Every Book I Read Last Year, Ranked Worst to Best

26. The Seven Year Slip, by Ashley Poston.

26. An overworked book publicist in her late twenties inherits and moves into her late aunt’s Upper East Side apartment following her untimely death. Only when she arrives, a young man is already living there. The twist? He’s living seven years in the past, and so is she when she’s in this apartment. The magical realism in this book should make it compelling to me, but this story fell really flat, and I didn’t find myself caring about the relationship between the two protagonists. 1.5/5

    25. Really Good, Actually, by Monica Heisey

    Maggie, a 29 year old divorcee living in Toronto, is not coping well with the dissolution of her one and only long term relationship. The story chronicles the messy relatability of attempting to piece your life back together (and often failing) in the wake of such an earth shattering event. Honestly, the main reason this book ranks so low is due to the cringe millennial sling that is deployed in what feels like every third sentence of the novel. The ‘I’m quirky and relatable’ trope was taken way too far, which is unfortunate because the premise of the story had a lot of potential. 2/5

    24. Chlorine, by Jade Song

    A crossover between a coming of age novel about a teen in high school blended with an unsettling horror story. Ren Yu’s life has centered around being in the water since the second she set foot in her elementary school’s chlorine filled pool, and she’s excelled as a competitive swimmer ever since. Ren has always desired success as a swimmer, but she’s also harbored a deeper desire beneath the surface: becoming a mermaid. The pressure she, her sleaze bag swim coach, and her overbearing mother place on her ultimately results in a psychotic break. The body horror filled chapter that follows made me so nauseous that I couldn’t read it. Between this and attempting to watch The Substance in theaters and having to drag my girlfriend out after only ten minutes, I’ve come to accept that any media involving body horror is simply not for me. 2.5/5

    23. The Paper Palace, by Miranda Cowley Heller

    At its surface, this is the story of a love triangle between a middle aged woman, her husband, and her childhood friend, set in the backdrop of a cabin in the woods of Cape Cod. The story underneath is a much darker narrative about breaking the cycle of generational traumas, and attempting to not let your life be ruled by them. There were parts of this novel that I enjoyed, but I found a lot of it to be sensationalized just for the sake of drama. 3/5

    22. The Happy Couple, by Naoise Dolan

    I’ll admit, the low ranking of this one may have more to do with the fact that I read it in less than three hours at the Upper West Side Barnes and Noble, and therefore didn’t get much time to sit with it. The Happy Couple chronicles young couple Celine and Luke in the lead up to their wedding, and all of the characters threatening to stop it from happening. I remember being pretty entertained by this story, but it really didn’t stay with me, because I struggle to remember much else. 3/5

    21. The Female Persuasion, by Meg Wolitzer

    Greer Kadetsky, a shy and unassuming freshman in college, has her life changed forever when she crosses paths with Faith Frank, an esteemed feminist, activist, and hero to many since the 70s. When Greer gets the chance to work with Faith, her life is forever changed, but she soon sees the dangers of blind idolism and the insidiousness of corporate culture. I would have ranked this a lot higher if I felt the story didn’t drag for about 100 pages too long. 3/5

    20. Love and Other Words, by Christina Lauren

    The story takes place between two different periods in main character Macy Sorenson’s life, one as a thirty year old medical resident living in San Francisco in a stable but ultimately loveless partnership with her wealthy fiancé, and another as a teenager falling in love with her next door neighbor. I thought parts of the love story were cute, but I thought this book had an unnecessary amount of tragic events take place, in a way I found gratuitous and not believable. 3/5

    19. Atomic Habits, by James Clear

    This self help book is all about the way that tiny, incremental changes made in our day to day can slowly begin to change the fabric of our lives. I think this book has much more real, tangible value than the majority of self help books I’ve read. There is a lot of evidence based research that I found quite helpful, and I’ve implemented habit stacking in my life in a way that is productive to me. 3.5/5

