I SO APPRECIATED your help with the Books Worth Buying post! So many great comments! Would you like to see the list I made from those comments? Let’s just assume yes!
You may look at it and think, “Hey, wait, not a single one of my suggestions is on this list!” I would say by far the most common reason for a suggestion to not end up on the list is that it was a book I had already read. Of course there were other possible reasons: I had reassured anyone who might share my anxiety about recommending a book someone might BUY, saying that I would look up each book to see if it LOOKED like something I’d like; and I followed through on that, and sometimes I read the description and thought it was something I would want to get from the library later on, but not buy. And sometimes someone suggested books by an author I already know I dislike. And sometimes someone suggested a book by an author, and I’d already added another book by that author to the list from someone else’s suggestion, and I wanted to start with just ONE. And sometimes it was that I thought something along the lines of “I have already added quite a few mystery series to this list, considering I don’t generally read mystery series, so let’s just stop it there for now and come back to this later if it turns out I LOVE mystery series and need more.” And sometimes it was because the book was by a man, and I don’t know about you but I am just SO WEARY of male opinions and male perspective and male points-of-view right now; I did add SOME books by male authors to the list, but those books had to meet a higher standard to be added.
But for the MOST part, if you feel you made good suggestions and yet not a single one is on this list, the most likely explanation is that your suggestions were TOO on the mark and were books I’d already read and liked! It was kind of pleasing, actually, to see how many commenters were apparently picking up EXACTLY what I was putting down, especially considering the patchiness/incompleteness of my listed preferences.
Also! Readers of exceptional (and perhaps worrisome) alertness may notice there are some books on this list that NO ONE MENTIONED! That is because I had already made a start on a books-to-buy list, before asking, but I am putting the WHOLE list here.
Also-also! I have linked rather willy-nilly to hardcovers/paperbacks, based on my own preferences/priorities for the particular book, what the prices were the day I looked, etc. Irritatingly, I notice that sometimes if I link to, say, the hardcover, it will no longer even SHOW the paperback option. I don’t know what to do about that. I am working on it, but some of these links are from before I noticed that was happening. So do double-check: if it looks like there’s only a hardcover, try entering the name of the book in the search field again and see if you get more options.
Final note: with only a few exceptions, this list is in the order of “As I added them,” not in any sort of order of priority/preference. And if you see a typo, I hope you’ll let me know: my eyes were pretty much crossing trying to proof-read all these titles/authors. Okay, that’s the last thing, now I will do the list:
The Revisionaries, by A.R. Moxon (Target link) (Amazon link)
Good Talk, by Mira Jacob (Target link) (Amazon link)
The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing, by Mira Jacob (Amazon link)
Solutions and Other Problems, by Allie Brosh (Target link) (Amazon link)
The Annotated Emma, by Jane Austen and David Shapard (Target link) (Amazon link)
The Annotated Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen and David Shapard (Amazon link)
The Annotated Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen and David Shapard (Amazon link)
The Emotional Load, by Emma (Target link) (Amazon link)
The Women’s War, by Jenna Glass (Target link) (Amazon link)
The Daughters of Erietown, by Connie Schultz (Target link) (Amazon link)
Anxious People, by Fredrik Backman (Target link) (Amazon link)
Magic Lessons, by Alice Hoffman (Target link) (Amazon link)
The Seas, by Samantha Hunt (Target link) (Amazon link)
Last Things, by Jenny Offill (Target link) (Amazon link)
Redhead by the Side of the Road, by Anne Tyler (Target link) (Amazon link)
Upright Women Wanted, by Sarah Gailey (Target link) (Amazon link)
Just One Damned Thing After Another, by Jodi Taylor (Target link) (Amazon link)
Mexican Gothic, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Amazon link)
