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I admit, creating a reading plan for the year is part fun, part stifling. I make this list as a loose road map, but I believe in allowing space for the entry of books into your life that need to be read when you happen upon them. And, for putting books down that you’re not smitten by. (I have a 50-page rule.)
Here are 50 books I would like to read this year.
Let me know if you end up reading any of these books along with me!
Winter (Jan-Feb):
The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Brown Girl Dreaming (Read aloud with my daughter)
Spring (March-May):
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
These Is My Words by Nancy Turner
The Self-Driven Child by William Stixrud PhD and Ned Johnson
Front Desk by Kelly Yang (Read aloud with my daughter)
Summer (June-Aug):
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan
My Calamity Jane by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, and Brodi Ashton
Caste: The Origins of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
The Universe Has Your Back by Gabrielle Bernstein
The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser (Read aloud with my kids)
Fall: (Sept-Nov)
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon
Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés
Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer
Winter (December):
Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd
In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren
As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
The Art of Making Memories by Meik Wiking
As Bright As Heaven by Susan Meissner
Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor
Poetry:
The Truth About Magic by Atticus
The Poetry of Phyllis Wheatley (the first published African American poet)
Finding Mother God by Carol Lynn Pearson
What Kind of Woman by Kate Baer
Flight Lessons (In Ten Thousand Easy Lessons) by Barbara Kingsolver
Is there anything else I must read this year?
I have read many of these and I love looking through your list and adding some to my TBR pile. I am most fascinated with Finding Mother God. Have you read anything else by this author? Beartown is one of my all time favorite books along with its sequel. Ask, Again Yes was a great read for me and I haven’t talked about it with anyone as I knew nobody who had read it. Normal People was one of my favorite books in 2019. When I describe it to people I question why I loved it so much…it has a lot of things that I don’t like about books in it, but for some odd reason I loved it and still can’t pinpoint what it is.
Ok so I loved Attachments and Dutch House! Sadly I did not like The Art of making memories 😔 I would recommend The Gentleman in Moscow, Dark Matter, We Were the Lucky Ones and The Winemakers Wife were all favorites from 2020!
ok my top ten for 2020:
in no particular order:
The girl that smiled beads, Born a crime, the sun does shine, the moment of lift, Notes from a Young Black Chef, From Scratch, Lonesome Dove, My Dear Hamilton, Nine Perfect Strangers, The Girl With Seven Names.
This list is SO good, Kim! I definitely need to make a 2021 list and include some read-alouds with my kids. I tend to struggle in that area when it’s not picture books.
What the wind knows (and anything by amy harmon!) is SO good!
Well it looks like a good mix! Im so happy you have Last Christmas in Paris on your list! I just finished it and it was wonderful! Its an epistolary and beautifully done. So great for discussion for a book club. You may want to give These is my Words more than 50 pages in. Its hard to read because of her grammar at first but by the end you will be crying- its a good one. I read it 20 years ago and Nancy Turner was still alive. Its based on her great grandmother’s diary. I hope you make it through. Talking to Strangers is quite an eye opener, I loved it. I just read a very small book that was very impactful if you read daily scriptures, What Seek Ye by S Micheal Wilcox. The Dutch house was a great audible book, Tom Hanks is the narrator, we love NYC so I really enjoyed it. You may like The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin (bookstore owner tale) I just started it. Personality isn’t permanent and Willpower doesn’t work both by Benjamin Hardy excellent info for today. I found them both fascinating. The Mother-in-law by Sally Hepworth was a good escape, fast read. I look forward to your reviews of the books you’ve chosen. So many have been on my list.