    18. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett

    I really wish I loved this one as much as the general public seems to, especially because it takes place entirely in the northwest corner of Michigan that comprises so many of my most formative memories. The story takes place in the thick of quarantine in the spring of 2020, when cherry farm owners Lara and Joe’s three adult daughters come back home to live with their parents. What follows is Lara’s retelling of her love story with Peter Duke, a man she spent a summer with in her youth who would go on to become a very famous movie star. I just didn’t find the love story compelling enough, which saddens me because I thought it had all of the ingredients to be a great novel. I still liked it enough to give it a 3.5/5

    17. I Might Regret This, by Abbi Jacobson

    I’ll admit it, a large part of the reason I read this is because I’m nosy, and I wanted to hear about Abbi’s first queer relationship breakup with Carrie Brownstein. In I Might Regret This, Abbi takes us through a three week cross country roadtrip in the wake of her first true heartbreak, which also happened in the middle of filming Broad City season 4. I found the story really endearing, unflinchingly honest, and bravely vulnerable. Just wish it was a little longer. 3.5/5

    16. No Happy Endings, by Nora McInerny

    My dad actually introduced me to Nora McInerny by way of her grief centered podcast, Terrible, Thanks For Asking. Nora talks about grief in a way that is both pragmatic and comforting, and she leaves no stoned unturned. I really loved reading about her journey in rediscovering true love, and the way she makes abundantly clear that she will always hold her late husband close to her heart. 4/5

    15. Death Valley, by Melissa Broder

    This was a weird one that I really enjoyed. The protagonist, in the midst of caring for both a sick father and a sick husband, takes refuge in a Best Western adjacent to the California high desert. Hallucinations ensue. Full of musings on what it means to reach middle age and what it means to lose your cool in the wake of concurrent traumatic events. 4/5

    14. The Age of Magical Overthinking, by Amanda Montell

    I always love when personal and cultural narratives are blended into one overarching theme- in this case, the theme being the cognitive biases that affect the way we think and live. I was a bigger fan of Cultish, as I felt that this newest work of Montell’s was trying to be more profound and revolutionary than it really was. However, I still thoroughly enjoy her cultural criticism and storytelling, and for that reason I’ll give it a good rating. 4/5

    13. Grief Is for People, by Sloane Crosley

    Painfully sharp and achingly relatable, Crosley tells the story of the loss of her best friend (and former boss) Russell, who died by suicide. Her writing makes you feel like you’re alongside her, and the way that she writes about the world makes you want to see it through her eyes. 4/5

    12. The Examiner, by Janice Hallett

    Something I learned about myself in this past year is that I love reading murder mysteries solely comprised of different emails and text messages. The Examiner is centered around six students and their professor taking a mixed media arts masters program. Each student has a different reason for being there, some of which have nothing to do with the course itself. Everything is much more insidious than it appears to be on the surface. A really fun and wild read. 4.5/5

    11. Before Your Memory Fades, by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

    The fourth book in the series, this is a continuation of Before the Coffee Gets Cold, a series that take place in a coffee shop of a back alley in Tokyo, Japan. To the outside observer, it’s a normal coffee shop, but for those in the know, it’s a destination in which one can travel back in time. In Before Your Memory Fades, four former customers travel back in time to attempt to correct what they wish their former selves said and did differently. 4.5/5

    10. Funny Story, by Emily Henry

    There is no shame in my Emily Henry loving game. If you want a rom com story packaged into a few hundred pages, but detest the cringe that so often comes with them, look no further. Henry’s writing is leagues above most romance authors, her world building is strong, and her characters are complex and real. Another story set in summer in Northern Michigan, Funny Story chronicles the story of Daphne and Peter, two roommates who end up living together after their respective fiancees dumped them for each other. Romance ensues, of course, but the way this love story is told is captivating nonetheless. 4.5/5

    9. Adelaide, by Genevieve Wheeler

    This book really had me in a chokehold for a couple of months. Normally, I struggle with audiobooks. I tend to zone out, and have to replay the same chapters over and over because I realized I haven’t absorbed anything. Not with Adelaide. The story centers around twenty six year old Adelaide Williams, a twenty six year old creative writing student living in London who falls head over heels for the dreamy British Rory Hughes. What follows is a turbulent tale in which Adelaide tries to make a broken boy love her to the best of her abilities, even when it’s at a high cost to her mental and emotional well being. It’s a heartbreaking and deeply relatable story about a young woman who doesn’t get back the loves that she gives, but is unable to see her value enough to put herself first. 4.5/5