A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles (Target link) (Amazon link)
The Dearly Beloved, by Cara Wall (Target link) (Amazon link)
If You Want To Make God Laugh, by Bianca Marais (Target link) (Amazon link)
A Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic, by Emily Croy Barker (Target link) (Amazon link)
The Ten Thousand Doors of January, by Alix E. Harrow (Target link) (Amazon link)
Introducing the Honourable Phryne Fisher, by Kerry Greenwood (Target link) (Amazon link)
An Assembly Such as This, by Pamela Aidan (Amazon link)
Eligible, by Curtis Sittenfeld (Target link) (Amazon link)
Mrs. Everything, by Jennifer Weiner (Amazon link) (Target link)
One Summer, by Roisin Meaney (Amazon link)
The Family Fang, by Kevin Wilson (Target link) (Amazon link)
The Tender Bar, by J. R. Moehringer (Target link) (Amazon link)
Shades of Milk and Honey, by Mary Robinette Kowal (Target link) (Amazon link)
A House Among the Trees, by Julia Glass (Target link) (Amazon link)
Domestic Pleasures, by Beth Gutcheon (Amazon link)
The Spellman Files: Document One, by Lisa Lutz (Target link) (Amazon link)
The Humans, by Matt Haig (Target link) (Amazon link)
A Tale for the Time Being, by Ruth Ozeki (Target link) (Amazon link)
Watching the English, by Kate Fox (Target link) (Amazon link)
The Glass Hotel, by Emily St. John Mandel (Target link) (Amazon link)
Convenience Store Woman, by Sayaka Murata (Target link) (Amazon link)
Where the Past Begins, by Amy Tan (Target link) (Amazon link)
Lab Girl, by Hope Jahren (Target link) (Amazon link)
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows, by Balli Kaur Jaswal (Target link) (Amazon link)
The Library Book, by Susan Orlean (Target link) (Amazon link)
The World to Come, by Dara Horn (Target link) (Amazon link)
The Violinist’s Thumb, by Sam Kean (Target link) (Amazon link)
The Starless Sea, by Erin Morgenstern (Target link) (Amazon link)
Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen, by Laurie Colwin (Target link) (Amazon link)
Midnight Riot, by Ben Aaronovitch (Target link) (Amazon link)
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, by Laurie King (Target link) (Amazon link)
How a Woman Becomes a Lake, by Marjorie Celona (I am not putting links here because the book is very expensive, even used, everywhere I look; it just came out this year, and is apparently an import, and I am in no rush, and I don’t even know if I’m likely to like it, so I will wait for it to get cheaper)
The Secret Lives of Color, by Kassia St. Clair (Target link) (Amazon link)
The House in the Cerulean Sea, by T.J. Klune (Target link) (Amazon link)
High Risk, by Chavi Eve Karkowsky (Target link) (Amazon link)
I love you and salute the service you have done here.
just fyi “How a Woman Becomes a Lake” is available here for $8.69 in paperback….
https://bookoutlet.com/Store/Details/9780735235823B?source=ppc&ppc_campaign=u1407004000&gclid=CjwKCAjwyo36BRAXEiwA24CwGWU8svZOd5djzzRrv8Gyp2_poG7svNTsEohwxurvaM0fB8TdM4gfgBoCqf0QAvD_BwE
I’m sure you are aware of the app called library extension where you can enter whatever libraries you like and when you look up a book on Amazon and such, the app will let you know if it is is available in those particular libraries. Very handy! Biggest problem I have is that occasionally Chrome turns it off….
I didn’t know about this! How cool!
I installed in on Chrome but then then, when I added my library, and clicked on sites, it was completely blank.
How does it work, exactly?
The Ten Thousand Doors of January, by Alix E. Harrow (for book club) and followed it up with The Starless Sea, by Erin Morgenstern. I’m about half way through The Starless Sea and it is a delightful pairing with the The Ten Thousand Doors. So much that I wish it was my next book club book so we could discuss.
If you like that kind of thing, I recommend reading them back to back. If you hate when books touch on the same themes and need thing in between to break it up, I obviously do not recommended reading them close together.
(I listened to both of them on audiobooks. All of the narrators were wonderful.)
Long-time reader here. And I’m so late to this party because you ALREADY made your list, and part of that is my deep discomfort with self-promotion.
BUT: I wrote a book. If you like women’s POV and voices, I feel like you might really like it. It’s about pregnancy but it’s largely narratives and patient stories. (Some chapters are also written with a rage that you might enjoy).
