The Man Who Saw Everything is so creative. You’ll spend most of the book feeling lost … but you’re actually supposed to, and it pays off in the end.

Property forces white women to take an uncomfortable look at their role in the history of slavery. It’s not exactly “fun” to read, but it is masterfully crafted and effective.

The Empire of Gold is the incredible conclusion to the Daevabad Trilogy that we’ve been waiting years for!

Bel Canto is beautiful and devastating, and as you’d expect from the title, it flows like music. This might be my favorite Ann Patchett so far.

This is a beautiful literary story about two Chinese-American siblings surviving on their own near the end of the gold rush. Like everyone else, I loved it.

This is a beautiful novel. It shows us the most important moments of a murdered woman’s life, told through flashes of memory, in the minutes before her brain function stops.

The Fifth Season is not just entertaining, it’s masterful. Between that and the unflinching racial allegory, it is not to be missed.

I fell so hard for The Idea of Perfection. The plot does move pretty slowly, but that’s because you’re busy falling in love with the characters and setting (and having your heart broken).

You Exist Too Much is an engaging story about a young Palestinian-American bisexual woman that raises all sorts of questions about depiction, family trauma, and mental health.

The Wall reads like a classic, with an unapologetic dystopian allegory, vivid setting, and memorable narrator. It’s gripping and gritty and hard to look away from.

Weather is not so much a story as a series of linked vignettes that, together, give us a glimpse into Lizzie’s life. I liked it, but it won’t be for everyone.

A Burning is an emotionally ravaging and poignant story about a young girl accused of terrorism. And it absolutely earns the hype it’s gotten.

When I Lived in Modern Times is historical fiction, about the early days of the state of Israel. It didn’t sweep me away, but it does some things very well.

The Girl from Widow Hills is in many ways your standard unreliable-woman-narrator thriller. But it had a good twist and was a lot of fun to read.

Written in gutting prose with experimental form and raw emotion, this book is a haunting but incredibly human look at severe drug and alcohol abuse.

All Adults Here manages to be light and heartwarming while real and emotional at the same time. I really liked it.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is one of my new favorite books of all time. It’s an incredible story that’s so well written and will leave you as a puddle on the floor (in the best way).

Dominicana is an emotional, coming-of-age immigration story. I liked it a lot, especially after learning that it was based on the author’s mother’s life

A Crime in the Neighborhood is a strongly narrated and echoing novel that seems to be about a local murder, on the surface, but is really about parental abandonment.

A Wizard of Earthsea is a classic fantasy novel for a reason. It’s exciting, has great world-building, and teaches a great overarching lesson.