| 2025 |
| I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman |
| I who have never known chapters. ★★★★☆ |
| All Fours by Miranda July |
| In praise of parking lot dancing. ★★★☆☆ |
| Yoko by David Sheff |
| Her real flaws were heroin and tarot cards. ★★☆☆☆ |
| The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong |
| "We're short losers. Beautiful, short losers." ★★★★☆ |
| The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett |
| An okay argument for in-laws. ★★★★☆ |
| Yellowface by R.F. Kuang |
| We'll never know who wrote this book. ★★★★☆ |
| The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See |
| Not with my lung capacity. ★★★☆☆ |
| One Day I'll Grow Up and Be a Beautiful Woman by Abi Maxwell |
| More empathy please. ★★★☆☆ |
| Sour Heart by Jenny Zhang |
| "On the inside, I was vast. But on the outside, I was a known idiot." ★★★★☆ |
| The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride |
| Iconic sweet potato pie map. ★★★☆☆ |
| 2024 |
| Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond |
| Let them eat cake. ★★★★☆ |
| Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick |
| Makes 2024 seem less depressing. ★★★★☆ |
| Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe |
| Nothing. ★★★☆☆ |
| The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead |
| Mostly horror. ★★★★☆ |
| Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver |
| "You're the ship, they're the bottle." ★★★★☆ |
| Evicted by Matthew Desmond |
| Daily reminder to cherish my rent stabilized apartment. ★★★☆☆ |
| I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy |
| Entirely too much detail about vomit. ★★★☆☆ |
| The Guest by Emma Cline |
| Exactly why I don't hang in the Hamptons. ★★☆☆☆ |
| Did Ye Hear Mammy Died? by Seamas O'Reilly |
| Trying to earn my Derry Girl chops. ★★★★☆ |
| Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich |
| "work is what you do for others; smoking is what you do for yourself." ★★☆☆☆ |
| Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt |
| Patiently waiting for some octopi to run for office. ★★★☆☆ |
| 2023 |
| Finna by Nino Cipri |
| Reading material for when you're waiting for someone at Ikea. ★★☆☆☆ |
| Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin |
| "Other people's parents are often a delight." ★★★★☆ |
| The Library Book by Susan Orlean |
| Rethinking my pyromania era. ★★★☆☆ |
| The Martian by Andy Weir |
| Before Elon Musk ruined Mars for everyone. ★★★★☆ |
| The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa |
| I rarely use my left leg anyways. ★★★☆☆ |
| The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty |
| "It seems to her that she's spent her whole life sitting in a laundromat, freaking peoeple out." ★★★★☆ |
| Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus |
| Inspiration for the woman who's good at everything. ★★★☆☆ |
| The Maid by Nita Prose |
| Here for the cleaning tips. ★★★☆☆ |
| 2022 |
| Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata |
| I too am simply an extension of Costco. ★★★★☆ |
| Afterparties: Stories by Anthony Veasna So |
| All these stories happened after I Irish exited. ★★★★★ |
| The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd |
| Still not a good enough reason for me to go upstate. ★★★★☆ |
| Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder |
| Just be weird enough so you can call it art. ★★★☆☆ |
| Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman |
| "Poke the scar until it speaks." ★★☆☆☆ |
| My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson |
| Good to know a museum gift shop can sustain life. ★★★★☆ |
| Fiona and Jane by Jean Chen Ho |
| Driving around doing nothing is the basis of most teenage friendships. ★★☆☆☆ |
| Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney |
| Hated all the characters by the end. Just like real life. ★★★☆☆ |
| 2021 |
| This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens |
| Appropriately disparaging of New Year's eve. ★★☆☆☆ |
| Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir |
| What we're hoping happens to Jeff Bezos. ★★★☆☆ |
| The Perfect Nanny by Leïla Slimani |
| Yet another reason not to have children. ★★★☆☆ |
| Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker |
| Sadly not about ranch dressing. ★★★★☆ |
| Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler |
| Good reminder to make friends in Canada. ★★★★☆ |
| Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner |
| My memoir will be called Talking About Costco at Weddings. ★★★☆☆ |
| Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler |
| Really hoping my end of days doesn't involve so much camping. ★★★★☆ |
| Brotopia by Emily Chang |
| More sex parties than expected. ★★☆☆☆ |
| Funeral Diva by Pamela Sneed |
| "two three thirty forty fifty Americas maybe more" ★★★☆☆ |
| The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett |
