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My Very Faves

Audio Greatest Hits 

Lucy by the Sea*, Elizabeth Strout

A Town Called Solace, Mary Lawson

These Precious Days*, Ann Patchett

Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir

Where I Come From: Stories from the American South*, Rick Bragg

Daisy Jones and the Six, Taylor Jenkins Reid

Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar, Cheryl Strayed

Call Your Daughter Home, Deb Spera

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, Jeffery McGuire

Varina, Charles Frazier

The Invention of Wings, Sue Monk Kidd

The Starless Sea, Erin Morganstern

This is How It Always Is, Laurie Frankel

On Agate Hill, Lee Smith

Becoming, Michelle Obama

Educated, Tara Westover

City of Girls, Elizabeth Gilbert

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her therapist, and our Lives Revealed*, Lori Gottlieb

Fierce, Free, and Full of Fire: The Guide to Being Glorious You, Jen Hatmaker

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Stephen King

The Help, Kathryn Stockett

The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin

 Of Mess and Moxie: Wrangling Delight Out of This Wild and Glorious Life, Jen Hatmaker

Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott 

Reads of 2023

FICTION

* denotes I read it on audio

Miracle Creek*, Angie Kim

Shark Heart: A Love Story, Emily Habeck

Tom Lake, Ann Patchett

Blueberries for Sal, Robert McCloskey

Those We Thought We Knew, David Joy

The Bear*, Andrew Krivak

I Have Some Questions For You*, Rebecca Makkai

The Guest*, Emma Cline

We are the Brennans*, Tracey Lange

The Trackers, Charles Frazier

Maureen, Rachel Joyce

Silver Alert, Lee Smith

Signal Fires*, Dani Shapiro

Killers of a Certain Age*, Deanna Raybourn

The Man in the Window, Jon Cohen

The Marriage Portrait, Maggie O’Farrell

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies*, Deesha Philyaw

Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver

Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt

Ms. Demeanor, Eleanor Lipman

I am the Light of this World, Michael Parker

The Bullet That Missed*, Richard Osman

I Capture the Castle*, Dodie Smith

NONFICTION & MEMOIR

Hallelujah Anyway*, Anne Lamott (reread)

The Hero of this Book, Elizabeth McCracken

The Speckled Beauty*, Rick Bragg

The Perfectionist’s Guide to Losing Control: A Path to Peace and Power*, Katherine Morgan Schafler

Share Your Stuff; I’ll Go First*, Laura Tremaine

Enchantment*, Katherine May

The Anthropocene Reviewed*, John Green

Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing*, Matthew Perry

Reads of 2022

FICTION

* denotes I read it on audio

Still Life*, Louise Penny

We are the Light, Matthew Quick

Frankenstein*, Mary Shelley

Traces: A Novel, Patricia L. Hudson

Lucy by the Sea*, Elizabeth Strout

Lark Ascending, Silas House

Sycamore, Bryn Chancelor

The Whispering House, Elizabeth Brooks

Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan

The Shell Seekers*, Rosamunde Pilcher (a re-read for me)

A Town Called Solace*, Mary Lawson

Verity*, Colleen Hoover 

Flying Solo*, Linda Holmes

The Guide*, Peter Heller

The Paris Apartment*, Lucy Foley

Miss Benson’s Beetle, Rachel Joyce

This Time Tomorrow, Emma Straub

Book Lovers, Emily Henry

One Italian Summer*, Rebecca Serle

Hell of a Book*, Jason Mott

Tides, Sara Freeman

Oh William, Elizabeth Strout

Taste: My life Through Food*, Stanley Tucci

The Stars are Not Yet Bells, Hannah Lillith Assadi

Where the Crawdads Sing*, Delia Owens

The Maid*, Nita Prose

The Good Lord Bird,*, James McBride

Nothing to See Here*, Kevin Wilson

The Push*, Ashley Audrain

NONFICTION & MEMOIR

Have I Told You This Already?, Lauren Graham

Peace is a Practice: An Invitation to BreatheDeep and Find a New Rhythm for Life*, Morgan Harper Nichols

Stillness is the Key*, Ryan Holiday

Isrelience: What Israelis Can Teach the World, Dickson/Baum

Israel: Biblical Sites Travel Guide, Todd M. Fink

Atlas of the Heart, Brene Brown

Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man*, Emmanuel Acho

I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet*, Shauna Niequist

The Journey Toward Wholeness: Enneagram Wisdom for Stress, Balance, and Transformation*, Suzanne Stabile

The Story of You*, Ian Morgan Cron

Going There*, Katie Couric

The Sketchbook Challenge, Sue Bleiweiss

Urban Watercolor Sketching: A guide to Drawing, Painting, Sketching and Storytelling in Color, Felix Scheinberger

How to See, Thich Nhat Hanh

Atomic Habits*, James Clear

These Precious Days*, Ann Patchett

The Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future, Ryder Carroll

APPALACHIAN

Shiner, Amy Jo Burns

When Ghosts Come Home*, Wiley Cash

ON WRITING

Refuse To Be Done, Matt Bell

Reads of 2021

* denotes I read it on audio

FICTION

Seven Days of Us*, Francesca Hornak

The Paper Palace*, Miranda Cowley Heller

The Lincoln Highway, Amor Towles

The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek, Kim Michele Richardson

