(Because I have to start a new list for the new year!)

* = recommended

The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta
Drop City by T.C. Boyle
*Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood by Alexandra Fuller (Book Club)
*Maps and Legends: Reading and Writing Along the Borderlands by Michael Chabon
Ten Days in the Hills by Jane Smiley
*A Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich (Oh, to write with such poetic elegance!)
Slab Rat by Ted Heller
*West of Jesus by Steven Kotler (Stellar book about surfing, mythology and the shared effects on the brain.)
The Known World by Edward P. Jones (Book Club)
6 Sick Hipsters by Rayo Casablanca
The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak
Bluebird: Studies in Women’s Happiness by Ariel Gore (Book Club)
Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
*Lush Life by Richard Price (Same guy that wrote Clockers and almost as good.)
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (gave up)
*Little Bee by Chris Cleave (Devastating.)
*The Fiddler in the Subway by Gene Weingarten (WaPo columnist nails it.)
*Eventide by Kent Haruf (Evidence of how deceptive seemingly “simple” writing can be.)
*Plainsong by Kent Haruf (Likewise. Excellent character-driven, sparse, poetic work.)
*In the Woods by Tana French (Psychological thriller! Smart! Creepy! Addictive!)
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe (This was terrible.)
*Freedom by Jonathan Franzen (Suck it, haters.)
Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje
*Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles (2nd time) (Fucking hilarious retelling of a man’s mistakes in life and his attempt to set things right while being screwed over by the aforementioned airline.)
*The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Stayed up all night with each one in the trilogy!)
*The Braindead Megaphone by George Saunders (Why did no one tell me about George Saunders?!)
*The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Book Club)
*Ghostwritten by David Mitchell
I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley (Started off enjoying, but lost enthusiasm along the way.)
*The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano
(*if you like young adult lit) The Mortal Instruments trilogy by Cassandra Clare (Somewhat derivative, but still satisfying due to fine storytelling skills and appealing characters. I read one after the other without pause, so that’s something!)