| Hope my twin is out there somewhere so we can go in on an air fryer together. ★★★★☆ |
| Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall |
| In case your biggest problem isn't finding good help. ★★★☆☆ |
| 2020 |
| Know My Name by Chanel Miller |
| Hope some boys read this book. ★★★★☆ |
| How We Became Human by Joy Harjo |
| "The world begins at a kitchen table." ★★★☆☆ |
| Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami |
| A love letter to bathhouses. ★★★☆☆ |
| The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai |
| Bring me to Boystown. ★★★★☆ |
| Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong |
| Further proof Oberlin would destroy me. ★★★★☆ |
| Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid |
| A journey towards health insurance coverage. ★★★★☆ |
| I Have Crossed an Ocean by Grace Nichols |
| "Such golden obsessions Could only create golden monsters" ★★★☆☆ |
| How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi |
| There's hope for all of us. ★★★★☆ |
| And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie |
| Essentially quarantine 2020. ★☆☆☆☆ |
| Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo |
| As lady-centric as advertised. ★★★★★ |
| Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell |
| Great if you love love. I do not. ★★☆☆☆ |
| Dear Girls by Ali Wong |
| She writes about spam musubi and Costco so it's impossible for me to be impartial. ★★★☆☆ |
| 2019 |
| Territory of Light by Yūko Tsushima |
| Not afraid to portray small children as very annoying. ★★★★☆ |
| On Earth, We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong |
| "Every grain of rice you leave behind is one maggot you eat in hell." ★★★★☆ |
| Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino |
| An appropriate number of words dedicated to scammers. ★★★☆☆ |
| My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite |
| The natural outcome of having to date millenial men. ★★★☆☆ |
| Pachinko by Min Jin Lee |
| Still recovering from the deaths in chapter one. ★★★★☆ |
| I Must Be Living Twice by Eileen Myles |
| "Life is a plot to make me move." ★★☆☆☆ |
| How to Write an Autobiographical Novel: Essays by Alexander Chee |
| If you need material for you autobiography become a cater waiter. ★★★☆☆ |
| Educated by Tara Westover |
| Combines my top fears of religion and heavy machinery. ★★★★☆ |
| Severance by Ling Ma |
| My end of the world also involves one last taste of shark fin soup. ★★★☆☆ |
| Becoming by Michelle Obama |
| Really couldn't have been more endearing. ★★★★☆ |
| 2018 |
| Dietland by Sarai Walker |
| Being a girl is exhausting. ★☆☆☆☆ |
| This Will Only Hurt a Little by Busy Philipps |
| Story of a very full teenage life. ★★★★☆ |
| Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur |
| "our struggle to celebrate each other is what's proven most difficult in being human" ★★★☆☆ |
| The Wonder by Emma Donaghue |
| Extreme dedication to summer bod. ★★★★☆ |
| Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng |
| Exactly how I imagined Ohio would be. ★★★☆☆ |
| Push by Sapphire |
| Based on the movie Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire. ★★★★☆ |
| The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood |
| Probably coming in 2019. ★★★★☆ |
| salt. by nayyirah waheed |
| "listen to my poems. but do not look for me. look for you." ★★★☆☆ |
| There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé by Morgan Parker |
| "When I get to heaven I'm going to wear my good bra" ★★★★☆ |
| Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher |
| Being Princess Leia was the least weird thing about her life. ★★★☆☆ |
| Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed |
| Only an advice columnist could melt my black heart. ★★★★☆ |
| Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates |
| A letter to his son on the fragility of his black body. Not light. ★★★★☆ |
| Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami |
| Possibly the origin story of those Japanese body pillows. ★★★☆☆ |
| The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas |
| "The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everyone" —Tupac ★★★★☆ |
| 2017 |
| Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman |
| Some boys playing with their apricocks. ★★★☆☆ |
| Hunger by Roxane Gay |
| Our bodies are unruly. Also, an entire joyful chapter on Ina Garten. ★★★☆☆ |
| Commonwealth by Ann Patchett |
| A book within a book. V meta. ★★★★☆ |
| Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee |
| Annoyingly similar to the novel I started writing. ★★★☆☆ |
| Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay |
| Made me hate The Help. ★★★★☆ |
| The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander |
| So depressing. Read immediately. ★★★★★ |
| Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer |
| Confirms my suspicion of high altitudes. ★★★☆☆ |