Malibu Rising*, Taylor Jenkins Reid

After Me Comes the Flood, Sarah Perry

Project Hail Mary*, Andy Weir

84, Charing Cross Road, Helene Hanff

Who is Maude Dixon?*, Alexandra Andrews

Then She Was Gone*, Lisa Jewell

In the Valley: Stories and a Novella Based on Serena, Ron Rash

Greenlights, Matthew McConnaughey (DNF)

The Plot, Jean Hanff Korelitz

The Last Thing He Told Me, Laura Dave

Whiskey When We’re Dry*, John Larison

Olympus, Texas*, Stacey Swann (DNF)

The People We Meet on Vacation*, Emily Henry (DNF)

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo*, Taylor Jenkins Reid (DNF)

The Midnight Library*, Matt Haig

The Thursday Murder Club*, Richard Osman

Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell

Leave the World Behind*, Rumaan Alam

The Searchers*, Tana French

Writers & Lovers*, Lily King

The Once and Future Witches, Alix E. Harrow

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, V. E. Schwab

The Searcher*, Tana French

Evidence of the Affair*, Taylor Jenkins Reid

NONFICTION & MEMOIR

Hooked: How Crafting Saved My Life, Sutton Foster

Dare to Lead, Brene Brown

Daring Greatly, Brene Brown

Breath*, James Nester

Soundtracks*, Jon Acuff

Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness, Ingrid Fetell Lee

Dusk, Night, Dawn, Anne LaMott

Where I Come From: Stories from the American South*, Rick Bragg

How Stella Learned to Talk, Christina Hunger

Seven Brief Lessons on Physics*, Carlo Rovelli

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain*, George Saunders

Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, Katherine May

The Book of Awakening, Mark Nepo (ongoing)

APPALACHIAN

Drowned Town, Jayne Moore Waldrup

Roots Branches & Spirits: the Folkways & Witchery of Appalachia, H. Byron Ballard

ON WRITING

 Craft in the Real World: Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping, Matthew Salesses

Wild Words, Nicole Gulotta

The Writing Life*, Annie Dillard

 Structuring Your Novel: Hands-on Help for Building Strong and Successful Stories *, K.M. Weiland

Reads of 2020

FICTION

* denotes I read it on audio

The Book of Longings, Sue Monk Kidd

The Glass Hotel*, Emily St. John Mandel

The Bear and the Nightingale, Katherine Arden

The Guest List*, Lucy Foley

The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Kate DiCamillo

Mexican Gothic*, Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Redhead by the Side of the Road, Anne Tyler

The Dutch House, Ann Patchett

Giver of Stars, Jojo Moyes

Such a Fun Age*, Kiley Reid

Blood*, Allison Moorer

Olive, Again, Elizabeth Strout

Beach Read*, Emily Henry

Dear Edward, Ann Napolitano

Call Your Daughter Home*, Deb Spera

What Alice Forgot, Liane Moriarty 

Dark Matter, Blake Crouch

Big Summer, Jennifer Weiner

Camino Winds, John Grisham

Sea Wife, Amity Gaige

NONFICTION & MEMOIR

The Lazy Genius Way*, Kendra Adachi

I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness, Austin Channing Brow

Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee*, Casey Cep

You’re Not Listening: What You’re Missing and Why It Matters*, Kate Murphy

Fierce, Free and Full of Fire: The Guide to Being Glorious You*, Jen Hatmaker

Food Rules, Michael Pollan

APPALACHIAN

Even as We Breathe, Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle

Blue Marlin, Lee Smith

Wanting Radiance, Karen Salyer McElmurray

New Selected Poems, Wendell Berry

The Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed, Lee Smith

Clay’s Quilt, Silas House

ART & CRAFTS

Mending Matters: Stitch, Patch and Repair Your Favorite Denim & More, Katrina Rodabaugh

The Embroidery Book: Visual Resource of Color & Design, Christen Brown

ON WRITING

Wild Words, Nicole Gulotta

Draft No. 4, John McPhee on the Writing Process

Before and After the Book Deal, Courtney Maum

Goal, Motivation and Conflict: The Building Blocks of Good Fiction, Debra Dixon

Coming up

Hour of the Witch: A Novel, Chris Bohjalian

Painting Time, Maylis de Kerangal

Migrations: A Novel, Charlotte McConaghy

Better Luck Next Time, Julia Claiborne Johnson

The Cold Millions, Jess Walter

Dusk, Night, Dawn, Anne Lamott

Jayber Crow, Wendell Berry

Simon the Fiddler, Paulette Jiles

The Daughters of Erietown, Connie Schultz

Miss Jane, Brad Watson

Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer

The Dearly Beloved, Cara Wall

F*CKFACE and Other Stories, Leah Hampton

One Writer’s Beginnings, Eudora Welty

Becoming Duchess Goldblatt, Anonymous

Florida, Lauren Goff

Galaxie Wagon, Poems, Darnell Arnoult

Waking Up White, Debby Irving

Brushstrokes: Acrylic: Effortless Painting with Minimal Tools and Materials, Angela Marie Moulton

Florence Adler Swims Forever, Rachel Beanland