance romance between a confirmed spinster and the roguish gentleman who’s never quite been able to give up on loving her.

  • The Muse of Maiden Lane: A love story between two people determined to lead a bold life in a world that would rather shuffle them off to the sidelines that overflows with gorgeous visuals and shimmering emotion.

• Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn

  • It’s In His Kiss: A highly entertaining romp with plenty of bickering and banter and a healthy dose of the indomitable Lady Danbury.

  • Romancing Mister Bridgerton: A friends-to-lovers romance that I revisited in advance of season 3, featuring one of my very favorite of Quinn’s heroines.

• You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian: A heartbreakingly hopeful romance between a grieving journalist and a baseball player having the worst season of his life that’s also a perfect New York book.

• Solomon’s Crown by Natasha Siegel: A high-stakes medieval romance with top-tier vibes that’s dramatic, angsty, and very loosely based on the relationship between Richard the Lionheart and Philip II of France.

• Ne’er-Duke-Well by Alexandra Vasti: Romance and mayhem ensue when an abolitionist duke meets a matchmaking debutante who secretly runs an erotic lending library in this delightful, witty Regency romp.

Literary fiction

• Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar: Assured, ambitious, and told in deeply poetic language, this is an impressive debut about grief, addiction, art, and the search for meaning that takes some big craft swings and pulls them off with Akbar’s sheer talent.

• The Most by Jessica Anthony: A taut, stylish examination of a mid-century marriage that begins when a Delaware housewife gets into the pool on an unseasonably hot November day and refuses to get out.

• Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan: A sharply self-aware, occasionally funny, emotionally knotty love triangle set against the backdrop of late 2010's Hong Kong.

• A Louise Erdrich extragavanza

  • Four Souls: A story of revenge, healing, and haunting featuring some of Erdrich’s most memorable characters that has the power of a parable while also being truly funny. (Read Tracks first.)

  • Love Medicine: A kaleidoscopic family story and modern classic that I reread to began a year of reading Erdrich and loved just as much the second time around.

  • The Beet Queen: A meditation on jealousy, obsession, and love, a portrait of a town's transformation, and a look at the complexities of inter-generational relationships.

  • The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse: Centered around the priest Father Damien and his surprising life, this chapter in the Love Medicine saga is surprising, funny, heartbreaking, and soul-affirming all at once.

  • The Plague of Doves: A beautifully designed puzzle spanning genres and generations and a reflection on love, history, justice, and what it means to bear witness.

  • Tracks: A devastating, hopeful glimpse of a way of life that's slipping away and a people under siege, a portrait of romantic and familial love, and a slim book with an outsized impact.

• James by Percival Everett: A bold retelling of Huck Finn through Jim’s perspective that’s propulsive, smart, sometimes heartbreaking, always fascinating, and sure to take its place in the American canon.

• Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller: An unsettling, atmospheric work of literary suspense about a crumbling house, a hot summer, and a trio of people bound by jealousies, yearnings, and secrets.

• Orbital by Samantha Harvey: A slim, meditative novel set over the course of a day as a space station orbits the earth that explores both the reality of being in space and the very idea of the cosmos.

• Piglet by Lottie Hazell: A darkly funny, perceptive take on appetite, ambition, and the shapes women painfully contort themselves into about a woman whose fiance reveals a devastating betrayal just weeks before their wedding.

• Expectation by Anna Hope: A smart and wistful meditation, both complicated and compassionate, on modern day womanhood and the complexities of female friendship.

• The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James: A compelling blend of a western and magical realism, exploration of the intergenerational effects of family trauma, and sharp eyed portrayal of colonialism.

• Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy: A dizzying, powerful look at early motherhood through the lens of a narrator who both fiercely loves her young son and keenly feels the massive change in her sense of self.

• River East, River West by Aube Rey Lescure: A thoughtful, complex exploration of familial love, what we leave behind and what we inherit, the relationship between China and the West, and the mythologies of success and self-reinvention.

• The Couples by Lauren Mackenzie: A literary novel that reads like a thriller, this Irish novel chronicling the fallout among three couples after a drunken weekend away is messy, tension-filled, and satisfyingly complex.

• After You’d Gone by Maggie O’Farrell: Probably my favorite of O'Farrell's early novels, this exploration of complex family dynamics, loss, and romantic obsession is tense, emotional, and surprising.

• The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell: A heartbreaking modern-day Gothic about an unconventional woman locked up against her will that showcases O’Farrell’s ability to write beautifully about terrible things.

• Neighbors and Other Stories by Diane Oliver: A compelling, chilling short story collection that captures ordinary lives in a time of upheaval, published decades after Oliver’s untimely death in 1966.

