It’s been a while since I posted anything I’ve written here. But I wanted to share some of the highlights of my reading year so far. Click on the titles to hear what the publishers have to say about each read.

These do not include my rereads, including A PSALM FOR THE WILD-BUILT by Becky Chambers.  On New Year’s I’ve made it a tradition to read one selection of the Monk & Robot Series; thus I guarantee myself a 5-star read at the beginning of each year. I also reread WINTERING: THE POWER OF REST AND RETREAT IN DIFFICULT TIMES by Katherine May. And THE EXPATS by Chris Pavone, a Rocket City Mom Virtual Book Club selection.

Additionally, I have been really getting into series.  Anthony Horowitz’s Hawthorne & Horowitz Mystery released a fifth book this year, CLOSE TO DEATH that I was really excited to read.  I made progress in Deborah Crombie’s Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James series, meaning I have read book 4 and currently reading book 5. There are 19 books in this series! I also was introduced to the Henry Kimbll/Lily Kintner series by Peter Swanson. Thanks to William and Morrow for the advanced reader’s copy, I read the third one, A TALENT FOR MURDER. Then I went back and read books 1 and 2. Lily Kintner might be one of my newest favorite characters.

Now to my highlighted selections.

BELLE GREENE by Alexandra Lapierre. This is a book that made me cry. I felt so deeply connected to Belle Greene, the curator of J.P. Morgan’s personal library. The story was heartrending, inspiring and empowering. I was frustrated that I had never heard of her before but so happy I now know about her now.

84, CHARING CROSS ROAD by Helene Hanff. People have been telling me to try this epistolary read for a long time and it was what every one told me that it would be. I loved the story told by the correspondence between an American writer and the booksellers in England during World War II.  I read it in one sitting.

WHEN THINGS FALL APART by Pema Chödrön. It has felt that things have been falling apart for while and I have read parts of this book over and over and over again.  But I finally completed it. I am not Buddhist, but some of the concepts within have been really helpful in handling everything that has been going on in my life.

THE MINISTRY OF TIME by Kailene Bradley. I enjoyed this genre-bending read that had me guessing unto the end. It’s sci-fi with a bit of romance mixed in. This book sent me to Google more times than I can count. Check it out.

MIDDLETIDE by Sarah Crouch. This is the SEP/OCT selection for the Rocket City Mom Virtual Book Club. I loved this atmospheric novel set in the Pacific Northwest by debut author Sarah Crouch.  My local indie, The Snail on the Wall, hosted Sarah for the launch of her book and she was delightful. You can watch the event HERE.

YOU ARE HERE by David Nicholls. This might be the best book I have read this year. I have been reading a lot of books about hiking and enjoing these stories. Quiet, with beautiful writing, this is the book I didn’t know that I needed until I read it.

What have you been reading? Tell me in the comments.

…enjoy life