Welcome to my reading log: a chronicle of the books I’ve kept on my nightstand. Books with an asterisk* next to them are my favorites, but you know, do you.
2020
Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone by Brené Brown
The Fire Next Time* by James Baldwin
Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It: The Results-Only Revolution by Cali Ressler and Jodi Thompson
The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World’s Happiest Country by Helen Russell
Enjoy Moving Abroad: Insider Tips for Living Well Overseas by Karen McCann
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
The Caliph’s House: A Year in Casablanca by Tahir Shah
Station Eleven* by Emily St. John Mandel
Permanent Record by Mary H.K. Choi
Tell Me How You Really Feel by Aminah Mae Safi
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Circe* by Madeline Miller
Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi
The Emotionally Resilient Expat - Engage, Adapt and Thrive Across Cultures by Linda A. Janssen
Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy* by Jenny Odell
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly* by Anthony Bourdain
The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson
Everything’s Trash, But It’s Okay by Phoebe Robinson
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered: The Definitive How-To Guide by Georgia Hardstark and Karen Kilgariff
Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier
Bunny by Mona Awad
Maid by Stephanie Land
Exit West* by Mohsin Hamid
Stray* by Stephanie Danler
The Art of Showing Up by Rachel Wilkerson Miller
Calypso by David Sedaris
At Home in the World by Tsh Oxenreider
The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory
Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion* by Jia Tolentino
I Don’t Want to Die Poor: Essays* by Michael Arceneaux
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
Adventures in Opting Out: A Field Guide to Living an Intentional Life* by Cait Flanders
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory
Real Men Knit by Kwana Jackson
Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory
Take a Hint, Dani Brown* by Talia Gibbert
2019
The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman* by Lindy West
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
Irritable Hearts: A PTSD Love Story* by Mac McClelland
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism* by Robin DiAngelo
What Belongs to You by Garth Greenwell
The Futures by Anna Pitoniak
Managing to Change the World: The Nonprofit Manager’s Guide to Getting Results by Alison Green and Jerry Hauser
The Astrology of You and Me: How to Understand and Improve Every Relationship in Your Life by Gary Goldschneider
Heavy: An American Memoir* by Kiese Laymon
Codename Villanelle by Luke Jennings
The Incendiaries by R. O. Kwon
Like a Mother: A Feminist Journey Through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy by Angela Garbes
Killing Eve: No Tomorrow by Luke Jennings
Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World* by Cal Newport
Inter/Nationalism: Decolonizing Native America and Palestine* by Steven Salaita
Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris by Sarah Turnbull
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara
Brunch is Hell: How to Save the World by Throwing a Dinner Party by Brendan Francis Newnam and Rico Gagliano
The Battle For Paradise: Puerto Rico Takes on the Disaster Capitalists by Naomi Klein
When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago
Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls* by T Kira Madden
The Parisian* by Isabella Hammad
Leila Khaled: Icon of Palestinian Liberation by Sarah Irving
Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr
2018
We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby
Only in Spain: A Foot-Stomping, Firecracker of a Memoir about Food, Flamenco, and Falling in Love* by Nellie Bennett
Dancing in the Fountain: How to Enjoy Living Abroad by Karen McCann
Adventures of a Railway Nomad: How Our Journeys Guide Us Home by Karen McCann
Not Otherwise Specified by Hannah Moskowitz
The Year of Less by Cait Flanders
This Will Be My Undoing: Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in (White) America* by Morgan Jerkins
Wild* by Cheryl Strayed
When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir* by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele
Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture* edited by Roxane Gay
Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman
Women in Sunlight by Frances Mayes
Blue Mind: The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On, or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do by Wallace J. Nichols
Sweetbitter* by Stephanie Danler
The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
Juliet Takes A Breath by Gabby Rivera
An American Marriage* by Tayari Jones
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
The Art of Fielding* by Chad Harbach
The One & Only by Emily Giffin
La Sombra del Viento (The Shadow of the Wind)* by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell
The Prophet by Khalil Gibran
El Juego del Angel (The Angel’s Game) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
El Prisionero del Cielo (The Prisoner of Heaven) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
I Can’t Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and Other Reasons I’ve Put My Faith in Beyoncé* by Michael Arceneaux
The Labyrinth of the Spirits by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Broke Millennial by Erin Lowry
The Financial Diet by Chelsea Fagan
How Nonviolence Protects the State* by Peter Gelderloos
Ten Myths About Israel* by Ilan Pappé