• Come & Get It by Kiley Reid: An incredibly smart campus novel told with a specificity that sucked me in, while also being a clear-eyed look at social dynamics and the power of money that feels universal.

• Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K. Reilly: A warm, funny, voice-y delight about two siblings navigating heartbreak, identity, and their sprawling, chaotic Maori-Russian-Catalonian family.

• Colored Television by Danzy Senna: A smart and funny take on Hollywood, the creative life, marriage, and motherhood that pulls off the impressive feat of being a fun book about hard things and complex themes.

• The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden: A work of literary historical fiction that’s a meditation on desire, possession, and history and has a wonderful sensuality and tension to it.

Classics

• The Last September by Elizabeth Bowen: A deeply internal novel set in 1920 Ireland about an unsettled society, a way of life on the verge of disappearing, and a paper-thin whirl of gaiety that the threat of violence lurks beneath.

• A Room with a View by E.M. Forster: A romantic, hopeful, gorgeously atmospheric story of love, social mores, and self-discovery, set against a stunning Italian backdrop.

• The Feast by Margaret Kennedy: A sharp-eyed upstairs-downstairs look at life in postwar Britain, a smart modern morality play, and a book whose Cornwall setting drips with summer.

• My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok: A richly developed, transportive classic about a young artist torn between the expectations of his Hasidic community and his deep-seated impulse to create told with a poetic intensity.

• Barbara Pym

  • Some Tame Gazelle: A witty, sharply observed portrait of two spinster sisters and the church community they're a part of, petty dramas, gossip, and all.

  • A Glass of Blessings: A slightly melancholy comedy of manners that follows the well-dressed, mildly bored Wilmet Forsyth and her involvement in a series of minor dramas with the nearby church and her friend’s feckless brother.

• Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray: A sprawling social satire with a legendarily cunning heroine that skewers the petty machinations of society high and low.

• Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson: A sort of wonderful grown-up fairy-tale, sparkly and funny and delightfully lighthearted, with a protagonist to cheer for, a dash of glamour, and a warm heart.

• Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh: A wistful, funny, tragic look back at a crumbling aristocratic British family and a lost era that's both deeply readable and thematically challenging.

• I for Isobel by Amy Witting: An Australian classic, this portrait of a lonely young woman learning to find herself as a writer and exploration of the power of language was one of my best spontaneous bookstore discoveries of the year.

Contemporary fiction

• Good Material by Dolly Alderton: A devastatingly intelligent, sharp, and funny look at modern relationships both romantic and platonic, from one of our pre-eminent chroniclers of love and dating.

• Meet the Benedettos by Katie Cotugno: A fun, smart Pride and Prejudice retelling that reimagines the Bennet sisters as a Kardashian-esque brood still hanging on to the last pieces of their former reality show fame.

• The Wedding People by Alison Espach: The story of a woman ready to end her life who finds herself unexpectedly becoming the bride’s confidante at an extravagant wedding that’s smart, hopeful, and heartwarming without ever being cloying.

• The Husbands by Holly Gramazio: A clever, funny look at relationships and love with a magical premise (an attic that produces a seemingly endless array of husbands and potential lives for our heroine Lauren) that it completely pulls off.

• Out of Love by Hazel Hayes: A bittersweet love story told in reverse that captures how a relationship can be both a wonderful thing and never meant to last, as well as the deep and powerful bonds of female friendship.

• Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan: A soapy, glitzy, dishy, wonderfully over-the-top whirlwind of high society drama, name-dropping, and globe-hopping that would make for the perfect vacation read.

• Sandwich by Catherine Newman: A book that simultaneously feels both quiet and big, about a life-changing week at the Cape for a woman sandwiched between her now-adult children and her aging parents.

• Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe: A funny, insightful, and surprisingly heartwarming look at parents and children, storytelling and perspective, and the wild world of the Internet.

• Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa: A quietly charming story about the many ways we fall in love with reading, as an unmoored young woman finds herself again among the shelves of her uncle’s used bookshop.

Historical fiction

• Joan by Katherine J. Chen: A reimagining of Joan of Arc and a reflection on heroism, faith, power, and the making of a legend that I would recommend to anyone interested in an original take on a much-analyzed historical figure.

• Cecily by Annie Garthwaite: A female-centric take on the Wars of the Roses built around the indomitable Cecily Neville that features some top-notch political intrigue and plotting.

• The Cazalet Chronicles series by Elizabeth Jane Howard: A sprawling family saga that goes from 1930’s England to 1950’s England and captures a world that’s changing just as much as its vividly drawn cast of characters. Moving, endlessly absorbing, and one of my favorite reading experiences of the year.