    8. The Talented Mr. Ripley, by Patricia Highsmith

    What is there to say about this classic that hasn’t already been said? I really didn’t think anything could top the film, because how can you top the performances of Matt Damon, Jude Law, and Gwyneth Paltrow in that movie? Well, shock of all shocks, it seems as though all you have to do is turn to the source material. Getting to experience this story through Tom’s perspective in such a more intimate way really made the story that much more chilling. Readers root for him in a way that is nothing but a testament to the mastery of Highsmith’s character building. 5/5

    7. Intermezzo, by Sally Rooney

    It says a lot about the sheer talent of Sally Rooney’s prose and world building that this is my least favorite novel of hers, yet still this high on my list. Intermezzo is a tale of grief and brotherhood told through the perspective of Irish thirty two year old attorney Peter and his twenty two year old chess prodigy brother Ivan. In the wake of their father’s death, they experience new love alongside loss, as well as confronting their complicated relationship as siblings.

    6. American Bulk: Essays on Excess, By Emily Mester

    A serious of personal essays about a family deep in the chokehold that is hyper consumption under American capitalism. Mester examines the ways in which she has relied on consumerism for happiness and external validation, as well as the ways in which it has deeply affected her father and grandmother, both whom had a proclivity for excessive hoarding. Very reflective and poignant, while able to not take itself too seriously, this work gave me a lot to think about. 4.5/5

    5. The Appeal, by Janice Hallett

    Once again, I never could have foreseen that my fifth favorite book of the past year would be a murder mystery novel. Another epistolary novel, the reader pieces together emails and texts exchanged are centered around a theater group attempting to raise money for a sick child, when things begin to spiral out of control and someone winds up dead. I grew very invested in all of the exchanges between the characters, and truly was on the edge of my seat all throughout. 4.5/5

    4. Four Squares, by Bobby Finger

    Even if I wasn’t a Wholigan, this book would still be this high on my list. It made my heart swell, it resonated with me deeply, it made me cry tears of sadness, joy, empathy, you name it. Four Squares spans two time periods; the 90s and president day, following a writer named Artie living in the West Village and the queer family he builds there. Oscilating between thirty something Artie and his vibrant group of friends, and sixty something Artie finding himself adrift and alone after the loss of those friends, the novel examines the ways in which we put walls up and then attempt to put ourselves back together after loss and heartbreak. I was so deeply moved by this. 5/5

    3. Good Material, by Dolly Alderton

    The queen does it yet again. Told through the lens of a struggling thirty something comedian living in London after a rough breakup with his girlfriend Jen, Good Material turns the typical breakup story on its head by putting the male perspective at the center. It was fascinating seeing a love story like this be told by a man, and to see the ways in which heterosexual men cope with breakups compared to women. The couple of chapters at the end, told from the perspective of Jen, wrap up the story in a satisfying and deeply gratifying way. 5/5

    2. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver

    Heart-wrenching, raw, filled with beauty and pain, this story chronicles the life of a boy named Demon, who grows up in the throes of the opioid epidemic in rural Appalachia. Drugs and poverty color every inch of the fabric of his life, from the moment he was born in a trailer park to a teenage drug addict mother, to being bounced around the foster care system, all the way to his young adulthood. You would be hard pressed to find a more beautifully tragic story, that sugarcoats nothing but is still able to provide a story of hope and triumph. 5/5

    1. All Fours, by Miranda July

    Lots of surprises this year it seems, because I could never have foreseen that my top book of the year would be something so utterly weird and insane. All Foursfollows a fictionalized version of Miranda July as she sets out to drive from New York to L.A., but stops her road trip 30 minutes in to spend three weeks at a motel off of the interstate in the town of Monrovia (unbeknownst to her husband and child). She reinvents herself and we readers watch her take on a quest for freedom, fulfilling desires, and excavating beliefs about what it means to be a forty something woman. This story blew my mind in so many ways, and I will be thinking about it forever. 5/5