It’s called “High Risk: Stories of Pregnancy, Birth and the Unexpected” (Liveright/Norton 2020). It’s available everywhere; my website http://www.chavikar.com has the amazon and also indie book links.
It also kinda sucks to have a book you spent 4 years writing come out 2 weeks before a pandemic, but that is neither here nor there.
In any case: submitted for your consideration!
Chavi: I have read some of the experts from your book on slate and I have put it on a to buy list for myself. You are a wonderful writer.
Aw, thank you! It’s been a weird time to have a book come out and then be a front line pandemic worker who didn’t have the energy to care, and now is in a less prevalent state (for the moment) and I care a LOT but the world is still closed, as it should be. All this to say: so nice to hear, thank you both! Swistle, I’m super honored to be on this list.
If anyone wants to read the Slate excerpt, it’s actually most of a chapter:
https://slate.com/technology/2020/07/vaginal-delivery-after-c-section.html
I am adding it!
There’s something SO comforting about a list of books to read. (And also thrilling.)
Mexican Gothic is on my “buy asap” list. I went on a little binge recently and used up a bunch of old Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift cards and for some reason it wasn’t one I bought??? Oh, I think maybe it wasn’t quite out yet? But anyway, I’m excited to read it.
There are so many books on here I think you’re going to love.
This is such a great list, thank you for compiling it!
I must have missed the first post, so I didn’t get a chance to recommend The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. The cover makes it seem like YA, it is not (the main character is a lonely man in his 40’s.) The description of the book makes it seem like a fantasy novel, it is not (supernatural abilities are treated like a fun personality quirk, rather than the driving force of the story.)
It is the sweetest, warmest, most hopeful book I have ever read. It is the perfect balm for right now. My 11 year olds loved it as a read aloud and are desperate for a sequel. Two of my dearest friends read it, and are equally hopeful for a sequel.
I am adding it!
Aw, someone recommended my husband’s book: The Revisionaries, by A.R. Moxon? That’s so fun! If you read it, just remember that I’ve lived with his amazing brain for more than 20 years and I’m still impressed/confused by it. :) You can also follow him at @juliusgoat on Twitter if you want a range of angry, intelligent, political rants and super dumb puns. He’s got layers.
Oh my goodness, I feel as though we have a celebrity among us.
It is killing me not to check past threads to see if even someone as cyberdelightful as your spouse has Annoying Husband Behaviors. But I won’t!
“I did add SOME books by male authors to the list, but those books had to meet a higher standard to be added.” YES. Turn those tables, baby!
Thank you for this. And also, A gentleman in Moscow is an amazing book! … And I think I’ll read it again!
If you’re not bothered by used books, then a site I use for buy-and-keep-bookss is betterworldbooks.com. They sell donated books and have listings from small sellers. Their site has an accessibility widget to aid with searching for people for a variety of abilities. And they donate books as well as a portion of their sales to libraries and for literacy. Right now they have a 25% off and free shipping when you buy more than 4 used books that ship from the US.
I love this list. I always need help picking a book. Thanks for putting it together!
What a great list! Many books I have read and liked and also many that I have on my mental “to read one day” list. I have so many thoughts and feelings about the book the Women’s War. It had great characters, a complex world, and an interesting story, but a pivotal part of the plot did not work for me and I would LOVE to know what you think after you read it. Because seriously, a year later I still think about it.
I forgot to recommend The Wolf Border, by Sarah Hall. It’s about a wolf expert (biologist) who goes to work for a wealthy eccentric in England who wants to raise and eventually re-wild wolves on his huge estate. She is mostly quite isolated but forms relationships with the other people on the estate, as well as (of course) with the wolves. It’s a very well-written book that has stayed with me, not heavy- handed at all.
Can I add another book recommendation? Just read this and really loved it! I must’ve read a recommendation somewhere because it wasn’t my usual type of book but I really into it:
Sea Wife – Amity Gaige
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081W6P5SK/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
I really disliked Mrs. Everything. I bought it. I will send it to you for free if you want!!
Lmk
So many good titles here!
Love this. I missed the request to suggest books, so ignore this if it’s too late, but I just re-bought Come Thou Tortoise by Jessica Grant because I gave my copy to my husband’s grandmother and I must have one on my shelf at all times.