• Restless Dolly Maunder by Kate Grenville: An absorbing character study of a clever yet ordinary woman trapped by her time and a deeply personal look at the author's own family history made all the richer by the perspective she brings to it.

• 8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster by Mirinae Lee: A gripping spy story, a look at the horrors of war, a reflection on storytelling and narrative, and a personal yet sweeping look at 20th century Korean history.

• Do Tell by Lindsay Lynch: A very smart, gossipy, and utterly compelling piece of historical fiction set during the Golden Age of Hollywood that follows a character actress turned gossip columnist and the damage she leaves in her wake.

• Brooklyn and Long Island by Colm Toibin: A set of novels following Eilis Lacey as she emigrates to the US from Ireland and twenty years later, questions the life she’s built there. Both excel at portraying family dynamics, close-knit communities, loneliness, and the power of yearning

Fantasy

• Burn for Me and White Hot by Ilona Andrews: A wildly entertaining blend of romance and urban fantasy whose well-written action sequences, compelling heroine, and morally grey hero had me hooked.

• The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden: A haunted, hopeful, and beautifully written blend of World War I-set historical fiction and fantasy that feels tragic in a way that's both epic and intimate.

• This Will Be Fun by E.B. Asher: A zany yet heartfelt romantic fantasy about friendship, healing, heroism, and the joys of magical Starbucks.

• Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater: A witty historical romantic fantasy that was everything I want out of the genre, whimsical without ever tipping over into tweet and kind-hearted without ever being syrupy sweet.

• The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo: A lush, atmospheric slow-burn fantasy set in Golden Age Spain, about a servant girl with a secret, a dangerous royal court, and the mysterious familiar tasked with helping her survive it.

• Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett (Emily Wilde #2): An enchanting sequel that finds prickly academic Emily and her onetime rival Wendell on a new adventure in the Austrian Alps.

• Spear by Nicola Griffith: An imaginative, enthralling queer retelling of the Percival myth that possesses both a compelling hero at its center and the mythic, epic feeling Arthurian retellings have at their best.

• The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman

  A sweeping, dazzling epic set after the death of King Arthur that brings a cast of side characters center-stage for one more adventure and effortlessly braids together centuries worth of Arthurian mythology.

• Keeper of Enchanted Rooms by Charlie N. Holmberg: A fun and inventive fantasy set in a magical house with a mind of its own that has a sprinkling of intrigue and peril, endearing main characters, and a lovely slow-burn romance.

• A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher: A loose reimagining of The Goose Girl with a richly developed cast of unconventional heroes, a dash of found family, and a very creepy horse.

• Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher: A surprising retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story with an unlikely yet deeply lovable toad-shaped heroine, an honorable knight, and monsters with sharp teeth but occasionally warm hearts.

• A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft: A slow burn sapphic romance and adventure with a dark fairy-tale feel that strikes the right balance between enchantment and danger.

• A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland: A moody, mysterious spin on the Scottish folktale of "The Selkie Wife" that includes an expertly crafted ever-growing sense of dread, deeply felt queer love story, and immersive 1830’s Canadian setting.

• Siren Queen by Nghi Vo: A captivating fantasy set in a magical version of Golden Age Hollywood governed by dark bargains, monstrous men, and the promise of immortality, from a writer who’s a master of vibes.

• The City in Glass by Nghi Vo: Magical and strange and surprising, this look at grief, transformation, and the long arc of history is written with lush prose and stunning imagery.

Mystery and thriller

• Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson: The latest in Atkinson’s mystery series finds private eye Jackson Brodie investigating a series of art thefts in a case that pays clever homage to the classic English mystery novel.

• Stone Cold Fox by Rachel Koller Croft: A gripping thriller with an unforgettable protagonist trying to leave her turbulent past life of running cons behind and marry into an elite family that’s both dark and incredibly fun.

• We Love the Nightlife by Rachel Koller Croft: A darkly glamorous look at toxic female friendship—with a vampiric twist—and a dash of London’s disco scene.

• The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray: A witty, very fun Austen pastiche that combines classic characters with a country-house murder mystery.

• The Lady from Burma by Allison Montclair (Sparks and Bainbridge #5): Another novel in a reliably snappy and engaging mystery series set in post-war London that also reveals new dimensions and emotional complexity to its central characters with every book.

• The God of the Woods by Liz Moore: One of the books of the summer, this mystery set in the Adirondacks switches between timelines and perspectives with dazzling ease to craft a gripping, layered narrative reminiscent of Tana French.

• Such a Bad Influence by Olivia Muenter: A compelling look at the sinister side of influencer culture that’s very smart about the Internet and had me staying up way past my bedtime to finish it.

• An Impossible Imposter by Deanna Raybourn (Veronica Speedwell #7): Another sparkling installment in a favorite series that provides the perfect mix of cleverly plotted mystery, romance, commentary on Victorian society, and top-notch banter.

• Lavender House and The Bell in the Fog by Lev A.C. Rosen: The first two installments in a mystery series centered on a queer detective in 1950’s San Francisco that’s one of my favorite hidden gems of the year, from its intriguing main character to its deeply researched setting to Rosen’s skill at describing the San Francisco fog.

Nonfiction

• Dear Dolly by Dolly Alderton: A collection of Alderton’s columns that feels like getting advice from your wiser, cooler older sister.

• Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton: A beautiful ode to female friendship and growing up that’s funny, voice-y, and somehow universal yet specific.

• Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma by Claire Dederer: An thought-provoking examination of what we do with the art of monstrous men and what it means to love a piece of art that blends cultural criticism and memoir.

• Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion: A legendary essay collection that captures the cultural changes sweeping 1960’s America, the places that shaped Didion, and her own razor-sharp opinions.

• The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love by bell hooks: A deeply relevant look at the ways patriarchy stifles men's emotional expression and what both men and women can do to uplift a positive, feminist form of masculinity.

• Four Lost Cities by Annalee Newitz: An engrossing history of urban life and urban planning told through the histories of four lost cities: Catalhoyuk, Pompeii, Angkor, and Cahokia.

• I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death by Maggie O’Farrell: A heart-rending, impossibly life-affirming memoir, told through O'Farrell's seventeen encounters with death.

• The Season: A Social History of the Debutante by Kristen Richardson: A fascinating look at the history of the debutante in the US and UK, from Georgian England to the debutante balls of today.

• Not Your China Doll: The Wild and Shimmering Life of Anna May Wong by Katie Gee Salisbury: A fascinating look at the life and career of the first Asian-American movie star and at Hollywood history in the 1920's and 30's.

• A Rome of One's Own: The Forgotten Women of the Roman Empire by Emma Southon: A history of the forgotten women of the Roman Empire that not only brings their stories to life, but highlights the way that the history of Rome has traditionally been told over the years and how the role of women has been erased.

• Everything I Need I Get From You by Kaitlyn Tiffany: A clear-eyed yet affectionate look at fandom and the ways that it shaped and continues to influence modern Internet culture, through the lens of the author's own One Direction fandom.

Sci-fi

• Lady Eve’s Last Con by Rebecca Fraimow: A witty, wonderfully creative romp set in a dazzling sci-fi world that has the feel of a classic Hollywood caper from the 1930's or 40's and a romance that’s a delightful game of cat and mouse.

• The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin: A brain-bending philosophical exploration of gender and society, a story of political intrigue and adventure, a friendship story with a hint of romance, and a perfect winter read.

• Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells: A fast-paced, funny sci-fi adventure series with a snarky, instantly memorable narrator (the titular Murderbot), found family elements, and a fascinating exploration of the relationship between AI and humanity that I raced through this year.

• Doomsday Book by Connie Willis: Gripping, tragic, and hopeful, this story of a historian who travels back in time to the Middle Ages is a shattering exploration of humanity and history that rewards the patient reader.

YA

• The Someday Daughter by Ellen O’Clover: A deeply emotional novel exploring mother-daughter relationships whose highlights include its portrayal of complex familial relationships, thoughtful exploration of anxiety, and sweet romance.

• She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen: A charming f/f romance that features fake dating, just the right amount of high school drama, and lovely secondary relationships between our heroine and her family and best friend.

• Past Present Future by Rachel Lynn Solomon: The sequel to 2020’s Today Tonight Tomorrow and a wonderful, smart, empathetic depiction of the first year of college in all its awkward glory and the real work that comes after an HEA.

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Currently reading: The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey, which has been sitting on my shelf for ages. I’m so glad I finally picked it up!

Recommendations and miscellany:

• Starting a new reading journal for the year. I simply use a large-ish composition notebook that I like and this year’s is from the delightful Mr. Boddington’s Studio.

• This mildly ridiculous Etsy purchase now hanging above my desk that I’m claiming is writing inspiration. In this very grim January, maybe you need a mildly ridiculous Etsy purchase of your own?

• A lot of classic New York pizza, both from Norm’s in Park Slope and John’s of Bleecker Street in the West Village.